potfish

Looking for destination suggestions. Here's the pertinent info: parents and 10 month old son living near BOS, vacation windows are very limited by work so has to be second half of July or August, one week maximum. Parents want to have an environment and a bit of time to relax, so we'd need a few hours of child care per day and the occasional evening. The option of taking a babysitter with us is not available because the one we use has other jobs and cannot take the time off, anyone else would be just as much of a stranger as someone we find locally. Son is pretty good with strangers.

Our first thought was the Caribbean as we haven't been there before, but seems that this isn't a good time of year for most of the islands. Aruba seems to be a good option but cannot find any leads to child care there.

In terms of budget, we don't want to break the bank but were prepared to push the boat out a bit as we need the break and we're so time-poor.

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks.

erik123

Some club med's have baby care. Azul Beach in Mexico is great and has a baby club.

MoreMilesPlease

Maybe Beaches in Turks&Caicos?

http://www.beaches.com/vacation/toddlers/

swise

There's a Club Med in Florida and some in Mexico and the Caribbean. Some have infant care available.

Agree about timing with the Caribbean and also Florida. Hurricane Season makes things unpredictable. There are some Club Meds on the Pacific side of Mexico that might work, and there may be other all-inclusives there, too, that would have infant care available.

Another option would be a Disney Cruise. They offer infant care. I believe they are the only cruise line that will take babies in their kids' club.

You could pick any nice place and use a nanny agency. They pre-screen the nannies, ensuring that they have met background check, first aid/cpr and other requirements to work for their company. This option would probably work best if you were vacationing in the US.

rjque

At 10 months I would worry less about activities for the child and more about what you are going to want to be doing. Older children need something a little more child focused, but at 10 months you do not need anything like that. I'd pick a resort you want to visit, based on the time of year and your budget, and then call the resort concierge to ask about child care options. Most higher end resorts are very good about helping with it, and some of the lower end resorts are as well.

If you're in the U.S., I'm a huge fan of Urbansitter. We regularly use it when traveling with our daughter.

swise

One other option that comes to mind:

http://skiportillo.com is an all-inclusive ski resort in Chile that offers infant care for a reasonable price in their nursery.

Portillo is on our bucket list.

potfish

Thanks for the responses, I'll check them out. Looks like phone calls to resorts are in order.

Big4Flyer

There are several Ritz Carlton properties in Florida that offer this service and right now you can get some decent rates. I was looking at the Ritz Naples recently and they had rooms for around $240/night. They vet their nanny's and even have them put the kids to bed with a snack and a book. I haven't used their service at any of the Florida locations but have been impressed with them elsewhere. I don't recall what the prices were, but I don't believe they were outrageous.

erik123

If you want a larger resort style hotel you'd be better off calling a large travel agent. Liberty or Apple comes to mind.

Another option is an apartment style hotel and a part-time nanny. It would likely be cheaper. Turks & Caicos will have good options (and fantastic beaches).

potfish

Got hold of the concierge at the Hyatt Regency Aruba and the child care they arrange seems pretty reasonable - not much different to the price we pay at home.

Turks and Caicos was my first choice but from what I've read I think it may be a little too hot and buggy in August.

DZ450

My wife and I have gone through the same issue of trying to figure out where to travel but with two kids.
Last year we went to Mexico with my 13month old, Iberostar Lindo. Nice resort, kid and family friendly.
A few other great choices are Paradisus and Azul beach or Sensitori. Azul and Paradisus really cater to families. In particular Paradisus which is a specifically family and kid resort. Reading the reviews on Trip Advisor everyone says that its filled with kids of all different ages and families.
As for travel dates, I would definitely recommend traveling to the Caribbean July. August through October are prime Hurricane season months and your guaranteed to have rain multiple days of your vacation.
Aruba is another option but on the pricer side.
We are traveling to DR late this year with two kids, to another Iberostar resorts which caters to familys.

Eclipsepearl

I'm just mentioning that some cruise lines do have baby clubs for this young. I'm not sure which companies and it will boil down to the exact ship. Norwegian??

I was also going to throw Bermuda in there as a suggestion, just because I loved it there and the sand is really pink. It's even closer than the Caribbean to Boston. It would be clean and quiet and this is the season to go.

tubulus

A friend was very happy with the childcare at the St Regis Bahia Beach in PR.

juuceman

The Ritz in Sarasota outsources to an agency, which was fine. In fact, most of the Ritz Carlton's that I've visited with my kids (6+) use outside agencies for liability. I've also used Sittter City pretty extensively and been happy with it.

Any hotel that has a concierge is going to be able to refer you to a service. A lot of the time they use nursing/healthcare agencies, at least in Florida.