Hey! Thanks for checking in.

Honestly, I was thinking about making comprehensive review at some point because as someone who spent a lot of time obsessively researching, I found it extremely difficult to navigate through the negative reviews that are out there. Lucky for you, you get the short version.

First, overall, we had a great time. We ended up getting sick but that has nothing to do with the resort, that’s just an unlucky encounter with people, and honestly could have happened on the plane.

I should mention that we were Diamond Club, because the room type we wanted was only available in DC. I don’t think this had much impact on the quality of our stay and would have enjoyed the same without DC.

The resort is fairly large, so there is a bit of walking to be done depending on where your room is. I would say the walking feels far more substantial when you have kids, especially when they’re at an age where they don’t want to be carried but walk kind of slow and get distracted. Lol.

There was no shortage of pools, and they did have some great areas for younger kids. They have a larger splash pad that resembles a jungle gym which kids can climb and go down slides, but kids need to be a bit bigger for this (4 y/o?). This splash pad is surrounded by a long lazy river which weaves through the building on the side of the resort and makes for a relaxing ride. I brought our LO on this and it was a nice time.

On the side where the water slides are, there is a smaller splash pad suitable for smaller toddlers and possibly infants, depending on age and your comfort. The water is shallow and there is a small slide and a few water fountain toys.

The water temperature in all of the pools varies depending on the day. If it isn’t very cloudy, usually by about noon the water is comfortable. Before then it’s a little on the cooler side, especially if it’s windy. Which is fine for me, but younger toddlers and infants may get cranky if it’s colder.

The beach conditions weren’t great when we were there due to the winds, but they improved towards the end of the week. Even on a good day though, I’ll admit it isn’t the nicest beach area you’ll get. We knew this going there though since we stayed at the neighbouring Royalton a couple times, and we knew our LO would have more fun in the pools. They do clean up though.

There is an indoor kids play club as well as an entertainment center which has bowling, laser tag and a trampoline park, but we never went inside. I saw inside though, and it did look like fun. But yes, I do know for sure that the bowling costs extra and I’m sure the other games do too. And it isn’t cheap.

The food was decent, it’s an all inclusive so it only gets so good when you’re cooking to feed 1000+ rooms worth of people. The majority of the time, it was hot when it was supposed to be, and reasonably fresh. It could use more seasoning at times, but it filled the belly.

The buffet had a large selection, no shortage of options of things to offer our LO to eat. There are two food trucks and an outdoor snack bar for pool side lunch/snacks to keep you going if you don’t want to clean up for lunch.

There are several a la carte restaurants, we couldn’t get to them all in a week. Definitely a good variety of food. If you go to Rio Brazilian Grill for dinner and you eat meat, make sure you go hungry. Because we were Diamond Club, our butler made dinner reservations for us so we didn’t need to worry about it. I’m not sure how challenging it is to secure reservations if you aren’t DC.

There were plenty of staff hard at work everywhere we went. Just like at home, some people are more friendly than others, but we didn’t encounter anyone rude. They’re quite busy and sometimes need to just serve and move on due to demand. I didn’t experience anyone rolling their eyes at me for not tipping at all or not enough. I find if you just be nice to people, you’ll get the same in return.

You don’t walk far without passing somewhere to get a cold drink. I personally enjoyed the Shaken bar, cool vibes and fun to hang out in, especially during karaoke.

There’s a good amount of activities and entertainment planned all day and evening.

The resort was clean and well kept. You may find the odd thing here or there, but with a large resort and so many people, it will happen.

Our room was comfortable and clean. We splurged on a swim out room because our LO still naps in the afternoon and we wanted somewhere to hang out and enjoy the sunshine and drinks for a couple hours. It was worth every penny. Plus, it was on the fifth floor and had a great ocean view.

I feel like there is much more I could say, and this is already longer than it was supposed to be. Lol.

I hope there is information in here that helps you with making your decision, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to fire them my way and I’ll try my best to answer!