GrandHead to Morgans Hotel, Swansea’s grand boutique hotel located in the beautiful marine quarter with its sandy beach, promenade, children’s lido, leisure pool and museums. The hotel’s elegant traditional exterior belies the superbly modern

in knots, we paddled in kayaks out to where the ocean meets the reef; beachcombed for speckled cowrie shells; and swam in the pool under the shade of an immense Indian banyan tree. Children are well catered for at the Shanti Maurice with a club

AS THE LONG, lazy days of summer stretch ahead of us, how do you envisage filling the days? With idle pursuits like relaxing walks in the park, watching the leaves shimmering in the breeze, maybe a spot of rock-pooling or making footprints

at the Potting Shed for advice on bringing autumnal colour into your home. Time: 10.30am–5pm. Cost: £13 adult, £7 children 5–15 (castle and gardens). Ages: All. Tel: 01732 865224; www.hevercastle.co.uk3. Escape to Brownsea Island, an island in Poole Harbour

, eagle-eyed readers will soon pick up on another narrative unfolding in the background...    First stop on the tour is the penguin pool, where Batty’s diving fails to impress a Strictly-style panel of discerning judges. The gorillas’ and monkeys’ turf

shivering, or worse still, going blue around the lips. Fortunately, most leisure centres nowadays have separate pools specifically for babies and toddlers with the temperature of a lovely, warm bath.ToddlersAs your child moves into the toddler stage

swing open, then you enter. The steamy air is full of the delicious smells of tropical fruits, and there are giant water lilies with leaves the size of tabletops floating on the pool.This huge glasshouse really is a fascinating living larder, where you

of aroma. and so we discover fusion alya and its sister hotel fusion Maia. These places are all about deep, resonant luxury. Maia’s individual villas have private pools and gardens, espresso machines and meltingly soft beds. The huge infinity pools are set

country club, complete with idyllic swimming pool and poolside cocktails. After convincing his family that he has actually landed himself a summer job at the club, Greg's summer starts to pan out how he imagined, after all…Does it last? Well, this is a

. There was a choice of no less than four swimming pools and a buffet breakfast and supper at the hotel next to the apartments, which meant that rarely did all five of us sit down at the same time to eat, someone was always on the move getting that extra bread