When Mrs Georgette Chong, 33, plans her next yearly vacation with her husband Victor, 34, and 13-month-old son Corey, Phuket will top her list of destinations.
This is because the Club Med resort there, located in Kata Bay, launched Asia's first Baby Club Med last December.
It boasts four trained full-time staff or gentle organisers, including a baby club manager who is trained in early childhood care. They look after babies aged between four and 23 months for an extra $80 a day.
For parents such as Mrs Chong, Club Med's new initiative could not be more useful.
The events manager, who is due to deliver her second child in June, tells Life! "My husband and I prefer to take our son along when we go on holidays, instead of leaving him with relatives, but we also like to spend some time alone."
"So having something like Baby Club Med is useful as we can now have our quiet moments knowing our son is well taken care of, unlike in the past when we have to keep an eye on him at all times."
Club Med, which has 80 resorts worldwide, is not the first hotel to cater to parents with young children. Other major resort groups, such as the home-grown Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, have similar amenities.
What sets the Baby Club Med in Phuket apart is that two of the four full-time staff are former hospital nurses who have experience in paediatric care.
The Baby Club Med is open daily from 9am to 5pm and can accommodate eight babies at any one time, with at least two staff on duty.
In classic Club Med fashion, there will be supervised activities for toddlers, including massage, gym, swimming and sing-along sessions.
And mealtimes will be in the Baby Club Restaurant, which is decorated with colourful murals of elephants and bees. The menu features more organic ingredients than the resort's other dining outlets.
Parents who register their babies in the morning can give special dietary instructions. They can choose to feed their babies themselves or let the carers do it.
On why the Phuket resort is the first Asian destination to offer the Baby Club, which is available in 14 other resorts including those in France and Italy, Club Med Singapore's general manager Kenny Lim, 35, says "Club Med Phuket has a significant clientele of families with children, which makes this resort most suitable for us to introduce this service."
"We want parents to be able to shop or relax while knowing their babies are in safe and professional hands."
Club Med Phuket's clientele over the past two months included about 100 children aged 11 years and below, of which five are under two years old.
He adds: "Baby Club Med came to Asia relatively late because Asian parents are traditionally more protective of their babies and we were not sure if a Baby Club would be productively utilised."
He assured guests that despite the new baby-oriented service, singles will still have their peace and quiet when they check into the resort.
"Baby Club Med is located within its own enclosed area with facilities such as a wading pool and play room, so we have enough space to accommodate and provide pockets of privacy for everyone."
Plans are afoot for other Club Med resorts in the region, including Bali, to be equipped with 'exclusive areas where no guests under 18 years old are allowed'.
But marketing manager Gene Kwek will give Club Med Phuket a miss "just in case". The 29-year-old bachelorette says: "It will be interesting to know what kind of facilities and services this Baby Club Med has, but if I'm looking for a tranquil holiday, I might just avoid it."
[email protected]
This article was first published in The Straits Times .
