Beaches Family Resorts

[kpsteffey]

Anyone ever go here for a vacation? On their website I put some dates in and they seem to be EXTREMELY expensive for a family of 5.

 

[Jennifer S]

I have not been to Beaches but a lot of resorts require two rooms with 5 people. I found this out when planning our trip to Mexico. Where are you going? Also could be when you want to go.

I found Mexico to be cheaper than Jamaica. After May 1st kids were free to the Iberostar resorts

 

[KristiA]

I'd like to hear what others have to say as well. We are a family of 5 too and I would like to go to Mexico during Thanksgiving this year. Started looking around about a month ago and it is pricey. Would love to hear if there are any deals out there.

 

[Darcy03231]

I haven't been to Beaches, but have been to Sandals (same place owns both). While it was a nice vacation, I thought it was pricey for the money. I would look into doing an all inclusive family resort. We stayed at one in Antigua and it was much less expensive than Sandals and about the same as far as quality of the room/food/service, etc. Another option if you're looking for something that would include some type of child care so Mom and Dad can have some alone time is a cruise. There are rooms on some ships that will accomodate 5 (its tight but can be done) and they have the camp programs for the kids. My kids are older now and don't use the camp programs, but when they were younger the loved them (and so did DH and I!!!). Cruising is one of my kids favorite ways to travel. If you're lucky enough to live close to a port and can drive to the ports you can get some great deals. Check out vacationstogo dot com for some ideas of itineraries and prices.

 

[jsbjeb]

We have been to Beaches Turks & Caicos 3X's. We LOVED it!

 

[PatriciaH]

We went to Beaches Turks and Caicos for our 5 year anniversary. It is a very nice resort and the beach is beautiful. There is great snorkeling a few minutes up the beach. It is very expensive compared to other all-inclusives unless you happen upon a deal-usually in September/October. All Sandals/Beaches properties are very expensive. The food is a step up from most AI's and things like diving and snorkel trips are included. They also have more "top shelf" drinks and liquor. We like Mexico better for the money. The Iberostar Paraiso Beach (Playa del Carmen) is a great family resort.

 

[Jennifer S]

That's where we stayed The Iberostar Beach. It was awesome. I'm trying to decide if we go back there this year or try somwhere new.

 

[TanaL]

I'm trying to book a Beaches T&C or Negril vacation and need some bargains too! We've been to Sandals Ocho Rios before but not Beaches. My kids love the Sesame Street characters and the waterslides & kids activities look great.

 

[maciec]

That's where we stayed The Iberostar Beach. It was awesome. I'm trying to decide if we go back there this year or try somwhere new.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide where the 8 of us should go and for everything you get, I couldn't pass up Mexico. DH and I went 2.5 years ago and fell in love with it, so this time we are going with our 2 kids (3 &6) and another couple with their 2 kids (7&12). I think that Jamaica and Mexico are where you are going to get more bang for your buck.

A great place to do research is tripadvisor

We are going to the Iberostar Lindo in August. I can't wait! I hope it's just as awesome!

All inclusive is the way to go for us!

 

[Jennifer S]

We are going to the Iberostar Lindo in August. I can't wait! There are 8 of us going. I hope it's just as awesome!

All inclusive is the way to go for us!

OH it will be awesome. The Lindo is a little nicer. We may go there in June. It all depends on friends of ours. We told them about our last trip to Mexico and now they want to go.

Do these excursions: ATV through the Jungle, Zip line and The Pirate Cruise- they were all awesome. My kids still talk about our trip. Have a great time.

 

[kato0627]

We stayed at the Lindo last July and had an incredible time. We did have to get 2 rooms though being a family of 5. It was worth it. Talk about amazing housekeepers, they could not do enough. Our room was beautiful everyday, towel animals on the beds in both rooms, chocolates left around them. My tub was filled with bubbles and rose petals some days. Fresh flowers placed in towels... I could go on and on..... Simply beautiful. Enjoy your visit. You will love it. Any questions, PM me

 

[pmgreene]

Our family of 4 just got back from Beaches Turks and Caicos 2 weeks ago. Timing is everything when it comes to planning a trip there. We stayed for 7 nights and found it to be pretty reasonable for all that is included. If we had stayed past 12/21 the price would have gone up about $1000 a day! If you have flexibility with your dates look at their specials with higher percentages off. Just about anywhere is going to be a lot more over the major holidays (and more crowded!)

When Beaches says "all inclusive" they mean "all inclusive". We did not spend any extra money the entire week we were there and we ate great, drank well, went snorkeling, went scuba diving twice a day (have to be certified or pay to go through the program on site), went sailing, had child care available, swam in a beautiful ocean, etc. etc......

Air fare can be tough too but we looked at different flights first and then booked our trip around which was cheaper. (Proud to say I got a $200 refund the day before we left as US Air had lowered the price!! )

Turks and Caicos is adding more rooms that should be done the end of the year. In my opinion, it is getting a little bit on the large size but still plenty to do and space to spread out.

Have fun planning!!

 

[PatriciaH]

We stayed at the Iberostar Lindo for our 10 year anniversary in October. It was awesome! You will love it. We have been all over the Caribbean and Mexico is still our favorite

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We've taken the kids to Beaches Turks and Caicos twice. The place is awesome beyond belief. DH and I have also been to many of the Sandals resorts in and around Jamaica. Believe me, they are pricey, but you definetly get what you pay for.

