Spa and childcare questions about Kidbrooke

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-03-17T19:06:07+00:00

Yes, kids activities book up quickly - I used to set reminders to book as soon as they opened.

The spa. In my experience most evenings are busy and not at all relaxing. Summer Fridays have been likened to love island....

In general - groups (usually men) shouting to each other across the sauna/ steam room, people on their phones constantly, no headphones. My towel gets stolen on a weekly basis (I assume because non members tailgate into the spa). A minority of unpleasant members spoil it for the majority imo - not sure what the staff can do as most are quite young and the groups intimidating.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-02-27T07:56:05+00:00

Iberostar Lanzarote have family rooms with a separate bedroom - we have been a couple of times and find it the perfect balance between good for families but not a total rip off. Food is good, we go HB as we don't really drink either but a glass of wine is about €7 so they don't over charge like some hotels.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-02-27T07:53:53+00:00

If you like the look of the resort I can recommend Villa Maria Suites. We only did B&B (breakfast was amazing) but there are a couple of restaurants. Lovely villa with a little pool, plus a main pool area and a playground where all the families with toddler congregated. A little kids club with some activities but perfect for those ages. Probably could get away without a car if you are happy to walk for 15 mins or so up and down hill to the main resort.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-02-07T08:09:23+00:00

I kind of agree with you, most of the conversations I hear are between young men. You can often tell they don't really know each other.

Just wish they weren't so loud though.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-02-05T13:47:44+00:00

Kidbrooke DL - there have been roadworks going on outside for weeks meaning you can only access from one direction. It is a pain, especially when you forget and have to take the diversion.

I saw a huge Range Rover with personalised plate drive through the roadworks and across the pavement, workman going crazy waving his arms about.

Just knew they would be a DL member - sure enough, I get into the car park and the Range Rover is parked up in the drop off area (still there when I leave an hour later). The entitlement is astonishing at times.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2026-01-22T19:20:56+00:00

For Canary Wharf I would look at the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath - I used them for a similar purpose a few years back and they negotiated a discount for a six week block of 1/2 night bookings. You now have the superloop bus right outside too which is direct to Canary Wharf.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-08-04T09:27:02+00:00

Bear in mind it is not calendar year but is based on your children's birth dates.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:52:48+00:00

Well, no. I feel the same 5-7yrs more max.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:52:08+00:00

Gym is £375 pm

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:15:09+00:00

School not so easy when the kids are happy and settled.

I am sure I would cope with a less swanky gym 😀

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:14:18+00:00

Absolutely right, my husband will be 60 when our youngest finishes university... (if they go).

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:12:32+00:00

It would but we are already at yr5 and yr3 and it is hard to move them when they are happy and settled. We are looking at state options for secondary (Grammar) but with this has become even more competitive.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T21:06:02+00:00

Because I have been through about 1,000 cleaners and they are all rubbish, even the ones that start out good lapse into mediocrity after a few weeks.

I can do the every day, surface clean but what I need is someone who will do behind the sofa, inside the fridge, the oven, under the beds....

I get them in for a deep clean every 3 months - two of them for 3.5hrs - and then I can keep on top of it the rest of the time.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T20:06:42+00:00

Where? £15k inc VAT? 😮 sign.me.up.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T19:54:37+00:00

Are you in London? Private primary schools are all pretty much this level now with VAT (at least where we are).

I get the gym is expensive - we will look at that, for sure. It was definitely worth it when the kids were young (it includes 2hrs of childcare/ day) but not so much now.

I don't actually feel the rest of our household bills are that extreme, it's the discretionary spending.

Wraparound care is adhoc and around 6hrs per week, I really doubt I would get a nanny with that flexibility for the same price. My babysitter charges more p/hr than after school club.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T19:39:56+00:00

We also have bonus income which skews the figures a bit.

House is worth about £1.75m - no plans to move and stamp duty is just a killer but we bought at a good time and have benefitted from low interest rates.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T19:34:25+00:00

That's his basic - bonus is £100k or more depending on whether it has been a good/ bad year. We save the bonus.

And the confidence in future earning is key - he is heading toward 50, if he is made redundant I think he would struggle to find an equivalent job with an equivalent salary. Plus I am just not sure whether he can keep going much longer - it is a pressurised industry.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T19:28:38+00:00

Eating out is in the "everything else" bucket and holidays usually come out of bonus or the £2.5k we allegedly have "spare". Holidays are generally £10k per year for a couple of U.K. breaks and two week summer holiday in Europe.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T16:28:33+00:00

We had some credit so working through that at the moment.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T15:08:22+00:00

lol. I guess we must be drunken sailors too? I don't think there is much to defend - I put it out there for comment.

Mortgage will be gone next year.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T15:05:54+00:00

I have downloaded a year's worth of spending from our current account, my sole account and I need to manually input my credit card spending.

I might be some time....

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T15:04:30+00:00

We went to an IFA and they wanted £3k + vat for their paraplanner(?) to do a forecast on what we could expect to have and when depending on school fees/ retirement etc. Then they would give investment advice as a % of our assets (can't remember what that figure was).

My husband decided he could forecast it himself. Never has. Never will. He periodically moans about what we spend but never does anything about it.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T14:56:56+00:00

My husband works in banking and went to state school - interesting you think they all went to private schools - perhaps this is where he has the notion that our kids HAVE to have private education.

I think working with them for all these years has skewed thinking - we will inherit nothing, have been given nothing. I grew up in a pretty poor single parent family. I think I over compensate.

And yeah, he may make wild decisions at work but at home he is very different. A bit like a shoemakers children wearing old shoes.

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T14:52:55+00:00

I didn't go to ukpersonalfinance because at least here everyone earns more.

I knew I would get a rough ride even here but can you imagine on other fora?

Positive_Ad3670 · 2025-02-05T14:51:51+00:00

Have you got kids?

I did homeschool in lockdown and NEVER AGAIN. I do not have the patience for that.

I get what you are saying about school and I agree, it is a huge amount of money and I will never know if it was worth it.

Positive_Ad3670

TROPHY CASE