All-inclusive family resorts: best resorts for kids

There’s nothing like a tropical family vacation to escape winter and spend some much-needed, device-free time reconnecting with your kids. And having done our fair share of travel at some of the best resorts for kids in North America and the Caribbean, both piecing together our own holidays — booking flights, accommodations and managing activities and mealtimes all as separate transactions — as well as booking all-inclusive family resorts that even cover airport transfers, the jury is in: all-inclusive vacation packages are the ultimate in convenience and far less stressful once you’re at your destination.

All-inclusive family resorts

Looking for an all-inclusive family vacation that’ll appeal to everyone? Check out my list of the best resorts for kids. (Pictured: Antigua, #ShotoniPhone)

Using years and years of firsthand experience, we’ve compiled a list of the best resorts for kids. Whether you’re travelling with babies and toddlers or tweens and teens, a foodie family or those seeking the clearest beach with the best surf, we’ve done it all and we’re here to steer you in the right direction.

Best of all, when we have new all-inclusive resorts for families to recommend, we’ll not only write a complete feature review about it, but we’ll also add it here, so you can bookmark this post and revisit it. Despite travelling with our kids for the last 12 years, we’ve still only scratched the surface of family-friendly all-inclusive resorts, so expect more to be added in the months and years to come.

It’s impossible to rank the resorts, because what’s most important to me (food!) maybe the least important thing to you, and as your kids get older, what you look for in kid-friendly resorts is bound to change. With that in mind, the best way to do this is alphabetically.

Since I have stand-alone blog posts for every resort listed below, if you want the fully nitty and gritty, you can read them each in their entirety. Here, I’m going to focus on:

• A broad-strokes budget you’ll need for each one ($ = lower budget, $$ = average budget, $$$ = higher-than-average budget)
• How far a given resort is from the airport
• What kids will love most about the resort
• What parents will love most about the resort

Our best resorts for kids lineup includes:

1. Beaches Negril

2. Beaches Ocho Rios

3. Beaches Turks & Caicos

4. Club Med Punta Cana

5. Club Med Sandpiper Bay

6. Grand Velas Riviera Maya

7. Hard Rock Hotel Cancun

8. Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites

9. Royalton Riviera Cancun

10. The Grand at Moon Palace

11. The Verandah Antigua

One quick note before we dive in below… If you read my Beach Palace Cancun review or my Hard Rock Punta Cana review, you’ll see that we definitely haven’t included every all-inclusive family resort we’ve ever visited on our best resorts for kids list. Just in case you were wondering — yes, I’m choosy about what deserves your hard-earned vacation money!

When you’re done browsing here, check out these tips for booking last-minute sun holidays.

1. Best resorts for kids: Beaches Negril

Negril, Jamaica | 80 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full Beaches Negril review.)

My Beaches Negril review should leave you feeling like this is our favourite of the three Beaches Resorts, which are widely considered among the best family all-inclusive resorts.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Beaches Negril is a nice size, with enough room for tweens and teens to explore on their own safely but small enough to allow parents to find them without frantically searching a massive resort. The kids’ club here features warm staff members who will treat your kids like their own and provide plenty of daily adventures and fun to keep them coming back for more. Teens will love the Club Liquid night club — a parent-free zone.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Parents will appreciate that Club Liquid is a strictly alcohol-free environment, and that baby and kids’ clubs are staffed by certified nannies with low child:nanny ratios — included every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the option to hire a private nanny for after-hours care. Beaches Negril is also home to the area’s famous Seven Mile Beach, a white-sand beach-lovers dream!

2. Best resorts for kids: Beaches Ocho Rios

Ocho Rios, Jamaica | 90 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full Beaches Ocho Rios.)

My Beaches Ocho Rios review wouldn’t be entirely honest if I told you I like the beach here more than the one at Beaches Negril…but if you’re looking for a more compact footprint, this is it.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

This place is a toddler’s dream resort! Most suitable for kids under five years old, you get the famous Beaches brand and its cast of Sesame Street characters with a slightly lower price and a footprint that’s super manageable for even the tiniest legs. Even the kids’ loungers in the waterpark area are pint-sized!

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

You want to try a Beaches Resort with the most entry-level cost available? Ochi’s for you. It’s significantly smaller than its sister resorts — from the block of accommodations to the size of the beach — but for parents with babies and toddlers, it’s all you need and more. Similar to Beaches Negril, the resort is staffed with nannies who are also available after hours.

3. Best resorts for kids: Beaches Turks & Caicos

Providenciales, Turks & Caicos | 20 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full Beaches Turks & Caicos.)

