We travelled with Jet2 from Manchester, for a low cost carrier there are some plus points: 22kg per person luggage allowance (very generous!), pre-allocation of seats available, pre-booked hot meals, the airline also offers in-flight entertainment at £10  – managed to get 2 films in!  The downside… the seats do not recline at all and are very basic – not at all comfortable so a travel pillow is a must!

Having landed in Tenerife we were whisked off to the Abama Resort, which is managed by Ritz Carlton.  This west coast resort is only 25 minutes from the airport and about a 10 minute drive from Costa Adeje.  The resort is set in the most beautiful landscaped gardens and the buildings are designed in a Moroccan Moorish theme, the buildings are the colour of burnt terracotta and boast excellent facilities – without a doubt the best 5* resort on the island!

The heart of Abama is The Citadel and this building houses many of the rooms, suites and main areas such as the restaurants, bars, shops, kids club, library – there is even a movie screening room, ideal for kids movies nights.  The Abama caters superbly well for the family market with all manner of interconnecting rooms and suites and has great family offers with discounted kids rooms and complimentary half board, the kids club is also free.  The restaurants offer great kids menus, colouring pencils etc and even a complimentary afternoon tea with items such as marshmallows and cookies.

Every room is furnished to a very high standard and the interiors make use of local materials.  What surprised me is the amount of wardrobe space and the size of the bathrooms, all of which had a separate bath and shower plus a double his/her sink unit.  Rooms have views of the Atlantic, the golf course or the beautifully manicured gardens. The Abama’s beds are the best I have ever slept in – they use 100% natural linen and these luxurious featherbeds also come with an extensive pillow menu! 

For those of you wanting more privacy there are the villa rooms which are located away from the main Citadel building and are designed for guests and families in search of the ultimate escape.  These villa rooms come complete with their own garden and shared pool as well as a private golf buggy to get around the property. 

Tagor Villa rooms which we stayed in are exclusive to adults only and are ideal for couples. Guests in these rooms receive complimentary soft drinks and beer around the villa shared pool.  These rooms also have additional amenities such as a Nespresso machine, and a butler to cater to your every whim.

For me the best selling point for The Abama has to be their golden, sandy, protected beach which is unlike any other beaches on the island.  Cut out of the cliff face and accessible by its’ own funicular and with its’ very own beach club restaurant serving lightly prepared lunches, cocktails and bbq’s makes this facility a unique selling point. 

The main restaurant Pampa y Verona, an Italian/Argentinian is very informal with a huge menu of choices for the half board diners and this restaurant tends to be the family choice.  Couples will enjoy M.B, the Michelin Star restaurant and Kabuki, a fine Japanese fusion restaurant, if clients opt for pre-paying half board they are given a credit of 30 euros per person towards the other restaurants.   There are bars abundant at this property….a Sports Bar, for sports lovers who don’t want to miss a single game whilst enjoying delicious burgers, fish ‘n’ chips and salads, a Wine Bar with a vast array of wines to choose from and of course a selection of tapas, Tanganika – a tropical, colonial style bar and the Lobby bar with access to a large terrace overlooking the Koi Carp lake.

This resort will keep you busy, tennis, golf, wellness programs, fitness classes and a host of activities for kids and a great selection of swimming pools some reserved for adults only, there is literally something for everyone!

Abama’s extraordinary spa offers a unique, holistic program with a huge menu of spa treatments as well as facilities which include a hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, Turkish hammam, a cold plunge pool and an artificial snow cabin!

Our Tenerife experience would not be complete without an excursion off into the Atlantic to whale watch, there are also permanent pods of dolphins in the surrounding waters year round. Tenerife has become the top European destination in terms of the number of people that have seen whales in the wild. You can find up to twenty-one different species in Tenerife’s waters; from the colossal blue whale to the feared killer whale.  Other recommended excursions would be a trip up to the Teide National Park and a visit to traditional villages and hamlets.  Kids will enjoy Siam Park (waterpark) and Loro Parque, a unique animal wildlife centre.

Costa Adeje is home to many of Tenerife’s 5 * resorts and we also had the opportunity to visit Bahia Del Duque.  The resort was last renovated in 2009 and coincided with the opening of its 40 exclusive pool villas and its’ ESPA Thalasso-Spa.  There is a total of 356 rooms and 46 suites decorated in a traditional Spanish style with painted tiles and although the rooms are smaller than The Abama they could be considered authentic and quaint. 

There is a choice of 9 restaurants celebrating international cuisine, tennis, squash, gym, kids club and a selection of water sports – it’s worth bearing in mind that the beach is not a private one and guests are charged 18 euro per day for sunbeds/umbrellas which I felt was a bit steep but our contact at the hotel advised she could waive this fee with any bookings we make.

The pool villas at the resort are amongst the best I have seen, built with Volcanic stone and elegantly styled with individual pools.  Guests staying in these villas are welcomed in their own reception area with its’ own main swimming pool, library, lounge/bar area.  The villa complex is completed by Las Aguas Restaurant which offers an exclusive atmosphere and exquisite gastronomic choices.

All to soon it was time to head back home and so after a very pleasant trip with superb hosts we boarded the Jet2 flight back to Manchester.

Other hotels I would highly recommend in Tenerife would be , Villa Cortes in Playa Los Americas, Sheraton La Caletta in Costa Adeje designed by the same architect as The Abama.  My recommended 4* resorts would be Colon Guanhani in Costa Adeje and Vincci Tenerife Golf in Golf Del Sur.

