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Style Theory: An admission, I am quite unadventurous when it comes to holidays with the family, I like going back to places I know, every summer we go to Javea, Spain and have done since I was tiny, therefore being asked to be a Mark Warner Ambassador and going on a Mark Warner holiday was a big, exciting change to our normal yearly break. We chose the Mark Warner Lakitira Beach Resort in Kos which had come highly recommended to us, it was an amazing treat to be going away in May half term when the weather is pretty much the perfect heat in Greece (28 degrees) and things are not super busy.
We opted for half board, we have always, in the past, booked self catering apartments (meaning I have to cook/fix up quite a lot of food for consistently hungry kids) so it was a treat to not have to cook, the kids club was brilliant, the kids were welcome to dip in and out of as they pleased. More importantly there were two beautiful beaches, lots of empty sunloungers, all the sailing activities a super keen husband (I am looking at you Russ) could ever need and lots of incredibly warm, friendly staff on hand to help with everything..you can have the best of both worlds, choose to do nothing or sail, play tennis, scuba dive, windsurf or paddleboard until your heart's content..
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Mark Warner Lakitira Beach Resort in Kos, is a sprawling hotel with a mix of hotel rooms positioned around the pool and two floor apartments creating a village vibe. We stayed in one of the apartments, it was super clean, spacious and airy with a little veranda terrace. It was basic inside, not a super glamorous interior but great for a family.
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| Our Duplex Apartment |
The areas that Mark Warner resorts excels in are the sports and childcare, which were second to none..
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| Jess mastering the art of windsurfing! |
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| Jack taking the plunge after a morning sailing |
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| Russ going out sailing with Jack |
Starting with the sports, the kids got to windsurf, sail, play tennis, kayak alongside the normal crazy amount of time spent playing in the beautiful, huge (fairly quiet) pool and sea. All the instructors were well qualified, friendly, fun, and I felt the kids (and Russ) were in safe hands all the time. The kids club was great Jess and Jack were able to dip in and out as and when they wanted - they adored all the sports with the kids club but in the downtime chose to sign out and go sailing with Russ or play tennis the four of us...it is so relaxed, you can tailor the holiday to you and your family. If your child/children are kids club fans they will adore it, there are constant brilliant activities from 9.30am, time off at lunch and fab movie nights for the younger kids/sporty games for older ones until 10.30pm.
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| The boys heading out |
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| Tennis...showing them how it is done..not! |
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| The beach bar.. source of many an afternoon Latte... |
For the grown ups, quite frankly I didn't see Russ, by the end of it he was hanging out with the Mark Warner crew that ran the sailing, he was in his element (until I reminded him that he was not 19 and at university and he is now in fact 40..ha,ha!). The equipment is amazing, so many types of (new) sailing boats to choose from, Russ took me out on a Quest a few times..which was a bonding experience (there are no photos of this..) What I loved about it was that there were constantly Mark Warner staff circling in dinghy speed boats to make sure everyone is safe, Russ capsized once and they were there in a couple of seconds, a really well monitored set up that lets you enjoy the sports knowing that you are in safe hands. He also met and played social tennis at 5pm every evening. What did I do?! well, I did sail a little, play tennis a little, but I also sat down and read three books..I genuinely relaxed which is unusual for me, and had my nails done with Jess at the hotels Elemis spa - a super treat.
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We also hired a car for a day, you can hire it from the hotel and explore Kos and on our anniversary we jumped in a cab with the kids to the nearest town Kardamena and had dinner in a highly recommended restaurant Avli - it was delicious and such a cool, buzzy vibe.
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| Dress - Ganni £240 Espadrilles - My Fashion Tribu £100 Bag - Piel de Mar €45 |
The holiday was different in a good, fun way, we all learnt new sporting skills, got to relax, hang out with each other, all make new friends (grown ups included) and just felt like everything had been thought of (including a doctor at the hotel!). The hotel was good, the Resort Manager Jono and Operations Manager Justine, were utterly fabulous, incredibly professional, friendly and went out of their way to make us feel at home and ensure everything was working like clockwork.
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| Smiling kids...always a good sign! |
The food at the hotel was simple, breakfast and lunch were served in the main buffet, with lunch either available to buy there or at the beach buffet (which we preferred) if you are after a gastronomic delight this is probably not the holiday for you, but it had a wide variety salads, pasta, fish etc and lots of it, so we certainly didn't go hungry.
It was fairly dressed down at the resort but being me I love a bit of a dress up on holiday so this is what I packed, during the day I lived in my denim shorts and bikinis.
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| Top - Isabel Marant Etoile £204 - love this Hush one for £59 Shorts - H&M (old season) Bag - Piel de Mar €45 Sandals - Dune £80 |
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| Dress - Free People £88 Shoes - My Fashion Tribu £100 Bag - M&S (in store) |
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| Vest - Topshop (old season) Trousers - Topshop (old season) Sandals - Dune £80 Bag - Piel de Mar €45 |
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| Top - Isabel Marant Etoile £204 Trousers - Me & Em £149 *I got them taken up a lot and sized down one size Shoes - My Fashion Tribu £100 Bag - M&S (in store) |
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| Dress - Neve and Noor £152 Bag - Piel de Mar €45 |
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| T Shirt - Wyse London £55 Skirt - Zara £69.99 Sandals - Espadrille.co.uk £78 Jacket - Levis at House of Fraser |
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| Pink Dress - Ghost at QVC £74 Orange Dress - Ghost at QVC £89 Sandals - H&M (old season) Jacket - Levis at House of Fraser |
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| Top - Hush £65 Shorts - H&M (old season) |
What I loved about the holiday was the atmosphere, the vibe of Lakitira was almost like a super sunny, university campus with amazing water sports and no exams. We got chatting to quite a few other families who had been back year after year (Hi Sammy @TurquoiseFlamingo and your gorgeous fam) It was a cool place where grown ups can relax or be big kids and where kids can have fun leaning new sports, making great friends and learning the ropes of buffet eating!!
A big thank you to Mark Warner for asking me to be an ambassador this year, it is a huge privilege (I had to pinch myself a lot!) and I am so grateful for the fabulous, sunshiny, fun holiday I was able to enjoy with my family, thank you so so much, Russ is already looking at MW skiing holidays so like Arnie once said..I'll Be Back! xxxxx
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| Lakitira Nights |
*This post was written in collaboration with Mark Warner, I was invited to Lakitira as part of the Mark Warner Ambassador programme in exchange for a honest blog post and instagram coverage. All thoughts, opinions, photography are my own (with input from Russ, Jess and Jack).
