Family trip to Mexico-Playa

[bradford702]

How concerned would you be about taking a family trip to the Playa area in June of this year? The trip would included the wife and two kids (6 & 7). With all the recent drug violence along the border and in other towns would you take your family there?

Anyone have any recommendations for a family oriented style resort by a beach? We looked at the Beaches resort in Ocho Rios Jamaica but it was a two hour bus ride from the airport. Not ideal for kids who just spent 6-8 hours flying there.

 

[scottsins]

Playa is totally safe. I am not a fan of all-inclusive resorts.

 

[bradford702]

I understand not liking AI resorts but we are looking for a place that has places fro kids to play and stay entertained. There is a Barcelo resort south of Playa that look promising, for now.

 

[scottsins]

Having good activities to keep the kids busy while the adults have grownup time is a huge benefit, which I can understand. I haven't heard anything about Barcelo.

I just know that Excellence, all the palace, and el dorado resorts have awful food. I think Iberostar food rates decent and is great for families.

 

[utexas_61]

In reply to:

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[Ahab]

Barcelo is fun. We were there two years ago, and I am taking my family back there this year.

All-inclusives aren't for everyone, but they can be great for a relaxing family trip. Don't worry about the border/drug violence, the area is very safe. If you go to the Barcelo, keep in mind that it is a huge complex with three different price levels for different parts of the resort.

From my perspective, the pros are: easy to get to from Cancun airport; beautiful resort; lots to do; family friendly; great beach and good snorkeling right in front of the resort; lots of good food and drinks.

Negatives are: inconsistent service; huge, spread out resort; taxi or collectivo ride to Playa.

None of these negatives were a problem for me, as I felt that I got what I payed for; I like to be self reliant rather than be fussed over; and the big resort was fun for the kids to explore and lots to do every day. But, if you like really high level of serivce and a small resort, this ain't for you.

Register on their website and you can get great discounts.

 

[bradford702]

Ahab,

We are really wanting to go to the Barcelo, did you by chance stay in a two room suite? More like an Embassy suite room than just the standard king bed with couch. It is the suite and the kids play area that are appealing to us.

 

[Uninformed]

Dreams is very good. BTW, what is the weather suppose to be like at that time of year?

 

[Ahab]

We didn't stay in a two room suite. We stayed in a regular room in the Colonial/Tropical side. This June we will stay in a jr. suite in the Palace. Our kids are young, so we were quite happy in the single room. The jr. suite will be bigger, but it is still one room. I think that the two room suites are closest to the pool area and have a better view.

The pools are huge and the kids pool and play area is great. It is like a little waterpark for the kids. One nice thing about the Barcelo is that the pools are right off the beach. Two advantages of that are that it is easy to split time between the beach and the pools, and the ocean breeze is felt in the pool area. June down there is hot and humid once you get away from the sea breeze.

We didn't use the kids club much, but it seemed good if that is something that y'all do. Our kids did a few crafts and activities in there, but we hung around the whole time.

google unofficial barcelo maya to get to a "fan" website for the resort. The forum there has some good info and frequent guests that can answer lots of questions.

I don't know the special right now, but if you go to the Barcelo, register and see their discounts. I booked a June trip in Feb for 50% off. I am paying less for a better room and more days than I paid two years ago. Sign of the bad economy I guess.