Award winning journalist and regular NI Travel News contributor, JOHN TREW heads to Perthshire with his grandson Simon to check out the child-friendliness of Gleneagles...

A DIRECT hit on an air-raid shelter in Bread Street during the Belfast Blitz eliminated most of my relatives even before I was born. That’s why I never experienced a proper ‘extended family’ holiday with cousins and siblings while growing up as an only child.

My brother Gary arrived unexpectedly when I was 12, but he was much too young to share my more mature holiday tastes. So I spent the majority of my teenage Easters and summers working with school-friends as a waiter in the much-loved Seabank Hotel at the height of Portrush’s popularity as Ireland’s top family resort.

Later, as a QUB law student in the Sixties, I had summer jobs as a barman in a celebrity hang-out in London’s West End, followed by an instructive season as a sous-chef in a famous Eastbourne hotel. I subsequently earned a wee fortune selling Devon Cream Ices during Torquay’s hottest-ever summer.

After Queen’s, my first proper employment was as Assistant Manager of Bangor Tourism when it was still a flourishing family seaside resort. As much as I enjoyed that job, journalism was always my first love and I have spent my long career in that trade, graduating from quill to laptop. As a travel writer I have clocked up about 300,000 miles over the years, in search of the best places to recommend to my readers.

All of this palaver is to underscore the fact that I know quite a lot about hotels, tourism and what is now described as the Hospitality Industry. So when I state that the Gleneagles Hotel is the Finest Family Resort I have ever experienced, then you’ll know that I am pretty well qualified to do so. OK, it has 60 major awards of all kinds and does not need my humble endorsement, but if you want to give your loved ones a great time, this is the place!

This fabulous Perthshire property may be best-known as one of the world’s greatest golf resorts – the 2014 Ryder Cup is being staged there – but I thought I should emphasise that its child-friendly attitudes deserve to be better known.

FULL PROGRAMME FOR HALF-TERM

KAREN AND I ‘borrowed’ our one and only grandson Simon (11) from his parents, Suzanne and Henry, in Edinburgh. His role was to be Inspector of Child-Friendliness (ICF), adjudicating upon the Gleneagles facilities for Young Guests during our stay.

Our three-day break was taken during last month’s February Half-Term across the British Isles, so the Hotel had an extended programme of children’s activities for two full weeks. However, because of its international clientele, with school holidays staggered throughout the year, “Gleneaglets” and young adults are always well catered for.

Our adventure started even before we arrived: We had chosen to make the 90 minute journey by ScotRail and although we had left Edinburgh Waverley exactly on time, a succession of brief delays meant we would miss our scheduled mid-morning connection from Stirling to Gleneagles – the last for five hours!

“Nae problem,” said the supervisor at Stirling, as he proceeded to instruct the incoming Aberdeen Express to let us off at the Edwardian-style Gleneagles Station. Regular passengers crowded the train windows to see who were ‘the VIPs’ with the power to stop the Express!

Right on the platform is a phone with a direct connection to the Hotel’s Courtesy Car which arrived within minutes to drive us through the 850-acre Estate. Wow! It’s bounded by four golf courses, a world-class Equestrian Centre, Activities School, fishing lochans (wee loughs to you and me!), shooting ranges, falconry centre, archery butts, gundog school and a sprawling off-road driving terrain.

Gleneagle’s owners, Diageo (most famous here for Guinness and Bailey’s) are investing heavily to make Gleneagles the best Ryder Cup venue ever. We have stayed there before, and thought that it could not be improved upon as a resort hotel – but it has.

WELCOME GETS FULL MARKS

WE WERE greeted by LESLIE one of the team of Porters on duty at the imposing Entrance. (WILLIE, our favourite porter from our 2008 break, was meeting ‘n greeting the next day and convinced me that he remembered us. Probably because I tipped him 5p. Only joking; it was 10p.)

Once inside the vast Front Hall area, with its framed photo of the World Leaders -- including Blair, Bush, Putin and Berlusconi -- who attended the eventful Gleneagles Summit of 2005, we were checked in at Reception by CHRIS who remembered all our names throughout our stay. This professionalism impressed Simon: ICF Rating: 10/10.

I always ask for “best available room” in our tariff range and was delighted to be allocated a spacious twin bedded ensuite double at the front of the house. Simon had an extra bed and child’s bathrobe & slippers – plus his own Asprey’s toiletries pouch which was a typically Gleneagles touch. ICF Rating: Only 9/10 as the bathrobe was far too small for an 11 year-old.

The view of the formal gardens and pitch ‘n putt course framed by the Ochil Hills was outstanding – especially when it was covered by unexpected snowfall on our leaving day. Alas, the snow made our anticipated pitch ‘n putt threesome impossible.

