Orlando

After arriving at the airport and making our way to the Virgin Lounge our holiday began! The kids thought it was amazing they could play on video games and eat and drink what they wanted. The flight was great and the movies kept them entertained all the way.

We picked up a car at the airport and made our way to the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, having decided to stay a little bit away from all the hustle and bustle, and loved all the extras this hotel offers.

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress offers activities the whole family will love, from paddle boating on Lake Windsong to splashing around in the lagoon-style pool. Spending your days hiking and biking throughout the resort trails, rock climbing or learning how to scuba dive or swim like a mermaid. You can also play racquetball, tennis or basketball or just lounge in a poolside cabana under the warm sunshine.

We would go to the parks and then come back and spend some time round the lovely pool, which also has a waterslide for the kids.

There were some lovely restaurants at the hotel but we did venture down the drive as there were many more excellent eateries so this gave us some variety, and no driving as there was a courtesy bus that would drop us at the end of the drive and then pick us up again.

We stayed here for eight days visiting Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Wet n Wild, Sea World, Aquatica - there just wasn’t enough time to do everything. There were plenty of rides and activities for the kids and one of our favourites must be the Forbidden Journey Harry Potter ride, although my daughter wasn’t tall enough, we have promised her we will go back!

After eight wonderful days we drove down to the Keys and made our way to Hawks Key Resort - well what a great place. We were upgraded to a beautiful room, with wrap around balcony overlooking the estuary.

There are many lovely restaurants that you can visit on the complex, along with 5 different pools and a natural salt water lagoon. Lots for the kids to do with kids clubs and for older kids there is a teenage club. We just had the most amazing time, late afternoon was spent round the fire pit drinking cocktails, you can just order food round the pool if you actually don’t want to go and get ready to go out.

We also did the Dolphin Connection experience which was amazing, this is all on site so you don’t have to travel, just perfect.

I would thoroughly recommend both hotels and hope to return one day.