I have read through every post on this board, as well as TA concerning these properties and have tried to decide which one is right for us. Please help me.

We have marriott miles that we are going to use, hence these specific hotels. We generally like the less touristy, less developed places (We love Belize and have made many trips, enjoyed Virgin Gorda, think Maui is OK but wouldn't make the trek back (we are east coasters). We enjoy culture (I grew up spending every summer and many holidays in Jamaica and really loved that, we spent a day in old San Juan and thought that was pretty cool), and we are definite foodies.

It will be my husband, myself and 4 year old daughter(although she will be five by the time we travel). Our daughter is well traveled and behavior, thank goodness, is never an issue. We usually take trips where we are on the go and always exploring new parts of a country, moving around every couple of days (did this in both Ireland and Provence) and while we enjoyed that immensely, I have it in my mind I want to go sit on a beach somewhere and do next to nothing. So that brings me to what it is I am looking for.

I'd like to have a beach with nice soft sand that you don't have to wear shoes on, warm calm water where I don't have to be worried about my daughter being swept out to sea (we absolutely loved the beach at Little Dix Bay, VG), a nice pool with plenty of seating options and pool side service, great food and choice of restaurants nearby (preferably within walking distance). We would consider taking one or two small side trips so we can say we actually saw some of the place. I do not care much about shopping, so that's not an issue. Our daughter does not need to have a lot of activities. She will be just as happy swimming in the pool and playing on the beach. I don't really like the commercialized places but have a feeling that that might be hard to avoid concerning my final destination choices.

Pros and Cons that I can tell of after having done my research:

Cancun:
Pros-excellent hotel, service, pool, food, warm weather
Cons-I get the impression the ocean is rough, overdeveloped area

Curacao:
Pros-nice hotel from what I have read, calm water, warm weather, architecturally appealing with maybe a bit more culture
Cons-beaches are rocky

Aruba:
Pros-calm water, nice beaches, good restaurant choices
Cons-crowded beach area, overdevelopment

Grand Cayman:
Pros-calm water, great restaurants, nice beach
Cons-overdevelopment, crowded beaches,

St Kitts:
Pros-much less developed (even though I realize the Marriott is a mega resort), more of that island feel, nice beach
Cons-rough water

So please try and help me figure it out or give me some more insight than what I have.

Thanks. I love this board

I have not been to St. Kitts Narriott but have been to all the others for 3-6 nights. I would recommend Curacao. The only quallifier is the food for lunch and breakfast is o.k. but dinner is a problem at Portofino. Taxi's are expensive. But if you rent a car for 4-5 days ($175 for a 4 door standard) there are 6-7 very good restaurants within 20-25 minutes of the hotel. If you are int snorkeling and rent equipment including an inflatable vest the WEST END(20-25 minutes) from the hotel has some of the better snorkeling in the Caribbbean. If interested head towad Klein Knip and at Santa Cruz Beach #1-sign for Capt. Goodfellow.He will take you to spots not accessible from the beaches and for $20/person he will stay with you at 2 or 3 spots for an excellent snorkeling eperperience. Enjoy!! We have been there 3 times in less than 5 years.

I have been to Cancun, Grand Cayman (this summer) and Aruba.
All of your assessments are pretty on the money. Of the ones I have been to, I would recommend Grand Cayman. It is not overly developed in my opinion. The Ritz is fabulous looking. We stayed at the Marriott, but dined at the Ritz. The dining on GC was very good. The snorkeling was also very good. I would say it was a nice relaxing and family friendly island.
I did not find it crowded (we were there in June).
Aruba was crowded, had good beaches and good dining. It is more commercialized.
Cancun was not my favorite place. The water is very rough. The Ritz was nice. We went about 7 years ago on business. The business functions were at the Ritz. We stayed at Le Meridian two hotels down. I don't remember food being very good.
Now I haven't been to St. Kitts, but it is easy to travel to Nevis as well. It is more lush there and there would be more opportunities to explore a less developed island. But I don't have any first hand experince there.
Also, the Curacao Marriott gets rave reviews here on a regular basis for being a nice hotel.
The Marriott on the Big Island of Hawaii was just renovated. The big Island is very unique and would have lots of exploring to do. The snorkeling was the best I have ever seen. Giant turtles just swam right by us! We stayed at the Hilton next door to the marriott and went to their luau. They were doing lots of renovating Spring 06 when we went.
We thoroughly enjoyed going there and would return. It does not look like a typical picture of Hawaii. It is all lava rocks and blue waters.
Good luck in your choices.

I'll go in a different direction from the other posters and suggest the St. Kitts Marriott. It's the island of your four choices that will provide the best West Indian flavour, and based on your previous experiences in Jamaica, it seems that you would like that. The Marriott is really huge and totally overwhelms the island, but there is a lot more going for it, including many beautiful and calm beaches.

