Resorts with kids clubs

[sarahsas]

We are thinking about doing a vacation at a resort where there is a kids club and we can let the kids do fun activities while we relax. Looking for something with pools/possible beach type activities (aka, not a dude ranch type experience). Would love any recommendations from this group to help give us parents a vacation but not have to leave kids behind! 

[brooke77]

What ages are the kids? We went to Finest Playa Mujeres in April. They had a kids club that was really popular. There were two splash pad areas with water slides. They also had movies/games/crafts.

We ended up preferring to keep DS with us all day, but the other kids really seemed to love it. I would say it was probably best for 3-7 year olds. Older kids might get bored.

[dale]

Beaches resorts have kids clubs for all ages. My kids didn't go to them because they really wanted to stay at the beach and pool with us. Disney Cruise Line has wonderful kids clubs and I barely saw my kids the whole week. They made friends that they still keep in touch with. I got to spend an entire day in the spa.

[mccallister84]

We did Beaches Ocho Rios in January and it was amazing for all of us. The kids were apprehensive about the kids club but they ended up loving it - every day they would come out and say oh we need to come back tomorrow because we are making cookies with Cookie Monster or we need to come back tonight for the piñata party, etc.

We went with my sister and the kids were 3,3,5,7 and 8.5. My 8.5 year old nephew wasn’t the biggest fan but he could go to the Xbox lounge so he did that a lot. They would go for about 2 hours every day which was pretty perfect for us. They will also take them to the pool and to eat but we never had them do that.

Honestly we had so much fun that we ended up booking Beaches Turks and Caicos on a bounce back deal (we never planned on doing that). But we were all able to just relax while we were there - even when the kids were with us, the whole thing was so amazing. We had such a great time.

[jaycee]

Aulani in Hawaii has a kids club and the resort will blow your mind!

[thebreakfastclub]

Club Med has a nice kids club as well as evening babysitting services. They also run promos where kids rates are discounted pretty often.

[sent]

We stayed at Wequasett Resort in the Cape Cod area last summer. DD went to the Kid's Club a few times and enjoyed it. DS was 3 at the time and not emotionally ready for that. This year we returned to the Four Seasons Orlando which also has a beautiful space for their kids club, but DD had no interest in going there since I had jammed the day full of Disney park stuff. DS loved the pool but I don't know that he would've done a club on his own; maybe if he went with DD. I've heard the kids clubs at other Four Seasons are really good like the Hawaii ones. It will be a few years before I can test that out.

[sdlaura]

Have you considered bringing a babysitter on your trip? That has worked out better than kids clubs for us. A lot of it is the ages of our kids (I've always had at least one who is too young for the kids club), and I like the flexibility. Kids clubs are often very expensive for what you get.

We enjoyed Aulani when we just had our two older kids, but we didn't feel like we really experienced Hawaii, and my DS wasn't a huge fan of going (while DD loved it). Aulani is very expensive - I'd rather get a larger condo for the same price. We've also used kids clubs at a couple Hyatt Regency properties.

When we went to Hawaii last fall, our babysitter and her husband came and helped us for a few days and had their own vacation for another few days. That gave us a lot of flexibility to structure the help when it worked the best for us, and the kids were used to the babysitter, so no complaining about hanging out with her. This fall, my parents are going to overlap going to Hawaii at the same time as us. We may also make some use of the hotel kids club (so like the older two kids go to the kids club while my parents watch the younger two one day). We'll be at a condo that's affiliated with the Mauna Kea resort, which has a kids club (on the Big Island).

[eli]

I will always recommend The Tyler Place in Vermont for vacations like this. Not a beach of course since it's Vermont but it sits right on Lake Champlain and is fantastic with kid's activities and down time for parents. Hands down the best.

[bronxgirl]

Beaches Resorts and planet Hollywood Cancun. I recommend both.

[winemaker06]

Jun 13, 2022 14:15:53 GMT -5 eli said:

I will always recommend The Tyler Place in Vermont for vacations like this. Not a beach of course since it's Vermont but it sits right on Lake Champlain and is fantastic with kid's activities and down time for parents. Hands down the best.

I have a coworker who raves about this place. Going to try to take my family next summer!

[isabel]

Jun 13, 2022 6:29:05 GMT -5 brooke77 said:

What ages are the kids? We went to Finest Playa Mujeres in April. They had a kids club that was really popular. There were two splash pad areas with water slides. They also had movies/games/crafts.

We ended up preferring to keep DS with us all day, but the other kids really seemed to love it. I would say it was probably best for 3-7 year olds. Older kids might get bored.

What room type did you say in and did it work ok for sleep? I wanted to go there this summer, but it was pretty booked up by the time I thought about it. It seems like even their family rooms don’t have much, if any, separation between the bedrooms and living space. So we could put the kids in a room with a door, but then we’re still in the main room where everyone hangs out during the day.

[brooke77]

Jun 14, 2022 12:21:39 GMT -5 isabel said:

Jun 13, 2022 6:29:05 GMT -5 brooke77 said:

What ages are the kids? We went to Finest Playa Mujeres in April. They had a kids club that was really popular. There were two splash pad areas with water slides. They also had movies/games/crafts.

We ended up preferring to keep DS with us all day, but the other kids really seemed to love it. I would say it was probably best for 3-7 year olds. Older kids might get bored.

What room type did you say in and did it work ok for sleep? I wanted to go there this summer, but it was pretty booked up by the time I thought about it. It seems like even their family rooms don’t have much, if any, separation between the bedrooms and living space. So we could put the kids in a room with a door, but then we’re still in the main room where everyone hangs out during the day.

We did the Finest Club Junior Suite. It worked for us because DS slept with us in the King bed. It’s definitely not ideal if you want true separation. There is a large pullout couch, but it’s only about 3 feet from the bed. The balcony is quite large, so we would put DS to sleep with a sound machine and then drink on the balcony. I would have preferred a larger suite, but we also booked late and it was the only option left.

[kittie3131]

This resort in New York State comes up on my Facebook ads. It looks like a lot of fun www.rockinghorseranch.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw46CVBhB1EiwAgy6M4jfq6F1QyeqwwqA_2YnoRdxhRQy2dxbuN0B_v1-WTjHHEk4O-Y3bwRoClXgQAvD_BwE

It's an all inclusive resort.

[outnumbered]

Smugglers Notch in Vermont has a kids camp.  My kids enjoyed it when they were younger.   www.smuggs.com/pages/summer/

[shaynaatl]

If you want to stay in US, the chain of Omni Resorts all have pretty nice kids clubs. We went to their Amelia Island Florida location which we loved.