The “rent the whole island” option at St. Simon’s Island looks fabtastic for a group of 30. Wish I could put together a family reunion like that.
For those looking for a summer option, check out this family camp type place in NH. I know folks who go every year and rave about it. http://rdcsquam.com/
That St. Simon’s Island did look great. But doesn’t accept children under the age of 8 late in the year. It’s impossible to go this summer since the treatment won’t be over and who knows what will happen by next summer.
Club Med still looks like the best option so far if they have available for so many. I wish Mexico would be an option. There are so many choices there and they are no further than Florida.
Would you consider the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico? You don’t have to deal with customs if I’m not mistaken. St. Thomas is absolutely gorgeous. Zika Virus is already in the U.S. as well.
I e never been to Club Med…but I know folks who have…and rave about it.
It sounds like really mostly this is about having everyone together. The Orlando Club Med sounds like it will do that.
If they have the room availability…I would be inclined to go for it. There is so much else to do in the greater Orlando area, it’s hard to go wrong there.
There is no Orlando Club Med. It’s Sandpiper Bay. Two hours south of Orlando.
It is definitely about having everyone together. Problem with 20 -30 people is if it’s not all inclusive you’re always dealing with finding places to eat.
I would love to find another all inclusive somewhere in Florida as good as the Club Med. Which is why I’m asking for recommendations here.
Sorry…I thought it was a Club med…guess I misread an earlier post.
Two hours from Orlando is a long way.
We stayed at the Orlando Ritz Carleton which was really quite lovely, and shares the property with a Marriott, I believe. The Marriott is less expensive, but all the same amenities are there. There were many restaurant choices on the property, fabulous breakfasts every morning. Beautiful grounds, and pools. Easy access to all of Orlando.
This is a link to the Sand Pearl Resort in Clearwater, FL. They offer packages with meals, some activities, kids club, but they are not a true “all inclusive”. It looks like they may be able to put a package together for your group.
Another thought is Hawk’s Cay in the Florida Keys. They may be able to put together a dining pkg, lots of amenities are offered and included in the rate.
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcojw-jw-marriott-orlando-grande-lakes/
I believe this is the hotel adjacent to the Ritz Carleton. It is really nice and seemed family friendly. Don’t know if they have a meal package you can buy, but their breakfasts were fabulous.
They have shuttles to a lot of the attractions.
Getting to Disney for the day is pretty easy from the Tampa area or anywhere on the Space Coast. I would not go to Orlando unless you want to do Disney all the time, as otherwise you are just stuck in Orlando hell of shopping, Disney universal, water parks.
How about somewhere near Sandestin?
Don’t know where Sandestin is but anywhere in the U.S. where it’s warm in November would be great. Requirement is only all inclusive, in the U.S. and warm. Oh, and have accomodations for 20-30 people. I agree that summer would be easier and in a year or two we’ll do that. But this year it has to be late in the year. Enough time to recover but not so much time that next year might not work.
We did a family reunion for 11 of us at Disney World in 2014. It took a lot of planning-- everything from booking our dinners 180 days out (we were all on the meal plan) to planning our fastpasses 60 days out. But it was a wonderful vacation. Since we all stayed on site, we relied completely on Disney transportation. People could come and go as they chose. We actually stayed in 2 different resorts, and it still worked out incredibly well.
The resort you put in post 10 sounds nice. You will all be together. There will be plenty to do just because the weather will be very nice! That one is a Club Med.
Can they accommodate your group during your time window?
My extended family has done Club Med vacation for 10+ years. The last two years we tried other all inclusives in Mexico and Punta Cana, and everyone agreed that we still had most fun at Club Med. The reason being there is always activities at Club Med, from the pool side to beach and bars. We paid for everything upfront, and at check out I would have less than few hundred $$ bill. No tipping, no meal reservations, or have to sign up for a lot of activities. We would do whatever we want and meet up for cocktail hours and meals. To not have to worry about where to eat and plan activities for such a large group is truly just mindless and relaxing.
Wow, Club Med sounds fun! May have to explore it.
Whoops, sounds like all their places are outside the US proper. I don’t think H would go for that. Otherwise, it does sound amazing.
http://www.clubmed.us/cm/resort-sandpiper-bay-usa_p-115-l-US-v-SANC-r-3-d-000004-ac-vh.html
So is this NOT a Club Med? Regardless, it sounds very nice!!
It says it is in Mexico, from one thing about it I read–maybe misread?
There is one in Florida, called Sandpiper.
I should get paid by Club Med for doing this…
They don’t just have wait staffs, they have GOs (gentle organizers) for various activities. Most of them are young adults taking some time off to work there before going off to do other things. There are some lifers too. They are very friendly with guests. They will socialize with guests at bars and eat with guests. They lead parties at night. So they tend to make the place very lively. We became FB friends with many GOs and we also see some of them at other CM locations.
Back in the 60s and 70s, Club Med were very wild, but now it is a lot more family oriented and accommodations are more luxurious. It is still not Four Seasons. You wouldn’t go to CM to get pampered.
I am a person who like to have a schedule even when I am on vacation. I would tell my family that to meet for cocktails at 6 and dinner at 7:30. In the beginning they all rolled their eyes, but eventually they got used to gathering at the main bar around 6. We would have drinks and talk about what we did that day. After each of those vacations it’s the 6pm cocktail hour we miss.
Yes HImom: that one is in FL. It’s the only one in the U.S. mainland. Assuming they can accomodate us we’ll probably try that because I can’t find any other. Except now FL has declared a health emergency due to Zika and it isn’t in the Turks and Caicos where the place I really want to go to is. Except, of course, it’s not in the U.S. and a harder trip for the grandparents and the ill relative.
This is so much work. Glad it will be worth it.
So @oldfort: should I go through Club Med directly or do travel agents still exist?