Tropical Christmas holidays, rated for their festive factor

REGGAE CAROLS

Judie Hinkson, chief commercial officer at ITC Travel Group, had a Caribbean Christmas in Saint Lucia.

The island had festive fever with decorations and staff dressing up from the minute you step out of the airport. On arrival at Windjammer Landing, the long drive was adorned with tall palm trees decorated with fairy lights. It looked really magical. The reception area had a giant-sized real gingerbread house, a floor-to-ceiling Christmas tree and Christmas carols playing. In the bars, the carols were remixed into reggae versions.

The resort made Christmas Eve special with a bonfire on the beach, mulled wine for adults and marshmallows to toast for children. Children from a local school came to sing Christmas carols by the fire – it was lovely to see local and visiting children making friends.

On Christmas morning, Santa arrived on a jet ski and he gave out locally crafted gifts from his sack as he strolled through the resort.

Families could choose whether to dine on Christmas menus in the restaurants or have their meal in their villa. All tables were decorated with Christmas crackers and, along with the turkey, there were mistletoe Martinis, cranberry cheesecake, Christmas rum cake and the like.

For all those who think festive should be white snow or cold, I urge them to try a Christmas Day where lunch is followed by a swim in the sea and a snooze in a hammock with a warm breeze.

TTG’s Festive Factor: 5/5 (we love the sound of carols by the fire with local children and mistletoe martinis)

Book it: Inspiring Travel offers seven nights’ all-inclusive from £10,699 per family based on two adults and two children sharing a Hilltop One Bedroom Villa, saving up to 35% on accommodation over Christmas, plus children up to the age of 11 years old eat free. Price includes return flights with Virgin Atlantic, departing 20 December, and private transfers; inspiringtravel.co.uk

JINGLE ALL THE WAY TO KENYA

Travel Counsellor Camilla Suntay enjoyed a safari before celebrating Christmas Day on the beach in Kenya.

We’d had enough of the short days and being huddled up indoors, so last year we decided to spend Christmas and New Year in sunny Kenya.

With our teenage children, we flew to Nairobi (eight hours from London and no jet lag) where we visited the Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Manor. We took the Mombasa train for Tsavo East National Park and Satao Camp, to see hundreds of elephants, as well as rhino, lion, cheetah, zebra and warthog.

We then made our way to Hemingways in Watamu. Along this pristine stretch of white sandy beach on the Indian Ocean, there is plenty to do including deep sea fishing, coral reef diving, sunset dhow trips and water sports, as well as day trips to visit ancient ruins and tropical forests.

Christmas Day started with a wonderful brunch and Buck’s Fizz, and Father Christmas made an appearance, arriving on a specially decorated tuk-tuk, with gifts for all of the children.

Christmas lunch was turkey and all the trimmings by the beach, with a choir, a live band, crackers and crowns. There was a seafood brunch on Boxing Day, a black-tie gala dinner with a live band and DJ on New Year’s Eve, and we kicked off the new year with sand in our toes, sun-kissed skin and feeling totally rejuvenated!

TTG’s Festive Factor: 4/5 for Christmas (bonus point for Santa arriving on a tuk-tuk); 4/5 for New Year

Book it: A Kenya Beach and Bush itinerary can be booked using Travel Counsellors’ Phenix system, including return Heathrow-Nairobi flights, departing 17 December, from £7,000pp based on two adults travelling; hemingways-collection.com/watamu

NUTS FOR BRAZIL

Latin Routes’ marketing executive Lewis Freeth partied through Christmas and new year in Brazil’s holiday capital Rio de Janeiro.

I touched down in Rio on Christmas Eve, in the middle of a trip across Latin America. In Brazil, Christmas Eve is more akin to what we consider Christmas Day back home and serves as the main event for friends and families.

After meeting some fellow tourists in my Copacabana hostel, they invited me to join a local Brazilian’s house party, where drinks and festive food such as bacalhau com natas (cod with cream) and brigadeiros (chocolate truffles) were served as fireworks lit up the sky outside. We then continued the festivities in the downtown neighbourhood of Lapa, dancing into the wee hours to an outdoor DJ, where we met characters dressed as Santa – despite the balmy tropical evening!

On Christmas Day itself, the blue skies on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches invigorated the senses, and I took photos of beach footballers and beach artists’ work.

There is much to sight-see in a city like Rio in peak summer, so in the days leading up to the grand finale, trips were taken to the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon where I saw the world’s biggest floating Christmas tree, in addition to the Selaron Steps, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer at the top of the Corcovado Mountain.

Then on 31 December, the world’s largest New Year’s Eve celebrations known as reveillon begin. There’s a spectacular fireworks display over Copacabana, and two million people dressed in traditional white clothing have a great time along the seafront and across the city.

TTG’s Festive Factor: 3/5 for Christmas; 5/5 for New Year (if you can handle the crowds!)

Book it: Latin Routes offers a 10-day Classic Brazil itinerary, covering Rio de Janeiro, Iguazu Falls and Buzios from £4,049pp, including eight nights’ accommodation, plus international and domestic flights; latinroutes.co.uk

THAI SPICE

A trip to Thailand gave Karen Fletcher, trade partnerships director at Gold Medal, a Christmas to remember.

My birthday falls in December and last year I turned 50. To celebrate, I decided I wanted to relax in Thailand with my two teenage boys, Alfie and Charlie, and my husband, Chris.

When I asked the boys where they would like to spend Christmas Day, they both jumped at the chance to return to Thailand. It is a family favourite of ours because of the people, culture, food and beaches, and this was our fifth visit.

Although not a traditional Christmas, there were still decorations up in the hotels and some of the local restaurants, and our hotel hosted a Christmas lunch event – although we still opted for a traditional Thai meal instead of turkey!

Due to December falling into Thailand’s wet season, on Christmas Day we experienced its tropical rain, although we made up for this with plenty of beach and pool time over the two-week holiday.

TTG’s Festive Factor: 3/5 (we’re not convinced by a Thai curry on Christmas Day!)

Book it: Gold Medal offers a 14-night Thailand holiday from £3,029pp comprising six nights at Sea View Patong, five nights at Melati Beach Resort & Spa and three nights at Bandara Suites Silom, departing Heathrow on 21 December, based on two adults and two children sharing various room types, including flights and transfers; goldmedal.co.uk