Holidays can often serve up new passions. For my baby son Theodore, our first family trip abroad at Halkidiki’s Sani Resort was about to reveal a newfound (and rather tasty) pastime to explore.
With 26 restaurants across its five properties – from Michelin-starred fine dining to beach bar bites – featuring an enhanced children’s menu courtesy of kids’ nutrition and recipe guru Annabel Karmel, Sani’s culinary credentials are a cut above.
It’s early October as Theodore, my wife Laura and I arrive for our stay at Sani Club, nestled into the luscious hillside along the Kassandra Peninsula coastline with sweeping views of the Aegean below.
At eight months old, Theodore is just a handful of weeks into weaning. Parents can attest to the satisfaction of seeing your little one trying out their taste buds – but also the panic-inducing side too. From choking scares, to the pressures of providing a varied menu. At times, the whole process can feel like running a restaurant with only one (somewhat unpredictable) customer.
Sani Club is one of the five hotels that make up Sani Resort
Luckily, with Sani and Karmel’s partnership, there’s a smorgasbord of flavours and fun for our “Little Guest” (as the resort playfully refers to children) to have his formative foray as a foodie.
BABY STEPS
After getting stuck in to his usual combo of banana and yoghurt (Greek, of course) at breakfast on our first morning, Theodore gets a first taste of his new lunching lifestyle as we lounge poolside.
After a splash, Sani Club’s nearby Club Lounge restaurant provides the perfect outlet for peckish parents. While Mummy and Daddy plump for a gyros wrap and shrimp tacos, the options for Theodore are no less enticing – with four purees of Karmel’s making to choose from (with baby food complimentary and served blended or textured).
We opt for a sea bass puree with carrots, sweet potato and tomato, which arrives in a bowl big enough to fill me up. With the little man perched on the end of the sunbed he takes a first mouthful, and a yellowy, stodgy smear appears across his face as his smile widens into a grin. It’s a look we’ll see frequently during our stay.
Theodore samples one of Annabel Karmel’s creations
Karmel began working with Sani in 2019 and last summer unveiled her latest culinary creation for the resort, Little Guests Taste Adventures.
Available across nearly all of Sani’s eateries, her newest mouthwatering offerings range from crunchy fishcakes and sugar snap peas to glazed salmon fillet and Chinese-style veggie rice and hidden vegetable Bolognese. Although not quite old enough for most of her recipes, Theodore takes a particular liking to Karmel’s chicken, broccoli and potato bites (with which he takes equal pleasure in crumbling all over the table as he does in scoffing them).
Sani’s app handily marks its child-friendly venues with a teddy bear and you can peruse menus before visiting, while a wide range of dietary requirements, such as vegan, vegetarian and free-from are catered for and clearly labelled.
According to Karmel, the aim of her menus is to “lift a little bit of the mental load”, giving parents time off from the day-to-day of preparing family meals. “Holidays provide an opportunity for families to relax, let loose from their busy daily routines, and experience lots of new things together. Good food should be a core part of this,” she told TTG last year.
TIME TO RELAX
The same approach permeates throughout Sani and the experience and service it offers guests with little ones. At Sani Club, the Club Lounge’s poolside service is a convenient option and one we see a number of families with small children taking advantage of – with parents not having to disturb an all-important nap, or drag children away from the pool to sit at the table.
Lunch is served for Theodore, Tom and Laura around the pool
From the warm smiles and playful interactions by staff with children at the breakfast buffet, to an abundance of high chairs and baby-friendly cutlery always on hand, to offering tables in quieter areas when your little guest is snoozing over mealtimes, there’s a relaxed atmosphere in every Sani venue we visit, which goes some way to putting your own parental anxieties at ease.
An early evening sitting at Sani Club’s shore-side Cabana restaurant is a prime example, with fellow diners not batting an eyelid as our son provides his own ambience and makes it known – rather vocally – he’d like his bedtime milk, and as he wriggles on daddy’s knee mid-bottle, our waiter smiles and doesn’t miss a beat as he serves up fresh crab pasta, piece by piece.
AND SO TO BED
Besides what little ones eat, how they sleep is also an important part to any successful – and stress-free – holiday experience and one Sani takes equally as seriously.
Guests staying at the recently revamped Porto Sani can take advantage of complimentary advice calls, pre-stay and during, from child sleep expert Carol Mae.
Having the chance to speak to Carol, we feel the benefits before we even finish packing our suitcases, with a friendly half-hour filled with useful tips – of which keeping Theodore on his UK schedule despite the time change proves invaluable.
Sani Club has a range of accommodation to suit different family sizes
Also worth its weight in gold (and your baggage allowance) is Sani’s Pack Light service with a raft of essentials able to be arranged – such as a bottle warmer, steriliser, changing mats, bath seats and white noise machine – ready on arrival.
With its creches run to UK Ofsted standard and beach “Babewatch” service (complimentary for 30 minutes), Sani has you covered across many of your parental responsibilities.
Down at Sani Club’s beach, and as Theodore and I play with a set of brightly coloured beach toys (even more handy in-resort offerings), the little man is in his element as he buries his toes and runs his fingers through the golden sand.
It seems the only thing Sani can’t prevent is your little ones eating the stuff. If I’m honest, I’m as surprised as anyone that he has the room to spare after everything he’s sampled over the last few days. Perhaps it’s his way of telling us it’s time for dessert? Maybe next year, Theodore…
Book it: Sovereign Luxury Travel offers packages starting from £2,001pp (based on two sharing) for a seven-night stay at Sani Club on full-board with flights departing London Gatwick on 25 April 2024; sovereign.com