Recently we visited the Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche to check out its new kids’ club. The resort is known for its highly rated golf course, which is home to an advanced golf training center. And its convenient for Brits – our journey from South London via an EasyJet Heathrow flight was four hours door to door. But can a high-end resort like this set in such romantic surroundings – the air is literally perfumed with lavendar and rosemary – make families feel welcome?
In our experience, it not only can but that this resort devotes itself to family fun during the summer months and school breaks. (Four Seasons organised two of our flights and we stayed as its guest, but the opinions in this post are my own.)
Earlier this summer the resort opened the freestanding kids’ club building off the golf course. It’s secure (a staff member unlocks the door for visitors) and there are loads of adult helpers around playing with the children, including a very tan, very buff lifeguard who was playing with the kiddies in the pool during swim time. The activities here are varied, if slightly more geared to kids up to age 6 or so. There’s also a small, unsupervised playground near the main building perhaps best suited for 3 to 5 year olds.
During the summer this Four Seasons becomes quite family oriented, which is what really put us at ease. There were children everywhere, from babies in high chairs on the terrace, to teens playing golf with dad on the course, to the kids’ evening buffet on the patio. We watched a free, very impressive trained parrot show one early evening; another evening Wall*E played on a big screen on the patio while the kids ran around, played ping pong and air hockey and generally had a grand time. The staff appear to actually like children here, which makes the whole stay more fun.
Hand-in-hand with that relaxation are luxury touches: poolside, attendants come by with cool drinks, chilled cloths and atomisers to spritz your face with water (!). Staffers whisk you by cart to the spa, to the golf clubhouse overlooking a lake populated by swans black and white, and to the kids’ club. The Albatros Golf Performance Center at the far end of the resort is home to a David Ledbetter Golf Academy and a BioMecaSwing Assessment. The children got a BioMecaSwing treatment during their group golf taster ( €30 for an hour). The instructor video’ed their swings then played it back to them, drawing on the image to show where the club should start and end and where their heads should be. Very effective.
There are complimentary organised pursuits for children and for families that mean you could spend all your time at the pool and enjoying free activities – tours of the local market, petanque, table tennis, air hockey, the fabulous parrot show on the patio and more. Other activities like the tennis and golf lessons and evening pony rides have a tariff. You can also strike out on your own for outings nearby: horseriding and paddleboating around the nearby lake, visiting galleries at the charming St Paul de Vence and beyond.
We spoke with one family who enjoyed the resort and the area so much they were there for the fourth time with their 7-year-old and new baby.
The father did mention that he noticed a few blips in service this time round – soy milk they’d arranged for their baby ahead of time had to be re-organised upon arrival, and the father’s golfing times had gotten mixed up. We’d noticed a few similar hiccups. However, overall service was excellent. Every staffer we met was full of smiles and “bonjours”. They were always ready to hop in a cart and transport us around the grounds. The restaurant serving staff kept appearing at our elbow offering something we just realized we needed. (I wish I could have packed Thierry into my suitcase.) The atmosphere was warm and accommodating.
See more about the kids’ club and the resort, including its amazing pool, on my video review below. Children stay free in their parents’ suite (suites can easily house a family of five, with a pull-out sofa and rollaway bed).
Details: Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche is about 45 minutes outside of Nice by car.
3100 Route de Bagnols-en-Forêt
Domaine de Terre Blanche
83440 Tourrettes, Var
France
33 (0) 4 94 39 90 00
www.fourseasons.com/provence
Wow, what a stunning place. I could do with some of those chilled drinks and atomiser sprays. And that kid’s pool looks enormous. Now to start saving up!