When I win Euromillions, I shall book the whole top floor which means all of the eight two-bedroom Spirit Suites (named after Diageo brands) for my best friends - and family, of course.

THE DINING DILEMMA

WITH A CHOICE of a half-dozen places to eat at Gleneagles, it might appear hard to make decisions at family mealtimes. However, the Dormy Clubhouse is mainly for golfers; The Bar is too much like the lounge of a hallowed gentlemen’s club to have kid appeal; Andrew Fairlie is Scotland’s only two Michelin-starred restaurant and is therefore more of a Very Special Occasion place for well-heeled gourmets; The Strathearn is the swanky dining room where hotel guests have breakfast (our waiter was GAREY from Galway); so that leaves DESEO.

This is a wonderful Mediterranean family restaurant which has been redesigned and rebranded since we last stayed three years ago. A huge emporium has been added, featuring displays of meat, fresh fish and charcuterie like a delightful deli. There’s an eight-seater Chef’s Table for serious foodies who dine from a special menu as their dishes are prepped and cooked in front of them while Chef chats away. An intimate dining area is also discreetly available for those who wish to enjoy fine dining away from the hurly-burly of the main Room.

We ate there five times in three days, which speaks volumes for the quality of the food and the super service by friendly, efficient cosmopolitan staff such as MARIA, REBECCA and HOUSSEM. Simon is VERY picky and lives on a very restricted diet of bread, chicken goujons, bread, plain pizza, sweeties and bread. He loved the Deseo wood-fired Pizza Margarita on the Kid’s Menu and ordered it three times in a row. (Simon liked my joke about the guy who was asked if he wanted his ten-inch pizza cut in 4 slices or 8 slices. “Better make it four”, sez the guy, “I could never manage eight!”) ICF Rating: 9/10 (one of the pizzas was not crispy enough, but unlimited breadsticks made up)

We also had a good-value gourmet burger and a chicken caesar salad – served by HONEYBEE -- one night in The Coffee Shop between the Retail Therapy corridor, The ESPA Spa and The Club complex of pools and fitness facilities.

ACTIVITIES FOR ALL IS THE AIM

YOUNG GUESTS at Gleneagles have a dedicated section of spacious rooms at their disposal, supervised by an ever-smiling team of trained staff. Babies and toddlers are looked after by professional carers; school-agers have a whole Playroom plus special activities, partnered games, daily events and specially created parties. Check out the impressive list of things to do for these younger age ranges in and around the hotel at www.gleneagles.com/family.

Frankly, Simon felt most at home in THE ZONE which is the teenage hang-out. He already owns all the electronic gear like Playstation 3, iPad, iPod and Wii so he preferred old-fashioned stuff he didn’t have at home, like ping-pong, pool and table football.

He beat me – and all his same-age challengers – at pool. He also relished the other kind of pool which is the most popular activity at Gleneagles by far – the swimming pool. Kids have the main pool and heated outdoor pool for play whenever they want; that’s because adults who want to do lengths can use the adjacent ‘serious’ pool. ICF Rating: 8/10.

One of the reasons we chose Gleneagles at half-term was to treat Simon to a belated birthday present of a couple of the outdoor activities for which it is famous. They were not cheap, but there’s no point in having an only grandson if you don’t spoil him rotten!

First up was a session of Air Rifle Target Shooting with JIM, a top firearms instructor. I was amazed how well Simon took to the powerful, adult-size rifle. Within a few minutes, the metal rabbits, crows and rats were going down like ninepins. It has been decades since I used an air-rifle at Barry’s Shooting Gallery in Bangor, so when Jim invited me to have a go, I was trewly astonished to hit the first three targets in a row. It turned out to be beginner’s luck as I missed most of the others. ICF Rating: 10/10

Best of all was Simon’s session with instructor GRANT learning to drive an Argo Cat, an astonishing eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle which can cope with any kind of terrain. I honestly thought that the snow which had been falling all morning would cause the session to be cancelled. “No fear,” said Grant, “This will make it more fun!” After two miles of driving up mountains, sailing over deep waters, grinding across thick mud and through a dense forest, Simon arrived back, rosy-cheeked and invigorated, to receive a certificate. Yes, if you really want to spoil your family, Gleneagles is the spot.

However, if your budget is limited, Simon recommends some other child-friendly places you should google for more information – the Radisson Blu Roe Park Resort at Limavady, Co Londonderry; The Sands resort at Porth, Newquay, Cornwall; and The Thistle Hotel, Irvine, Ayrshire, which has a great indoor pool.