Son Of A...

March 23, 2007 8:12 AM

Has anyone used the Beaches all-inclusive resorts? I'm specifically looking for feedback from people with families as to the quality and whether it compared favorably or unfavorably to a self-planned/self-directed vacation. If you have experience with alternatives (vacation outfitters that specifically cater to people with sprogs along), please do speak up.

I understand that it might be cathartic for some of you to editorialize here on the commoditization of everything and how resorts like this are the problem with the world today. If you're so inclined, at least try to understand first that even those of us who are hardcore granola-farming twig-eating DIYers who make our own snowshoes from reclaimed third world tires and recycle our own cars sometimes like to go to capitalistic exploitative class-war-fomenting Earth-raping environmental and societal catastrophes like Disneyland. Really.

posted by scrump to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

These are always the types of vacations ("all-inclusives") that my family takes. We tried all sorts of different things for awhile, from DIY stuff to cruises, and these are by far what we enjoy the most. (Started going when I was 12 and my brother 8, now I'm 26 and we probably enjoy them even more now that we're all adults.)

Never done Beaches before, but we've been to many Club Meds in the Caribbean and Mexico. Also tried the Iberostar Tucan in Playa del Carmen/Cancun and loved it. Some resorts will be more "family" oriented, with staff and activities especially for kids, which is nice for parents, too. We particularly like the European influence of Club Meds; being from Kansas, it was my first exposure to non-Americans, and got me very interested in foreign languages and studying abroad and learning about other cultures. (All staff there are at least bilingual, and often polyglot; any announcements and signage are at least in 2 languages, if not 3 or 4.)

It lets everyone in the family do what they want with their week of vacation. My parents love tennis, so they go off, wake up early, eat breakfast, and go play on the courts; my brother and I sleep in and go to the beach. We usually meet up for lunch and dinner. Depending on the resort, you get free access to surfboards, snorkeling gear, sailboats, windsurfing, kayaking, canoeing, aerobics--tons of options. We get plenty of quality family time, but not so much overkill that we're driving each other crazy. We also enjoy the self-directed stuff, so we'll generally research the area ahead of time and spend at least a day exploring the local town ourselves with a taxi, so you can DIY as much as you want.
posted by gramcracker at 9:46 AM on March 23, 2007

Never been to Beaches, but the Sandals in St. Lucia (same company) was fantastic.

Also, check out cruises. For example, Carnival Cruise lines have a "Club Carnival" where you can drop off the kid for any portion of the day you wish, where they are kept busy with crafts, activities, sleepovers, putting on plays, etc. They can even go to dinner as a group of kids.

We went on a cruise when my daughter was three and she enjoyed hanging out with the other kids as much as she did exploring the islands.
posted by mikepop at 9:47 AM on March 23, 2007

Me too, mikepop. My wife and I went there on our honeymoon last April and loved it. The Regency was a nice place. Where did you stay?

If Sandals runs Beaches as well, then its worth looking into.
posted by dr_dank at 9:55 AM on March 23, 2007

I've been to a family-friendly Club Med in Mexico, in a place called Huatulco. Club Med divides their properties by emphasis on singles, couples and families with kids; I went to Huatulco, a family one, as part of a couple, without any kids.

It was great. The kids were having a blast, I had a blast too. There were all kinds of all-ages and adult activities and a lot of the places were laid out so that the kids were off in their own area, activitying or playing, but there was a quieter place for the parents to chill out, within eyeshot.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:18 AM on March 23, 2007

I've been to many Club Meds and a handful of Beaches/Sandals. They're extremely different in several key ways.

Club Med is generally a great deal more expensive, has better accomodations, better facilities and is NOT overly populated with vacationing Americans (a terrible breed of human). On the downside, the vacationing European people means men in banana hammocks (But sometimes women topless!). Club Med also has this cool thing where their staff are allowed to really "hang out" with you. They are picked carefully to be fun and interesting, and they are compensated well (according to my friends who work there).

Sandals served me beer when I was far underage (which Club Med did not do) which, in my opinion, gives it merit. Once, despite being advertised as a "kid friendly" place, their kid's area was shut down for construction.

We only go to Club Meds now.
posted by nursegracer at 11:22 AM on March 23, 2007

The way I heard it, nursegracer, is that the Club Med "hosts" are compensated really well, then given a 22-hour-a-day work schedule. However, they're permitted to get out of work if they're hanging out with "guests" - or sleeping with them, which is about the only way they get any sleep at all.

I found the hosts uniformly to be pleasant, shiny, happy, physically fit extroverts, but I didn't sleep with any of them.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:27 AM on March 23, 2007

My mother works as a university professor of travel and tourism, and while I was growing up she also worked part-time as a travel agent. Needless to say, she knows how to plan and execute a killer vacation, and usually gets a kick out of making all of the arrangements and activity choices herself.

When I was 13 or so (I'm 23 now...) we took a family vacation to the Beaches resort in Negril, Jamaica. My stepdad and I had a great time, as we usually did when mom dragged around the globe, but I actually got to see the woman fully relaxed and enjoying herself. This was a rarer sight than you might think, since even vacations were business for her, to a certain degree, since it was her job to be nitpicky and investigative wherever we went.

There were tons of fun activities for everyone. I learned to SCUBA dive and have been doing that ever since, but there are certainly more age-appropriate things for younger kids. Also, the various bars around the resort had a large number of remarkable kid-friendly tropical non-alcoholic drinks. There was one called a "King Jefferson" (I think) that I loved, and have never been able to find or recreate since that trip.

So, yeah. Thumbs up for Beaches. You'll have a great time. Your kids will have a great time. End of story.
posted by adamk at 1:36 PM on March 23, 2007

Go to Tripadvisor.com. The reviews are written by people who have payed to stay at these hotels and all-inclusives, not travel writers who get paid to say nice things.
posted by shemacg at 3:44 PM on March 23, 2007

We did Beaches Turks and Caicos with a large group of family including a few small children. Everyone had a good time; the kids really liked all the pools and playgrounds and spent more time in there than on the beach. Being able to walk into any one of the restaurants and just eat whatever you liked was also a big thrill, as were the swim-up bars. The staff were friendly and nice. It was, I think, more fun than a 'directed' vacation because those without kids could 'get away' from the kid-side of the family and go snorkel or bask, while the kids didn't have to leave off having fun to do 'cultured' stuff.

And yes, as a granola-farmer, you may make note of how brown all the staff are, and how pale (or sunburned) all the guests are. Notice how some of the guests treat some of the staff. And take a brief trip outside the resort and see how the regular populace lives. It's very... educational. Bring the kids! :D
posted by Rubber Soul at 4:02 PM on March 23, 2007