Taking the Kids: Vacationing like a one-percenter in a staffed villa

By Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on Mar 10, 2016

Jamaica is known for these staffed villas -- there are some 840 on the island, many very luxurious, others are more modest, ideal for reunions and small weddings.

The key is to know what will suit your family's needs. Do you prefer to be at a staffed villa within a resort, Like Half Moon, a Rock Resort, where you have access to children's activities, a fitness center, spa and more sports options -- everything from sailboats to bicycles. (Read my trip diary about Half Moon.)

Will the teens and young adults in the group be happy to "just chill," or will they want to be somewhere with more accessible nightlife?

Will your family be happy to "eat local," jerk chicken and fresh fish, for example, or want more sophisticated fare?

If you love long, white sand beaches, you might want to set up housekeeping on Discovery Bay. Do you want a tennis court, beach volleyball or to cook with the chef?

We're right near the fancy Round Hill Resort where we enjoyed the sunset and dinner one night and the Tryall Club, famous for its golf course and tennis program. But cabs are expensive. Smith manages villas within those resorts, too, and Tryall offers a complimentary kids' club.

Another option is to hire a car and driver for the week, especially to avoid the stress of driving on the right side of the road.

Pregnant women and those trying to become pregnant should, of course, follow the CDC guidelines and postpone travel to certain Caribbean islands and Latin American countries where they might encounter mosquitos that carry the Zika virus thought to cause serious birth defects (Read my blog about Zika and family travel.)

For everyone else, I can't think of a better place to gather the gang whenever you can.

Some months before my dad died, my mom plucked a tiny ad out of The New York Times and rented a villa for all of us in St. Maarten. We didn't know it would be our last vacation all together. My two older kids were just babies and it seemed such an exotic trip at the time. There was no Internet, so we really couldn't see what we were getting.

The house, my mom lamented, wasn't quite what she envisioned. We didn't care.

We had an idyllic week and more important, the memories.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)