You might have noticed the blog has been a bit quiet in the last two weeks (actually, you probably haven’t noticed. Who do I think I am? Zoella?)
I’ve been away in the Caribbean, at the Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa. I’m writing this a day after we returned home and I’m so so sad to have left the white sand and turquoise sea behind.
I’d never been to the Caribbean before, unless you count a day trip to the Bahamas when I was 10 (which I don’t) and I know I’ll be back. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to describe how fantastic a resort Beaches is – I went with fellow Space In Your Case family travel blogger Katie and as we walked around the resort, we discussed how magical it was and how hard it would be to put into words. It was such a perfect mix of family time and relaxation – hanging out with the four-year-old (and Katie’s two gorgeous girls Mads and LL) having fun in the sun.
I’ll be writing a full review of the resort but before I do, I wanted to focus on the elements that make it so special for parents.
1. The ahh-mazing activities for kids – seriously, there is so much to do that we didn’t fit everything into a week. From snorkelling to baking and from pool games to tie dying t-shirts, there is an incredible number of fun things for the smalls to do. Oh and there’s an actual water park on-site. This was definitely the four-year-old’s favourite thing of the holiday – she must have gone down the yellow slide with Mr P at least 20 times.
2. Sesame Street. The resort has an affiliation with Sesame Street which means there are regular stage shows by the characters and you often see them doing ‘walk arounds’ (times are available so you can make sure you don’t miss your favourites). There are also special extras you can book, like getting your child’s favourite character to tuck them into bed (we had Elmo tuck in the four-year-old and it was FAB!), going on a catamaran cruise with Elmo and Zoe, and a character breakfast where they all come around to meet you while you munch on pancakes and bacon. It’s so so special to see your kids get excited to meet their idols and the characters are very good at interacting with the kids. One little boy fell over near Elmo, and Elmo got up and went over to hug him better.
3. The free kids’ clubs. Under 5s go to Camp Sesame, where (yes, you guessed it) all of the activities are Sesame Street themed. The characters make a regular appearance there too, and get involved in activities like Bird Watching with Big Bird or cookie making with Cookie Monster. Older kids go to Pirate Island kids’ club while Tweens and teens have a cooler hangout club where they can play on an X Box and learn to DJ. You can drop them off for half an hour, an hour, a few hours, whatever you like! Brilliantly, the kids’ club is open until 10pm (they watch a movie and can fall asleep if they want to) meaning you can pop them in and head out for a grown up dinner. Or you can hire a nanny for $15 an hour.
We mostly drank strawberry daiquiris while the kids were in the kids’ club!
4. The adults only restaurants. Yes, once you’ve popped your child into a kids’ club of an evening, you can head off to one of the adults only restaurants. My top pick would be the Sky Lounge in the Key West village. We went there for breakfast twice (see the amazing omelette and hash brown below…) and it’s such a chic restaurant and overlooks the sea. Having some grown up time is so important and brilliantly, Beaches have thought about this when planning the resort.
5. The well designed rooms. With the exception of a few standard double rooms, most of the accommodation at Beaches, Turks and Caicos have separate sleeping areas/rooms for the kids. Our room (a sea view family suite in the Italian village) had a separate area with bunk beds (and trundle, in case you have three kids) and its own TV and X Box, with an all-important sliding door which separated it from the rest of the room. This means that when it’s the kids’ bedtime, you can tuck them in and still enjoy a glass of wine and hang out on your balcony, or just watch TV and read, without worrying about waking them up. So so important on a family holiday.
6. The range of activities for grown ups. Fancy a spa treatment? No problem. A work out in an air conditioned gym? A sunset catamaran cruise? How about learning to scuba dive? Or just hanging out by a fire pit with a glass of Californian wine? There are so many things adults can do here, once you drop your kids off at the kids’ club. We only used the kids’ club for a couple of hours on two days but it was enough to recharge the batteries.
Massive thanks to Beaches for inviting me to stay for the week, for the purpose of this post and others which will appear soon. For details on how I work with brands, see my Work With Me page.
That looks amazing. I could stare at the top photo of the blue sky, sea and palm tree all day if I had to! 😉 Sounds great for parents- I love accomodation that has a seperate part for kids. It makes it so much easier to settle them. Glad you had a Iovely time- look forward to reading the full review x
Author
Agree – it can make or break a holiday, can’t it? And do feel free to stare at that photo all day 😉
I really enjoyed watching you holiday! It’s hard to believe such beautiful places exist in the world!