Often touted as one of the best all-inclusive family resorts, my Beaches Turks and Caicos review is the result of two separate stays with my family of four.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Kids of all ages will go wild for Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa, which is made up of four distinct villages with their own vibes and attractions. The waterpark here is epic and there’s so much going on that no matter how many times your kid or teen moans “I’m bored!” at home, you’re unlikely to hear it here. Because of its sheer size, teens in particular have a good chance of meeting new friends. Have a kid who needs a more zen atmosphere or wants to get away from it all and spend days on end playing in the sand? There’s a spot for that at Beaches Turks & Caicos.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Parents — who can trust their teens are off having fun exploring and meeting new people within the confines of the resort while younger kids are being entertained at the kids’ club — will love wandering through the villages, trying new restaurants every day, whooping it up at any of the pool bars or wading through the most crystal-clear turquoise water on one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, Grace Bay. Certified divers will love that Beaches Resorts include daily dive excursions as part of your package, so don’t forget to bring your PADI card and log book.

Now that you’ve seen all three Beaches Resorts at a glance, you might be wondering: Which is the best Beaches Resort? Of course I’ve got you covered!

4. Best resorts for kids: Club Med Punta Cana

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic | 10 minutes from airport | $$

(Read my full Club Med Punta Cana.)

The beautiful beachfront at Club Med Punta Cana is one of our all-time best family vacation spots.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

There’s just something about Club Med. It’s special. And your kids will feel it in everything from the international staff they’ll get to know and the nightly entertainment that includes them (unlike many resorts where kids are often an afterthought or unwelcome). The Punta Cana property is teeming with the coolest activities, like circus school where your kid can spend the week learning how to swing on the trapeze!

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Great food, great drinks, great staff and a great overall resort layout on a great beach all add up to an unforgettable vacation. At Club Med, you’ll feel like a kid again with all of the “hands up, baby, hands up” energy you can imagine. There are theme nights, awesome live and DJ’d music, and plenty of European flair. Plus, Club Med is one of the few family-friendly resorts that accepts babies into onsite care. Amenities like cribs and strollers are also available to guests.

5. Best resorts for kids: Grand Velas Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, Mexico | 45 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full Grand Velas Riviera Maya review.)

My beloved coconut margarita! Bar none, the best cocktails at any all-inclusive. EVER. Drinks aside, the Grand Velas Riviera Maya may be luxe but it’s also one of the most kid-friendly resorts we’ve visited.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

My kids found the elevated food, service and amenities at Grand Velas Riviera Maya a true delight, and they got a real kick out of having our own pool concierge who would set up our loungers, serve drinks and snacks and even get them ice cream. The pools here are beautiful and the beach is calm, making it appealing to little kids and teens alike. Even some of the kids’ club activities are upscale at this luxury resort, like painting classes with acrylics on canvas. Although there’s no waterpark, the resort has a few kid-friendly tricks up its sleeve, like over-water circus shows and giant bubble balls that kids will line up to experience over and over again.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

As the only true five-star luxury resort on the list, Grand Velas Riviera Maya comes with a five-star luxury price tag — but if you can swing it, you won’t regret the splurge. It has huge rooms, the best food of any all-inclusive resort we’ve ever visited and three different resort settings nestled amidst a sprawling mangrove forest (one of which is adult-only if you decide to leave the kids at home). It’s breathtaking and you’ll long to return. It’s absolutely one of the best Mayan Riviera resorts.

6. Best resorts for kids: Hard Rock Hotel Cancun

Cancun, Mexico | 20 minutes from airport | $$

(Read my full Hard Rock Hotel Cancun.)

All-inclusive vacation packages to the Hard Rock Hotel Cancun guarantee a good time.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Unlike its Punta Cana location, the Hard Rock Cancun is much more compact. There’s no need to hop onto roaming golf carts to get your kids from one side of the resort to the other. That said, this is definitely suited to tweens and teens who don’t need hand-holding when it comes to entertainment. Strong swimmers need apply to the beachfront on which the Hard Rock Cancun sits, because the waves here are big, strong and never-ending, so the fun lasts all day.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

With its amazing pools that overlook the best stretch of beach in the Cancun Hotel Zone, the Hard Rock Hotel’s resort here is a vibe. I don’t know how the Punta Cana property gets food so wrong and this one gets it so right, but that’s one of the reasons the Cancun property made this list — the food is awesome! Not to mention the rock-star relics throughout the interior, the well-equipped rooms and the music-forward offerings, like forming a band and playing for everyone at the pool. This is the place to party.

