Europe Family holidays: Mark Warner San Agostino Resort, Greece

Guilt-free selfish enjoyment – at a price – is what you should expect at a Mark Warner beach resort. In other words, this a holiday where parents can do their own thing and not feel bad about it.

Children are amply provided for, with clubs designed for ages four months to 17 years. In all, the nannies and carers are so lovely your kids are assured of a good time among children their own age. You, meanwhile, can get on with enjoying a dizzying range of activities, of varying degrees of sportiness. Or you may simply choose to relax and do your own thing – and the great thing is that no one will get on your case. There’s no pressure to go sailing or windsurfing if those don’t appeal; no one’s going to complain if you don’t swim 50 lengths of the pool; and you needn’t feel obliged to play endless games of tennis or dabble in floodlit beach volleyball. But all of those activities – and many others – are available if you wish to partake. Some cost extra – you can take courses in diving or water-skiing, for example – and others are included in the price of the holiday. It’s not cheap, but people go again and again. Mark Warner inspires loyalty.

Our most recent holiday – two weeks at San Agostino – was our second at that resort and our third at a Mark Warner beach resort. We booked, as we always have, full board, but you can shave a bit off your bill by going for half-board and buying your own lunch from the hot-dog stand. The restaurant – half inside, half out – is self-service. We spoke to some people who by the end of their week were getting a little tired of certain things, but there’s loads of choice with numerous basic dishes provided every lunch and dinner time and specials cooked in open-air kitchens at night. The waiting staff are either Polish or local, and all perfectly charming; I would happily watch breakfast chef George crack open eggs with his hands all day.

We stayed in adjoining bungalows – kids in one, grown-ups next door – but have previous stayed in the hotel that rises four or five floors above the restaurant and bar. We spoke to one couple who had a problem with their room in the hotel but who had a word with the staff and got moved. Everyone we spoke to, whether Mark Warner staff or hotel employees, was unfailingly polite and helpful.

The only thing we’ll do differently when we go again this summer is not pay extra for Dine Around, an extra payment that allows you to have dinner as often as you like in either the Trattoria or the Arabian Kitchen, should you tire of the main restaurant. The Arabian Kitchen, further down the beach but still on the resort, was a disappointment, while the pizzas available in the Trattoria can be enjoyed for free at lunchtime, provided you’re a full-boarder.

A Mark Warner holiday isn’t for everyone and you’re unlikely to encounter a representative cross-section of UK society. The crowd is overwhelmingly white and middle class – you’ll see more Daily Telegraphs and Daily Mails in the bar than any other paper. But there’s a little more diversity than you might at first think and it’s not strictly mandatory to kit yourself out from the Boden catalogue. Having said that, on two of our Mark Warner holidays we’ve bumped into friends and/or colleagues we hadn’t known were going to be there. It’s a small world and Mark Warner can make it seem smaller still. Smaller and more relaxing.

The first time my wife suggested we go on a Mark Warner holiday I believe I physically recoiled. Beach holidays are not my thing. But when no one cares if I sit in the shade all day with a book or a laptop, emerging only to eat, drink, play volleyball and five-a-side football and take a very occasional swim, then I’m happy.