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Taking the Kids: Splurging this spring and summer

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

Talk about being spoiled. We have a chef, assistant chef, two butlers, two housekeepers, a lawn crew (there are beautifully landscaped grounds, the beach is meticulously raked) and a manager who oversees it all.

Our biggest decision is what we should do. Laze on the private beach, kayak, paddleboard, sail, snorkel, play ping pong or board games on the huge, covered patio?

Our other big decision is what we want to eat, prepared by a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America. Jerk chicken or quinoa salad for lunch? Seafood or steak for dinner?

Just before the pandemic, I’d been invited to experience what more families wanted at the time – a more intimate vacation experience. While not inexpensive, vacation rentals, whether staffed or more do-it-yourself options, can prove a better value than gathering the family at a big resort.

Especially during the pandemic, families have been seeking private enclaves, often within resort settings with resort amenities, across the U.S., Caribbean and abroad. Others have sought private options on everything from raft trips to private yacht charters in Alaska, to a just-for-us guided trips to Yellowstone, among other places.

Jack Ezon, founder of EmbarkBeyond, notes that his company’s villa bookings are up about 38 percent above 2019. “The reason is not so much about isolation for hygiene anymore but more so for isolation to promote togetherness,” Ezon said. “People want to connect deeper than ever and reunite with family members or friends and finding a villa the perfect situation to do it in.”

 

They also are booking more private chefs, said Stiles Bennett, president of WIMCO Villas. “Perhaps it’s a desire to avoid the crowds in a restaurant, or the convenience, or how nice it is after a long day in the sun to not have to get changed to go into town, and instead have someone else take care of the whole meal,” he said

According to Vacasa’s 2022 Spring Travel Trends, nearly one-third of all travelers and nearly half of parents of young children are booking vacation rentals for their spring travels. They appreciate the value for their vacation dollar, having access to a kitchen and more privacy, according to the survey by the international vacation rental management company. Most are vacationing in the U.S.

“The pandemic really underscored the value of travel and making vacation memories with family and friends,” said Natalia Sutin, Vacasa’s vice president of revenue management. “Those who are in the position to splurge are likely to do so, but it may not be all spent on one trip,” as travelers indicate they hope to take multiple smaller trips this year.

We’ve stayed in all varieties of rental vacation accommodations — everything from a sheep farm in Wales to a sailboat we sailed in the British Virgin Islands to a barge we drove in France. There were many trips to Ski Country, once so my husband and daughter could compete in a chili contest, and most recently, a condo at Park City, Utah, that was so comfy we cooked in every night, though Park City is known for its restaurants.

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