Sara Cox's holiday heaven and hell. Sara Cox loves the Indian Ocean and the south of France, but for a child-friendly break, Center Parcs is a family favourite.
Great holidays…
Childcare is pretty important now. If there's no kids' club it's a much tougher break
Which was your best holiday?
My partner, Ben, and I took my daughter, Lola, to Mauritius a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. You can't beat the Indian Ocean. Walking into it feels like walking into a painting of what a beach holiday should look like. The only problem was that as the hotel was pretty posh there was no kids' club, so before we got down to the beach Lola kept saying, "I want to go home." She was fine, though, once she was in the sea. Another great break was with a girlfriend to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest. It was just the two of us and three kids between us, but the place is so ridiculously family-friendly that we had the best time. Of all the places Lola's been to – and that includes Antigua and Miami – it's the holiday she talks about most.
And the best hotel you've stayed in?
We went to Florida last year, staying at the Boca Raton Resort before travelling up to Disney World, and it was bliss. It had a brilliant kids' club, so I was able to spend a few hours undisturbed relaxing by the pool with a book. I look back now at all those holidays I used to have with girlfriends when we'd just relax all day and not have anyone to look after . . . but life moves on and I wouldn't change it for the world.
What do you need for a perfect holiday?
Childcare is pretty important now. If there's no kids' club it's a much tougher break. I love those huge breakfast buffets with fresh fruit and massive plates of papayas.
What do you always take with you?
I'm a big reader, so I'll always take four or five books, which is usually a bit ambitious.
What's your best piece of travel advice?
Don't leave home without a Pashmina; you can throw it over the kids to keep them warm or bunch it up into a pillow.
Where do you want to go next?
Ben has stated that we're never getting on an aeroplane again now that we have three children. His dad has a really child-friendly place in the south of France that we visit often, and we'll probably keep going there. If we can get rid of the kids for a few days, we quite fancy a long weekend in New York for some grown-up time.
… and disasters?
Which was your worst holiday?
On one trip to the south of France, when I was just pregnant with Isaac, I got a horrendous stomach upset and the whole holiday was a washout. I had to go and have blood tests and my poor other half had to look after Lola because I was so ill. We were worried about the health of the unborn baby, as I wasn't getting any nutrition because I just couldn't keep any food inside me. But in the end I was OK and there were no problems.
The funniest thing happened in the French medical centre. We went into a room and started trying to speak to a doctor who didn't speak a word of English. We eventually realised that we'd walked into the wrong room and were speaking to a therapist in the psychiatry wing.
What was your worst experience on holiday?
I went to Cyprus with a friend and her family when we were about 16. She was riding on the back of a scooter we'd hired when we got surrounded by local boys on their scooters down a dark country lane. They tried to get us to pull over. To this day I think: "God knows what would have happened if we hadn't just steered around them and kept going." I thought, "There is no way I'm stopping", and it was really sinister and scary. I think a car started to come the other way and they gave up, but it was really threatening and it makes me terrified for my own little girls in the future.
What was your biggest packing mistake?
When I was a bit more of a nervous mum and Lola was about four months old, I went away with her and filled three quarters of my suitcase with cartons of baby milk as I was so paranoid that I wouldn't be able to get the right sort of milk abroad. None of it leaked, but it was a ridiculous amount of weight of milk going through security.
The worst hotel you've stayed in?
When I was working for Radio 1 in Ibiza I stayed in a horrible place with a tiny window and really noisy air conditioning – the last thing you need in Ibiza, where you're often a little bit the worse for wear at the end of the night.
What do you avoid on holidays?
Stag dos. Especially ones where the blokes shout: "Oi, oi, Coxy." It happened when I was trying to relax in a hot tub in a nice hotel in Miami. I'm all for people saying hello, but I'm a 35-year-old mum of three, so all that "Oi, oi, Coxy" stuff is getting a bit embarrassing now.
What do you hate about holidays?
