Just search online for the ultimate beach holiday and no doubt, Bali, Indonesia will rank high on it. The island boasts myriads of clear blue water with white sand beach, diverse nightlight, spectacular food, mystical tourist attractions like the temple and many more.
Now imagine going on a vacation that offers plenty of amenities and activities that cater for both adults and children. With that being said, Club Med Bali, the pioneer of premium all-inclusive holidays is perhaps the best family resort there is.
At the peak of pandemic in April of 2020, all of Club Med resorts were close as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. After a two-year hiatus, Club Med Bali was finally ready to accept international travellers back in late May this year. Being the ever-popular family resort, the opening is definitely something all visitors of Bali are looking forward to.
Holiday by the Beach with All-Inclusive Club Med Bali
Image courtesy of Club Med Bali
Club Med Bali, the longest resort beachfront in Nusa Dua, is situated in the town of Nusa Dua, about 30 minutes drive from Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport and 12 kilometres from Kuta Island.
With the most on-site sports and activities in Bali, the resort also perfects the art of all-inclusive vacations. The island of elegance, joy, and temples offers visitors a harmonious combination of local culture and well-being.
As a mum with a soon-to-be 4-year-old, I have very few expectations when it comes to a family holiday. I need a place that is not only relaxing for both my husband and me, but I would also want a destination that my son would enjoy with little to no tantrums.
And honestly, Club Med Bali caters to all my expectations and more.
Award-Winning Amazing Family! Programme at Club Med Bali
Being a parent these days is not an easy feat especially when you have a little one that is constantly glued to the screen. What I looked forward to the most throughout our stay here at Club Med Bali is my son will finally stop asking for his iPad, and he actually did.
With the Amazing Family! programme, parents can now enjoy endless activities with their children – what a perfect way to bond and create special memories! Holding on to the five pillars, ‘Time to Celebrate’, ‘Time to Care’, ‘Time to Play’, ‘Time to Quest’ and ‘Time to Move’, we were spoilt with endless activities including Kite Competition, Bubble Party, Giant Molky and Arts & Crafts.
What catches my son’s attention the most is Club Med’s first-ever immersive art installation in partnership with Art Wonderland Singapore. The Of Dreams and Adventures installation is about a journey across the ocean where my son takes part in an imaginative play as a pirate searching for treasure. It was such a delight to see his spirit in pretend play and his imagination run wild. We kept going back to the installation throughout our stay because he loved it so much!
As a family, we also partook in a coral-making class and learn about different coral species in the ocean. But at the end of the day, we didn’t even create anything unique – I was just glad that my son managed to stay focused long enough to play without throwing tantrum or making a scene.
The All New Mini Club Med +
Club Med introduced Mini Club Med +, the next step in the development of its highly regarded Kids Club (formerly known as Mini Club Med®). It offers a fun-filled environment where play, cooperation, and compassion are valued to help them improve their soft skills while on vacation. This innovative science-based approach was inspired by Positive Education.
At Mini Club Med+, kids will learn to develop unique character strengths around the 6 Cs: Creativity, Confidence, Connection, Cheerfulness, Courage and Cooperation. The goal is to reveal a child’s combination of character strengths and develop their ability to engage those strengths to create more happy, energetic and high self-esteem children.
The program was developed in partnership with Professor Ilona Boniwell, an expert in Positive Psychology & Positive Education and a world leader in the field of Positive Psychology with over 20 years of experience. Some of the activities include Ninja Bootcamp, Happiness Expo, Giant Caterpillar, Hero’s Parade, and Zen Tales.
To learn more about this amazing family holiday and what Club Med Bali has to offer, I spoke to Vincent Ong, Senior Vice President for Commercial Southeast Asia (SEA) and Marketing Asia Pacific (APAC) Club Med.
Explain a bit more about Mini Club and why it is such an important added value at Club Med
When Club Med was first created in 1950, it was kind of like a beach place, and in those days, it was a GO with the guests, and it was all about how we served the guests and so on. As time went by, our guests had kids, and we realised that we needed to take care of the kids too.
