We are booked for our second trip to Provo but our first stay at Beaches for 06/14 - 06/21. I'm looking for opinions regarding their rooms. Our package includes the basic Caicos premium room in the older section. Is it worth it to upgrade to the French Village? Are the French Village rooms any bigger than the other rooms? And did you request your upgrade before departure via the resort or did you just wait until check in to request an upgrade? All thoughts appreciated.....thanks!

I haven't been but i'm going in 9 days -WOOHOO...we have 2 kids so we took the 1 bedroom honeymoon suite..the room is located in the older section...from what i hear the french village is nice but far from the beach..like a 10 minute walk...<BR><BR>i imagine you are going at a time that could be very busy depending upon when school gets out across the country and upgrades may not be available at that time....<BR><BR>i hear that if you are an avid diver or snorkeler hiking gear from the french village to the beach is rather tiresome....<BR><BR>i've heard the rooms aren't any bigger just newer and not really worth the added expense...<BR><BR>but then again, it all depends what your priorities are...<BR><BR>i will post a trip report when i return....<BR><BR>Hope that helps a little....<BR><BR>Dana <BR><BR>

We stayed in the older section (which looks anything but old) and ona different trip, my sister stayed in the French Village. There are dvantages to both.<BR><BR>t the older section, you are centrally located. You are close to the restaurants in both area's, the beach, the orginally pools which we like since they are nearer the beach, etc.... Less time walking about as the place is really huge now.<BR><BR>The French Village is newer so the rooms are a bit brighter. The pool theer is excellent - huge insize and does have alot of restuarants and places for drinks, deserts where you can sit out by the pool. For my sister, this was a perfect location in that my nephew prefers the pool, there were tons of kids there. Ws a hike she said, to get to the beach but youjsut plan what you take well!

Basilwat - I would love to read a trip report from you upon your return from Beaches. PenPen - your post was very helpful, thanks! I think we will probably stay with what we booked and if there is anything larger available upon check in we will go for it then.

went to beaches last year with 8 and 11 year olds. stayed in older section. we preferred to be there than in french section because of the proximity to the beach (our priority). room was ok. didn't spend much time there. lots for the kids to do but we wouldn't let them roam alone at night. lots of families did. it seemed safe enough but not something we are comfortable doing. food is decent. night entertainment was poor. beach was narrow. needed to get up at 6:15 in order to get beach chairs. put towels and book on chairs by the pool and someone took my daughters book and took the chair. staff was friendly. pools are very nice. seafood restaurant was good, but wait long. the resort is very large so you need to decide if being by the main lobby and beach is important or not. the french section is much prettier and i would assume the rooms nicer. hike to beach though. there is food available all day which is nice for the kids. also they could swim up to the bar and get as many drinks as they wanted without having to pay. very nice way to go. y

went to beaches last year with 8 and 11 year olds. stayed in older section. we preferred to be there than in french section because of the proximity to the beach (our priority). room was ok. didn't spend much time there. lots for the kids to do but we wouldn't let them roam alone at night. lots of families did. it seemed safe enough but not something we are comfortable doing. food is decent. night entertainment was poor. beach was narrow. needed to get up at 6:15 in order to get beach chairs. put towels and book on chairs by the pool and someone took my daughters book and took the chair. staff was friendly. pools are very nice. seafood restaurant was good, but wait long. the resort is very large so you need to decide if being by the main lobby and beach is important or not. the french section is much prettier and i would assume the rooms nicer. hike to beach though. there is food available all day which is nice for the kids. also they could swim up to the bar and get as many drinks as they wanted without having to pay. very nice way to go. you don't spend any money there except if you go on any of the boat trips. liked it but was disappointed by the beach. also, the beach was windy.

Thanks Sunworshiper for your comments re: Beaches. I love reading everyone's thoughts. <BR><BR>Also, if anyone has pictures of their stay at Beaches and they wouldn't mind sharing, I would love to see them. Thanks!

