Family friendly resorts in the U.S.

[supertrooper1]

Any recommendations for a family friendly resort in the U.S. that would be warm in April? We would be flying from Seattle, so the Caribbean is too far and we're not looking to go to Mexico.  We went to Maui two years ago and while we would love to go back, we also want to explore new places.  We would like to keep the flight shorter than 7 hours.     

So far I've been considering the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa outside of San Antonio and the Arizona Grand Resort near Phoenix.  Has anyone been to either of these resorts?  A water park would be a great feature for DS. 

ETA: DS will be 6. 

[mae0111]

Is Florida too far? I have heard amazing things about the South Seas resort on Captiva Island. A few of my girlfriends used to take their kids every year when they were around your DS's age.

www.southseas.com/

There is also a family Club Med in Florida that I've heard is a lot of fun.

[waverly]

I have been to a different resort in hill country I think Marriot/ Starwood Line. We went in early March and it was still pretty cold and kids club etc was not open. Only 1 day was it warm enough to swim. April should be better but not sure. It gets pretty busy for spring break. I think I would call and get more details from the resorts as far as what they offer in terms of kids club (babysitting/ drop off care) and the temps.

We realized we are not resort people because you have to eat out every meal and while a big room we were all in one room. So we prefer to rent a house for vacations now but maybe 2 kids is that tipping point.

Lots of golf in that area, outlet malls, get a massage. San Antonio itself you have the Alamo and the river walk. They do have a kids museum I think and Austin is only an hour or two drive and they have a big kids museum and lots to do there.

Never been to Phoenix. Hill Country is more suburban but you can go farther north for more of a country feel for a day trip to cute hill country towns.

[waverly]

No specific resorts since we rent houses. San Diego’s will likely be in the 70’s.

For hot Florida is awesome but a long flight for you guys and you have to book early if it’s spring break. We do Sarasota area a lot, Tampa, St. Petes.

We did a New Mexico trip Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It was super cute. It was 40-60 in February not sure on April temps probably still on the chillier side but could get up there. But tons of unique cultural things like the pictographs etc.

I think April is such a transitional month for a lot of the US it’s hard to tell on the weather. And depends on beginning of the month versus end of the month.

[supertrooper1]

mae0111, no, Florida is not too far away as long as it's a larger city. I looked into a Club Med one near Key West, but there are no direct flights from Seattle. Thanks for the South Seas recommendation.

waverly, We went to San Diego in July, so we would like to go somewhere different this time. DH and I have been to San Antonio pre-kid, but I'm sure DS would like the Alamo (he's starting to get into history) and the River Walk. I loved the Hill Country on our last trip. We went to the LBJ ranch and of course Luckenbach:)

[sdlaura]

We’re at the Hyatt regency Lost Pines near Austin now. We were originally going to do the Hill Country one, but all the suites were booked like six months in advance. I think anything Hyatt Regency or Marriott Vacation club is great for kids. For April it may not be that warm though - it’s freezing right now (for someone from San Diego) so we can’t use the pools. You could do something in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and have reliably great weather.

[freezorburn]

There are direct flights to Orlando ... even if you didn’t want to play there, it would be fairly easy to drive to other points in Florida from there.

[freezorburn]

Also, if you like baseball, it can be fun to take in preseason games in Florida or Arizona.

[supertrooper1]

Nov 10, 2018 17:45:04 GMT -5 freezorburn said:

Also, if you like baseball, it can be fun to take in preseason games in Florida or Arizona.

We would love to go to spring training to watch the Mariners, but it ends before our travel dates.

[librarychica]

@supertrooper, if you don't require a beach there are several resorts around here (Orlando) with kids clubs, nice pools, lazy rivers and the Braves are usually doing spring training at Disney in April. Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek (has access to the next door Waldorf Astoria Kids Club), Portofino Bay are all ones to look at. Portofino is a Universal hotel so if you'd bet interested in one of their parks you would get early access. I have stayed at none of these, full disclosure, but have heard good things.

[larzhope]

I highly recommend the Arizona grand resort. I've stayed there twice. It's such an easy flight from Seattle and the weather should be nice and warm in April

[abs]

We've been to the JW Marriott Hill Country resort near San Antonio several times. It's beautiful and we always have a great time. Big pool, water slides, family games, and fire pits. You are near the zoo, Sea World, and Natural Bridge Caverns. Lots to do if you have bad weather like we always seem to. April is hit or miss. It's usually pretty warm but you can sometimes get a freak cool snap.

Hyatt Lost Pines is also really fun but it's more isolated so if the weather is bad you are stuck. I also don't like the food options as much.

[acr]

The Hyatt hill country’s fun relies a lot upon being in the water, and it’s generally not warmed up enough in April in central TX to be pleasant. I’d go with Arizona!

[mustardseed2007]

We went to the Marriott resort in San Antonio for spring break last year. It was really nice, although it did happen to be chilly some of the time. We really enjoyed their zoo and children's museum, although both were very very busy during spring break.

The pool was great at the Marriott. I think the Hyatt might be even more kid friendly but we have a discount on marriott hotels.

[2chatter]

I think the pools are likely to be closed. We prefer Lost Pines (hiking, biking, water park, buffet breakfast and desserts were better). San Antonio resort experience feels wasted as we ended up doing San Antonio sights. Resorts are stay on property, for me, for the most part. We did go to a street fair in Bastrop and it was the perfect break from the resort.

I’d go with Arizona. It can be cold there depending on where you are but I expect a better resort experience.

[divanerd]

We had a great time spring break 3 years ago with the kids in Siesta beach FL..really warm occassional rain normal for FL

We rented a house that had daily cleaning service. Plenty of hotels around though and stuff for kids to do