My daughter set me on a quest for a good location for her hair stylist to travel with her two little girls on Christmas Day, preferably mainland, U.S., for the better chance of finding cheap airfare. The woman wants coastal, but it's not guaranteed warm anywhere along the coast in December, is it? Southern Florida has a chance of being pretty cold, and San Diego is probably too cold, too. Even if I find something suitable, I would feel badly, if the weather doesn't cooperate. I think Hawaii, when I think warm, but that doesn't seem cheap for flights. Any suggestions for me?
Definitely NOT San Diego. We try to leave town & have difficulty trying to find great beach weather during week 52 ourselves. Another thought might be Orlando. We went one Christmas week & although it was grey skies & sweater-weather all week, our girls still enjoyed DisneyWorld & had a great time.
Tried Paradise Island/Nassau Bahamas for week 53 (RCI resort called Sunrise Beach Club) Their tiny on-site pool was freezing cold & closed for winter, but we were able to walk down to the fabulous Atlantis & use their pool (not the slides without a wristband). Even at the Atlantis their pool water was freezing cold, but our 2 girls went in for a couple of hours every day anyways. But you could not stay out at the pool area too long. The beach/ocean was cold, windy & unusable & the Atlantis had taken away all the beach chairs, amenities & concessions that are usually out on the beach. It was not really a very pleasant vacation despite the million dollar surroundings. So glad we had not paid $500+/night to stay at the Atlantis that week.
A different year we exchanged to the Charter Club on Marco Island the week before Christmas. Another so-so vacation. Not really the greatest weather either. We had only one nice warm day that week, and we did enjoy the beach that one day. But most days were gray, 60-degrees & not really swimsuit weather. Another couple of days we seemed to have a nonstop deluge of rain. Luckily, Charter Club had a really fantastic young woman who pretty much did arts & crafts with the kids all week. So, we came home with painted mugs, painted wine glasses, painted plates, shell art -- you name it. I'm trying to remember some of the other things we did that week - Everglades tour was nice (we had to bundle up in jackets, tho), went to the Barnes & Noble in Naples several times, and did all our Christmas shopping. Still, not the best vacation. Would not recommend southwest Florida in December, and Marco Island is almost at the very tip of South Florida. Thank goodness we had combined it with a week in DisneyWorld (again) the week before. There was lots of rain in Orlando that week, but we still had a great time. Luckily, our kids love Disney rain-or-shine. Doesn't matter to them. But, Marco Island: definitely a bust in their eyes.
Mexico is probably a better bet. Cabo week 52 has sun, but I would check & make sure any resort you book has a HEATED pool. We have been there in early January & had a mixture of sunny days & gray days. We had exchanged into Playa Grande & it was okay, but not great pool weather. But we ended up going over to the Pueblo Bonito Blanco & Rose which has very, very warm pools -- and enjoyed ourselves much more over there. Come to find out, the resorts on the Pacific side (Playa Grande, Finisterra, Sol Mar, and even PB Sunset Beach) get more wind/cold air than the Medano Beach resorts. So, by the end of the week, we figured it out & went over to PB Blanco and used their pools every day. They keep them warm & nice, and the beach is just a few steps away, as well.
So, I would recommend either Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, or Pueblo Bonito Rose as good options for your friend, as they both trade in RCI & have fairly good availability. The mom would not need a rental car & most things are easily walkable from the Medano Beach resorts -- even the grocery store. Also, redweek.com usually offers good rental prices on PB weeks.
The hardest thing will be finding cheap airfare for Christmas or New Years week. She will need to book airfare quickly to find reasonably priced tickets ANYWHERE over the Christmas holidays -- whether it is Florida, Mexico, or the Caribbean. Whatever the prices are now ($350-$500/each, they tend to only get worse. They just keep getting higher and higher, until eventually families are priced-out. Lately the long-awaited Fall airfare sales have not included holidays, and who wants to buy 3 or 4 tickets @$950/each? That is why there are a lot of week 51 & 52 rentals that start showing up on Redweek in November & December.
That's my two cents worth.
--- Rene
. Friends have gone to Mexico and Aruba during Christmas (the prices of tickets would be brutal though) where it has been warm enough to swim in the pools and walk the beach. By the way, it is really nice of your daughter to do this. I have booked getaways as gifts; not sure if this is an option as well. Good Luck.