The island is very easy to navigate around on your own with a rental car, so you could check out various beaches and spend the day there and then go back to enjoy all of the comforts and ameneties of your resort at the end of the day. Your four year old would enjoy the pig and the monkeys at Turtle Beach. Cockleshell beach has very light sand, palm trees, and the lightest water on the island with a gentle entrance into the water. South Frigate Bay has tons of beach bars along it and you can easily rent chairs and umbrellas for the day and have your pick of places for lunch. Vendors will come by to sell you jewelry or aloe massages.

Fort Brimstone is definitely worth a visit, even with the 5 year old, for the wonderful vistas it affords of neighboring islands Statia and Saba. Your daughter may have fun pretending to be a buccaneer in the fort, with its many nooks and crannies and general hideaways on various levels.

You could very easily take a daytrip to sister island Nevis on the ferry--there's an aqautic education there that is aimed at kids where they can learn about fish, turtles, starfish, etc.

I've been to Curacao and Aruba but not the others.

We stayed at the Marriott Curacao and it is a lovely hotel with a good beach. We were also disappointed with the food at Portofino but the other meals we had at the Marriott eg Caribbean buffet on the beach were good and reasonably priced. There are stunning beaches towards the West End, as already mentioned and they were not rocky and had calm water. I can't think of any disadvantages of going to Curacao. Landscape is different to the other islands.

Thank you for the replies

StanKase- We would be fine eating at other establishments and not spending every day and night at the hotel so if the hotel's food is not so good we can get around that.

girlonthego-I have been to Maui at least 6 times as well as Oahu once (I am originally a California girl) and while I think they are beautful it really boils down to the time it takes to travel there as well as the problem with the time difference. So Hawaii is really out of the question for us. Cancun has probably dropped off the list because of the rough water. I just won't be able to relax and would have to keep my eye on my daughter the entire time.

ejcrowe-I realize St Kitts has the most island flavor of the places I selected. I should say if it were not for the marriott points none of these spots, except for possibly st kitts, would have been places I would have looked into traveling to. There are many other islands that I would be more interested in seeing. We have always stayed in small boutique style or B&B accomodations when we have traveled, so a sprawling megaresort is not really what we are interested in, but again, the points! With that said, is there a beach at all in front of the marriott? I know they show one on the website but is it usable? I wouldn't have a problem heading to other spots on the island to relax for the day. I am just trying to avoid getting in the car, out of the car, in the car, etc. I like the idea that there are some sites to visit that wouldn't necessarily be all day outings.

Odin-Is the beach at the marriott curacao sandy, or is it very rocky with lots of coral pieces? The landscape is fine. Virgin Gorda was very dry with cactus, not lush at all like Jamaica, as was Anegada, and both of which we enjoyed very much, so that doesn't bother us.

You all have given me good points. I need to consider them more.

Anyone else out there with any more input, I would be glad to hear it.

Thanks again

I have only stayed at the Marriotts on Aruba and St. Kitts. Aruba was one of my least favorite islands. It is very developed, the beaches are crowded and the food is so-so.
We have stayed at the St. Kitts Marriott 3 times. Yes, there is a good stretch of beach with lots of chairs and umbrellas with tables to use. The water is rough, but I saw many families with their small children in the ocean. The hotel has 2 or 3 pools that are nice to use. The island is easy to navigate, as ej pointed out. The food is wonderful and the people are the nicest I have ever encountered. Nevis is a great island to visit and is easy to get to.

Good luck with your trip.

iw answered your questions well about the beach at the Marriott. It's on the Atlantic side, but the resort built a breakwater offshore to keep it *relatively* calm. The beach area has lots of umbrellas stationed at set intervals.

South Frigate Bay beach is even walkable from the Marriott, but by car it would be less than a five minute drive. it's really easy-peasy. And there are so many beach bars there that you could pick a different one each day to give your custom to and then be able to use their restroom facilities.

Your miles may vary, of course, and traveling with a small child is clearly different from just adults, but we used our hotel on St. Kitts as a base for exploring each day. Our favorite beaches were Cockleshell and South Friars for lack of crowds and beautiful water.

It;s pricey, but you also might like the train that goes around the island. Adult tickets are close to $100 each, not sure about kid tickets, but you get to see all of the major sights from the comfort of your air conditioned car or open air roof top car.

Of the places you mention, I've only been to Cancun (not my kind of place) and St. Kitts.

I'm in Belize right now, it's our kind of place.

I liked St. Kitts. We didn't stay at the Marriott, stayed at the smaller and older Timothy Beach resort. It's only a 15-20 minute walk from the Marriott, I don't think your daughter would have trouble with the distance. The beach there is very swimmable, but not that beautiful white sand we all love. Lots of little beach bars as well. Several restaurants between the two properties.

I researched Curacao for this coming winter. The Marriott there didn't sound too bad, for a resort property. (We're going to Colombia instead.)

