Best luxury beach resort for families

[scooter260]

Time to spend a good chunk of money on a family vacation! Two boys, 5 and 3, and my wife and I want to find a kick ass beach resort (FL or Caribbean) in Feb to unwind for a week. We want beachfront + great pool + lots of kids stuff/kid camps. Anything come to mind? Price no issue (for now!)

Thanks!

 

[zinger1457]

Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas has something for everyone.

 

[Nords]

Time to spend a good chunk of money on a family vacation! Two boys, 5 and 3, and my wife and I want to find a kick ass beach resort (FL or Caribbean) in Feb to unwind for a week. We want beachfront + great pool + lots of kids stuff/kid camps. Anything come to mind? Price no issue (for now!)

Shucks, I was going to recommend Disney's new Aulani resort on Oahu in Kapolei, only 10 minutes from my favorite kid-friendly surfing beach.

Aulani | Disney Hawaii Resort | Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa

But if you insist on staying in the Atlantic or the Gulf...

 

[jerome len]

Try Coralstone ($900 bucks a night) or Meridian ($800) on 7 mile beach in the Cayman Islands, a couple of hundreds yards away from a new Ritz, which in my opinion has a too crowded beach. Never seen anyplace more beautiful, spend a week there every year......great restaurants, great diving, boating, anything else you could want to do. You can't go wrong, Every time we try some place else, we're sorry we did and go back to Cayman. Have a great time, where ever you end up.

 

[bltkmt]

For kids, we find the Club Med family resorts (Cancun, Punta Cana and Ixtapa) have a lot to offer. Nice beaches and pools, good food and lots of activities. They are not luxurious, but very nice.

 

[TromboneAl]

+1 on Club Med, although it's been over 15 hrs since we went. The kids can go to some activity, and you can go to the adults only island picnic.

We went twice.

 

[REWahoo]

+1 on Club Med, although it's been over 15 hrs since we went.

Club Med and a long bike ride all in the same day? No wonder you can't sleep...

 

[bhoferp]

I really like Beaches resorts (the family branch of the Sandals resorts). My favorite is Beaches Negril (but then I'm a huge fan of Jamaica, and some people hate it). On one of the best beaches in the Caribbean and service is good. I've also been to Beaches Turks and Caicos. Some people like this resort better than any in Jamaica. You cannot walk out from any of the rooms here onto the beach. I understand "island time" but thought the service was even slower. I think the Beaches resorts are perfect for the age of your kids. On Atlantis-since $$ are no object, you might like this resort. I'm more frugal and think this place would nickel and dime me to death. FYI, just retired after 14 years as a travel agent.

 

[laurence]

Anyone have an opinion of the Cabo San Lucas all inclusive resorts? My kids are of similar age and while we love, love, love Hawaii, the long flight is a bit killer with little ones. Cabo is 2-3 hours from a lot of the U.S.

 

[Nuiloa]

Club Med is great. Some of them have both kids clubs and baby clubs for the really small ones.

Nui <-------- former G.O.

 

[Moemg]

I loved Club Med when my kids were younger . They were happy and we were happy !

 

[MasterBlaster]

Most of the posts here are very... shall we just say middle class/mass market oriented ...

Anyone can go to Maui or Florida. Perhaps something a little more upscale, a little more exotic would fit the bill.

You may want to check out some of the ultra-premium resorts at the "Elite Travelor" website.

Here is a link to the "Elite Travelor" website showing South Pacific resorts.

Luxury Guides - Top Resorts Of The South Pacific

The website also has a number of other places of interest to those where money is no object.

I personally have not stayed in any "Elite Travelor" resorts. But I would love to get away from all the riff-raff for a vacation if only money was no object to me. I just can't justify it in my ultra-frugal mindset.

Poking around the Elite Travelor website I also noticed you could rent one of several ultra premium (true) yachts out of the French Riviera region (comes with crew). Prices for a week were around $200-300k. The pictures make it look like a great way to vacation.

The good life awaits you !

 

[Nuiloa]

I loved Club Med when my kids were younger . They were happy and we were happy !

We worked hard to keep people happy. That was one of the toughest jobs I ever had

 

[DougViages]

How about Palace Resorts?

Disclaimer: We are Palace Resorts - Premier Members. Palace Resorts runs 4 & 5 star resorts in Mexico (Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta) and the Dominican Republic. The DW and I have stayed at, or visited, most of the dozen Palace facilities. February with Kids: How about the Moon Palace or Cancun Palace (both in Cancun).

I also suggest that you spend some time on Tripadvisors.com reading reviews of resorts, and contact some TA contributors with specific questions.

Have a blast!

