Children at The Sanctuary

You might wonder why we are writing this blog now………Well , in the past 6 months we have been very open and tried to accommodate a fast-growing number of families travelling with young kids, many of them returning friends. What we found was many of our existing customer base were left grumbling on their bar stools and wondering if their ‘Great Escape’ has escaped them…

Children at The Sanctuary

Or perhaps this piece would be better titled… Adults at The Sanctuary.

We are an adult-oriented resort. What does that mean, you may ask?

It might sound suspiciously like naughtiness, but it’s not. It simply means a place for grown-ups – or perhaps better said, grown up kids.

Picture a place ……
Where you can get away from the stresses and cares of the world.
Where you can hang out with friends, drink cocktails or enjoy a relaxing glass of wine, and occasionally party like a rock star.
Where you can cleanse your body, mind and soul, and reconnect with yourself.
Where you can dress up or dress down, as you feel, without judgement.
A place to swing in a hammock and enjoy the silence and butterflies, or hula hoop on the beach at sunset.
A place to practise yoga 3 times a day or enjoy the peace of meditation.
A place where healing and fun go hand in hand.
Where you can have a life-changing treatment in the afternoon and then dance all night till the sun comes up in the morning.

Now having pictured all of the above… please insert a gaggle of young children into this scene. Especially children at that active, curious age – say from age 2 to age 7.

Kids have lots of energy, curiosity and ever changing needs and moods. They want to crawl around and explore the world that is wholly new to them. They, wonderfully, cry when they are in need and sleep when they need to rest.
Little boys want to pull the legs off frogs. Little girls want to dress cats up in ribbons. Kids like to wander, play, make spontaneous fun everywhere.

From the parents’ perspective, this is the ‘bliss of unconditional love ‘ ……..but from the outside it can present itself as noisy balls of energy charging around the place disturbing the peaceful bubble that is Sanctuary ……………..and upsetting our cats terribly.

On the one hand, we have huge respect for all these travelling families (after all, how many families dared to do this many years ago??); on the other hand, we recognise that there are many, perhaps better places for families with children to go to, especially in Thailand – places that are not only more fun for kids and their parents, and offering support services orientated to families, but safer too – without our rickety wooden walkways and rocks and steps everywhere.

You might wonder why we are writing this blog now………well , in the past 6 months we have been very open and tried to accommodate families with young kids, many of then returning friends. What we found was many of our existing customer base were left grumbling on their bar stools and wondering if their ‘Great Escape’ has escaped them. It helped to remind us that while we truly value all our guests, we must remember that we are primarily here for our grown up guests, those who want to get away from demanding babies and noisy kids, who want to relax, listen to music, enjoy a vibrant social life, and play like grown-ups.

Interestingly, experience has told us that once parents have been here for a holiday without their children, they are more often than not full of thanks for the opportunity to be returned to themselves for this short, magical time, without the identification of being Mum or Dad.

That said – we really do love kids!! Some of us even have our own… and we welcome kids who can be thought to respect the space we have created. And of course there will always be some children around, which is fine; but as more and more families travel, it would be very easy for The Sanctuary to fill up with families and thus the whole vibe of the place slowly changes. Or quickly, judging by how fast numbers of families travelling with kids has jumped in such a short time.

And so with huge respect to all the intrepid families who travel this part of the world with their kids in tow – no mean feat – we ask you put yourself in the seat of our other guests for a moment , to please consider all the above, and decide if The Sanctuary is truly the best place for your family to visit at this time – or if it would be better for you to come back in a few years, when you too can join us in a life-changing detox, enjoy a relaxing Yoga holiday or perhaps hit the dance floor, and give yourself the gift of time and space in this playground for grown up kids.