Club Med is my spiritual home
It’s probably a terrible enditement on my character that after all these years of searching, my spiritual home is a fancy summer camp.
Club Med is theĀ best.
What started out as a humble post-war getaway for Frenchies has evolved into the perfect extrovert’s holiday. By day, you mountain bike, do yoga, swim and learn fun stuff like archery. By night, you frolic. There’s an open bar, a high-end buffet, a live show and a dancefloor that takes no prisoners. It’s like Dirty Dancing meets Step Up.
On the first night, there was a flashing robot dancer on stilts, a break dance troupe and a girl’s group in glow-in-the-dark tutus. There was also hilariously unco crowd participation. It was the dancing (and the people I was dancing with) that made me fall in love with the place.
I visited the Club Med in Guilin, China. The rooms are still being refurbished but the public areas are rockstar, the grounds are vast and dotted with original sculptures, the pool is chlorine-free due to a natural filtration system and the location is stunning; a verdant valley surrounded by limestone karst crags.
Guilin is a one hour flight from Guangzhou and the Club Med is a 45 minute transfer from the airport. It’s a bit of a side trip but well worth it if you’re in the neighbourhood and looking to let your hair down.