If there’s one thing South Africans love, it’s a beach holiday. The smell of sunblock, sticky post-ice lolly fingers and a carefully-managed medium-rare tan tingle mark out December days at coastal cities for tens of thousands of holiday-goers who head to the coast every year. For most, getting to your favourite seaside spot means a road trip with petrol station breakfasts and a competition to see who can spot the azure expanse of the ocean as the car crests increasingly-green hills.

On the opposite end of the scale, is a ski holiday. Regarded largely as an unattainably-expensive and outright alien holiday option for dwellers of country where the temperature rarely drops more than a few degrees below zero for a couple of weeks of the year, snowscapes are something South Africans know from children’s story books and seasonal northern hemisphere TV programming, rather than personal experience. Fear of the cold, limited opportunities to practice dashing through the snow and the perceived expense of an Alpine vacation tend to blinker South Africans to the option.

On one hand, if beach holidays are your bag, why not shake things up a little and head to a new location that offers a twist of exoticism to the kind of break you know you’ll enjoy? On the other, if someone were to take all the guesswork out of planning a snow break, wouldn’t you want to branch out a little and sample an entirely different kind of holiday? Meet Club Med.

Sand

South Africans aren’t strangers to the East: head for a blissed-out vacation to Bali, a party holiday in Thailand or a low-cost break in Vietnam and you’ll be surrounded by almost as many Saffas, as Australians. For some of the most beautiful beaches in Indonesia, and a host of other options, Club Med Bintan Island is a long-haul flight to Singapore and a short ferry hop across the Singapore Strait, from home – and also a visa-free destination. The newly-renovated resort caters for almost any guest need – whether you’re looking to get healthy and do yoga on the beach, party on the beach until the sun peeks above the South China Sea horizon or have a fun family break.

The Club Med experience is based on a truly all-inclusive concept – book your stay, travel and transfers with them one-off, and you don’t have to spend another cent on your vacation. While many ‘all inclusive’ offers are limited to certain meals and specified drinks at particular restaurants at strict times of day, Club Med’s version of ‘all inclusive’ is all-encompassing, meaning that only the most exclusive drinks, off-resort experiences and spa treatments attract an extra cost – meaning you can keep your eye off the exchange rate and have a stress-free holiday.

At Bintan Island, the offering means you can rise at dawn and practise yoga under a palapa facing the ocean before enjoying a freshly-pressed juice from the adjacent wellness bar. Collect the family for breakfast at The Waterfall restaurant for one of the most diverse and beautiful buffets you’ll find anywhere and then either keep the kids entertained with sporting activities from tennis to archery, or let them spend the day at the Children’s Club, which caters for kids from 4 months to 17 years old and promises age-appropriate programs that’ll keep them on the hop for hours.

Not that Bintan Island is a family-only vacation. The sheer size of the resort means it’s easy to find quiet spaces for a relaxing couples’ holiday – including relaxing by the Pool Bar with a cocktail or roasting gently on a lounger on the expansive private beach. The nearby Gary Player-designed Ria Bintan Golf Course offers two separate, but equally-beautiful Championship-level courses which mix stunning scenery with challenging play.

At night, the area around the pool becomes the resort’s party hub, as the talented Club Med G.O.’s – the ‘Gentils Organisateurs’ who look after you during your stay at meals and activities – get to showcase their musical, dancing and even acrobatic talents. On at least one night during a 7-night stay, guests will dine under the stars, as a full-on party production takes place around the pool, with trapeze artists, dancers and singers, ending in a crescendo of fireworks over the beach. Again, if all-night revelry isn’t the point of your break, the 311 rooms at Bintan are spread out enough that you won’t even know there’s a party going on until dawn, if you don’t want to.

Snow

For the simplest possible introduction to a snow vacation, Club Med’s new ski resort, Grand Massif Samoëns Morillon, is situated in the French Alps, 90 minutes from Geneva and Annecy. As friendly to families as it is for adventurers, the resort’s location at the heart of France’s fourth-largest ski area offers access to 265km of slopes and 148 runs of various ratings.

One of the biggest pitfalls of a ski holiday – especially for the uninitiated – is finding out that once you’ve strapped on all your snow gear, you still have to haul everything onto a bus transfer before you have sight of a slope. Samoëns thankfully offers guests opportunity to step out of the ski room – where all your gear is pre-prepared and fitted for you by a dedicated team – and onto the slopes. Experts can dash across to the ski lift to access the towering slopes, while newcomers from 4 years and up can get friendly, expert lessons in skiing or snowboarding from patient instructors.

The resort has all the stylish hallmarks of the new Club Med, with 85% of their resorts rated ‘4 Trident’ and above. Frescoes all over the interior celebrate the local nature, while exposed wood and stone add warmth. The 423 rooms are decorated in greens and greys, but style doesn’t come at the expense of warmth, though – the rooms feel cosy even as snow stacks above the handle of your balcony door.

Skiing is tough work – but continually getting back on your feet after faceplanting in the snow while you’re learning – is tougher. Coming in from the cold and being welcomed with hearty meal options and a warming après-ski drink is as much a balm for the soul as it is the damaged ski-fail ego. The generous buffet in the Main Restaurant explores cuisine from around the world, with themed corners including Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Indian food. The Healthy Corner features steamed items, gluten-free dishes and products and freshly-prepared vegetables for the health-conscious. At the less bustling rooftop Le Skyline Gourmet Lounge, the panoramic terrace provides dramatic mountain backdrops for all-day dining, with an a la carte focus on great local produce. The signature dinner experience is a ‘Discovery Menu’, created by two Michelin-starred French chef Edouard Loubet.

Kids are also catered for by Club Med’s signature Kids’ Clubs offering: Baby Club Med caters for children aged 4-23 months, Petit Club for ages 2-3 years, Mini Club for children aged 4-10 and Passworld offers physical and creative activities from filmmaking to DJ’ing for youngsters aged 11 to 17. There’s even a dedicated family restaurant, Bread & Co, where children can invite their parents to dine with them. The kids can play ‘Petit Chef’ and make their own meal, as the walls of the restaurant come alive in an amazing interactive experience.

The Carita spa has 11 treatment rooms, two swimming pools (one indoor and one outdoor, for the brave), a hair salon, a steam room, sauna and well-equipped fitness area with group classes like after-ski yoga – perfect for relaxing all your newly-discovered muscles. In summer, the resort throws open the magnificent mountain ranges to hikers, mountain bikers and treetop adventurers.

Getting There

Club Med Bintan Island

The quickest route to Bintan for South Africans is via Singapore, with daily Singapore Airlines flights. Visit www.clubmed.co.za to check out pricing of all-inclusive packages, including flights, transfers and resort experiences.

South African passport holders don’t require visas to travel through Singapore or to Indonesia on holiday.

Club Med Grand Massif Samoëns Morillon

It’s generally a two-stop hop for South Africans to reach Samoëns, flying via Paris (on Air France), Zurich (with SWISS), Frankfurt or Munich (with SAA or Lufthansa) to Geneva and then taking a stunningly-beautiful 90-minute transfer. The all-inclusive package, booked directly via www.clubmed.co.za or their call centre will take care of every single logistical element. South African passport holders require a Schengen visa to travel through France and Switzerland.