MARK WARNER PHOKAIA BEACH RESORT

Where oh where do I begin with our Mark Warner break? There is so much to talk about that I'm going to be dividing the posts up over the next few weeks, with this being a general round up of our thoughts on the entire trip. If you're here looking for the in-depth reviews of the childcare, facilities, hotel or food then stick around and hold tight as I want to give them the detail they deserve. So, cast your minds back to March when we were selected to be Mark Warner ambassadors, it was a huge deal for me as we're so passionate about travel and showing our boys as much of the world as we can - we were delighted. Even more so when we realised we'd be headed to the brand new resort in Foca, Turkey, only opening a mere month before we made our trip, I knew it was going to be something special. And that it was.

We arrived at the resort incredibly late at night, we were all exhausted, hot and a little grumpy after experiencing painful delays. I was pretty shocked to see that the manager Sue was still up and raring to greet everyone with drinks, she was warm and welcoming and immediately put us all at ease. We'd already been checked in whilst we were on the coach - a fantastic idea that I've never experienced before, it meant that when we arrived we could just whizz off to our rooms and sleep, which when you have kids in tow at three o'clock in the morning, it was genius. In our rooms was a huge platter of fruit, a bottle of wine and sandwiches for us all, another touch that didn't have to be there yet it was and that seemed to be the precedent for Mark Warner - going the extra mile when so many others wouldn't.

The next morning was a flurry of welcome meetings, all very casual and truly setting the tone of the resort in that you could do as much or as little as you would like. We met the childrens nannies and key workers, toured the facilities and took in our surroundings. Phokaia beach resort is just incredible, from the gardens and beach to the pool and bars, everything is immaculate and in pristine condition. Not a discarded cup in sight, something I've found plague any all inclusive resort we've visited in the past. The restaurants never disappointed and the element of having a 'high tea' solely for children just that little bit earlier, is fantastic, we took full use of the service as did many other parents as there seemed to be the same group of us in there each evening. Me and John could sit back and relax with a drink, whilst the boys ate a little more of a child friendly buffet. Also - the chocolate pudding to die for!

The whole holiday truly felt like a holiday thanks to the kids clubs, the boys got a good amount of play with us and then play with the nannies, whilst we too got a perfect balance of making memories with our rumbustious boys and enjoying time together as a couple. I didn't come away feeling like I needed a whole other break to recover, which has definitely been a feeling after previous holidays let me tell you. Holidaying with two very young children is never going to be smooth sailing but I think we got as close to a bump-less ride as we'll ever get, by holidaying with Mark Warner. The whole trip was faultless, on the coach journey home I spoke with John and we genuinely couldn't come up with even one single thing that could be improved, it felt like a holiday that was full of extras. Little things like the food on arrival, being able to use the childcare park and pool yourself when a session isn't on, the constant 'is there anything else we can do for you' atmosphere really engulfed the resort.

I'm so grateful that we got to experience this as their ambassadors, having always flitted between all inclusive or my parents villa in Javea, a half board / full board holiday was a new concept but it's ultimately one that we'd do over and over again. We felt free to do what we pleased and get involved with as much or as little as we liked. We'e only been back a mere few days and I'm already finding myself lingering over the booking pages for next year, I think a MW holiday has now set our bar pretty high and it's going to be hard to beat the week we've just had.

*We were guests at the Mark Warner resort as part of our role as ambassadors this year, however all opinions are entirely my own and whilst this is the first MW holiday we've been on, it wont be the last.