EDA3

My Husband and I find ourselves with 5 days alone in June (without our 3 kids) to take a vacation to celebrate my birthday. We have done an exhaustive search looking for a tropical destination and have come up empty. We live in NY and don't want to spend a long time on an airplane getting somewhere. We don't want to do a mega resort. My perfect trip would be a beach hut some where that is quiet, yet has good food (a must). We are not people who like to join in on tons of activities. We would like to experience local culture. All inclusive would be fine, but not a necessity. We had found the "perfect place" yesterday, the Cocos hotel in Antigua. That is until we read the reviews about what happened there 2 years ago. Now, I can't go there. Can anyone please give me a good suggestion? The planning has started to become not fun for me and I am ready to throw in the towel.

china_cat

I'm not sure it completely meets your requirements, but June is the perfect time of year to go to Bermuda. And the flight from New York couldn't be easier. There are a couple of smaller resorts that might be quiet enough for you...though I don't think they are quite "beach hut" level. We stayed at Pompano Beach club, and it was lovely. Good food, nice beach setting.

awong

It is also possible to take a cruise from NYC to Bermuda, which would be all inclusive and no additional travel costs.

travelgourmet

Here is a very nice small place in Aruba. Fantastic and uncrowded stretch of beach, nice rooms, and good service:

http://www.bucuti.com/en/

The downside is that there ain't that much local culture in Aruba.

There are some nice places in the BVIs, but many of them are very expensive. How much are you willing to spend?

St Lucia also has quite a few places that look good (haven't been, myself) and now that JetBlue flies there, it is much easier to get to than it used to be.

jubilada

How about Vieques? very low key, interesting culture. Check out Hector's by the Sea.