Founder of Hip & Healthy, Sadie, gives her verdict on the ultimate healthy holiday at Forte Village. Wellbeing for families on vacation has never been better!
My two biggest loves in my life are often hard to merge together. You see, being really into healthy, active living rarely fits in with my wonderful family life. Take mornings for example… Gone are the days when I could wake up at the crack of dawn (out of choice), head out on a run followed by a delicious homemade smoothie and bowl of lovingly made porridge. Instead mornings go a little more like this; wake up at the crack of dawn entirely not out of choice (a dawn so early it’s still dark at the height of summer) as my son has risen and wants to make sure that we are up too, the next two hours that follow are a blur of nappy changes, pajama wrestling, milk spillages, teeth-brushing tantrums, too much cartoon watching and not enough breakfast eating plus the odd lost toy that we must all immediately stop what we are doing to find before we have a meltdown of Britney Spears standard to deal with.
So, you can imagine the challenge we face when trying to book a holiday that not only is fun for the little one but also allows mama and papa some proper down time too. Which is why I was absolutely thrilled to find Forte Village in Sardinia. I first discovered it when I was writing an article for Condé Nast Traveller’s Body & Soul section as it has become renowned for offering some of the most fantastic sporting facilities in Europe (the Chelsea Football team, Wimbledon tennis stars and athletes all flock here to train). As I delved deeper into the research of the resort I realized that it was as strong on its sports/spa side as it was catering for kids. A haven for health-loving parents as well as their little pickles, could it be true? Once I heard about their six-pool Thalassotherapy Centre, I was willing to take the risk and find out.
After a two-hour plane ride with a toddler that won’t sit still longer than he’ll eat a biscuit, we were driven to the resort about 45 minutes away from the airport passing flamingos and fishermen on the root. The view from our room was spectacular, staying in the Castello Hotel part of the resort we benefited from a 4th floor balcony that was inline with the beautiful pine tree line and overlooked the ocean. The travel cot was already made up as we got in – this was certainly a place that new what it was doing. We all napped immediately.
For Kids
The resort could not be more welcoming to children. They have their own restaurant, kids club and swimming pools, they even have their own mini village. Plus there was a constant supply of toys for the beach. Not to mention they are welcome everywhere – making our lives so incredibly easy. We went out of season too, which meant that we had most of these areas to ourselves . We took Max with us to dinner, where Peppa Pig playing on iPads was a frequent sighting that made you feel better about your own child’s screen time knowing that everyone else out there does exactly the same thing in order to steal a bit of “grown-up” time.
Wellbeing For Adults
If you are in need of a little spa therapy, your first stop at Forte Village has to be the incredible Thalassotherapy pools; six pools that all harness the power and potency of the sea’s unique healing powers. My husband’s bad back, which has been bothering him for months, was genuinely cured after just one circuit. Whether you allow yourself to be pummeled and massaged by the powerful jets or just bob atop the surface of one of the floatation pools, you’ll notice it’s therapeutic effects straight away.
The Acquaforte Thalasso Spa itself caters for a wide range of wellbeing requests from dreamy Sisley treatments to physiotherapy and even a health food bar. But if that is not active enough for you they are not short on fitness options either. Their state of the art fitness center will have you working up a sweat using newly refurbished equipment, or you can enjoy tennis, cycling, golf and even football within the grounds of the resort. Not to mention, diving and watersports for ocean lovers.
Verdict: We will most definitely come back next year. I’m already looking forward to sipping my fruit smoothie on a sun lounger whilst my son happily plays in front of me on the beach…
Book your holiday to Forte Village here!