Every summer growing up my family would face challenges as to where we could travel because we had 6 kids in our family. We normally resorted to camping trips because it didn’t limit us in sleeping space. Although camping trips were awesome pastimes I’ve made a point to take my, now 8-person family on vacations that aren’t quite so much work.
We have found that timeshare rentals are a good option because they offer large units, are a cheaper and bigger than hotel rooms and we aren’t tied into ownership. Here are three great places we have stayed and would be ideal for larger families:
Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club – Palm Beach, Aruba
Aruba is a dream location for honeymooners but there are actually a lot of kids and kid- friendly activities to do there. We rented a spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom Oceanside villa that could easily slept 8 people for $1,200. There are many kid- friendly beaches including, Baby Beach where the local kids learn to swim in 3-ft deep water, outside the resort. The Surf Club features a lot of things our kids enjoyed like a lazy river, waterfalls and slides. One thing I highly recommend doing is going on the The Jolly Pirate Cruise. Kids 4 years and under are free and kids 5 to 10 are charged 50%. With so many kid-friendly and family fun activities and a giant room we will definitely be planning a trip back soon.
Grand Mayan Vacation Club- Cancun, Mexico
The Grand Mayan is the most beautiful place we’ve ever stayed. We rented a timeshare with another family that featured a 3- bedroom suite. The hotel could have easily fit 12 people and cost us $5,000. One of the highlights of the hotel was there wonderful pools. The kids loved the kids pool with its artificial beach and large shallow end. The kids also enjoyed the game room and the kids club activities during the day. Outside of the hotel there were many kid-friendly places to go in Cancun despite its party hardy reputation.
Sheraton Vistana Villages – Orlando, FL
This is the cheapest timeshare rental that we stayed at probably because it was in Florida and not in another country. We stayed in a massive 3 bed-room unit that could have easily slept 12 adults. We paid $1000 for the week and the hotel was the most kid-friendly place we’ve ever stayed. The hotel featured a supervised children center, sand playground and video game room. Our kids loved it and made a lot of new friends. The Disney parks were only about 10-15 minutes away and it was nice to have such a big place to come back to after long days of walking around.
Based on our families experience we have found that although you don’t spend a lot of time in your hotel, it’s important for big families to have a little breathing room. By booking timeshare rentals in advance we have lucked out with finding large units. We still take the kids on the occasional weekend camping trips but nothing compares to having your feet in a white sand beach and fully relaxing.
Brett McCullough loves to travel the world with his family and write about their experiences. He is a consultant with Timeshare Partners and has started his adventures at a very young age. He loves the outdoor life and is excited to see what the rest of the world has to offer.