I have some pictures from our trip to Beachs T &amp; C in January 2002 posted at <BR>&lt;A href=&quot;http://www.www.tropictravelonline.co...ot;&gt;Beaches Pics&lt;/A&gt;<BR>and a trip report posted at &lt;A href=&quot; http://www.tropictravelonline.com/ll...&quot;&gt;Trip Report&lt;/A&gt;. Have a wonderful trip!

Sorry about that, just try copy and paste if the links don't appear. Pictures are at http://www.tropictravelonline.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?Category=100139<BR>and the trip report is at http://www.tropictravelonline.com/ll...cos_12002.html

Scubagal - those pictures are great -they were exactly what I was looking for to show my husband and daughter. Thanks!

We have stayed at Beaches 3 times in both the older section and the French Village. We prefer the French Village only because the rooms are newer and therefore appear a lot cleaner than the older rooms. The older rooms however are a lot more convenient.

We just returned from Beaches on Saturday 3/22 and had an awesome time...i would recommend the older section due to the proximity to the beach, restaurants and pools...also, the french village can be a bit noisy at night since the stage is over there as well...we stayed in a 1 bedroom suite and it was very nice, not the ritz, but very clean and spacious..also, the suites come w/concierge service that was very helpful w/regards to getting treats and such for my kids....<BR><BR>you can check out some of my pics at http://babycenter.shutterfly.com/osi...21b335fbe1c497, click view pics and if the slide show doesn't pop up you hit the pink arrow on the right that says view slide show...<BR><BR>i was so skeptical about going given the many negative reviews i have read on a number of sites but we thought the place was great, especially if you have children or don't mind children - no i wouldn't necessarily go there if i didn't have children but there were no unruly children there at all...i do think it depends when you go too...if all the kids are out of school or on break, it could be quite a different story as to the ages of the children that will be there..<BR><BR>...the staff was extremely friendly, the food was suprisingly quite good, drinks plentiful and the resort was beautiful..not to mention the beach..holy cow..the most beautiful beach and water i've ever seen....<BR><BR>when you arrive, the resort may be full but people leave and arrive daily so if want to chance an upgrade, go to the front desk in the morning and you'll have a better chance of getting a room...a few folks were able to change rooms etc the next morning....<BR><BR>if you have any add'l questions, let me know....<BR><BR>Dana

Dana - your pictures were great - thanks for sharing! Your trip report was informative as well. Glad to see you and your family enjoyed your vacation!<BR><BR>Two quick questions - did you see an internet cafe there? And did you book the 1 bedroom suite or did you ask for an upgrade upon check in?<BR><BR>Thanks - Linda

Hi Linda...i didn't want to take any chances so i booked the 1 bdrm from the get-go...they could not guarantee 2 connecting rooms and i didn't want to have to split up....<BR><BR>also, they have a &quot;business center&quot; on the resort but it is not like a typical center...you can use their &quot;dummy&quot; computers and connect to the internet for $.80..you can connect from your room as well but i believe it is very pricey to make phone calls so i assume it would be ridiculously expensive...<BR><BR>my husband brought his laptop but forgot his wirelss card which was too bad as he could've tried it not that i'm sure it would've worked...cell phones work just fine there though...sorry, not much help here....<BR><BR>also, fyi..i heard the french village rooms although newer, were not any larger, in fact, i heard they were smaller...if you need more room, then i'd pay for the 1 bdrm instead of the french village...we were on the first floor so no great view but that was fine for us....where are suites were located i believe if you were on the 2nd or 3rd floor you might've been able to see the beach....<BR><BR>let me know if you need anything else...<BR><BR>Enjoy!!<BR><BR>Dana

oh...that would be .80/minute for internet at the business center..sorry..<BR><BR>also, our suites were in the Parrot Cay Villas...if that helps you...<BR><BR>D.

Parrot Cay Villas - thanks so much for all of your help, Dana! Less than 12 weeks to go for us and we can't wait!