 

[BigNick]

Don't forget that there is also a Club Med (Sandpiper) in Florida. One thing you can guarantee will be great is the food. CM accommodation can sometimes be surprisingly modest, but you don't go there to spend 6 hours a day in your room watching TV.

We worked hard to keep people happy. That was one of the toughest jobs I ever had

You were a GO ? My daughter is on their list for next year (she knows loads of languages). It's obviously very hard work, but in Europe a couple of years as a GO is a great door-opener on your CV.

 

[Nuiloa]

You were a GO ? My daughter is on their list for next year (she knows loads of languages). It's obviously very hard work, but in Europe a couple of years as a GO is a great door-opener on your CV.

Yes, I was a GO and worked in Guadeloupe, Mexico (Playa Blanca), Haiti and Tahiti in the 70s, when CM was "the" resort. There were very few all inclusives and the atmosphere was pretty wild and crazy. It has really toned down a lot since then (haven't we all?)

It was fun but that's where I discovered I'm not a party-animal, people person type. We were "on" all the time and I got tired of constantly having to be perky. I have never been able to do perky, unfortunately

It is a GREAT way to see the world, though - and your daughter will meet some very interesting people along the way. It sure opened my eyes!

 

[TromboneAl]

The second time we went to Club Med Ixtapa, it had been toned down a lot.

The first time we went, we went to one of the adults only island lunch. We had games such as the bathing suit switch game. The men and women would get in two lines, and a pair (man and woman -- not spouses) would run into the water, switch bathing suits, run back, and tag the next pair. This was after a lot of drinking. I was told that at the singles club meds, they'd play this game, but the pairs would often come out without any suits on.

The food was amazing, but I did get giardia the second time, which manifested itself after we got home.

 

[TromboneAl]

Some pictures from Club Med (sorry I'm too lazy to take them out of the album).

This shows Jenny on the trapeze, and Lena and me returning from the drunken island party:



Here's the beach and Lena doing aerobics (she's on the left).

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, I was a GO and worked in Guadeloupe, Mexico (Playa Blanca), Haiti and Tahiti in the 70s, when CM was "the" resort.

That's impressive. The GOs I met were very good at what they did.

Any funny stories to share?

 

[Moemg]

By the time I went to Club Med they had toned down the picnics . We did play games and if you missed they pored heavily laced punch down your throat . Every time I hear the song " Hands up " I get a little nostalgic . We went to the one in St. Lucia , Huatulco ,Mexico & Eleuthera , Bahamas . I probably still have some beads around . Maybe Club Med would have a reunion just for us Baby Boomers ?

 

[bltkmt]

We went to the one in...Huatulco ,Mexico

That was the first CM my wife and I went to, soon after getting married. It must have been in the early 90s - lots of fun. CM sold that property soon thereafter...

We have been to both the Cancun and Punta Cana clubs twice each in the past five years...we love CM. My sons are now 13 and 16, and they enjoy the activities and sports available. My wife does the dance/exercise classes. I play beach volleyball, swim, read and enjoy a few cocktails. CM just "works" for our family.

 

[chinaco]

While you say price is not important... it still depends on your budget. Providing a range for total trip cost would help.

Package deals that includes meals will help to manage much of the cost up-front. Travel companies that offer those deals have a wide range of resorts (luxury to budget oriented). Most have family oriented resorts as well with activities for the kids.

For the Caribbean... your lowest cost choice might be a cruise (prices are pretty low... luxury cruise are more). Most of them cater to the kids and adults.

But if you want a land based vacation... consider what currency the local currency is tied to... for example: some of the islands have currencies tied to European countries... you will find them to be more expensive than a country that is more closely aligned with the USD.

Transportation can be an issue of cost as well.. Your local airport may not have flights to some destinations... or the round about 3 hop flight makes it long and expensive.

 

[Surfdaddy]

We really like the Mayan Riviera and the Dominican Republic (especially Punta Cana). Dominican is less expensive to stay but more to fly to. Not as much to do culturally there, but nice beaches and selection of resorts. Mayan Riviera has a lot of history and great beaches, but it is Mexico which may worry some. There's not been any violence problems down in the Yucatan.

Both areas have a large variety of all-inclusives from cheap to very expensive. We've found the Iberostar chain (moderately priced) to be outstanding for service and facilities, while fairly good for food if you're not a gourmet eater (which we are not). A very well-run chain. But you can go very expensive or pretty cheap. Look at the resort rankings on tripadvisor.com, view the pictures, and read the reviews.

Re: Cabo San Lucas - compared to the areas mentioned above, Cabo is smaller, much drier (desert rather than humid/tropical). The ocean is pretty but colder water and limited areas for swimming as the waves are huge in most places. While we liked Cabo, we prefer the other two areas more. YMMV.