pbbandj

Thanks for the reminder about Puerto Rico. It does sound like a good mix of things to do! YEARS ago I stayed with friends at the San Juan Marriott Resort. Kurt Russell was staying there while he was filming the movie "Captain Ron". I ended up in an elevator with him with a friend, and we started giggling uncontrollably until he finally asked us about the weather to try to cut the awkwardness. Maybe I need to go back to prove that I've matured a little!

pinniped

Can be tough to get cheap flights to SJU during peak periods. I learned this the hard way when we booked a cruise out of there. Coach fares were sky high, so we just bought modestly-priced F fares...but this might be sticker shock to some people.

There *might* be fare relief on dates not immediately preceding cruise departure dates. I don't know the market that well. Nor do I know if the traditional American Spring Break season matters at all to the cruise market...

pbbandj

So true. In our school district, our spring break is always the first full week of April, and not tied to Easter. 2018 is one of those years when Easter is at the beginning of April, which we have learned means sky high flights and crowded resorts, so checking flights before I commit to a destination is part of the process.

MSPeconomist

The Phoenician (Starwood LC outside of Scottsdale) has a huge iconic pool and the resort offers guided tours of its cactus collection/rock garden. Scottsdale and Phoenix have art museums, places to hike, etc.

For food and some sun, how about either Hong Kong (although weather can be drizzle and gray) or Singapore? Lots of Starwood places have good pools. Barcelona, Lisbon or Madrid would also be good choices, or you could rent a car in Spain or Portugal and go to a couple smaller places.

Good for your kid for not being interested in taking a rowdy spring break cruise or trip with friends to notorious places like Fort Lauderdale, Cancun, Aruba, etc.

pinniped

I'm going to guess that the Starwood properties will still be off-limits in early '18. (If they aren't, I have two booked Travel Packages that I might look to move!) It's beginning to smell like the "single program" date is 2019.

I've redeemed a TP in Barcelona: one of our favorite TP redemptions ever. That's a city that can hold one's attention for a week...plus you can throw in a beach day or other daytrips (by train or car) as desired. Multiple good Marriotts there, both in middle and high categories.

hhoope01

You might want to check out Victoria, BC, Canada. There is a nice Marriott on the Harbor there. Victoria has a lot to do and see. There's a bunch of natural history to see, as well as, native american and Canada history too. Butchart Gardens is worth seeing, as well as, whale watching tours, high tea at the Empress hotel, Royal BC Museum, walk the harbor, etc. Plus, you can even do a little hiking too (if everyone wants to of course. )

If I remember correctly, I don't think the Marriott had a great pool. It was indoor I do believe and pretty basic. But I do believe more times than not, I was upgraded to a nice, big suite rooms. ^ But it has been a few years since I was last there.

Cledaybuck

He is using a travel package, so Marriotts only.

He is going at Easter and said sun was important. I don't think Victoria fits that.

pinniped

I always think of Victoria as a weekend getaway...seems like a couple of teenagers would get bored after 2 days there whether it's sunny or not.

I sort of breezed past the Arizona suggestions upthread, but the late Easter might work in your favor if you decide to go there. It can be insanely hard to get to PHX and get hotel rooms during March, thanks to all of the MLB spring training. But the teams start heading out in the last week of March, leaving April as a slightly-less-in-demand month. (Don't get me wrong...it's still relatively busy.) April's actually a pretty nice weather month down there. You'd have sun + pool. Warm but not brutal heat. Lots of daytrips in all directions, so nobody would get bored. Sedona is an easy daytrip. Grand Canyon is a hard one...or an easier overnighter.

Mostly resorts so no elite bennies, but most of the resorts aren't far from places to grab breakfast, etc.

CJKatl

Upstream SoCal was suggested. I actually did a five-day SoCal trip with three nieces and nephew when they were in that age range, maybe four years ago. They LOVED that trip. Between the Warner Bros studio tour, the Getty, a TMZ tour, a Haunted Hollywood Homes tour, eating/touring Malibu, Manhattan and Venice beaches, a day at Disney...we had plenty to do. We have cousins there so we were able to visit with them, too. (Interesting intersection - one of those cousins lives in a house on the Haunted Hollywood tour because of something that happened there before he owned it!) It was a great trip. We stayed at a Residence Inn. While the pool was not resort like, the kids basically had it to themselves which they liked. Plus they could walk into Downtown Burbank, which is relatively small, safe and interesting enough.

I've also gone to Paris and Amsterdam with kids that age. I know, the OP said stay in the US, but those were memorable destinations. The kids loved those trips, still thanking me to this day. The hotels and transportation are the expensive parts of those trips. If points and miles can pay for them, it's easy to tour both inexpensively. The flights are only eight hours or so from the US. Just throwing that out there. BTW, the kids actually liked Amsterdam more than Paris, but love they fact they now have some frame of reference for Paris.