Free vs paid kids clubs: what to check before you book

"Kids club" might be the most abused phrase in family travel. It can mean a genuine, staffed, all-day club that gives you a real break. Or a room with a few crayons that opens for two hours if enough people turn up. And sometimes it costs 50 to 100 euros a day per child, which quietly changes the price of your whole holiday. Here is how to tell them apart before you book.

The first question is the obvious one, and the one hotels are cagey about: is the club included, or is it extra? A resort that looks cheaper can end up dearer once you add a paid club for two kids across a week. When we score a hotel, a genuinely free club scores far higher than a paid one, because that is how a family actually lives it.

The trouble is that a real club and a token one describe themselves the same way online. These questions separate them:

• What hours does it run? All day (roughly 9 to 6) is a real club. Two hours after lunch is a babysitting slot.
• Is it split by age? Good clubs separate toddlers from older kids. One room for ages 3 to 12 works for nobody.
• What is the staff-to-child ratio? A vague answer is a bad sign.
• Do you need to book, and is there a summer waiting list? Popular free clubs fill up.
• Is there an evening session? A mini-disco is what buys the grown-ups dinner.

A free club that runs a full day, split by age, is worth more to a family than a spa, a sea view, or a second pool. It is the one feature that turns a holiday with kids into a holiday.

Then match it to the age: a brilliant club is wasted on a baby who cannot use it, and a toddler club bores a ten year old. Every hotel here shows the ages it really suits, so you can see at a glance whether the club fits your children, not just whether it exists. Our free-club picks are just below.