I'm a former travel editor and this hidden gem of a hotel in Croatia offers 5-star fun for kids – and 5-star relaxation for parents

I’ve got a terrible habit of booking holidays and then silently dreading them. I know it sounds strange, but I spend hours agonising over every review and worrying that the hotel/food/location won’t live up to my – let’s be honest, slightly unrealistic – expectations. Thankfully, I breathed a sigh of relief after 12 hours at our luxury family-friendly hotel on the northern end of Croatia’s incredible coastline – one of our top destinations for a sunshine holiday. The hotel/food/location at the Falkensteiner Diadora were amazing, my two girls were happy and, crucially, I was happy (cue a huge sigh of relief from my husband).

Falkensteiner hotels aren’t well known in the UK, but the Austrian-owned chain is hugely popular in Europe for combining luxury accommodation with great food, spas and outdoor pursuits, all in incredible locations. We chose Diadora – about 30 mins from Zadar on its own private stretch of coastline – because it’s family friendly but still offers a tasteful, relaxing break for grown ups.

The whole place is so well thought-out, from the ride-on rocking horses in reception to entertain the kids while you check in, to the separate children’s sleeping areas with climbing walls or suspended dens, and the menu of child essentials you can select from when you arrive. Then there’s the incredible kids’ club, which my daughters, Sophie, 7, and Amelia, 3, cried when we had to leave…but more on that later.

Rooms at Falkensteiner Diadora

Every room is designed with families in mind. There are separate sleeping spaces for little ones in even the smallest rooms here. Our suite had a climbing wall and net suspended above the girls’ beds where they loved to sit and read or colour before we went down to dinner. There’s also loads of storage, which is exactly what you need when travelling with little ones.

I mentioned the checklist when you arrive, this includes everything from potties and plastic steps, to cots, bed guards and highchairs, which will be delivered to your room if you need them. Little guests are also welcomed with their own bathrobe, flip flops, story book and plastic plate, which made our girls feel like VIPs. There are also beach bags in each room for you to use during your stay.

The marble-clad bathrooms are bright and modern, while the rooms themselves have a modern nautical feel – I loved the mural of retro divers on our walls.

I’m a stickler for quiet aircon and a comfy bed and this place delivered on both. We also had not one but three balconies overlooking the sea – it’s well worth upgrading to the seaview rooms, in my opinion. Housekeeping was exceptional, and I had no complaints with the cleanliness of any part of the hotel.

The only minor thing I’d flag is that although this is a five-star hotel, you don’t get any kind of turndown service. Not a big thing and didn’t bother us at all, but just worth flagging if you’re used to that in the UK.

Pools and beach at Falkensteiner Diadora

Is it possible to have too many pools to explore? The Diadora certainly doesn’t think so! We started each day indoors in the children’s spa, which is a toasty 30-degrees and incorporates two shallow pools, a baby slide and water games, as well as a steam room set at a low temperature. From here, you can access the indoor swimming lesson pool where lessons are held, as well as the spa where I had a blissful 60-minute massage.

If you have an adrenaline junkie like we do, send them up to the fourth-floor water slide, which is super fun and offers great views of the resort. Our room was on the fourth floor so our seven-year-old started each day with a slide down to the other pools!

The indoor swimming lesson pool leads out to the heated outdoor pool, where even our fussy three-year-old agreed the water temperature was warm enough. There are jacuzzi beds to lounge on and plenty of loungers. Even at 11am or 3pm we never had an issue getting loungers and an umbrella during May half term.

If it’s super hot or you don’t mind slightly cooler water, there’s a lap pool and another huge pool with rapids and more jacuzzi beds. Finally, there’s a pirate ship-shaped pool, which is closest to the beach and a great stop-off for tired legs on your way back to the room. On the subject of tired legs, there are free pushchairs to use while you’re here, so you can push them around if you prefer not to have them moaning about walking!

The hotel has a private bay with a very fine stone beach that we absolutely loved. It’s fringed by pine trees, has its own beach bar and watersports centre during the peak season, and is very shallow. If you love to snorkel, make sure you pack yours as I saw as many fish here as I did in Jamaica – it’s incredible. There’s also an aqua inflatable course that opens from June to September. They were setting it up when we left and my eldest daughter made us promise we can go back when it’s open.

Dining at Falkensteiner Diadora

Buffets used to be my idea of a culinary nightmare, but no more. But before I get to the food, I absolutely loved that I didn’t see one child on a tablet or phone during mealtimes, and that’s because relaxed parents = relaxed kids. As everybody here has little ones, you don’t need to worry if they want to dress up as a princess/ take off their shoes/ eat only pizza – you’re all in the same boat. Nobody batted an eyelid when my daughter dropped her plate or staged a dance show to the local musicians.