7. Best resorts for kids: Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic | 25 minutes from airport | $$

(Read my full Iberostar Selection Bavaro review.)

For younger kids, the IBEROSTAR Bavaro waterpark is the place to be!

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

The waterpark at the Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites will keep your kids happy for days on end, plus it’s practically on Punta Cana’s best beach: Bavaro Beach. It may, in fact, be the best beach in all of the Dominican Republic! There’s also a sister resort you can reach by golf cart and they host mini discos for kids, which are really cute. There’s also a toddler-sized pool here with only a foot or so of water, which is a nice break from most resort pools that tend to cater to bigger swimmers.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

I really struggled with whether or not to include the Iberostar Selection Bavaro resort, because it wasn’t one of my all-time favourite all-inclusive family resorts. But there are enough positives to outweigh my personal negatives and for families with younger kids, the waterpark and beach are both a huge draw. And one thing Iberostar does extremely well across the board is food, so that’s one of the things parents will love most here. Just be prepared for your family to share double beds.

8. Best resorts for kids: Royalton Riviera Cancun

Cancun Riviera, Mexico | 20 minutes from airport | $$

(Read my full Royalton Riviera Cancun review.)

The Royalton Riviera Cancun is one of my kids’ favourite all-inclusive family resorts.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

So nice, we went twice! Yes…our kids begged to come back to the Royalton Riviera Cancun

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Not to be confused with Cancun proper (like where you’ll find the Hard Rock Hotel mentioned above), the Riviera Cancun isn’t blessed with the same white-sand beach and spectacular water you’ll find just 15 minutes away. But the Royalton Riviera Cancun — also not to be confused with the Royalton Cancun Suites, which I don’t recommend for kids — more than makes up for it with a series of beautiful pools. You’ll love how easy it is to get around, even with strollers or wheelchairs, and that it’s one of the very few all-inclusive family resorts that caters to families of five!

9. Best resorts for kids: The Grand at Moon Palace

Cancun Riviera, Mexico | 20 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full The Grand at Moon Palace.)

The Grand at Moon Palace waterpark is awesome!

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

My kids would tell you that this is the best family resort in Cancun. It has the best waterpark of any resort we’ve visited and an absolutely wonderful kids’ club — which is a two-floor hub of activity that borders on mini amusement park. Older kids can come and go as they please. There are more kid-friendly food choices at The Grand at Moon Palace than they’ll ever be able to eat in a single week and maybe more pools in which they’ll be able to swim. This place is basically Vegas for kids.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

For younger kids in the kids’ club, parents get a smartphone that’s assigned to their child(ren) to ensure instant and constant communication is possible. As a guest at The Grand (one of three onsite, connected resorts), access to the waterpark — including the wave simulator! — is included and unlimited so you aren’t looking at any extra fees once you arrive. It also means you can explore two other resorts (not that you’ll want to leave The Grand). Food here, from the buffet to the a la cartes, is exceptional.

Whether you decide to stay at the Royalton or The Grand, here are 20 awesome things to do in Mexico with kids that are close to both resorts.

10. Best resorts for kids: The Verandah Antigua

Long Bay, Antigua | 25 minutes from airport | $$$

(Read my full The Verandah Antigua.)

The Verandah is poised to offer unparalleled sunrise views, and you should definitely add this resort to your Caribbean holidays for families short-list.

What kids will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Younger kids, those who love calm water and those who need a really shallow start will find the bay on which The Verandah Antigua sits absolutely perfect for water play. The ocean not your jam? It’s all good, because this resort is home to the largest freshwater pool in Antigua. Your kids will be swimming in postcard-worthy turquoise water and the beachfront isn’t so big you’ll lose track of older kids who are confident swimmers and allowed a bit more space from Mom and Dad.

What parents will love most about this all-inclusive family resort:

Set on 30 acres of lush foliage, just walking the grounds is an exercise in nature therapy. Parents who standup-paddleboard (SUP), this is your body of water! So calm, so serene. And having your own little bungalow just for your family? Ah-mazing. Each of The Verandah’s 186 rooms has a verandah…thus the name. Wonderful breakfast smoothies await at this Antigua all-inclusive in its onsite Seabreeze restaurant, too.

That’s it for now! Did this help you make a short list? Or is there a resort you would like us to cover down the road? Be sure to drop it in the comments. Happy family travels!

DISCLAIMER: In some cases, travel arrangements were provided. In many cases, we paid out-of-pocket. In all cases, my opinions and suggestions are my own. If you need a great travel agent, consider Sheri at Click The Mouse for Disney and beyond (not sponsored!).