A sports academy run by a professional athlete is the kind of vacation experience that genuinely defines a kid's year. Imagine a child obsessed with football spending a week training with a former Premier League player, or a young tennis player getting coached by someone who actually competed at Wimbledon. These are the kinds of memories that shape a lifelong relationship with a sport.

The hotels in this collection bring in genuine pros to run week-long academies during peak family weeks. Think serious credentials (not retired juniors, actual pros), structured progression across the week, age-graded coaching for different ability levels, and the kind of stories kids retell at school for months afterwards. Ikos resorts and several Italian and Turkish operators lead the way here.

Below are the top family hotels with sports academies run by professional athletes, sorted by overall score.