But back to the food. Honestly, it was the best buffet I’ve ever seen with something to please everyone. My husband could enjoy fresh scallops and langoustine, while I tucked into crumbly feta, rainbow salad and oven-roasted moussaka, and the girls piled up freshly made pizzas, chicken nuggets and chips (let’s be honest – holiday dining with kids means chicken nuggets or pasta with sauce eaten in a different country). At breakfast, pastries were served piping hot from an oven in the centre of the restaurant, omelettes were cooked to order, and parents can load up on as many coffees as you need to face the day! Come evening, there were soups, salads, cured meats, pasta, pizza, seafood, veggie specials…I could go on and on. I didn’t eat anything I was disappointed in, so that’s a result in my book.

I also need to mention the dessert room – a whole air conditioned room dedicated to pudding. Little ones can grab tubs of popcorn, ice cream and sweets to take to the cinema room with them, or pile up plates with delicious cakes and pastries. My girls loved the chocolate fountains and ice cream cart, which had different flavours to try every day. There were options for grown ups too, from a creamy tiramisu to refreshing strawberry pavlova.

We stayed on a half-board basis, with breakfast and dinner included. There are fruit juices and filtered water available during mealtimes, and children can also get drinks and fresh fruit all day in the Falkyland kids’ club and baby room. We grabbed a few bread rolls and muffins from breakfast each morning and had those on the beach as a picnic at lunchtime. Again, nobody batted an eyelid.

Entertainment & activities at Falkensteiner Diadora

I’d say we did 40% of what’s on offer at the hotel and in the wider resort, which is also owned by the Falkensteiner chain. Honestly you could be entertained from sunrise to sunset.

The Fortis club is in the centre of the resort and has a state-of-the-art gym (if you’re the kind of person who thinks that’s fun on holiday), bike hire, which includes electric bikes and trailers for little ones, plus a super-cool bowling alley and gaming room.

Next to this is the stables where you can book pony riding experiences, from gentle hacks on the beach to gallops into the vineyards nearby. You can also swim on the horses during the summer. My eldest daughter thought her ride was the highlight of her holiday, while the three-year-old refused to get on. Kids.

On the subject of little ones, there’s Falkyland, inspired by the chain’s mascot, Falky, which is like heaven for kids. There’s a soft play, cinema room, giant puzzles, indoor climbing wall and Velo jump trampoline game, which you can use 24/7. Then there’s the kids’ club itself, where you can play with your children or leave them to be looked after by the super-friendly staff. We didn’t leave our girls as we don’t get to spend much time as a foursome at home, but we loved joining them to play table tennis, air hockey, build Playmobil empires and dress up. There are also activities each hour, from courses on the pushalong bikes, to creating a mini garden in a jar. As I said, there’s almost too much to do!

On top of this, there are lots of Academies you can sign up for which run from 9am each day. These cover everything from free swimming and tennis lessons, to climbing instruction – which my eldest absolutely loved. And if you’re not sporty, there’s a Science Academy where the staff lead all manner of fun and educational experiments.

Finally, I can’t write about entertainment without mentioning the disco each night where the staff burn off approximately 10,000 calories while parents sit and watch! The girls are still singing Europop classics like Veo Veo and Ponga now we’re home, as well as the Falky song, which rounds off the night just before 9pm when the mascot himself makes an appearance. I loved that the hotel was quiet after this so you could stay up if you wanted, or head to bed and know the kids wouldn’t be disturbed.

Location of Falkensteiner Diadora

The Falkensteiner chain owns the whole peninsula around the hotel and it’s just breathtaking. You can see the mountains that skirt Zagreb in the distance, and the sea is crystal clear thanks to the pebbly beach. We got some pool shoes from Amazon before we went and they were the best thing I took – no complaints about the stones or temperature. There’s a walk along the coastline with lots of little inlets where you can stop for a dip or snorkel. There’s also a steakhouse and seafood restaurant, where you can add meals and drinks to your room tab.

You don’t need to leave the resort, but if you want to I highly recommend heading to the charming historic town of Nin, about 10 minutes away, which combines cobbled streets with bustling restaurants and Roman ruins. Famous for salt mining, the town is surrounded by a lagoon where you’ll find beautiful sandy beaches, accessed via a picturesque boardwalk, as well as a natural mud bath and the world’s smallest cathedral. We travelled in May half term and there were only four families on the whole beach – apparently it gets very busy in summer when there are more facilities open, but the quiet suited us perfectly. We had lunch in the courtyard at Pizzeria Pepperoni and highly recommend it.

Zadar is just 30 minutes away with more historic buildings and a busy harbour to explore, as well as a very cool Sea Organ, an architectural artwork, that plays notes as the waves ebb and flow.

How to get there

We booked the hotel direct as it worked out better value for us. There are flights from Stanstead to Zadar, which is 30 minutes’ drive from the hotel. You can organise taxi transfers with the hotel or hire a car.

We flew into Split, which is a two-hour drive away, with BA, as there are more flights from regional airports in the UK. We hired a car via Avis – one word of warning, make sure you have a credit card or you’ll have to pay a hefty additional sum for insurance on the hire car. Debit cards aren’t accepted, which we discovered to our peril.

At Heathrow, we treated ourselves to a pre-departure visit to the Club Aspire lounge, which will soon become a No.1 Traveller Lounge. You can sit down, watch the planes, and grab a selection of hot and cold foods, plus complimentary drinks.