It’s hard to believe that Laura and I were at Beaches Turks and Caicos for the 2019 STAR Awards just one year ago. We had an amazing four days at this spectacular resort.

One highlight for me was our Catamaran Excursion. The water in Turks and Caicos is absolute perfection! And I’d never been on a Catamaran before. So I was crazy excited.

On our journey over to the private island, we literally had dolphins swimming alongside our boat. It was like a movie! I did not get pictures, as I wanted to enjoy the moment. But trust me, it was amazing!

We then had about an hour to swim and relax on a tiny, private beach. Normally we could also have snorkeled, but sadly the wind was too strong on this particular day. But I did enjoy simply relaxing in the warm Caribbean water. It was so relaxing.

We then journeyed back to Beaches, and on our boat ride home, watched the most incredible sunset over the water.

But as we all know, pictures speak louder than words!

Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts offer each guest the highest level of luxury with the Endless Privileges experience in unique boutique havens. Providing the utmost attention to detail, each resort boasts unmatched lavish accommodations filled with unique design elements and exquisite views, and an array of personalized services.

This is not just Endless Privileges, this is Endless Luxury!

Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts are characterized by unequaled holistic and wellness experiences combined with socially responsible practices, expressive architecture, and exceptional service in harmonious, natural environments.

There are 4 Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, located in 3 Caribbean destinations:

Mexico

• Zoëtry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya
• Zoëtry Villa Rolandi Isla Mujeres Cancun

Dominican Republic

• Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana 

Jamaica

• Zoëtry Montego Bay Jamaica

If you are looking to unwind and recharge completely, Zoëtry Resorts and Spas are a perfect choice!

I’m sure we’re all sad that Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will be closed until summer 2021. It is one of the most popular hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort. So let’s take a walk down memory lane!

Last year, I spent one day and one night at the Poly, and we had a wonderful time. We started our day with a delicious coffee in the lobby, then an adult beverage at the Tambu Lounge. We then took a boat ride on the Seven Seas Lagoon, had another adult beverage at Trader Sam’s (outside), followed by an afternoon at the pool.

It was Disney perfection!

Late morning coffee in the lobby after we arrived. Full disclosure – we were waiting for the bar to open!

The most beautiful lobby. I wonder what it will look like after the renovations!

Finally, and adult beverage at the Tambu Lounge!

We then decided to do something we’d never done before, and rent a small boat to explore the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. What amazing views of the resorts and other boats!

Trader Sams is known for its indoor bar. But there is also an outdoor lounge area, where they have a Hawaiian musician playing a ukelele with tiki torches lit everywhere. It’s a beautiful place to relax with a drink!

Pool time means a spiked Dole Whip!

All in all, we had an amazing day. And yes, I will admit…including the spiked dole whip at the pool, I had a total of three dole whips!

O’ahu is one of the most popular Hawaiian islands for first-time visitors and travelers who visit Hawaii often. Home to Honolulu and Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbour, and numerous museums and aquariums, O’ahu has something for everyone.

There are hundreds of different hotels to choose from for your vacation, and it can feel overwhelming trying to figure out which hotel is best for you.

Watch our most recent Travel Chat video, where we discuss four of the most popular resorts on O’ahu – Kahala, Ritz Carlton, Outrigger Reef, and Turtle Bay.

When you are ready to plan your next Hawaiian vacation, be sure to reach out to your Travel Planner!

Walt Disney World offers almost 30 different resort experiences. There are budget-friendly family resorts, cabins in the woods, 5-star luxury resorts, and everything in between. One category you may not be aware of are Disney’s Deluxe Villa Resorts, offering condo-style home-away-from-home accommodations.

Deluxe Villa Resorts are Disney Vacation Club properties, meaning you can buy into them as part of Disney’s timeshare program. But that is not the only way to stay at one of these resorts! Disney releases inventory to the general public, so if you’d prefer this style of accommodations but are not ready to invest in a (costly!) timeshare program, you can book a Deluxe Villa resort with your Travel Advisor.

