Forte Village Resort - Villa del Parco & Spa

Context: I was traveling with 2 small children (one below 4y old) - great kid and nursery club - with a very qualified staff. My son loved the club (more than in other similar family resorts due to the variety of activities and friendly staff). The facilities are also great for kids with a nice Acquapark with a wonderful view that is fun for adults and kids alike - the beach is very nice - with beautiful mountains close by, shallow water to play with kids, and we only had jelly fish 1 day (out of 8). Some days the wind was blowing intensely but it was not dangerous - sports: we did tennis, gym, stand up paddling and mountain biking (highly recommend with great guide and stunning views) and there were many other options including wall climbing, fencing, boxing, high intensity classes etc - it is possible to spend a week and not repeat a restaurant. Quite a few require the payment of a supplement (between 60 and 180 per person) and lunch at the restaurants - although quite nice (fresh seafood with a view) - are a bit expensive (easily over 200 euros for a family). It adds up in a few days and there are no other options around it - it is possible to arrange to rent a car for a day to explore the region (Chia beaches, Nora) and it is very easy (desk at the reception of the hotel). - the facilities are easy to navigate, with a lavish garden and you can hitch a golf cart if you get tired - the spa facilities are quite nice - high quality services followed by time at the various pools (we completed the recommended circuit of 6 pools with different saline and temperature levels - some are “Dead Sea-like” experience). So a fun and unique spa - the dinner buffet (easier for kids as you do not need to wait for the dishes) was surprisingly good with variety of meat (eg sardene bbq of pork and lamb, Veal shops, lobster, paella), includes white wine and a wide variety of deserts including gelatos. All with nice live music.

- there is no mini-market to buy fruits, snacks, water, beer as you have in similar family resorts. This “forces” you to either rent a car to go to a market (which is expensive in itself) or buy everything at the overpriced bars and restaurants (eg beer for 8.5 euros when you can get the same for 1.5 euros at any market). Also, room has only a very small fridge. If I were to do this again, i would have done some basic shopping at the supermarket at the airport upon arrival to buy water, snacks, etc - the rooms (bubgalow at Bourgenville) were new and comfortable - especially the bathroom - but not luxurious or with a view. Other family resorts at similar prices have better rooms. Also, one of our windows faced a very ugly wall that had peeled off paint and was quite depressing to look at. Painting the wall wouldnt cost much and would have made a difference - the hotel wants you to use an outside baby sitting service instead of the staff that work at the kids club. I find this a shame and different from other family resorts. I much prefer my children stayed at night with someone they had already met and liked than someone we hadn’t met or met our children. Because of this, we ended up not using the service and not having a night out without the kids - most restaurants only open at 7h30 pm (there is the option for a children restaurant at 6 pm) which makes it challenging if you want to take your children to have a dinner out but not too late. Having said that, in general food arrived quickly - boat house - very friendly but I missed more options of water sports. Hobby cat was broken, there was no wind surf or other sailing options. - breakfast: quality of ingredients and variety could be better. Options did not change during our 8 days there, there was only 1 type of cheese and coffee was really poor quality for Italy - flow of information between staff: we got some contradicting information between receptiokn amd services