When a Club Med Opio staffer, dressed all in white with impossibly high platform heels, asks in a foreign accent to join you and your family at dinner, it's kind of like being in high school at the cool table.
What's more, Club Med as a brand knows this and propagates that interaction between staff, known as GOs (for Gentil Organisateur), and guests of all ages as a way of encouraging visitors to shake out of their routine patterns and really join in the fun.
The idea is that GOs aren't so much waiting on you, cooking for you or playing with your children, but rather they're throwing a party, and you're invited.
A playful (and optional) dress code encourages guests to dress in black and white one night, for example, and in jeans with a fancy top another.
There is never any pressure to join in activities (you won't see "men's sexy legs" contests at the pool, for example) but there are enough things to do every day — including golf, tennis and hiking — that there's no excuse for being bored.
The village, which features 490 rooms spread out on 65 acres in the hills of France's Provence region, is organized around a central pool, a lobby area, several bars and an indoor-outdoor restaurant where beautifully prepared, mostly French fare is served three times a day. House wines, including Provencal roses, are complimentary at meal times and at the bar, although there are several sommeliers on hand to offer premium, for-purchase options for discriminating guests.
Given that this is a family village, you can expect to see hundreds of children during school vacation periods, and as many as 50 additional GOs are brought in during those times to handle the younger guests. Facilities for kids include a Petit Club for ages 2 and 3 and a Mini Club for ages 4 to 10.
Age-appropriate activities range from sports and crafts to cooking classes and swimming. Older children are not forgotten either, thanks to a Junior Club for ages 11 to 17, which offers activities such as tennis, archery and dancing.
The children's clubs are free to children aged 4 and up. Summer 2017 rates for the Baby Clubs are $76 for a full day, $43 for a half day; Petit Clubs, $65 for a full day, $38 for a half day. Rates in winter 2018 start at $79 and $69, respectively.
CREACTIVE by Cirque du Soleil at Club Med Opio enables guests of all ages to participate in artistic and acrobatic activities.
Join the circus, or chill
New this year is CREACTIVE by Cirque du Soleil, a playground concept designed by Cirque du Soleil where guests, including children, can participate in up to 30 artistic and acrobatic activities. (The only other location to offer this feature is Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.)
Club Med is all about choice, however, so guests who prefer a quiet swim can stroll down to the Zen pool, located just on the edge of a mature olive grove that produces its own oil, for sale in the village store. Lounge chairs are spread out among the olive trees and in various locations in the main part of the village so that singletons and couples can find a quiet spot for a drink or to doze, while small groups can gather for cocktails in clusters of outdoor seating.
Larger groups are an important part of the market, but they are funneled into newly refurbished meetings rooms and generally managed so well that other guests barely notice their presence.
This winter the village closed for a round of upgrades that include the redesigned La Provence restaurant, the main eatery, and Le Golf restaurant, designed to cater to golfers but open to all guests.
GOs also serve appetizers poolside every night and in the bar, and high-end espresso machines are strategically located for guests who want a quick coffee at any time of the day.
Parental pampering
Although this is a family village, parents are not forgotten. During my visit, for example, I took advantage of the on-site spa to try the signature treatment, a combination facial, back and scalp massage, using Carita products.
And at night, a smoky-voiced singer belts out jazz tunes in English in the bar one night, while the theater morphs into a casino for after-dinner fun on another.
Of course, one of the most appealing aspects of the Opio village is its proximity to some of Provence's most famous sites, and while there we joined a half-day excursion to St. Paul de Vence, a medieval hill town about 12 miles away, led by a bilingual guide. Other off-property excursions include Grasse for a tour of the famous perfumery and a walk to a village market nearby. The guided walks are easy enough for school-age children to navigate with ease, and we saw one young family keep up while pushing their toddler in a stroller.
New this year is a private beach experience in nearby Cannes, home of the international film festival.
First-timers to Club Med might find the guestrooms a little small, ranging from about 60 to 200 square feet, but by this summer all guestrooms will feature private balconies, offering views of the Provencal countryside.
One feature that has met with mixed reviews is the protocol of issuing day passes that nonguests can use to enjoy the facilities. The policy swells the number of people in the village during the day, although families on day passes are not able to enroll their children in the Mini Club. The day and evening passes, good from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., respectively, are priced from about $70 each; combined passes from $120.
Even with its ever-evolving product, Club Med is still a question mark for many Americans, who associate it with its swinging-singles reputation from the 1970s and '80s. Part of the problem is that compared with other well-known inclusive resort companies, Club Med does little advertising in the U.S. But the reality at its family villages, including Opio, is that the properties offer a genial, family-friendly atmosphere, topped off with plenty of sports, evening activities and good food, all served up with a sense of fun.
At one point, for example, we were lounging in a quiet spot in the olive grove when general manager Michele Staiano, known in Club Med-speak as the "chef de village," drove up in a golf cart, hopped out with carafes of hot chocolate and espresso in his hands to offer us drinks, pretended to be impressed by my French and then sped off in search of other families in need of refreshment.
Oui, definitely the cool table.
Rates range between $1,047 and $1,436 per person for seven nights through June. See www.clubmed.us.
The children's clubs are free to children aged 4 and up. The Baby Clubs and Petit Clubs charge by the half- or full-day stay. An earlier version of the article stated that the clubs were free for all children.