Parent Review – Banna Beach Resort, County Kerry

Thank you to Nicola who reviewed her experience at Banna Beach Hotel with her 2 kids.

Where did you travel to and for how long?
We went to Banna Beach Resort in County Kerry for 2 nights.
In what month of the year did you travel?
March during the Easter break.
Who were you travelling with?
My 2 daughters aged 4 and 22 months although we were meeting my sister there with her children and well as my cousins from Dublin and the USA with their children.  We rented 3 bungalows for the weekend.
What were your travelling arrangements and how was the journey?
We travelled by car from Cork which took just over 2 hours.  We left just before my younger daughter’s nap time so that she slept for an hour of the journey.  Once she woke up she was not impressed to still be in the car seat! Both were fairly irritated at that stage so we stopped at a garage to get some ice pops to get them through the remainder of the journey. I brought a leap pad for my older daughter and some of her books and we played some car games but for the most part she was happy during the journey there and back.
The journey home was especially hard for my younger daughter as it was later in the day and she had already had her nap but after a bit of a melt down she slept until we were nearly home.

What was your accommodation like?
My sister, her husband and I stayed with our 4 kids in one of the 3 bedroom bungalows.  The bungalows are very specious and have everything you need.  They don’t supply things like towels, toilet roll, soap, washing-up liquid etc so we made sure to bring those ourselves but there is a shop at the resort that supplies all of these things.  The cots and highchairs we requested were already there when we arrived.
banna pool2
What was the food like?
There is a chipper on the premises which we got one of the nights, nobody had any complaints!
Did you use a baby carrier or a stroller?
I brought both but just used my baby carrier for my younger daughter when we walked anywhere when she didn’t want to walk herself.
What activities did you do?
The resort caters very well for children.  Over the 3 days and 2 nights they had a brilliant time swimming, playing in the indoor soft play area and the outdoor play area and going down to the beach.  Luckily for March the weather was good; it never rained and although it was cold the sun shone on some of the days.  Evening entertainment was provided both nights in the bar from 7.30 to 9pm which they loved as they got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Elsa, Anna and other characters and had a mini disco.
Overall did you have a good trip?
I judge the success of a trip on how happy it made the kids and they had an absolutely fantastic time so it was a great trip.  It helped that we had so many relations down there with 12 children overall spread over 3 houses so they were never bored.  If you were guaranteed the weather during the summer months I could easily see us going back there as you could have BBQs in the evenings while the kids ran around the large open green areas.
One thing I noticed was that the curtains are extremely light so if your kids are used to blackout blinds at home you would definitely need to bring a portable one with you.  And bring lots of towels are they are not provided in the bungalows or at the swimming pool so if you factor in going to the beach as well you can go through quite a lot!