Cancun

The quest for affordable family fun this year led us to Cancun, Mexico and a great new resort called Great Parnassus Resort and Spa. This one stunned us with the service, staff, family activities, food and great price. Everything exceeded our expectations from start to finish. The Parnassus is a 12-storey sprawling family destination on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The food was remarkable and the flavour very cosmospolitan. Many tourists here hailed from all over the globe and spoke a variety of languages, which was lovely exposure to numerous cultures for our children - one of whom speaks fluent French and loved exercising the language teaching the Spanish ladies French while picking up a hint of  Spanish too. El Portico was a family-friendly Italian eatery. The Big Ben was British. The Samurai had some of the tastiest sushi I have ever had. The saki, served warm was a strange treat, must be an acquired taste. A Manhattan inspired theatre district restaurant and a 24-hour coffee bar that offered crepes rounded out the eateries. As well, like usual with all inclusives, there was near constant access to buffet style food - Japanese, Mexican, fresh fruit etc. - in the main building. (See photo of husband) Activities staff had non stop fun planned for kids and the children's club was top notch, at least for children who are preschool and school aged. The theatre had numerous things scheduled for every night of the week, with a superhero battle one night as a highlight, a circus show another night and movie nights as well.

Our room was stunning, with two gorgeous clean double beds, decked out in a nautical theme and beyond that inside a small room that was attached were bunk beds with trundle great for families with two and even three children. This was a four a a half star rated building according to Sunquest tours, but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't five star because frankly this is the nicest place we have ever discovered and we wished at end of week we could have extended our stay. We travelled prior to March break to get the maximum bang for our dollar and discovered this amazing deal on itravel2000.com then confirmed it with our Sears travel agent whose jaw nearly hit the floor when she realized the prices were the lowest she'd ever seen for Mexico. So for those of you seeking an excellent deal for family look no further and practice this phrase: "Dos Margaritas por favor!" Total cost of entire week, flights from Toronto, food, drinks, accommodations included for $3,100 end of February for a family of four. Amazing!!! This is one of a very few places where children truly stay for free or greatly reduced rates depending on age.

Thriftymommastips rating $$$$$ out of $$$$$