Off again on another fact finding sales trip- this time New York with my 2 daughters aged 7 and 14. Again we travelled from Liverpool Airport with KLM- we breezed through check-in and security, shopped a bit (the new Jimmy Choo perfume was on the list!) and landed in Schipol in time for breakfast at McDonalds! From there it was off to JFK with Delta (codeshare KLM). Being brutally honest the flight from Schipol to JFK was the worst I have ever been  on! The aircraft was old and dirty, the stewardesses unkempt, no kid’s fun packs, the meal was inedible and the pre-booked kids meals did not materialise, apparently an oversight.  Worst of all no seat back TV’s on an 8 hour day flight with 2 kids! In my eyes it was a low cost carrier-  word of advice, when flying KLM to New York make sure it is not one of Delta’s older planes that they are code-sharing.

We got through the flight slightly frazzled but were back on an even keel when our stretch limo was waiting for us to take us in to the Big Apple. The driver played Frank Sinatra’s” New York “as we crossed the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan, me drinking champagne the kids on juice – a great experience for the kids having never been in a stretch limo.

The next treat was the hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, a 5 star oasis on the corner of Central Park. This award winning hotel, a relative newcomer to New York set tongues wagging across the city when it opened with 248 rooms and suites, a spa,  a 75ft indoor pool and contemporary dining.

New York has some fabulous activities for children, and being based at the Mandarin Oriental will set the scene, they go out of their way to make families feel at home with great kids menus, colouring activity packs, a DVD library and of course a swimming pool!

We were greeted on arrival with a welcome drink and home -made cookies with the girls names etched in chocolate. The excellent concierge team’s knowledge of family focused activities and restaurant recommendations was invaluable. This hotel has thought of everything, gifts for kids, they can even loan out gym gear if you have forgotten yours and have fictional reading books in the bedroom which you are welcome to take home with their compliments. Before retiring there is no better place to sit and enjoy a cocktail or milkshake than in the lobby lounge, with the dramatic skyline and central park as the backdrop…..it was simply perfect!

Next morning bright and early we headed off towards Fifth Avenue and a day of shopping – my eldest daughter had researched well – Juicy Couture, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy’s (bit disappointing, really have to rummage here) Bloomingdales (great with a 10% discount for overseas visitors and gifts for spending over US$ 200) and my teenage daughter’s new favourite – Forever 21 which I believe is  opening a store in Liverpool.

The highlight of the day for the youngest daughter was “The American Girl Place” shop.  This shop is the most amazing dolls shop in  the world. There is a whole variety of dolls with accessories to choose from,  your doll can even get her ears pierced. The Doll Hair Salon is where dolls get the special attention they deserve ,girls can choose from a variety of new hairdos for their dolls, and the stylists will make it happen. They can even pamper your girl’s doll with a package that makes her shine from facials to manicures!  This emporium gripped the youngest daughter and armed with her birthday money she had a great time spending!.

As a surprise I had booked us lunch at the store which was excellent; the dolls were given their own high chairs and crockery – everything was pink!  Starters was a healthy selection of crudités, a main course of mini burgers, pink lemonade and for desert the girls received heart shaped pink iced cakes and chocolate mousse served in flower pots and decorated with a daisy.  The adults menu was more sophisticated with steaks, salads and fish.  For US$ 24 per person this experience was excellent value but one which needs to be pre-booked as bookings are taken months in advance.

After a tiring day shopping we headed back to the hotel , had a quick swim and relax and went out to dine at a local Italian restaurant recommended by the hotel’s concierge and only a 5 minute walk away – excellent pizza and pasta.

The next morning escaping from the hustle and bustle of New York City we headed to Central Park, I had booked a 2 hour bike tour with guide before leaving the UK.  This was great fun and thoroughly enjoyable, the guide pointed out the homes of celebrities and the locations of film sets and really brought the park to life for us. The Hans Christian Anderson statue located within the park is designed for kids to climb on making it very popular with visitors also gathering around for storytelling.  The Central Wildlife Conservation Centre recently renovated with imaginative displays of animals is also a must with kids; the hotel will even pack a picnic for you although there are plenty of sandwich shops to stop at.

That afternoon it was a trip to the world famous toy emporium, FAO Schwarz, originally opened in 1870 this shop will delight even the biggest kids and then an afternoon stroll through Greenwich Village, stopping off at Ground Zero and the Empire State Building along the way.  Be sure to pre-book Empire State and include the New York Skyride – an awesome aerial tour of New York City that sends you on a ride around, above and even below all the city has to offer…

That night we strolled around Times Square taking in the bright lights and the atmosphere – there are some fabulous shows to see and a great variety for kids – Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins.  Dinner was a typical American feast at Planet Hollywood – the little one fell asleep at the dinner table.

Our last day dawned all too soon and we headed off down to the Hudson River to board “The Beast” a high speed large speedboat which takes you down the river at a high rate of knots twisting and turning – this was awesome, the kids thoroughly enjoyed and screamed with delight.   It was by far the best way to see the Statue of Liberty as the boat stops for a good 5 minutes allowing you to take some excellent photos – having previously been on a helicopter down the river I have to admit the speedboat at only US$ 14 each was by far the better experience – this excursion is in demand and so needs to be pre-booked.

All too soon it was time to return home. For the return back to the airport we took a New York yellow cab (US$45) which only took 45 minutes.  The return flight was thankfully not a codeshare so we enjoyed KLM’s fabulous service, well equipped planes with seat back TV’s, excellent in-flight meals – kids packs and ice-cream!

If anyone ever doubted that New York was a family destination I hope our experience proves that this city has something for everyone including kids.  May was a perfect time of year to go – great weather with the tourist hot spots and shops relatively quiet enabling us to take advantage of this great city.  Just a bite of the Big Apple will leave you hungry for more!