Ideas for Anniversary/ Birthday Trip
 

We plan on taking a weekend trip without the kids (I live in NJ) in the early part of October. Looking for somewhere we can relax and lay out in the sun. My wife wants to do Bermuda because its a short flight. My only hesitation is that its about $600/ night for a nice hotel and the ocean water may not be so warm at that time. Also, they tend to have small pools and we prefer swimming in pools over the ocean.

We want to do something different - I was thinking Florida but she thinks its boring. We like really nice hotels (who doesn't?) and I like the ability to get out of the resort and explore (rules out some Carribbean places). We have enjoyed Hyatt in Bonita Springs (great pools, lazy river) and Ritz Carltons in Cancun (beautfiul beach, luxury hotel) and Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne Florida. We have been to (a long time ago) South Seas Resort in Capitva Island (nice but was low-key - maybe too low-key). We have been to Anguila and enjoyed the beautfiful beaches. I was looking at the EPIC hotel in Miami. Also looking into St. Lucia (hesitation there is long travel times and I'm trying not to go to countries where we have to wait on custom/ immigration lines)

Any ideas (hotels) would be much appreciated! I'm not focused on couples only resorts because kids will be in school at that time.

I would check out CheapCaribbean.com as there are some great deals there. Especially if you can fly direct out of Newark or LGA. Don't rule out some resorts, as most offer car rental services for $40 or so a day. You can rent for one day to explore and spend the other day or two relaxing at the hotel. We've found some great deals to Grenada, St. Martin & Bahamas that way. You may even find a better deal to Bermuda. After you find a deal that looks like a prospect, go to TripAdvisor.com to see if the hotel is up to snuff. We aren't extremely picky but we also want a reasonably clean room and no bugs. So far we've had all great experiences.

San Diego? It's usually warm in October, no immigration lines and it's a 5 hour flight. Plus, there is plenty of things to do when you get out of the pool.

San Diego is a great idea.

I've decided to do Florida. Down to Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne (Miami) or Ritz Carlton in Naples (Golf). With the Golf, I can use the Ritz in Naples on the Beach - so both have beach access. I've been to the one on Key Biscayne and liked it. Anyone go to both and can comment?

Now that you've decided on FL, you'll get better response if you re-post this over on the United States forum and tag it for Florida.