Funny enough that picture of Big Bird and the Cookie Monster made me feel like I want to go even more! When I was little I used to dream about meeting the guys off Sesame Street, I don’t ever remember believing in Santa but I was crushed when I found out Sesame Street wasn’t a real place! We got Wilf some softies when I was pregnant, and we love watching the show together, glad they still are around to make kids smile. xx
Author
Oh in that case, Fritha, you would LOVE it here. The brilliant thing, though, is that if you have older kids (or no kids) you could probably spend a whole week here and never see a Sesame Street character – the place is so big and has so much to do, you can pick and choose what kind of experience you have.
Take me back take me back take me back take me back take me back. x
Author
Meet you in the Sky Lounge for a cocktail?
WOW! Looks amazing and the Sesame Street affiliation would be right up my street. I am glad that you has such a once in a lifetime experience and that coming home to snow hasn’t depressed you too much, you lucky lady xxx
Author
No, I think writing about it, and looking through all my photos is keeping me going through the January greyness!
Oh I’ve been waiting for this post ever since you set off! I LOVE the room set-up! Our kids do manage to stay up with us most nights now on holiday (in fact, they can outlast us!), but I remember sitting in the bathroom waiting for my baby to go to sleep while Actually Daddy sat alone in the bar, then reading my kindle in the dark and whispering 🙂 This is much much better.
I’m totally ordering that omelette and hash brown – yum! Can’t wait to see more…
Author
Oh I can feel your bathroom sitting pain!! We ended up keeping the girls up until 8/8.30 most nights and then all going back to the rooms. Our room was next door to Katie and Mr E’s, so one night we all stood on our balcony and chatted whilst drinking fizz, while the girls slept.
It looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G, seems like they have thought of everything! I’m looking forward to reading the full review. I don’t think my kids would have left that waterpark the entire week!
Author
Every time we asked the kids what they wanted to do, the answer was always: “Go to the waterpark and eat ice cream!”
it looks like you had an amazing time! What a wonderful place! x
Author
It was SO GOOD, Sonia!
Wow. Just wow! Your holiday looks incredible, social media has never been so serene and blue as it was the last week x
Author
Yes, never mind Blue Monday being sad, it should be about sharing gorgeous serene sea shots on social media!
It looks really awful, what a hardship for you…:-) I’ve LOVED all the photos so can’t wait to hear more from you both. Sorry you’re back, in the nicest possible way x
Author
It was terrible, Gill 😉
It just sounds and looks amazing. It’s so clear from this and yours and Katie’s pics while you were away just how much you loved it. I really want to go somewhere special before h is 5 so might start some research now! Xxx
Author
Do it! 🙂
Way to go Space in your Case!!! What a grand adventure. It looks like pure heaven darling and I am so glad you got to go with Katie her and her family are so sweet. Looks like you made the most of it and it really sounds like its amazing for the whole family. We have been looking to go to the Caribbean for my husband’s 40th. You now have convinced me! WoW. Look forward to reading more of your adventures and your heavenly experience.
Author
I think going with Katie and her family made it more special – and G loved having little playmates!
This looks so so SO fabulous for a family break, I am green with envy! My two would love the waterslides and all the characters, although may or may not be a little freaked by being tucked into bed by Elmo! I love the fact that you can do as much together, or use the kids club as much as you want- it seems that you can really tailor your holiday to suit your family, which really appeals. The rooms look great too, and I too love the fact you can all be in one space, yet separate it on en evening. Some good holidaying here lady- looking forward to the next installment! x
Author
I thought G would be freaked out by Elmo too (she has hated life size characters before) but she LOVED it.
Wowzers…this place looks incredible! What an amazing place for families to enjoy everything you want from a holiday…the Caribbean is one of my dream destinations and somewhere like this sounds simply perfect. Cannot wait to hear more about your adventures! x
Author
The great thing is, that non parents would love it too!
Yup – they are all very valid reasons for visiting!
Author
Are you tempted? 😉
Oh that sea! Utterly gorgeous. Looks like the perfect family holiday. I’ve been to the Caribbean 3 times but never to Turks & Caicos. Adding that to my list of dream destinations. Totally stunning. x
First of all WOW WOW WOW – what an amazing holiday – they type of holiday that you would say is once in a lifetime – this place looks truly amazing and perfect for families. Love the cocktails and the beaches are so beautiful!!! This is going on my wish list for sure
Laura x