Family Friendly Resorts

[Kirbyfan]

Thought I would start a thread where people could post their experiences with "family friendly" resorts.

So what resorts have you stayed at that are great for bringing the kids to and what made them good. Also feel free to post any negative experiences or things the place you stayed at could improve on. Hopefully this will help anyone who is planning a family vacation in the future!

[Libby]

We have family arriving in a couple of weeks. Among them there are 5 children, between the ages of 4 and 12. They were considering the following AIs.

Sandos Playacar
Iberostar Quetzal
Barcelo Maya Palace

They finally settled on the Iberostar because they wanted to be in Playacar somewhat close to us, and it's supposed to be a little nicer than the Sandos. The Barcelo is brand new, and looks fabulous -- water slides and such. It's the priciest of the bunch. But you really wouldn't need to leave the resort for any entertainment (unless you want to see Mexico or something silly like that).

[NorthMinnesota]

My girls just love the Barcelo! It is by far their favorite resort. The beach, the pools, activities. What's not to like?!?! Even my picky eater was happy here with the food. Having french fries available at all times was a big hitwith her!

[ElainaM]

We stayed at the Quetzal and though we didn't have kids with us we kept remarking what a great place it would be to bring kids. Plenty of stuff for them to eat, activities day and night.

[shoediva]

We really liked the Iberostar Lindo.
Other places we've tried are Occcidental Grand Xcaret (I need a beach and better food) and the Riu Palace Mexico (had some serious service glitches and I still needed better food).
The Lindo has very good food and although we primarily layed on the beach, there were always activities going on. My kids are older - 15, 19 and 21, but it seemed like there was lots for younger kids too.
We are hoping to return next summer.

[NorthMinnesota]

Last year we stayed at the Playacar Palace with my then 15 yr old daughter. We had a wonderful time. I was leery because of the poor beach conditions but she loved being pampered and the food. Service was wonderful. We stayed here because we like to walk in to town in the early morning and then after dinner. Great location. It worked for us even though there aren't any activities on site. She didn't even want to do any of the included Palace day tours...just read and veg by the pool and enjoy the scenery. Worked for us!

[NorthMinnesota]

Forgot to say we also spent a day at the Moon Palace visiting a friend of hers. This place is huge! Lots of people, lots of activities, lots of bodies crammed around the pool. She had a great time visiting and I think this would be a fun place for a family reunion because of all the options but it ws too much for us to stay a week. If you have really active kids and want to be on the go this would be a great place for you.

[fredwms]

I have stayed several times at the Viva Wyndham Maya AI resort. They have a great kids program for daytime activities and they get the kids involved in the nightly entertainment in the resort's theatre. There is a kids center at the resort plus things to do like a climbing rock, archery, internet access and water polo.

[TAPPY]

We love the Catalonia RM.