Some Deluxe Villa Resorts are part of or connected to a Disney Deluxe Resort. For example, Bay Lake Tower is adjacent to Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Other Deluxe Villa Resorts are completely separate, such as Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Villas come in 4 sizes. Let’s break them down —

Deluxe Studio: Perfect for a couple or small family. Most studios sleep 4 and have one queen bed and a queen sofa bed. Some studios sleep 5 with a small pull-down murphy bed designed for younger children. Studios come with a Kitchenette, including a small refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, and coffee maker.

One-Bedroom Villas: Perfect for small families who would like more space, these villas sleep 4 or 5. There is usually one king bed in the bedroom, with additional bedding for 2 or 3 in the living room with a sofa bed, some with a chair that converts to a single bed. Most have one bathroom, although some have two. All one-bedroom villas come with a full kitchen and a washer/dryer.

Two-Bedroom Villa Floor Plan

Two-Bedroom Villas: Perfect for larger families or small families who would like a second full bedroom for the kiddos. With extra sleeping space in the living room, some two-bedroom villas can sleep up to 8 or 9. All two-bedroom villas have a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and at least 2 full bathrooms. Some have a third full bathroom in the living/kitchen area.

Three-Bedroom Grand Villas: These villas are huge! Some sleep up to 12 guests. There are 3 full bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms. All have giant living spaces, with a full kitchen, dining area, washer/dryer, and multiple living spaces.

Three-Bedroom Grand Villa

One of our Travel Advisors recently stayed at three different Deluxe Villa Resorts and shared her experiences in an episode of Must Love Travel’s weekly video series Travel Chat. Take a look!

If you are interested in booking a Deluxe Villa Resort for your next Walt Disney World vacation, reach out to your Must Love Travel Planner to get started!

One of my favorite family Christmas travel memories is spending Christmas at Brooks Lake Lodge in Dubois, Wyoming.

Being from Florida, the chance of seeing snow on Christmas is very appealing idea!

Brooks Lake Lodge is very rustic at 9200 feet above sea level with the Pinnacle Mountains in the background

Brooks Lake Lodge welcomes you with daily temperature and avalanche reports, as well as the evening’s dinner menu

There’s always snow at Brooks.

Always snow, lots of snow!

Landing at Jackson Hole airport is always interesting. It feels like you swoop in over the Tetons and land on a short runway in the middle of a National Park, Teton National Park.

Elk Horns collected from the grazing and migration lands welcome you to Jackson Hole.

In this rustic lodge at 9200 feet, the dining is impeccably delicious.

There’s always interesting game on the menu, from bison to elk tenderloin, venison chops, as well as duck and amazing fish.

Wonderful food wonderfully presented.

This was our Christmas dinner. Yes, that’s one portion. Yes, it does cover the whole plate.

The amazing desserts and other homemade baked goods are amazing!

Freshly made cinnamon buns anyone?

Just because it’s a little out of the way doesn’t mean you can’t have a world-class pastry chef.

Brooks Lake Lodge and the surrounding areas are known for their amazing snowmobile trails and meadows.

All geared up and ready to go!

No one has been her but us today.

And sometimes you just get stuck and have to start digging.

Because there’s snow, lots of snow!

This is Leslie and I with head snowmobile guide and wrangler, Skinner Bell.

This is Skinner in action doing more of what he does. Where’s the back of his snowmobile? That’s a lot of snow!

Here’s the three of us, family Christmas, minus one

Wait a minute, where’s the back of my snowmobile

Playing in the snow.

Our rides here take us back to the airport, Florida is going to seem different when we get home  😉

We’ll definitely miss this place, can’t wait to return again!

Thanks for following our trip, till next time, travel safe and be well!

If you scrolled down this far, you should get a treat. Check out these buns,  I really miss Brooks Lake Lodge!

If you do a google search for “best beaches in the world” you’ll get dozens of stunning choices. It’s impossible to narrow them all down to an absolute favorite, so let’s take a look at the Top 5 Beaches in the World.

Okay, fine…I’ll admit that in some of these categories I’m including more than just one location. But they are all in the same general area, and it was too hard to choose just one!

#1 Fiji and Bora Bora (Polynesian Islands)

Fiji is home to over 300 islands and continues to be the #1 spot for travelers seeking paradise. Bora Bora is a tiny island, yet is constantly one of the most popular destinations travelers seeking romance.

