Recommend a family resort (U.S.) for multigenerational trip?

November 3, 2023 1:48 PM

My brother and I want to take our parents and families on a fancy-ish vacation in 2024. Can you recommend a family resort in the U.S. that might be a good fit for our special snowflakes?

Travelers are the parents (both age 70), my family (me, mr. teditrix, and 7-year-old), and my brother's family (brother, brother's wife, and infant), so we desire an explicitly child- and infant-friendly spot.

My parents don't have passports, so location in the U.S. (or mayyyyyyybe a U.S. territory).

We're leaning toward a Western U.S. destination (more exotic for my parents, who have not been there, and closer to the family with infant so they have less travel).

All-inclusive or mostly inclusive (meals and on-site activities) is strongly preferred, because my parents are deeply frugal and repeatedly seeing us have to pay for things will bum them out.

We're not a golf, horse-riding, or shooting/killing things kind of family (which seem like the main activities at some Western resorts).

Budget is not a huge consideration. It's a milestone birthday celebration, parents are thrifty, and brother's family is kinda fancy, so *shrug*.

Travel likely to be a week or long weekend in summer 2024, but we could be flexible on when.

So far, our best vision is a fairly nice inclusive resort bordering on a national park somewhere in the West, but I'm burning out on online research and am ready for some personal recommendations.

posted by teditrix to Travel & Transportation around Usa, Japan (6 answers total)

Alisal (in Solvang, CA) was really really nice for our 3-generation family, even for those uninterested in horseback riding. Great food, very nice accommodation, not giant and not tacky. Low-key California fancy. My mom LOVES this place and I was surprised at how nice it was overall.

You might look at Red Mountain Resort in St. George, Utah. I haven't been, but it seems like a scenic spot and has all inclusive packages.

Another idea might Sun River, in Oregon, or Suncadia, in Washington. These aren't all-inclusive, but you might be able to just pre-book or pre-pay for meals or quietly charge them to the room. I went to Sun River as a kid for a family reunion and we did a small family trip to Suncadia last winter. These are fairly low key with lots of family activities.
posted by vunder at 2:41 PM on November 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

Wrong region, but Mohonk Mountain House meets all your other criteria as it's lovely, all-inclusive, welcome kids, and has lots of great outdoor activities + an indoor pool in case of bad weather (and is a reasonable drive to a lot of great Hudson Valley attractions). If you've watched the Amazon series Upload, you've seen the resort -- it's Lakeview.
posted by snaw at 6:14 PM on November 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

How do you feel about cruises? They're all inclusive, and depending on the cruise there would be stuff across ages. I went on one when I was about 15 and spent all my time in the library/arcade area on their pinball machines
posted by creatrixtiara at 7:06 PM on November 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Enchantments in Sedona! this place has everything and the landscape is gorgeous
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:57 AM on November 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Cruises from most large lines will have 1 international port due to US law. A US river cruise or a small cruise company like Uncruise will be more likely to do US only. Other than that, a cruise would be a great solution.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:59 AM on November 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

look into the Paw's Up resort in Montana (https://www.pawsup.com/). We took 3 generations (80's to teens), 12 people, and had a great time. No horse back-riding or shooting involved (though you could opt to do skeet shooting if you wanted to). The food was great. Flights to Bozeman required a transfer through Seattle. Not cheap, however.
posted by Carsey at 7:38 PM on November 6, 2023