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When choosing a family holiday, we all want perfect weather, clean and good quality accommodation, a resort offering plenty to do to keep us entertained, and punctual, comfortable flights.

But for parents, there’s something else that could prove equally as important as all of the above – and that’s kids’ clubs. For parents of toddlers, young children – and even younger teenagers – kids clubs can be invaluable while away on holiday or a week or two weeks.

After all, holidays aren’t just for kids. It’s vital that parents relax too and the inclusion of kids clubs in the deal means that Mum and Dad get a nice break during the day. There’s a reason so many holiday providers are keen to promote hotels that offer entertainment for kids – fortunately there are plenty of options around. If you’re planning a beach holiday with the family either for later this year or even looking ahead into plans for 2017, ensuring entertainment is on hand will probably be high up the agenda.

Not all kids clubs are the same, of course, so spending some time researching what certain hotels offer can really pay off. For example, before you book with Travel Republic read the details and also their recommendations. In one of their recent blogs, the website nominated a selection of summer hotels perfect the family. One of those was the H10 Mediterranean Village in Salou, Spain, which runs four different clubs spanning a range of ages – Baby, Mini, Junior and Teen. Absolutely perfect if you’re holidaying with more than one child, and if there’s an age gap between them!

The age aspect is a good point, of course. As parents of growing children know all too well, usually the older kids get the more difficult it is to keep them engaged and entertained while away. While younger children will love to spend hours drawing and crafting, playing games and learning songs or dance routines, older kids and teens will very probably be totally horrified at the notion of doing the same. If you’re not careful, they’ll spend a couple of weeks slouching around by the pool table, doing little other than glaring sullenly and complaining of being bored.

Bear this mind when selecting your holiday. Teenagers will expect something different. Some ideal club activities might include beach volleyball tournaments, ten-pin bowling sessions, and accompanied excursions to the cinema, pizzeria, karting track, or a waterpark. Not even the grumpiest of teens can resist a waterpark – especially if the park in question is as spectacular as one of these, selected by the Guardian.

Ultimately, the decision over whether to use a kids club or not comes to parental choice – and the preference of the children, too. Such clubs can divide opinion – as this article on mumsnet demonstrates, some families see a holiday as the perfect time to bond together while others accept that their kids need to interact and mix with other kids. A happy medium might be booking children in for particular activity sessions every day, so they’re kept occupied and entertained for a couple of hours, allowing parents some well-needed chill-out time!

NB: This is a collaborative post