<p>Queenstown, NZ–(South Island) combination of Austin TX and Jackson Hole WY.</p>
<p>parasail, hanglide; boogie boarding; cave crawling; zip lines; bungie jumping; fabulous locally grown and expertly prepared food of every country that used to be in the British Empire; Overnight on the boat touring Doubtful Sound. North Island has the best beaches.</p>
<p>Rent a bare boat and captain and sail around Tortola and dive the Rhone.</p>
<p>I also strongly recomment** Costa Rica**. We did a lot of white water rafting and zip lines rather than the beach route, but it was all fantastic. Oh, and this place is once in a lifetime great. <a href=“http://www.pacuarelodge.com/[/url]”>The Pacuare Lodge, Costa Rica;
<p>If anyone has some good tips on Belize I’d love to hear them. My family is tentatively planning a Christmas trip there and we’re just starting to gather information on where to stay and what to do.</p>
<p>Some great suggestions so far! I probably should have been more specific. What made our vacation so great last December was that we rented a two-bedroom villa. It had a beautiful kitchen and we ate breakfasts and lunches there. Even made Christmas dinner there. We have discovered that, of all the kinds of places we stay at, it just works better for our family to stay some place where the girls can have their own bedroom and we have a full kitchen. The Buccaneer looked awesome… but none of their accommodations offer a full kitchen. If they offered villas, it would be the perfect place for us. But I would also love to hear more about Barbados and Belize.</p>
<p>Teri, I’d start by checking the Marriott and Starwood Vacation clubs’ websites to see what kind of villas they have in those locations.
I looked into renting a condo for D’s friends in Puerto Rico - there are definitely good options there (through VRBO and Tripadvisor). Tripadvisor reviews are usually spot on, if you disregard some of most negative, whiny ones.</p>
<p>There are private properties to rent in St Croix near the Buccaneer that have pools and full kitchens. I seem to recall that you can get “privileges” at the Buccaneer. Try google on this.</p>
<p>We also rent houses (villas) when we are on an island, much more flexibility and relaxing. Everyone can wake when they want and not have to wait for breakfast, lounge around comfortably, usually have a pool and easy access to a beach, love it.</p>
<p>St. Croix is another USVI but I don’t know too much about it, I do think Barbados might be very crowded during Christmas season.</p>
<p>In Puerto Rico, we stayed at Villa Sevilla. The owners owned several houses that they rented. Ours was big enough for 4 or 5 and we had a kitchen. And a lovely view. The drive through the hills at night was an experience though!</p>
<p>We went to Aruba about three years ago and I would go back in a heartbeat. The weather was beyond fabulous and we had so much fun on a variety of tours and adventures. The area where the resorts are is a tropical paradise but the inner part is like a rocky desert so you get the best of both worlds. I would highly recommend it. I had a teenager and two younger ones at the time (now two are teens). We stayed in one of the Marriott resorts. Wanted to do the Hyatt but it was too expensive for five of us.</p>
<p>sewhappy - Las Casitas look like something up our alley. However, as I went through their website, it was difficult to tell what their beaches were like. Do you have to take a ferry over to the Palomino Island to enjoy a beach?</p>
<p>Just read the whole thread. The Marriott resort we stayed in were villas with full kitchens. We’ve also stayed at a Hilton villa resort in Cancun which was beautiful.</p>
<p>teriwtt - you are very discerning. The lack of a really good beach is the big flaw of this resort. There is no real sand beach except on Palomino Island. That is shared by the larger El Conquistador Hotel and we found that it could get crowded and noisy and not all that pleasant. We were told that there are great snorkeling beaches on the west side of the island, not a large driving distance but during our week there we were too mesmerized by the gorgeous casista we stayed in – three stories, each level with a gorgeous ocean front balcony and the interior decor was absolutely lovely. The Casitas enclave has two pools, one of which is an outstanding infinity pool that we enjoyed tremendously. The golfing and tennis were also first rate. Then there is El Yunque Rain Forest a short drive away where the hiking is outstanding. </p>
<p>The lack of a good accessible beach, preferably with snorkeling and surfing has us hesitating on going back in the near future. It is pricey but DH travels a great deal so we were able to get a deeply discounted rate via points.</p>
<p>Sewhappy - I sent the link to D1, who responded she really likes the idea of a non-stop flight and technically staying in America. </p>
<p>I did find a couple of VRBOs on St. Croix that would meet our criteria. But I do think we need to be aware that ‘water front’ does not equate to beach front. I really, really like being able to access a beach very easily and go for long walks. But even if there’s a beach, you need to make sure it’s swimmable… that it’s not all rocky and reef 20 feet in.</p>
<p>If they had villas, it’s be a no-brainer. But four adults just can’t do a one-room hotel room for more than one night at a time anymore, and the place is too darn expensive to get two rooms. And then there’s the whole kitchen issue.</p>
<p>The beach out on Palomino is not our idea of a great beach but we are spoiled by Hawaii trips and many visits to the Gulf Coast in Florida. But if it’s gorgeous long walks you want, then the Casitas are really marvelous. You are perched high on a mountain side and the entire resort complex is gorgeously maintained, amazing gardens, pools, vistas at every turn. Most of the resort restaurants are a walk from the Casitas. We all walked a great deal and it was always a pleasure.</p>
<p>There is a casino which my young adult kid enjoyed with his grandpa. Both kids loved the tennis courts, as well. Also, the water park was surprisingly fun. We went three times in a week. It is immaculately clean and for hotel guests only. There’s a huge high slide that my crazy DH found addicting . . .</p>
<p>The resort restaurants were expensive and not memorable except for the exquisite Waldorf-Astoria buffet breakfast served on a veranda overlooking the ocean. Oh my. That was really good.</p>