#2 Maui and Kauai (Hawaii)

Every Hawaiian island speaks to certain types of travelers, but those seeking the most beautiful beaches continue to flock to Maui and Kauai.

#3 Bahamas

The Bahamian islands are more than just Nassau. Although, there are stunning beaches in Nassau, home of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. The Bahamas is also home to hundreds of small, private islands. And it’s hard to ignore Exumas, home to the wild swimming pigs.

#4 Grace Bay Beach (Turks and Caicos)

It’s hard to describe the beauty of this water. Only pictures will do it justice!

#5 The Maldives

Picturesque private villas, spectacular sunsets, and the most incredible white sand beaches you could imagine.

The holiday season is in full swing! There is no better place to celebrate than at Walt Disney World.

This week’s Travel Chat features one of Must Love Travel’s advisors, Jill, who recently spent a week at Walt Disney World with her daughters. She had a great time, taking in all of the holiday decorations and festive, magical touches sprinkled throughout the theme parks and resorts.

Her favorite experience was Minnie’s Seasonal Dining at Hollywood and Vine, a character meal in Hollywood Studios park.

Check out our Travel Chat video to hear the excitement in Jill’s voice as she shares her holiday Disney vacation!

Here at Must Love Travel, we have a weekly video series called Travel Chat. We catch up with fellow travel advisors and travel professionals to talk about hot topics, news, and official updates. Sometimes we focus on a certain destination, such as Mexico or Jamaica. Other times we’ll chat about cruising, or maybe we’ll focus on Walt Disney World or Universal Studios.

This week, we started a 3-part series dedicated to Hawaii. Our first episode focuses on Hawaiian culture and history, along with some insider tourist spots and even a fun lesson on how to pronounce popular Hawaiian words.

Click the image above to watch the episode, and stay tuned for the next 2 videos in our Hawaii series. We’ll discuss popular resorts, excursions, restaurants, beaches, luaus, and more!

Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions are just around the corner. It is so hard to believe!

Black Friday sales may start a little early, but they are short-lived! It’s not hard to understand why — with Funjet, you can save up to 80%!

Some of our favorite suppliers have already started releasing special pricing. And with flexible booking policies, you can book future vacations at super low prices without any stress or worry.

If you are looking for a getaway land vacation or a cruise, reach out to your Must Love Travel Advisor and let them know that you want to take advantage of these deals.

My wife Leslie and I recently stayed at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The Walt Disney World Resort is a place that we’ve visited often and that really does feel like “home” to us.

I must say though, in our new world of Covid-19, social distancing and face masks, home felt a little different. Different, but good. Good to be back, great to feel comfortable there.

When we checked into our room at the Grand Floridian, there was a sign to let us know about the enhanced cleaning Disney has implemented.

Everything looked great and we felt completely comfortable with our accommodations and being there.

Good to see our old friend the Keurig coffee maker is still available.

Cups were wrapped and protected

The TV remote was cleaned, sealed, and protected. Now, this is a good idea!

Disney is still providing upscale bathroom amenities to make your stay more comfortable.

We loved the convenience of taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

There were signs to help with keeping our distance on Disney transportation.

Each monorail car had a partition to separate the sections

And as I said in the last post, if you’ve had enough of signs and masks, there are places you can find to just be alone, or with your favorite travel companion and enjoy just being back home and back in the magic. The Grand Floridian is a great place for just relaxin’.

Travel Safe, Enjoy the Magic!

You can now upgrade your Walt Disney World package to include Disney’s Memory Maker Photo Package. It’s so easy!

If you add Memory Maker to your vacation package, the cost to you is $169 plus tax. If you buy it after your vacation begins, the price is $199. You can save $30 just by adding it to your vacation package!

Disney Memory Maker includes:

• Digital downloads of your Disney PhotoPass photos and videos

• Select attraction photos and videos

• Iconic, professional photos taken by Disney PhotoPass photographers

• Magic Shots – featuring Disney characters and more, added to your photos

Disney Memory Maker is a great way for you to capture more memories than ever before.

