The all-inclusive Portugal resort with three infinity swimming pools, kids adventure playground and nearby waterpark

AS my sons raced each other down twin ziplines for the umpteenth time, hooting with delight, their joy summed up our family holiday experience – plain-sailing all the way.

I took my husband and children Henry, 11, Nicholas, seven and Estella, four, for a seven-night break with Jet2holidays at the Tivoli Alvor Algarve Resort in Portugal.

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The sleek and stylish all-inclusive resort was ideal for a week of family fun, which somehow managed to be relaxing for the grown-ups too.

Set on a hill, the resort is centred around three massive, tiered infinity swimming pools.

A separate, fenced-off splash pool with calf-deep water and mini-slides was perfect for my four-year-old.

I was also delighted to see an abundance of sunbeds fringing this kiddie pool, which gave Mum and Dad a chance to put our feet up while the kids played safely in front of us.

The centrepiece of the splash pool is a giant tipping bucket which, like the ziplines in the adventure playground, brought repeated squeals of delight from my little ones.

The children’s pool, ziplines, obstacle course, mini-golf and playground are all set around the Plumo kids’ club.

It is bright, airy and spotlessly clean, and kids can be dropped off for three-hour stints.

There’s a fabulous array of activities to keep them busy, from mini-pedal bikes, to a trampoline, bouncy castle and mini-disco.

But sometimes it is just nice for younger ones to take a break from the sunshine and do some quiet painting or crafting in the air-conditioned space.

If parents do decide to drop off their children, they are then freed up to enjoy a few quiet hours by the adults-only infinity pool, or at the gym or spa.

Adults and kids alike will love the padel court, which was free to use, and artificial-grass football pitch.

My two sons had their first introduction to the trendy tennis-like game of padel, and loved it.

Rooms have a luxe feel, including a glass-walled walk-in 'rainforest' shower and large terrace or balcony

The resort is compact and easy to navigate — and life feels very easy.

Rooms have a luxe feel, including a glass-walled walk-in “rainforest” shower and large terrace or balcony.

They easily sleep a family of four, with a double bed and sofa-bed plus trundle.

But a standout feature for us, with young children, was that Jet2holidays also offers the option of two adjoining bedrooms.

Although having three kids isn’t that unusual, it is surprising how limiting it can be for package bookings — especially if your children aren’t old enough to sleep in their own, separate room away from their parents.

What is also very helpful for a larger family is that a Jet2holidays package includes 22kg of luggage per passenger plus 10kg of hand luggage each.

As we had an early flight, we travelled to Stansted Airport the night before and were able to take advantage of Jet2holidays’ Twilight Check-in, which meant we could check in all of our hold luggage the night before to make travel even smoother.

Airport transfers were also included and there were lots of Jet2holidays staff in bright-red uniforms at the airport to direct and help, and at the resort to offer a friendly welcome.

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Our rep Ana was a Portuguese local and very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the area.

The resort is a ten-minute drive from the quaint fishing village of Alvor, and there’s a free mini-train which runs daily and was a novelty for the kids.

Alvor was well worth the trip, as pretty seafood restaurants line the small harbour and there is a small but bustling street for souvenirs, drinks and ice creams.

Or the larger town of Portimao is an easy taxi ride away.

Another huge bonus was that our resort is a stone’s throw from the beautiful sands of Praia de Alvor.

This long beach, backed by soaring sandstone rocks and the occasional fish restaurant, is a picture-postcard delight.

It is easily accessible via a footbridge from the resort and along a pretty wooded walk.

Ana told us of a lovely walk along the beach to the Ria de Alvor Nature Reserve.

While it was nice to venture out from our resort, it can be hard to tear yourself away from the temptations of the all- inclusive offerings

From a boardwalk, you can spot many birds — including most notably in spring, when we visited, flamingos.

But Ana told us these flamingos would be unlike those we might have seen in zoos, because they are white — the Alvor flamingos don’t eat enough of the shrimp which usually give the birds their familiar pink hue.

My kids love animals and birds so we also took advantage of free entrance to the Zoo de Lagos — about a 25-minute drive away.

Guests who stay seven nights or more at the Tivoli Alvor receive complimentary entry to either the zoo or nearby Slip and Slide waterpark.

All you need to pay for is your travel, which the hotel can arrange.

The zoo was easy to navigate for little ones and had a huge array of birds, monkeys lynxes, snakes and penguins.

Our favourites included a boa constrictor and a walk-through bat enclosure.

While it was nice to venture out from our resort, it can be hard to tear yourself away from the temptations of the all- inclusive offerings.

My kids seemed to average about two ice-creams a day each and loved the buffet at breakfast.

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A BBQ lunch at poolside bar Salty’s was also a daily favourite and the evening menu in the buffet followed a different theme each night.

The food was high-quality and plentiful.

The resort also has three a-la-carte restaurants, a steakhouse, an Italian and a Mediterranean eatery which are included in the all-inclusive deal but must be pre-booked.

All were delicious and offered nice variety during our stay.

The only downside of having such an easy, fun-filled week away is that, like the zipline ride, it’s over in a flash.