About Mark Warner
Who They Are and What They Do
It all begins in 1974 when 500 customers signed up for Alpine holidays with a house-party atmosphere. Jump forward 40 years and Mark Warner has grown into one of the most highly regarded independent travel companies in the UK.
In October 2014 they were voted Ski Tour Operator at The Times, Sunday Times and Sunday Times Travel Magazine Awards and in November 2014 they were voted Best Family Tour Operator, Best Activity & Adventure Operator and Best All Inclusive Operator. Silver was awarded for Best Ski Operator and Bronze for Best Singles Operator. In December 2014 they were also voted Best Ski Operator in the Telegraph Travel Awards.
In 2013 alone they were voted Best Medium Ski & Winter Sports Holiday Company, Best Medium Activity/Sports Holiday Company and Best Medium All Inclusive Holiday Company in the British Travel Awards, and best ski operator in the Telegraph Travel Awards.
But it's the public that really counts to them - and of the 50,000 passengers who travel with them to a mix of ski and beach resort holidays each year, a healthy number 40% re-book again and again, delighted by the combination of great locations, relaxed surroundings, superb facilities (tennis, water sports, childcare), brilliant, endlessly helpful staff and good company. Personal recommendations also account for a huge number of bookings.
At Mark Warner they believe it's our attention to the big things as well as the little ones that make their holidays stand out. In winter this means excellent snow-sure resorts and comfortable, well-located accommodation shared with like-minded people, but also details such as freshly baked cakes at afternoon tea and sociable après-ski gatherings in the cosy hotel bars. In summer it means idyllic Mediterranean beach resorts with superb tennis and watersports but also the freedom to simply unwind by the pool.
They are also innovators, having introduced ski hosting in the 1970s and set up their famous childcare program in the 1980s. Indeed, if you are travelling with children you can be confident that wherever you holiday with them, their kids' clubs and free evening crèches will leave every member of the family with memories to last a lifetime.
On the other hand, they run adult-friendly/adult-only weeks in some of their chalet hotels and beach resorts in keeping with that original idea of providing holidays with a house-party vibe for singles and couples with an enthusiasm for sport, sunshine and good living.
Mark Warner in the Press:
'Guests on a Mark Warner holiday know what they like and what they can expect [...] Many, like ourselves, are repeat visitors, drawn in - certainly in the early days - by the excellent childcare clubs for babies upwards. Now, travelling with young teenagers, the clubs are still what attract my "Indies", as they are now labelled, as well as the large range of sporting activities that we can all get stuck into.'
Fiona Knight, The Telegraph, February 2014
"As an intolerant man without children, I am well qualified to comment on the intrusion levels of awful kids on holiday and I can confirm that back at the resort [of Lakitira] Mark Warner have truly nailed the problem. Because it never became one. The place was apparently teeming with kids but I rarely heard or saw them. When I did see them they were quietly concentrating on games with one of the endlessly patient Mark Warner staff or simply too exhausted from having fun to become annoying. I have no idea how the staff do this but they do.'
Chris Hughes, Daily Mirror, November 2013
"Never have I been so active during a beach holiday. Now I was happily sleepy after an 18km mountainbike ride on the Greek island of Kos. A holiday at Mark Warner Lakitira Beach Resort is the perfect balance of adventure, activity and pure relaxation [...] I could definitely get used to a life where a game of tennis ends with a cold lager in the beach bar. "
Natalie Chalk, Daily Star, September 2013
'There are morning walks, water polo, volleyball and football as well as sunrise and sunset stretches, yoga, Pilates and zumba. And a vast spa with treatments including a chocolate body wrap. I booked a 45-minute lesson at [Levante's] impressive tennis centre with its six new AstroTurf courts. I also took a mountain-bike excursion up the coast past Afandou to Traounou Beach, a long, largely pristine stretch of sand with little development. Both highlighted the glories of a sunny Mediterranean holiday.'
Jane Anderson, The Independent, June 2013
'My son had a ball [at Levante], and I had a swim and a rest (or went off mountain biking, or had a treatment in the spa, or took a pilates class...). The best thing was the range of activities he got to do - things he wouldn't necessarily have been able to do with me, such as sailing. I can honestly say he tried out more new things than I did in the week we were there.'
Rhonda Carrier, BA High Life, June 2013
'The spa did it for my daughter, and my son is a sucker for a fast boat ride. The Levante Beach Hotel in Afandou [...] was everything we'd hoped it might be.'
Malcolm Herdman, Daily Mail, January 2013
Testimonial: 'The children and I spent a lot of time together on our Mark Warner Holiday, but we also spent some time apart. There was peace and space for me, activities like sailing and windsurfing and kayaking introduced to them - practised when we all got together later - and enormous fun all round. The Kids Clubs meant they made friends and I had some company while they played. Being a single parent really wasn't an issue because there's so much to do all the time, it's difficult to tell who's with who anyhow! The food is excellent and I wholeheartedly recommend one of their breaks.'
Older Single Mum Blog, October 2014
