4 of the best family staycations to fit in before the school bell rings

There’s a particular calendar dread that sets in around now every year – the one where you glance at the date and realise the long days of summer are numbered. School gates reopen at the end of the month, and with them come the timetables, the packed lunches and the 6.30am alarms none of us are quite ready for. So before that happens, we’ve been making a point of getting the family out of the house and into a proper change of scene – not a two-hour outing, but a full day or weekend somewhere that puts everyone at the same pool at the same time, with nobody checking a phone. Here’s where we’d send you for the last real stretch of summer. We spent a weekend here recently chasing the sound of a tipping bucket at Jungle Bay Waterpark – by our count, it went off roughly 400 times, and the kids never once lost interest. The discovery that shaped the whole stay: checking in at the Westin also hands you the run of the neighbouring Le Méridien, so one booking covers two resorts’ worth of pools, beach and restaurants, plus free entry to the waterpark itself. Add in the Westin’s 2022 renovation – a soaring, plant-filled lobby and rooms built around the Heavenly Bed – and a very good dinner at Fish Beach Taverna on the shoreline, and this is the pick for families who want the waterpark to do the heavy lifting. Best for: families who want a free waterpark and enough space that nobody has to fight over a sunbed. A post shared by What’s On Dubai (@) If the Westin’s story is the waterpark, Fairmont The Palm’s is the trade-off that actually works in parents’ favour. The kids got Bask Beach Club on West Beach and a free two-hour pass to the Falcons Kids’ Club; we got a couples massage at Serenity Spa – rainforest shower, sauna and jacuzzi relaxation areas included – while they were being thoroughly entertained a floor away. There’s no waterpark here, which some families will want to know going in, but there are seven restaurants to work through over a weekend, including table-side theatre at Frevo and the Michelin Guide-listed Little Miss India. The slower, better-fed kind of family staycation. Best for: parents who’d like some of the day back for themselves as much as the kids want the beach.