Taking the Kids: Splurging this spring and summer

Some have been wonderful like the renaissance palazzo in Mantua, Italy; others not so much. When my kids were small, I appreciated not having to spend a lot for hotel breakfasts or restaurant dinners they didn’t eat. Having room to spread out (and more than one TV) has always been a plus, as has a washer and dryer.

Now that they’re grown, that washer and dryer certainly comes in handy when we gather, as does saving (a lot) of money on bars and restaurants. Luckily, my family likes to cook together and mix their own drinks.

Rarely, though, have we been treated so royally as at Sundown, a five-bedroom villa owned by the Stewart family who own Sandals Resorts International, the parent company of couples-only Sandals Resorts and family-friendly Beaches Resorts.

“My favorite place in the world,” Sandals Resorts International Executive Chairman Adam Stewart told me, explaining that Sundown in Discovery Bay has been in the Stewart family since the 1970s and has since expanded to two houses with a total of nine bedrooms. Stewart became executive chairman last year after the death of his father, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, the founder of Sandals Resorts International.

Sundown is one of three family villas rented through YourJamaicanVillas.com Sandals Resorts International also owns Fowl Cay Resort in the Exumas, Bahamas, where every villa on the private island comes with its own powerboat.

“I learned to water ski, drive a boat, snorkel and fish at Sundown,” Stewart said. In fact, his experiences gave him the idea for Island Routes now the largest tour company in the Caribbean. When he was a student in the U.S., he said, he would bring his friends home and take them around to do all of the things he liked to do. As Sandals grew, he wanted visitors to be able to experience the authentic Jamaica — rafting on bamboo rafts or tubing on a crystal-clear river, for example..

There’s horseback riding on the beach not far away, snorkeling and diving, fishing and even a bobsled run in Ocho Rios, about a half-hour away.

Then there is the attentive staff who caters to every need, including the CIA-trained chef who outdid herself on the last night serving up, barbecue ribs, blackened red snapper (procured from local fishermen the same day), baked sweet potatoes and for dessert chocolate lava cake with ice cream.

In case you are wondering, all-inclusive rates start at $15,000 for five bedrooms a week to more than $26,000 for holiday weeks. The property has up to nine bedrooms available. But honestly, you could spend more at many all-inclusive resorts for that many people. Certainly, more expensive than vacation rentals from VRBO, Airbnb or Vacasa, where you fend for yourselves.

No one has to do dishes or laundry, plan meal or go to a grocery store. Ezon notes that staffed villas are increasingly popular for that reason, as well as villa accommodations within a resort with activities on site like at Martinhal resort villas in Portugal known for family amenities. Reunion Resort & Golf Club features resort accommodations, including two- to 14-bedroom vacation homes surrounded by 2,300 acres of lush landscape, as well as a nature preserve, pools and more. Bellapalazzo has villas in Arizona with pools and fire pits, one even with a teepee and another a putting green.

“The only thing you don’t take home,” said longtime Sundown housekeeper Veronica Hall, “is disappointment.”

As for Stewart, he and his family still look forward to every visit to Sundown. “You’ll never get bored,” he promised.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)