Big group of adults (ranging from 19 to 83) looking for a reasonably priced resort (either AI or non) that offers golf, nearby shopping/restaurants and an easy-to-access beach. Any ideas??

Anybody???

It's hard to find a reasonably-priced resort during Christmas. You might consider the Maho Beach resort in St. Maarten; it's big and developed but also on a nice beach. Depending on how big your group is, you should consider a villa, which will almost certainly be cheaper than a resort during Christmas. Look at the list of available villas from Wimco. They represent villas on many different islands and will be able to give you a sense of what's out there and how much it's likely to cost (the cost will be considerable). Several islands fill your requirements, including the aforementioned St. Maarten, but also consider St. Thomas, St. John (particularly for a villa rental, though there's somewhat less shopping), Curacao, or Grand Cayman. I hope these suggestions help you get started. Plan on booking far, far in advance (at least 6 months) to get the better places. Many villas are probably already rented. The only other place I would recommend specifically is Casa Tres Vidas in Puerto Vallarta (not Caribbean, however). I stayed there this year and absolutely love it, though I'm not as crazy about the beaches in PV.

Consider the Cayman Islands, where about 50% of the rooms are in condominium apartments on the beach.

For large groups these can be very cost effective, as you can alternate between eating out in our wide variety of high quality restaurants, or cooking/BBQ'ing at your beachfront condo. I woudl note that our supermarkets, whilst priced 15-20% higher than the US, are just as high quality as you would find at home, right down to the USDA beef !

When my family come down to visit, they go straight to the butcher at Fosters Food Fair (one of the large markets, right off the 7MB strip) and get exactly the cuts they want, then cook most meals at the BBQ on the beach at their favourite rental condo.

Cayman also has (as Doug mentioned) a bunch of villas, mostly on the quieter North Coast / Cayman Kai area. These are beautiful, but perhaps a little too quiet for you, based on your requirements for shopping/restuarants/golf to be in easy access, as Cayman Kai is about 50 minutes drive from "town".

Doug and Tom,

Thanks so much!

Anyone else?