Family freedoms
at La Manga

La Manga Club in Spain is a training ground for the Beckhams, Pinsents and other giants of the sporting world. But, as Paul Gogarty discovered, it’s also a great place for a family holiday.

If 16 years of family holidays have taught me anything, it’s to be realistic about what you're likely to get. La Manga Club in southern Spain doesn’t run to Picasso museums, culinary romps or flamenco dancing but neither – despite lurid headlines to the contrary – does it have resident rampaging footballers making their passage from back page heroics to front page infamy.

La Manga works best for those holidaymakers who a) like to take their sports in seriously large quantities and b) want everything close to hand so planning the day needs no more thought than ebbing and flowing between golf links, tennis courts, swimming pools, beach, bars and restaurants.

Unfortunately La Manga’s image in recent years has been somewhat tarnished by badly-behaved soccer stars – chiefly from Leicester City Football Club. La Manga’s MD, Tony Coles, has understandably said that Leicester City will not be invited back.

The fact that another 120 European football teams – including Real Madrid and the England national team – have used the resort without incident, hasn’t had quite the same media attention. Neither has the fact that La Manga Club is also the official winter home of the Lawn Tennis Association – and that regular visitors include Matthew Pinsent, Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham, David Coulthard, Alec Stewart and Sean Connery.

La Manga spreads itself out over 1,220 verdant acres – roughly the size of the municipality of Monaco – allowing plenty of room for its eight football pitches, three 18-hole championship golf courses, 28 tennis courts, spa and gym, numerous swimming pools, riding stables, climbing walls, mountain bike tracks, bowling green, squash courts and its own beach. It even has two cricket pitches – approved by the English Cricket Board and complete with scoreboards and practice nets.

Our holiday base was a three-bedroomed apartment in the resort’s Las Lomas Village. The reason we chose self catering over La Manga’s Hyatt hotel was firstly because it was considerably cheaper and secondly to better facilitate the staggered comings and goings of two teenage children and various friends. We arrived as a party of three, the next day we had grown to four, and a couple of days later we had our full contingent of six.

Although a shuttle mini coach runs every half hour to the scattered facilities around the resort, we oriented ourselves with a drive past in our hire car. En route we popped into the tennis centre to book courts and were shocked to discover none of the 28 were available outside the scorching Spanish hours of noon to 4pm. It was our first important lesson: during peak school holidays, the best restaurant terraces, the favoured teeing off times, and all the tennis courts are booked weeks ahead.

That first day in La Manga Club we ended up playing at 3pm and sweated several kilos away.  On subsequent days I rang early in the morning and asked for cancellations. By scavenging in this manner we usually managed to book at reasonable playing hours on the clay courts. My tip – if you’re planning a trip yourself – is to book everything well ahead of departure.

On several evenings we ate in our apartment but on other occasions we sneakily fed the children and then slipped away for adults-only meals at a number of the resort’s restaurants. On our first evening out we managed to nab a terrace table – and the finest views in the resort – by booking for 10pm in the newly-opened Indian restaurant that sits atop the spa complex at Las Lomas. We also ate under the stars, overlooking the most delightful of coves at La Cala, as well as on the terrace of the Hyatt’s Amapola restaurant with views over the golf links to the Mar Menor, a saltwater lagoon. While we were indulging in our romantic meals, the children were coming and going between the Games Zone, clubs and bars.