By Kristen Chase, Motherhood Uncensored
Last month, my husband and I packed up our brood of three under four (Quinlan 4.5, Drew 2, and Margot 3 months) and headed on our first vacation in years. With the weather being unseasonably cold in Atlanta, we figured if we were going to chase our kids around for a week, we might as well do it on a white sandy beach with a drink in our hand. And since my husband being a pilot, destination wasn't really cost prohibitive, so we decided to head South of the Border to Mexico at the Azul Beach Hotel on the Riviera Maya, Cancun.
With only a 2-hour plane ride to endure and a short 20-minute ride to the resort, the Azul Beach Hotel is a small, gourmet inclusive resort that truly caters to families. And when I mean truly, I mean that my husband and I only packed two carry on suitcases, two carry on backpacks and my daughter's suitcase, all of which we stuffed in the overhead bins. I don't necessarily recommend doing it, but since we fly standby and really hate waiting for baggage, we did.
We arrived to a couple of glasses of champagne, smoothies for the kids, and a hotel room stocked complete with a crib, changing table, baby bath, bottle warmer, baby monitor, and mini bar (included in the fee). 24-hour room service (including baby food and drinks - yippee!) was only a phone call away.
Along with gorgeous beaches and clear blue water, the resort itself has plenty to offer families, including three ala carte restaurants that offered an amazing selection of foods and beverages and attentive service. They always brought the kid's food out first and helped us pick up dropped napkins, silverware, and everything else that comes with eating with two kids. During the day, my daughter headed to the Kid's Club where she and a few other kids her age enjoyed a range of fun activities. Meanwhile, my toddler played with the little kids on the beach as I alternated between eating fresh fruit and quesadillas chased with Pina Coladas and snoozing on the beach beds with my infant. At night, we booked the sitter for a couple of nights so we could eat alone. We ordered the kids popcorn and room service, popped in a dvd (available at the concierge) and headed to the adults only Tequila Bar.
We never thought that vacationing with our bunch could be so easy, and while we did turn in early on a few nights, we found that we really did get a chance to renew and relax, mostly thanks to the awesome hotel.
Here are a few things that really helped:
a) Get your passports taken care of way in advance. Ours came pretty quickly, but tackling our bunch (especially the infant who we had to take to Sears Portrait Studio) was challenging.
b) Choose a destination that's close. Anything longer than 3-4 hours in a plane can be tough and it's not fun dealing with jet lag. We found that the plane ride wasn't as bad as the aftermath - getting bags, going through customs, loading into the limo, and riding thto the hotel. So stop in the airport and grab some food, or pack some.
c) Pick a place that's all inclusive or at least doesn't require car rental, stroller, and tons of equipment. The hotel offered plenty of activities on and off site, but we decided there was plenty to do (hello a beach!) without having to leave. The kids weren't bored ONCE.
d) Pack light. If you pick a resort like Azul Beach, you don't need to pack anything except diapers and wipes. And if you do run out like we did, you can pay for someone to deliver them from the local Pharmacy. It wasn't as expensive as it sounds.
e) Pack strategically. We used a reusable cloth diaper for my son that we could rinse out so that we didn't have to pack swim diapers. I also bought a breastfeeding tankini and a few breastfeeding shirts which made lounging on the beach with my exclusively breastfed daughter super easy. The UV/UVA water sling saved my life. I wore it non-stop.
f) Make sure they've got a kid's club or something similar. Our daughter had a blast and if your kids are all over 4, you'd have the whole day to yourself.
g) Use the babysitter. It's amazing what eating alone and not having to scarf down cold food can do for the psyche.
h) Have fun. Even naptime was a vacation for us because we sat by the pool with the baby monitor and sipped Margaritas.
Sign me up. We've pretty much written off vacations until the kids are a few years older but that sounds like a good spot to go to. Especially the babysitter. Wow.
Posted by: Casey | Feb 17, 2009 at 08:14 PM
That's it. Screw Disney. I'm going to MEXICO!
Posted by: Cara Fox | Feb 17, 2009 at 10:53 PM
Wow! We're already to go. I'm convinced the all-inclusive is the most important part. Thanks for the post.
Posted by: Linda | Feb 18, 2009 at 07:50 AM
I've never been to an all inclusive resort before - but really it seems like the way to go for families with young kids. This was great! I'd love to read more of this kind of thing (maybe Baby Bunching can add a travel page!)
Posted by: Kate Coveny Hood | Feb 18, 2009 at 02:28 PM
What kind of transportation did you take from the airport to the hotel? No car seats needed? Sounds like a fabulous getaway and I'm ready to go, too!
Posted by: Knowles | Feb 26, 2009 at 05:52 PM
Hi Kristen,
I just booked a vacation at Azul Beach for this coming January! My son will be 11 mos old when we travel. It will also be our 5th wedding anniversary :)
Can you give me any inside details about the amenities for infants? what is the Gourmet Gerber baby food? Were the crib, stroller, etc. that they provide in good shape?
All the reviews I found made Azul Beach sound like the perfect vacation destination for a family with a baby. I am curious to hear more about it from a mom who recently traveled with her little ones!
Posted by: Gwen | Jul 15, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Oh, and any information about the babysitting service would be helpful too. I don't think I will be able to bring myself to use it for this trip... my first baby, and him being so young still, I think I would be a nervous wreck leaving him alone in a foreign country! But maybe on a return trip ;)
Posted by: Gwen | Jul 15, 2009 at 11:36 AM
I really admire this, I mean it really looks interesting! Very nice research. Thanks to the author.
Posted by: Term Papers | Jan 07, 2010 at 07:10 AM
Hi Kristen, thanks so much for your notes....we are heading to Mexico in a few weeks (Playa Del Carmen). Could you please share what baby monitor you used?? Should I be concerned with any standard US monitor working in Mexico? I'm sure you thought of everything! Thanks so much for sharing
Posted by: Suzanne | Feb 04, 2010 at 12:02 AM
Sounds fun. It's so hot over here in our place and I hope we can have a vacation in the beach, too as you did. There are many resorts around our place and I haven't gone there. I hope I have the time.
-carl
Posted by: all inclusive vacation | Apr 02, 2010 at 11:14 PM
This is a great idea, and it can be more practical than traveling abroad in summer.
-Eliza
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