alternative to Beaches, T&C

[mikala]

on average I think we're paying between 9k-10k for our room (two bedroom ground floor walk out in Italian Village) and between 3k-4k for au pair room - standard king in Caribbean Village. we've used points for airfare for the last two years. not sure if it's a deal, but Beaches claims it is (lol). by rebooking before we leave, we lock in the current rack rate less a discount.

Whoa. 14k is a LOT of money for a week. I can understand the lure of the AI with no surprises but I have to think you could pay significantly less for a beach side house rental or condo and even with jacked up island food prices you'd come out way ahead. I'm planning a trip to Aruba and am happy to share details in PM if that would be helpful.

[westwoodmom04]

If you are spending that much, take a look at the four seasons Caribbean resorts. I've only been to Nevis, but they have at least two locations in Mexico and one in the Bahamas that might be more accessible. Not Ai, but they do have kid's clubs, lots of arranged excursions, and meal plan pricing for length of stay. Food and service will be excellent.

[DualvansMommy]

If you are spending that much, take a look at the four seasons Caribbean resorts. I've only been to Nevis, but they have at least two locations in Mexico and one in the Bahamas that might be more accessible. Not Ai, but they do have kid's clubs, lots of arranged excursions, and meal plan pricing for length of stay. Food and service will be excellent.

That's my thinking too! But the problem for me is my kids are too young to join in the Four Seasons kids club. Last I checked was 4 years old as the minimum age requirement, and I think OP kids are younger like my own. Hence the lure of beaches resort since they do cater kids as young 6 months old and up. Once my kids are 4 and older, we'll more likely be spending our vacations at Four seasons and the like for the amount of money spent.

[lmh2402]

hm, never thought about 4 seasons. next Jan my kids will be 5.5 and 2.5, so DD would still be too young?

i don't want to do a house or condo. i like the full service of having everything changed and cleaned multiple times a day and the activity of a resort is really fun for the kids - being able to step out of the sliders and run to our lounge chairs and the pool. so i would definitely want to keep with the resort feel.

[westwoodmom04]

hm, never thought about 4 seasons. next Jan my kids will be 5.5 and 2.5, so DD would still be too young?

i don't want to do a house or condo. i like the full service of having everything changed and cleaned multiple times a day and the activity of a resort is really fun for the kids - being able to step out of the sliders and run to our lounge chairs and the pool. so i would definitely want to keep with the resort feel.

Yes, she probably will be too young. From the website, it looks like kid's club minimum age varies by location, but 3 seems to be the youngest.

[gatorsmom]

going to look into that tonight. is club med kind of like beaches re: family oriented and AI? for some reason i always thought it was a singles resort. thanks!

I can answer this as we used to go to Club Meds quite often before we moved (when the twins were just babies). Yes, CM is very family oriented. There are fantastic baby and kid clubs with little plays and circus shows that the kids participate in after dinner. Often there are little puppet shows in the main square. The restaurants always have nice high chairs with fresh bibs and wipes waiting. There are evening babysitting services for an extra fee so you can go to dinner with DH alone. Eta: I just remembered that the clubs usually have a stocked kitchen that you can get into with a code 24 hours/day with baby supplies like milk, graham crackers, cereals, baby food and utensils. The club we went to had a separate chef and kitchen just for preparing food for the kid's clubs. We've always loved our Club Med experiences. If it weren't such a long flight for us, we'd be going there this spring. Ixtapa was all refurbished in 2008 or 2009.

