Review: Asia Gardens, Alicante

Tell us what you’ve got

Five star, multi award-winning (Conde Nast Traveller voted it the best hotel in Europe for families in 2017) and with a roll call of celebrity guests (Bruce Willis, Penelope Cruz, Bruce Springsteen…), Asia Gardens is a cut above the city’s usual offerings. The entire resort is designed to reflect Asia with fragrant gardens, trickling waterfalls, wooden bridges, bamboo furniture, a Thai spa and a city backdrop that could easily be Hong Kong or Malaysia. It works. As well as seven pools and nine restaurants, Asia Gardens also has a kids’ club and a Champagne bar (put the kids in one and head to the other?).

Where do we sleep?

The resort has 311 rooms and suites in eight categories; some have hot tubs and lounges bigger than your average apartment; all have balconies. Our deluxe room feels more superior than the lowest grade at a generous 30sq metres and with a private terrace overlooking a waterfall (pictured below). Inside, the room has a king-size bed with pressed white sheets, a huge flat-screen and a bathroom with separate tub and shower cubicle hidden behind sliding bamboo doors. Open the doors to take a bath while keeping an eye on your offspring; close them for privacy. Genius. Amenities are from The White Company. As soon as we see them, we curse ourselves for not remembering our son’s shampoo - the next morning we return from breakfast to find kids shampoo and a bar of green soap shaped like an alligator on the bathroom counter.

Wine & dine us

Whether ordering beers to sip poolside, dining alfresco while lanterns and large orange fish float past you in the stream or sitting at a formal table with white pristine table cloths, you certainly won’t starve at Asia Gardens. From casual buffets to fine dining (where children are banned) and everything else in between, it’s easy to find your groove. Most of the restaurants also have their own kids’ menu with freshly-made pizzas, chicken nuggets, burgers and ice-cream. Breakfast is a marvellous affair – a buffet with an omelette/pancake/waffle station, fancy yoghurts, an entire section of freshly-baked pastries, a whole area of fresh fruit, and Champagne to help yourself to. There’s loads of juices too – try Champagne with a dash of Papaya juice and start the day off with a zing.

Verdict

If, like me, you are an exhausted parent who can’t afford a long-haul holiday (or be bothered to wrangle a three-year-old onto a 12-hour flight), Asia Gardens is just the ticket. 

10/10