DH and I just returned 3 weeks ago from our 1st trip to Mexico. As others said, its cheaper and we thought, hey maybe an alternative to Sandals, WRONG!!!! The hotel was nice, but the kids activities and amenities were definetly lacking. The service was subpar, and the grounds were not clean. We visited other hotels in the area and found this to be the pattern. Everywhere we turned, someone was trying to sell us a timeshare and the worst was at our hotel. The airport was unbelievable. The information booth, again timeshare people.

I also thought no one could drive worse than the people of Jamaica. Wrong again! I would not even begin to take my kids in those vehicles on those roads. We had to tell our taxi driver 3 times to slow down, 92 miles an hour in the pouring rain. Plus on the way back to the airport we seen a 7 car accident with bodies lying on the road. No thanks! Again reminding the driver constantly, SLOW DOWN!!!

To us, the Jamaicans were way more courteous and just all around great people. We are doing a DCL this June but plan to take the kids back to Beaches in '08, going to try Negril this time.

You have to look for deals. Check their website often because they do have 50% off sales.

 

[JunieJay]

That's where we stayed The Iberostar Beach. It was awesome. I'm trying to decide if we go back there this year or try somwhere new.

We had a wonderful vacation at the Iberostar Quetzal in the Mayan Riveria. The resort had it all - lots to do, good food, very clean, nice staff. I'd go back in a heartbeat. I didn't think it was terribly expensive, when you consider everything is included. We went through funjet travel to book. I don't think you could go wrong with the Iberostar resorts, although I have to put in a plug for the Tucan or Quetzal. These are sister resorts that sit side by side and share restaurants and a very large pool. They are set in the middle of a jungle, so at any given time you can see monkeys, birds, peacocks, all sorts of interesting animals. My kids loved it, as did we.

As far as beaches, I have not been, but my co-worker did last fall. She came back complaining that it was dirty and the food was horrible. I remember researching Beaches when I was planning the Mayan Riveria trip and it just had really mixed reviews on tripadvisor. The Iberostar reviews have consistently high reviews, and after visiting, I can see why.

 

[molly2004]

I hope you don't mind my borrowing space on your thread, OP! We are trying to figure out the same thing! Beaches is sooooo expensive!

Thanks to your suggestions, I'm curious now about Cancun. What's the weather like in the off-season. I used to live in Houston and thought the weather was oppressively hot. Is the spring a good time to go? I'd like to avoid the college spring break crowd.

Looking forward to more responses!

 

[Donnask8pro]

We did Beaches in the Bahamas. Its was 14 yrs old and over at the time when we went. But Looooooved it. If we weren't so busy going to Disney and cruisin I'd go back..

 

[kaysmommie]

I have been to Sandals 3 different times and it is wonderful in every way. You get what you pay for. Also we checked out Beaches Negril while we were there and it is amazing and we wil probably take the kids there sometime or Turks & Cacios. I want to try Mexico but am afarid of being dissapointed after staying at Sandals and other nice Caribbean resorts. I would play around with dates and try to find some kind of discount. Our rooms at Sandals were always perfect and Clean and I'm very picky.

 

[PrincessasMommy]

We took our family of 5 (kids were 10, 3 & 18 months) to Playa Del Carmen Mexico last year and although we didn't like the food where we stayed it was alot of fun, beach was beautiful and the fact that they had a Wal-Mart close made me feel comfortable. I had prefilled antibitiocs from the Dr. in case we needed them, which we never did. My oldest swam with the dolphins, snorkeled, jetskiied with DH, while the little ones and I built sand castles, splashed around and they napped under the palm trees or in the hammock with Mommy. It was nice. To be honest, we prefer Disney as it is geared toward them there as opposed to the beach where by day 5 they may not want to build another sand castle. We are looking at trying Beaches next time we take them on an island trip for that exact reason. And we took a "alone" trip to Sandals Cuba in May and we loved the upscale feel to that chain. The 5 star we stayed at and paid for in Mexico wasn't even close to the 5 star that Cuba was and we heard that Cuba was worse as far as star ratings. To each her/his own I suppose. Try www.locogringo.com for info on PDC & Area. Akumal is supposed to be amazing!

Have fun!

 

[kaysmommie]

We took our family of 5 (kids were 10, 3 & 18 months) to Playa Del Carmen Mexico last year and although we didn't like the food where we stayed it was alot of fun, beach was beautiful and the fact that they had a Wal-Mart close made me feel comfortable. I had prefilled antibitiocs from the Dr. in case we needed them, which we never did. My oldest swam with the dolphins, snorkeled, jetskiied with DH, while the little ones and I built sand castles, splashed around and they napped under the palm trees or in the hammock with Mommy. It was nice. To be honest, we prefer Disney as it is geared toward them there as opposed to the beach where by day 5 they may not want to build another sand castle. We are looking at trying Beaches next time we take them on an island trip for that exact reason. And we took a "alone" trip to Sandals Cuba in May and we loved the upscale feel to that chain. The 5 star we stayed at and paid for in Mexico wasn't even close to the 5 star that Cuba was and we heard that Cuba was worse as far as star ratings. To each her/his own I suppose. Try www.locogringo.com for info on PDC & Area. Akumal is supposed to be amazing!

Have fun!

I agree the Sandals and Beaches resorts are the best but I don't think Americans are aloud to Sandals Cuba . I think becuase your from canada you can go Cuba. Also not sure if there is a Beaches there. I would definately like to skip Disney one year and go to Beaches instead.