June Caribbean (or Mexico) Anniversary Getaway
 

Help, please! My husband and I want take our first post baby trip together this June BY OURSELVES!!!!! My mom has agreed to watch our toddler, and we're looking for something romantic. :)

We can take up to 4 nights, and I think we're looking for something casual and maybe all-inclusive. Low stress!

I've been searching the internet, but there are so many options. I originally thought of the Carribean, but then I read that Mexico might have some better deals. Maybe someone has a few good suggestions. Here's what we're looking for:

1. We're coming from Virginia-so the closer the better. Anything with direct flights from Atlanta, Miami or Charlotte would be great.

2. We're not really social people--not huge drinkers or partiers- But we'd like some activities--water activities, a decent fitness club, decent food. A nice beach to lay on! Frozen drinks!

3. A nice room. I've got an outdoor shower in my mind for some reason. :)

We're not Hedonism people (not that's there's anything WRONG with that--but we're not that brave), but we'd definitely like something very romantic to put the spark back in things.

Any suggestions? No kids would be a big plus. Thanks so much!

Look at the Iberostar Paraiso (AI) just south of Cancun. Excellent beach...excellent rooms....excellent facilities and all the "outside" activities that you would want. (Side note...the trip to Chichen-Itza is looooooong but if you like history, it is a good trip.....

Food was not great but was good and plenty of variety.

Thanks! We visited a travel agent today and she gave us lots of ideas. I think we're actually leaning toward the Excellence Punta Cana south of Cancun. The tripadvisor ratings were good and so were the candid pictures. The price was also good, and the resort is adults only, which is a big plus.

We also looked at the Couples resorts, but the candid pictures from Excellence just looked a lot nicer. I also heard good things about the Grand Lido, but again, wasn't as impressed with the pictures.

For a non-all inclusive, the agent recommended Caneel Bay, but I think it was booked when we wanted to go.

I'm pretty sure that we really want an adults only resort at this point. Anyone know of any other good ones? We aren't wedded to the all inclusive idea, but it sounds less stressful.

What about Harbour Island in the Bahamas? I think Pink Sands has outdoor showers and would have few kids...

"Excellence Punta Cana south of Cancun".

Punta Cana is in the Dominican Republic. Excellence Riviera is out side of Playa del Carmen, MX.

Also check out the new Royal Playa del Carmen or if interested in Cancun, the brand new Royal Cancun. They are getting great reviews. We are booked for the Royal Playa del Carmen in Sept. Both are adult only all inclusive properties.

Other nice properties in the Playa del Carmen area that might interest you are Secrets Capri and Royal Hideaway. The Iberostars in the Mayan Riviera area and the Dominican Republic get good reviews also.

Whoops! I was mixing up one of the resorts we were looking at in Mexico with Excellence in the Dominican Republic. I definitely meant the one in the Dominican Republic, although the one in Mexico (I think one of the Paridisius) looked very nice too.

I'm going to check out your suggestions!

Out of curiousity, how do you think the Grand Lido or Couples chains in Jamaica stack up against Secrets?

I've been to Grand Lido Braco and Couples Negril and Secrets Capri and would pick Secrets Capri hands down!

Braco's beach is not great...very rocky. Couples is nice, but there is not much around the resort to do.

Secrets Capri is wonderful!! Great beach, 5+ restaurants, and lots of things to do and see nearby. You can ferry to cozumel; snorkel in Akumal, visit the ruins in Tulum, shop in Playa del Carmen, etc, etc.

Peace

Pink Sands is really lovely, but more expensive than the other options (although less air time) and I think maybe a little too small. The rooms look very beautiful, though.

I tried to look up the "Royal" suggestions, but I'm not sure which resorts you're talking about.

Thanks Greenie. We are actually looking at the Secrets/Excellence in the Dominican Republic--not Mexico. (I know. I screwed that up in my earlier post!)

But that's making me lean more toward Secrets in general. The only thing I was worried about was I read that the beach at Excellence in the D.R. had kind of rough water--not the typical Caribbean beach you'd expect.

This is the hotel I'm referring to...but maybe I should check out the other ones. The D.R. is a little closer to us than Mexico by plane.

http://www.excellence-resorts.com/al...a-overview.htm

"Out of curiousity, how do you think the Grand Lido or Couples chains in Jamaica stack up against Secrets?"

You'll get more for your money in Mexico. Most of the resorts in Mexico are less expensive than the resorts in the Caribbean, and offer more amenties to people who book standard rooms, that other hotels in the Caribbean charge extra for like in-room bars, in-room jacuzzis, in-room frigs, and room service. Those amenities are usually reserved for suites in other destinations.

Haven't really checked out the Grand Lido. We tryed to book Couples Negril in Jamaica for last November. Unless we booked a suite catagory, we couldn't get a in-room jacuzzi or a in-room bar. The suites were very expensive, so we ended up at the RIU Tropical Bay, which is a nice hotel in itself, but didn't care that it wasn't couples only, the food was pretty bad for an AI, and the resturant reservation system was terrible.

If your interested in Jamaica, look at Sunset at the Palms in Negril. It's across the street from the RIU Tropical Bay. We checked it out a little. They have cute tree top cabins. It's not an adult only property, but they don't cater to kids. No kids club or kids activities, so I doubt there would hardly be any if at all. Their beach is across the street, but that would not have mattered to us. After looking at it, we wished we would have stayed there instead. If you chose Jamaica, definatly go to YS Falls and Mayfield Falls. They are beautiful.

We're staying at The Royal Playa del Carmen. Here's the link to their web-site:

http://www.realresorts.com.mx/The_Royal_Playa_Carmen/


Also check out the reviews and pics on Trip Advisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Peninsula.html

The Royal does look really nice! But for no good reason I think I'm drawn to either Excellence Punta Cana or Couples. I started a new, more specific thread about it here:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...amp;dirtyBit=1

I figured I might get more responses if I was more specific. Thanks so much!

roxannex, The water is rougher as you get further north in the DR. If you want really calm blue water stay in the Bavaro Beach area.

Some resorts I would recommend there are Melia Caribe Tropicale or Paridisus. I've been to both and they are great resorts, good food, nice rooms, etc. Or I was recently checking out the Sunscape The Beach. The Sunscape resorts have a good reputation.

There are two Secrets Resorts in the Mayan Riviera. We loved Capri.

Can't go wrong with any of those. Enjoy your trip.

Peace

In the Domincan Republic, the water is calmer on the Caribbean side (LaRomana/Bayahibe) than Punta Cana, but I don't believe there are any adults only AI resorts there now. The Iberostar and Sunscape hotels there seem to get the best reviews.