The iPad case snapped shut as our Ryanair jet eased onto Murcia’s runway.
Would this be the last time that the tinny tones of fantasy football and Peppa Pig would be heard during our five days in La Manga? I was hoping so.
In this sporty playground on the sundrenched corner of southeastern Spain, we found so much for the whole family to do together.
During a half-term filled with golf, tennis, swimming, walks and long, chatty meals, we remembered why we like each other when we’re not arguing over homework and putting coats on and being late.
Admittedly, it didn’t start according to plan: La Manga enjoys 320 days of sunshine every year (although its verdant golf courses wouldn’t suggest so) — but we landed in a downpour, stepping through mini ponds in the airport car park. It rained throughout the half-hour journey from Murcia airport to check in at the Grand Hyatt La Manga Club Golf & Spa, a vast hotel built in 1993 and dramatically and expensively renovated in 2023. It is set in 1,400 stunning acres.
The sun came out just as we set off to explore those acres: three pools, a sweeping spa, and the nearby Racquets Club with 41 courts — mostly clay for tennis, plus padel and pickleball — and three championship golf courses where families are genuinely welcome.
La Manga sits in a remarkable geography, nestled in a valley between rugged hills. From the sunny breakfast veranda, we looked out over a spit — so narrow it seemed like buildings were rising from the sea — separating the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor.
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Nearby the Calblanque Regional Park is perfect for hiking. It needed to be quite the draw to entice us to leave the confines of the manicured La Manga resort.
After that wet start, the sun shone strongly throughout our May half-term stay, the temperature hovering around 25 degrees celsius: perfect for sunny pool time, and pleasantly sweaty for ball games.
The days fell into a rhythm: a pre-breakfast family run or stroll around the beautiful golf courses (before the later risk of being ball-struck). A leisurely buffet breakfast — this really stood out amongst the Hyatt’s vast food offering: flaky croissants, an array of local cheeses and meats; carafes of just-squeezed orange juice; smoothies, churros, egg station, and fresh cut melons, kiwis and oranges that were so sweet they didn’t seem related to their London supermarket equivalents going by the same name.
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Next, a flop at the pool. Options included a chilled infinity one for adults, and a vast family pool where lifeguards offered inflatable swans and flamingos, and the 3m-deep end left adults and kids alike diving and water-bombing all day. It was unheated, but unlike other resorts where this has led to tantrums (me) over my kids’ refusal to swim, when I’ve spent what feels like £3.2 billion on swimming lessons, here the sun easily warmed up the pool to a temperature that was easy to slide into.
It was hard to peel the kids away, but La Manga’s sporting facilities could do it.
First up was a family golf lesson with former Scottish PGA pro Craig Donnelly. He runs La Manga’s golf academy, and as a father of two, very clearly understood kids’ psyche to the extent where my three were all quickly enjoying the fun of a driving range, despite our collective previous experience being a few rounds of crazy golf.
Craig had us all — even our needing-a-nap five-year-old — understanding the basics of hitting with drivers and irons. Gamification, where their green-struck balls appeared on the nearby screen to be exploding cars, had them all hooked. Craig even secretly gave our youngest a score booster, leaving her elder brothers looking on in awe as she appeared to smash their scores.
It was just as much fun for the adults, with tips about our drive, angle of strike, no jargon and loads of fun, plus Trackman tech that had us comparing ourselves to McIlroy et al. We resolved to book in family golf time again when back at home.
We also loved the Racquets Club, a ten-minute walk from the Grand Hyatt’s front door. British couple Nick and Sally Munns bought the club in 2021, spruced up the neglected one-time palace of tennis (La Manga used to be the winter training base of Britain’s LTA) — and have brought it back to a buzzy, pristine community club.
Local boy Carlos Alcaraz was hitting here the week before we arrived. My youngest son and I lapped up a lesson from skilled coach Gregorio, chasing backhands on lobster-red clay courts.
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The next afternoon, all the family got involved: English coach Trudie had our kids giggling and learning stroke technique simultaneously via games like zombie tennis. On the court next door, my husband and I had our backhands honed. A kids’ club near the tennis courts allows parents to play solo, whilst Easter, half term and summer holidays play host to children’s (and adults’) week-long tennis and padel camps. But courts were reasonable and easy to book, making the ideal chance to play sports as a family, a respite from the busy individual timetables of home life.
And in between all the activities? We feasted around the resort: the Grand Hyatt hotel hosts 11 restaurants and we tried most of them. Stepping out of the chic marble lobby into the Don Luigi trattoria felt like strolling into a Disney version of Puglia: we played UNO under the wooden shutters of a fairytale Italian nonna’s pad, enjoying burrata starters built by charismatic waiters table-side, fresh sea bass and creamy tortellini, plus excellent sorbet and panna cotta for dessert.
A highlight was a trip to La Cala beach restaurant, poking out of a cliff to the glorious backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. In this packed gem of a restaurant, we ate fresh seabass, just-off-the-grill vegetables, crunchy chicken salad and very garlicky sauces, to the soundtrack of a roaring sea, then combed rock pools and played in the beachside caves before catching a short (free) shuttle back to the hotel.
Evenings spanned a trip to Asia a restaurant serving gyoza, Peking duck and pad thai- and the Grand Terrace Grill, where each cut of meat was paraded tableside, butter-soft tenderloins joined by barbecued veg, and an old-fashioned dessert trolley kept our kids - knackered from a day of sports and swimming - going until they crashed into bed.
Rooms — there are 192 — are spacious and modern, with a white and wood palette that makes a welcome reprieve from the heat and sports. So too was the Alma spa, whose bubbly hydrotherapy pool opened to the whole family for two hours each afternoon.
The kids loved being allowed into a normally-adults-only space, swimming in shoulder-pummelling jets — and I slipped off for a ‘vitamin facial’, falling asleep in the warm bed after scrubs, sprays and a mask with Spanish brand Natura Bisse deep-cleansed days of suncream and rays.
There’s something pleasantly old fashioned about the La Manga resort. The hotel has its stunning modern decor, emerald velvet sofas and artistic touches that leave you rethinking your own home’s style. But it also has friendly, bustling staff who appear to have been running the place for years, established horticulture that has been enjoyed by decades of holidaymakers, and a sense that everything is set up for family enjoyment.
There’s a room full of creative toys, puzzles and a mini playground next to the pool, where you can duck in for some time out of the sun with your kids. The closest you get to traffic is a few golf buggies in a row, so the children enjoy playing hide and seek and football around the grounds.
We took a single trip out of La Manga, for an evening exploring Cabo de Palos, strolling this eminently walkable town with a lighthouse, and dining on tuna burgers and John Dory oceanside nearby at Bocana de Palos.
Mostly, though, we stayed very happily ensconced in La Manga, where playing, sweating and feasting together feels like a true family holiday.
Oh and as for the devices? They stayed in the suitcases from day one. Mission accomplished.
Two adults and two children in a family room at the Grand Hyatt La Manga costs from £556 per night for a three-night stay in July, room-only. Discounts and resort eating credit for longer stays. Book it here