To answer the OP, after spending a lot of time recently researching family-friendly, Caribbean all- inclusives for our trip in the next 6 weeks, Ive narrowed it down a bit. Ultimately we figured out that if we didn't want to spend 10- 12 hours in flight (due to our location and the number of layovers for us) our only Caribbean option was Jamaica. We've heard and read great things about the Beaches resorts (there are 3 in Jamaica) but they were all a 2-hour drive from the airport. So I wanted to be closer to Montego Bay. Also, the prices were incredibly high. So I've narrowed it down to 4 other resorts, mainly 2. I've chosen these because they have safe, calm beaches on the resort, wonderful activities like water parks or kids clubs to keep my 6, 8, and 10yo kids busy and happy (so mom and dad can have some couples time), and the overall ratings based on tripadvisor and familyvacationcritic.com. My top choice would be the Half Moon Rock Resort. It is half the price of Beaches Negril, includes kids clubs, swimming with dolphins, sailboats, kayaks, horseback riding, etc. It also has 54 pools and all beach-front rooms. I double checked this on Google maps. It looks great. Second choice is Hilton Rose Hall Resort. It has only 1000 feet of beach front (but is very secluded), an entire water park with lazy river and 3 tiered pools, and kids clubs up to age 12. The other activities at the resort are not included in cost and there is only one other pool other besides the pools in the waterpark. It is 1/3 the price of Beaches Negril. If my children were all under 5yo I'd probably try the Franklyn D. Resort. It consistently gets great reviews and many of the reviewers say they've gone back to the same resort several times. It is much smaller, older and more "quaint" but apparently the childcare there is second to none. The customer service is wonderful. I just think my 8 and 10yo would get bored. The Iberostar Rose Hall resorts look great but they are all interconnected and the 2 kid- geared ones are sold out for when I need them. So, they are unfortunately out of the running.

I'm going to try to sell DH tonight on the Half-Moon Resort. He was the one who suggested Beaches Negril but this resort sounds a bit nicer and is half the price! And much closer to the airport. So, hopefully I'll convince him. We just got the kids passport paperwork filled out (and expedited) today so we should be able to pull it off! Hope my research helps someone else.

[Nechums]

hm, never thought about 4 seasons. next Jan my kids will be 5.5 and 2.5, so DD would still be too young?

i don't want to do a house or condo. i like the full service of having everything changed and cleaned multiple times a day and the activity of a resort is really fun for the kids - being able to step out of the sliders and run to our lounge chairs and the pool. so i would definitely want to keep with the resort feel.

We just came back from El Conquistador where we stayed at the Casitas Village. Again, not an AI resort, but we were able to have the benefits of a villa and the benefits of a resort. For my kids' ages, it was perfect. I loved being able to give my kids' dinner on our balcony and it was on my terms and my food, so I knew they would eat.

That being said, I'm interested in many of the resorts quoted in this thread. Thanks for starting this OP. Also, Gatorsmom (I don't know how to quote two posts in tapatalk), thanks for your detailed post. I plan on looking into all those places you mentioned.

Eta: go figure, I already posted on this thread with a similar response and didn't even realize it!

[123LuckyMom]

I'm really interested in different AIs in the Caribbean and Mexico (is Mexico safe again?). I've never been to an all-inclusive, but I've always thought it would be very relaxing to just stay in a resort and vegetate! One of my favorite vacations (before kids) was to Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda. All we did was lie on the beach, swim, eat, and relax!!! Our budget for a regular beach vacation never exceeds $4-6k, though. We save the big bucks for big adventures! I'd live to hear more suggestions.

I'm glad to hear about El Conquistador. I've thought about going there but have been scared away by having to take a boat to the beach and hearing that the food is expensive and not great. I DO NOT cook on vacation!!!

[egoldber]

The price is what has always kept us away from Beaches. But they have a monopoly on that style of Kid Club though, which is very appealing to many. Although it's probably cheaper to pay for a local nanny for a week.

When the kids are older, there a lot more options. But most hotel "kid clubs" don't start until the kids are 4 and potty trained. And they are often extra $$ and not cheap!

[khalloc]

I couldn't stomach $14,000 for hotel/food for one week. We usually go on 1 or 2 Caribbean vacations a year. Sometimes we travel without kids. When we travel with the kids we usually rent a villa/house with a private pool. When we are alone we will do hotels sometimes All-Inclusive but sometimes not. I wouldnt spend more than $3000 on lodging for a week. Maybe slightly higher for all-inclusive when DH and I are alone. So for me that would mean Beaches would be an extra $7000 just to pay for food/drink and kids club. And you can definitely eat for less than that and at better restaurants and get better food than AI. I really think Beaches is about the convenience of it all. You dont have to think about restaurants or any of that since the resort does it all for you and they make it so you never have to leave. Plus they take care of your kids! My kids probably would put up a huge stink about going to the kids club and then I would have chosen Beaches for nothing!