Here at Club Med, we have the Baby Club, the Petit Club, the Mini Club, and the Teen Club. Whereby we break the different age groups because the activities and interests are different. Within each group, there’ll be GOs that bring them around. Take a look at our scheduled timetable and you will see how widespread the activities here are. Your child could be learning how to play tennis or go out on the trapeze.
For the younger ones, we created handicraft arts and work activities. We also have imaginative play like treasure hunts, amazing races, and many more. Everyone will find their sweet spots across all the activities. The amazing thing here is that you actually have GOs that interact well with your children. It creates a bond between them and the children. Your children are also able to interact with other children here regardless of the language they speak.
And why Mini Club +?
Prior to COVID, we were already looking at what’s next for the Mini Club. It is because we were seeing that the way kids would interact and enjoy their holidays had changed. So we want to focus more on soft skills, which are also aligned with the trend of younger parents.
We just want to make learning fun! Let’s say your children are playing Pirates of the Caribbean, and they need to move from one location to another; they’re singing and interacting with each other. In the span of five to eight minutes of walking, there will be downtime, right? So this is where the soft skills come in. It acts as a filler.
Our GOs are trained in soft skills under the Positive Psychology programme as they are the ones who are able to identify what your children’s strengths are. They help to nurture those strengths during your whole stay, so you will be able to see how your children react, identify their strengths, help nurture them, and grow them to be better.
We met Leslie Davis, Teacher Trainer, Coach and EQ Practitioner and she mentioned the 6 Cs cores for Mini Club +. Can you elaborate more on this?
Image courtesy of Club Med Bali
When you look at the list, from courage to cheerfulness to confidence, it is primarily attributed to what children cannot run away from. It’s one thing when your son grows older and he goes to school and he’s forced to do a concert in school, and it’s another thing when he does it voluntarily. At Mini Club +, we have these activities where children will be practising three days prior. And one night, they will come out to the theatre and present their performance.
Even those who are a tad shy will eventually open up and join the fun. They all do it because they were trained to do it. but rather based on the 6C (Creativity, Confidence, Connection, Cheerfulness, Courage, and Cooperation) that encourage them to perform.
We have a total of 35 activities for all the children, and each activity is relevant for the different age groups. For example, yesterday, we tried out storytelling with yoga, where children and adults engage in storytelling while performing different yoga poses. This activity encourages confidence, cooperation, and courage. Why courage? Because when you start seeing others doing it, you will want to try and follow them as well.
Children will also realise that they are not doing this alone. They will observe how people interact and that their new friends are doing the same, so it helps to build up their social interaction and their confidence in making friends.
Club Med offers so much for kids and teens, but how about babies? Especially when young parents with babies just want a nice getaway?
We have a Baby Club and we do babysitting. The Baby Club is for babies from four months old to 23 months old. We provide babysitting services too and the babysitters are licenced to care for your babies. However, at the Baby Club, you are required to pay because this is a personalized one-on-one service.
The activities at Baby Club are adapted to the age of each child, but we also offer outdoor walks, nursery rhymes, motor skill techniques, music appreciation, and many more. We also ensure that the littlest guests here are comfortable and happy by creating:
- The Baby-Corner: this restaurant area features an assorted buffet and a choice of small savoury and sweet jars with a blender, bottle warmer, and microwave.
- The Baby Restaurant: a restaurant created just for kids, where the little ones can enjoy delicious and balanced meals prepared for them, with you or as part of Baby Club Med.
- The “Biberonneries”: here you’ll find all you need to prepare your baby’s dishes, 24 x 7: a steriliser, bottle warmer, microwave, mineral water, and small jars.
Kids can do anything they want here at Club Med Bali, but how about the parents? What can parents do while their children are off at the Mini Club +?
Image courtesy of Club Med Bali
We have more than 25 sports and activities here for parents to enjoy. If you’re a huge fan of golf, you need to try our six-hole par three golf course. You can play there by yourself or meet up with a GO. We also offer tennis, archery, windsurfing, and our famous trapeze! If your idea of a holiday is chill, you can always check out our Zen Pool and spa treatments. You can spend your day lounging by the pool or at the beach.
For more information about Club Med, check out their website here and social handle here.
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