Hope this helps.

jw and ej-Thanks for the info on the beach. I guess I was just more concerned if there are huge waves breaking right up on the shore. Since there is a breakwater, I doubt that will be the case. Our daughter is not a swimmer yet so she would be wearing a swim vest while she was near the water anyhow. I just did not want her to be in a situation where a huge wave could come up and take her out, even with a swim vest it wouldn't be pretty! St Kitts is sounding more and more like our kind of place.

JeanH-Aaaaaah! Belize. One of my favorite places in the world. My husband and I went first on our honeymoon eleven years ago and have been back twice since then. It's funny because our daughter has been asking us to take her there, but again those dreaded points! It's hard to pass on a free place to stay! But I think maybe I will start planning it for next year.
We love the ideas of going to the beach bars, having some local food, meeting with the local people and letting our daughter play in the sand. One of my many fondest memories of Belize was walking from our hotel along the beach way down from the south up into San Pedro and stopping along the way at all the little beach bars! Pure Heaven!

The only one on your list that we have not been to is Cancun. We actually decided against going there this coming winter and booked elsewhere. I think you would find the Marriott in Curacao the most attractive to you. First of all, Curacao is an interesting place. Its Dutch Colonial buildings are painted in shades of yellow, orange and blue and are reminiscent of Amsterdam. The Marriott hotel has a wonderful swimmming pool area where you will have no problem having lunch or a beverage brought to you. The staff is very friendly. The hotel offers a shuttle into town twice a day.
This place is very high on our list!

Knowing-I am curious as to your response about having lunch and a beverage brought to us if we stayed in Curacao. Does the Marriott in St Kitts not have beach service?

The beach at the Marriott Curacao has a rocky part which is just in front of Seabreezes restaurant, further on it becomes sand. There is a lagoonlike area as well which is great for kids as it is very shallow, no waves and clear water. Photos on tripadvisor show the beach quite well.

You can walk from the Marriott to Hook's Hut for meals, they also have a beach which you pay entrance fee. Best to book a table on the beach as the interior was very hot in the evenings.

Thanks again for the replies.

Cancun and Aruba are out now.

I have narrowed it down to Curacao and St Kitts but I am still entertaining the possibility of GC, only because-it is the Ritz!

Would everyone agree that all three places are just as safe as the other? I have spent some time traveling in third world countries (i.e. Belize, Jamaica, Bolivia, Baja) and grew up in Los Angeles, so I know about using my head and not putting myself in a bad situation, but in general are they safe to travel in?

I've been to all those places, except for St. Kitts. We also have a little one so calm water is important to us (for just our peace of mind I guess because he sure does enjoy getting hit by waves). Since you're narrowed it down to Curacao, St. Kitts and GC, I'll go from there.

Never been to St. Kitts so I can't comment.

Our biggest issue with Curacao were the rocky beaches... beautiful water but rocky beaches still. Our son got a few scrapes here and there (we bought him water shoes but he refused to put them on).

So GC would be my suggestion for you. The beaches are really nice (calm and clear water). Yes, the beach where the Ritz is located is lined with other hotels. We went in March during Easter week (stayed at the Hyatt) and I did not feel that people were on top of each other on the beach. Having said that, it is a popular destination with lots of tourists (don't go into town when the cruise ships are there - yikes!). I did like the island but I didn't love it due to the development and the feeling that I was on a U.S. island even though it is not one. I didn't feel unsafe in Curacao or in GC, but I think GC has the definite edge in terms of "feeling safe". There are some areas of Curacao that looked shady (we noticed them while driving to restaurants). I think GC is a strong family destination.

Good luck.

Having been to Curacao 3 times in 4+ yrs. for a total of 20 days I would have to say I always felt completly safe. Rumors of pick pockets on 7 Mile beach may or may not be true.
Curacao has 10+ beautiful beaches, with no rocks or garbage, on the WEST END, about 25-30 minutes from the Marriott. A good part of the Marriott beach is smooth though there is a rocky area.

Stan Kase- Thanks for the info. I wouldn't really want to hvae to pack up everyday to go to a nice beach. Maybe twice or so just to experience something different would be fine but not everyday. It's good to hear that both places are safe.

Caribtraveler-I looked at pages of candid traveler photos on TA and I see what you mean as well as what Stan was saying. I see lots of photos of the beaches with lots of coral and then I see the beach area where it is smooth.

Does anyone know if they have beachside food and beverage service?

odie1; I was not suggesting going every day to the WEST ENd but maybe as you suggest 2 times especially if some would enjoy snorkeling alomg the boulders that form the bays of each beach. I remember having drinks on the beach at the Marriott but not snacks but I eat lunch neat the bar. which was pleasant and the hamburgers were better than you would expect.

Curacao Marriott has nice personality for a Marriott. However, I would put my child in water shoes to swim/explore there. Of the choices you suggest, I would pick Cayman with a younger child, although I am not familiar with the beach condition at the Ritz. Aruba Palm Beach is too crowded. St. Kitts might be an adventure though I like the softer lighter sand and easy access to bathtub like water of Cayman for children.

allietoo-That brings up a good question. Is the water off the marriott St Kitts warm? and if so how warm?