jazziecazzie

I know that prices are through the roof that week but this is the only week that my husband can take off from work and our daughter is home from college so Christmas week it is ...

Hoping the wonderful folks here can take a few minutes to help us out as we try to narrow down our search for the perfect vacation spot (and we realize we need to book it way in advance) ...

A few priorities and then preferences ... Imagine that money is no object for the time being ...

Family of three, daughter is 20 (so it needs to be somewhere the drinking age is 18 ... she's not a lush but we'd like to be able to enjoy a bottle of wine together legally) ... oh, and we're flying from the DC area if that helps.

PRIORITIES:

-- Great beach, preferably not really rocky or heavy wave action (I'm the wuss of the three), though we hope to take a few catamaran/boat trips out snorkeling somewhere) ... drinks with little umbrellas a plus.

-- We prefer lush tropical setting but realize some of the nice places are a little more arid (I've read that about, say, Anguilla which is one of the spots on the top of our initial list) ...

-- Low crime rate

-- Great food if possible, either/both at resort and in town ... we like to go local if possible

-- Obviously, good warm weather (probably takes Bahamas, etc. out of the equation)

-- REALLY nice hotel, 4-5 stars (though it doesn't have to have solid gold faucets or anything). A suite would be great ... trying to find fine line between not having to get two rooms and not being in each other's hair in one small room for a full week ... comfort, air-conditioning, lovely grounds, great pool, GREAT PEOPLE/friendly folks.

-- If it's someplace with spa and/or casino, so much the better but not essential

-- If it makes sense, we don't want to go someplace TOO ritzy like St. Bart's or Mustique or someplace where everyone is flaunting the big money and bling ...

-- What cuts down some of the list is that because this is a special vacation we'd ideally like to go somewhere my husband hasn't been yet ... (I have been very few places so it's not a big deal) ... that takes Puerto Rico, Belize, Mexico, Cayman Islands and sadly St. Maarten (our honeymoon) and St John's off the list

-- Our best vacation EVER was St. John's but the reason we don't want to go back there is we don't think we could top perfection. We stayed at the Westin in a room right on the beach. Someplace LIKE St. John's would be great if that helps. We're a pretty laidback trio that love beach, sun, water, good food, good wine and relaxing in comfort on the rare occasion we get to do so.

-- I love the occasional spa treatment. We both love casinos but don't have the disposable income to spend every night there LOL.

-- He was wondering about Guadeloupe or Martinique (French food, mmmmm) but reading here that the beaches are meh and the anti-American sentiment could be an issue ...

-- Anguilla has a lot of appeal, not the least of which is the ferry ride distance to Marigot and the raves we've heard about it from others who have been ... thoughts on that and suggestions on a nice nice place there?

I know this is a crazy long wish list but it's a start and I figured that the people on this forum are knowledgable and would be a great resource for us to launch our planning. Thank you SO much in advance!

RoamsAround

Since you said "Imagine that money is no object" you should check out the following resorts (by the way most islands do not have a "legal drinking age so your daughter will be able to have that wine with you):

Cap Juluca or Cuisinart on Anguilla
Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda (this island will remind you of St. John)
Sandy Lane, Barbados
Jumby Bay, Carlisle Bay or Curtain Bluff on Antigua

Having said all that you really should look at Anguilla since the island's combination of 35 spectacular white sand beaches and 80+ restaurants (some of the best in the Caribbean) will surely meet your expectations.

Another point, don't write St. Barth's off your "short list" especially if you are a fan of French food. The island is not as pretentious or "ritzy" as you may think. It's more like being in a casual section of Paris. Check out Eden Roc Resort or Iles de France (boutique hotel) - you may find this island offers a vacation you'll cherish for the rest of your life.

Hope this helps get you started.

jazziecazzie

Thank you SO much ... I can't tell you how much this helps!!!

In fact, both CuisinArt and Cap Juluca mesmerized us so much that my husband is considering the possibility of scheduling makeup classes for that first week of January (we used to have January free to do our winter vacations until he started teaching some classes at a local school) and our going approximately Jan. 4-11 instead (it seems like it would cut the price a little bit, and both places seem to be completely booked for Christmas ... plus I'm guessing ANY PLACE we go would be a little quieter then so it might be worth it) ...

Since you nailed our tastes with those two, I am going to check the others you listed as well and send them along to my husband ...

Usually, I am the household travel agent but for this we may take our choices and go to a "real" travel agent to handle all the details.

And we'll add in the places you mentioned about St. Barth's as well ... we are HUGE fans of French food (the truth is our family vacation to France last summer was probably neck and neck with the very short St. John's trip on the list of all-time best vacations, and we all LOVE French food which is why hubby was looking at Martinique and Guadeloupe)

RoamsAround

Listen, while Guadalupe and Martinique are islands with French cusine I don't think the islands themselves will live up to your expectations. If all you were planning to do is eat I'd say go but if you are planning to engage in other "vacation oriented activities" you'd be better off going elsewhere.

For French food I'd definitely go to St. Barth's - in our four trips to that island we've never had a disappointing meal. The island has more gourmet French restaurants than you could visit in a month of Sundays plus it has plenty of very nice beaches, some decent snorkeling, every type of watersport immaginable, opportunities for shopping, all the spa treatments you could ever want and plenty more. It's a short 10 minute flight or 45 minute ferry ride from St. Martin so getting there is not too difficult.

Angilla would be my second choice for you since it has numerous restaurants where you can dine to your heart's content and it offers the beaches for relaxation. While the restaurants are "not French" there are many very fine dining experiences available. It's difficult for a "foodie" to be disappointed on Anguilla. The main activities on this island revolve around the beach and dining. Because it's a relatively flat arid limestone/coral based island it lacks the lush beauty of the mountainous islands but the beaches are second to none.

Early January is still peak season in the Caribbean so you probably won't find the resorts on any island to be that much "quieter" than during Christmas week - at least not enough to make an appreciable difference.

Christmas week is always a difficult time to find accomodations as many resorts get booked up a year in advance. It doesn't hurt to make inquiries though as one never knows what the situation is at any given resort until you ask.

FYI - It's not unusual for some resorts to be fully book during early January but those bookings tend to be made at various times during the year so you may have a little more luck finding a vacany during that period. the key to finding accomodations during "High Season" is to be a little flexible as to where you stay and when you travel. Changing your arrival or departure date by a day or two could make a big difference.

jazziecazzie

Thank you ... we have a little bit of flexibility and looking at the two hotels' availability, it appears that both would have rooms available within the ideal time for us ...

SO ... we're going to check with a travel agent within the next few days and see what we can come up with ... I think right now our preference is for Cap Juluca over CuisinArt by a nose but would be happy with either one.

Once we get that squared away, I get to come back and check out everyone's more specific suggestions for things to do, places to go, restaurants to eat at, etc. ... catamaran cruises to take LOL (in St. John's, the travel boards were priceless when it came to reading people's reviews and suggestions for which ones to rent for day trips which we LOVE) ...

I know we'll want to spend at least one day over on St. Maarten/Martin to walk down honeymoon memory lane (with our old friends, the goats) and have dinner again at La Vie En Rose if it's still there.