Unpacking. It sometimes takes me a fortnight to unpack. I find it so depressing. A bit of sand will come out of a shoe and it'll just take me back to where we were: lovely and relaxed on holiday. ( telegraph.co.uk )
Great holidays…
Childcare is pretty important now. If there's no kids' club it's a much tougher break
Which was your best holiday?
My partner, Ben, and I took my daughter, Lola, to Mauritius a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. You can't beat the Indian Ocean. Walking into it feels like walking into a painting of what a beach holiday should look like. The only problem was that as the hotel was pretty posh there was no kids' club, so before we got down to the beach Lola kept saying, "I want to go home." She was fine, though, once she was in the sea. Another great break was with a girlfriend to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest. It was just the two of us and three kids between us, but the place is so ridiculously family-friendly that we had the best time. Of all the places Lola's been to – and that includes Antigua and Miami – it's the holiday she talks about most.
And the best hotel you've stayed in?
We went to Florida last year, staying at the Boca Raton Resort before travelling up to Disney World, and it was bliss. It had a brilliant kids' club, so I was able to spend a few hours undisturbed relaxing by the pool with a book. I look back now at all those holidays I used to have with girlfriends when we'd just relax all day and not have anyone to look after . . . but life moves on and I wouldn't change it for the world.
What do you need for a perfect holiday?
Childcare is pretty important now. If there's no kids' club it's a much tougher break. I love those huge breakfast buffets with fresh fruit and massive plates of papayas.
What do you always take with you?
I'm a big reader, so I'll always take four or five books, which is usually a bit ambitious.
What's your best piece of travel advice?
Don't leave home without a Pashmina; you can throw it over the kids to keep them warm or bunch it up into a pillow.
Where do you want to go next?
Ben has stated that we're never getting on an aeroplane again now that we have three children. His dad has a really child-friendly place in the south of France that we visit often, and we'll probably keep going there. If we can get rid of the kids for a few days, we quite fancy a long weekend in New York for some grown-up time.
… and disasters?
Which was your worst holiday?
On one trip to the south of France, when I was just pregnant with Isaac, I got a horrendous stomach upset and the whole holiday was a washout. I had to go and have blood tests and my poor other half had to look after Lola because I was so ill. We were worried about the health of the unborn baby, as I wasn't getting any nutrition because I just couldn't keep any food inside me. But in the end I was OK and there were no problems.
The funniest thing happened in the French medical centre. We went into a room and started trying to speak to a doctor who didn't speak a word of English. We eventually realised that we'd walked into the wrong room and were speaking to a therapist in the psychiatry wing.
What was your worst experience on holiday?
I went to Cyprus with a friend and her family when we were about 16. She was riding on the back of a scooter we'd hired when we got surrounded by local boys on their scooters down a dark country lane. They tried to get us to pull over. To this day I think: "God knows what would have happened if we hadn't just steered around them and kept going." I thought, "There is no way I'm stopping", and it was really sinister and scary. I think a car started to come the other way and they gave up, but it was really threatening and it makes me terrified for my own little girls in the future.
What was your biggest packing mistake?
When I was a bit more of a nervous mum and Lola was about four months old, I went away with her and filled three quarters of my suitcase with cartons of baby milk as I was so paranoid that I wouldn't be able to get the right sort of milk abroad. None of it leaked, but it was a ridiculous amount of weight of milk going through security.
The worst hotel you've stayed in?
When I was working for Radio 1 in Ibiza I stayed in a horrible place with a tiny window and really noisy air conditioning – the last thing you need in Ibiza, where you're often a little bit the worse for wear at the end of the night.
What do you avoid on holidays?
Stag dos. Especially ones where the blokes shout: "Oi, oi, Coxy." It happened when I was trying to relax in a hot tub in a nice hotel in Miami. I'm all for people saying hello, but I'm a 35-year-old mum of three, so all that "Oi, oi, Coxy" stuff is getting a bit embarrassing now.
What do you hate about holidays?
Unpacking. It sometimes takes me a fortnight to unpack. I find it so depressing. A bit of sand will come out of a shoe and it'll just take me back to where we were: lovely and relaxed on holiday. ( telegraph.co.uk )
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