alternative to Beaches, T&C

[khalloc]

The Tam resort in Aruba often has kids stay/eat free. You can have up to 2 kids in a room I think. But now they also have suites across the street from the beach as well. Which probably allow more than 2 kids. Its not a 5* resort, but its on a gorgeous beach. Its all-inclusive and I believe they have a kids club. I dont know what age you have to be to go to the kids club though. I've never stayed there with kids. Only at the Divi next door for a kid-free vacation. You can use both the Tam and the Divi facilities. So there are a bunch of restaurants and bars between the 2 hotels. Its a low-rise place though, not super fancy. But perfectly fine to me and the beach is way nicer than the hotels up by the Palm Beach area in Aruba.

My kids dont need that kind of stimulation that a kids club would offer. At least not all day. They might do it for an hour or 2, but then they would be wanting to hang out with mom and dad.

We've brought them to Barbados and rented a nice villa for a week for $1700 and we had our own pool. We would go to the beach for a couple of hours and then go back to our villa to have lunch and the kids could swim in the pool. I think the entire vacation cost us maybe $5000 tops. That was for airfare, villa, car rental, food, any souvineers.

I would spend $14k for 2 weeks in Bora Bora with my husband. But not for 1 week in the Caribbean with kids.

[egoldber]

I have not done this, but my ILs have. They rent a house and then hire someone to come in to cook and clean for the week they are there.

My kids dont need that kind of stimulation that a kids club would offer. At least not all day. They might do it for an hour or 2, but then they would be wanting to hang out with mom and dad.

My younger DD is like this. Even on the Disney Cruise, she didn't really want to be in their fabulous kids clubs for more than 1-2 hours at a time. She did like going to the various events they had (Pluto's Pajama Party, etc.). It was actually my older DD who REALLY enjoyed the tween club! She would hang out there and with the friends she met on the cruise virtually all day long. We wouldn't see her from breakfast to dinner! Moving forward, finding a place that has fun, safe, and structured activities for older kids is a priority for us.

[lmh2402]

we've done cap juluca as a couple and it's gorgeous, but wouldn't do with our kids. funny, but we don't use the kids club since we have brought help with us. but it's the energy of the resort - LOTS of kids, multiple pools (with lots of option for wading and shallow water), water park, kid-specific play areas, music, etc, that my kids absolutely adore. for us, they're just not old enough to relax, unfortunately. so it becomes the opposite of relaxing for us to try and keep them entertained. DD was literally captivated just sitting on the chairs by the pool and watching all the other kids. so I don't want to give that up. I'd just love to find it plus better food!

[gatorsmom]

it's the energy of the resort - LOTS of kids, multiple pools (with lots of option for wading and shallow water), water park, kid-specific play areas, music, etc, that my kids absolutely adore. for us, they're just not old enough to relax, unfortunately. so it becomes the opposite of relaxing for us to try and keep them entertained.

Yep, this is why we need the kids clubs. It was exhausting for me to try to keep the kids entertained at the pool or the beach all day, every day. I'm a stay at home mom, so I get tons of time with them. What I don't get a lot of is time to myself or uninterrupted time with DH. That is what we absolutely loved about the Club Meds we visited. I could actually get my free time and the kids were being entertained with other kids their age. We didn't do the kids clubs everyday but it was a great option for one or 2 days. At 10yo, Gator loves being independent and hanging out with other kids. He'd be bored just hanging out with mom and dad all day.