Talk to your Must Love Travel Planner about adding the Memory Maker Photo Package to your Disney Vacation package!

We know you love Walt Disney World, and we know you love Universal Studios. But you may not realize that it is effortless to add a day at Discovery Cove to ANY Orlando vacation!

Discovery Cove is not a park, and it’s not merely a dolphin swim. It’s an all-day, all-inclusive resort experience!

Included with your admission are unlimited food and drinks, including a full breakfast and full lunch. You’ll have access to the Grand Reef, where you can swim and snorkel all day with stingrays and thousands of tropical fish. There is also a lazy river, freshwater oasis, and more.

When we say all-inclusive, we mean it! Also included with your day pass are towels, snorkel gear, wetsuits, and sunscreen. Everything you could need throughout the day is available to you.

If you’d like to learn more about Discovery Cove, check out this week’s episode of Travel Chat! We’ll discuss Discovery Cove in-depth with one of our Travel Advisor’s who recently returned from her own Orlando vacation. They had a blast!

Reach out to your Travel Advisor if you’d like to add a day at Discovery Cove to your next Orlando vacation.

AMResorts is a collection of luxury resort destinations located throughout the Caribbean and Mexico, each with its own unique personality. Every AMResort features sun-soaked beaches, elegant accommodations, a world-class spa, gourmet dining, unlimited premium drinks, and many other pampering amenities.

With so many different Resorts to choose from, it can seem overwhelming. Luckily, each AMResort falls into one of the following categories.

Contact your Must Love Travel Planner today to book your next vacation! 

Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts

Adult-Oriented

Unplug from daily life and envelop yourself in the tranquility of Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts. Unrivaled luxury and holistic wellness combine with the limitless means of Endless Privileges to offer an experience of attentive bliss known as The Art of Life. Delight in the touches of infinite bliss with daily in-suite sparkling wine, 24-hour gourmet dining, complimentary worldwide calling, laundry services, specialty experiences, and so much more, all included with your stay. Check-in or out at any time, and tune into your inner self.

Secrets Resorts & Spa

Adult Only

Dive deep into a romantic retreat at Secrets Resorts & Spas, where adults escape the everyday amid the natural allure of the Mediterranean and Caribbean. World class amenities and unsurpassed personal service are yours as often as you desire. Embark on your secluded getaway in some of the most coveted locations in the world, and discover the unique sophistication found only at a Secrets Resort.

Breathless Resorts & Spas

Adult Only

If you’re ready to escape to an exciting adults-only destination, where seductive beauty and chic style combine with Unlimited-Luxury, you’re ready for Breathless Resorts & Spas. Each Breathless Resort & Spa was designed to offer an authentic experience unique to its destination. While we infuse our resorts with originality (no cookie-cutter hotels here!), you can still expect to find the ideal blend of relaxation and entertainment at all four of our beachfront, all-adult properties throughout the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico.

Dreams Resorts & Spas

Family Friendly

Dreams Resorts & Spas offer families, couples and singles a luxurious tropical escape. Beautiful beachfront locations and exciting array of activities for every age and interest ensure that everyone has their dream vacation. Spacious rooms and suites, graciously appointed and luxuriously equipped provide a picture-perfect vacation experience with welcoming service and romantic inclusions. Beautiful and exciting destinations provide a lovely setting for a wedding, honeymoon, romantic getaway or family vacation.

Now Resorts & Spas

Family Friendly

Now Resorts & Spas offer vibrant beachfront settings for multigenerational travel, families with teens and tweens as well as couples and friends. Enjoy a family-friendly, modern vacation experience, where play and party are just steps away from peace and quiet. Active and lively settings provide entertainment for all ages and are perfect setting for a family reunion, a wedding or a social group getaway.

Reflect Resorts & Spas

Family Friendly

Enjoy these great beachfront vacations offering a variety of locally inspired cuisine, inviting amenities, friendly service and an array of culturally infused experiences all created for memory making moments.

Sunscape Resorts & Spas

Family Friendly

Sunscape Resorts & Spas offer families, friends, singles and couples high-energy, fun-filled vacations and getaways on pristine beaches. Indulge, day and night, in countless activities at our seaside resorts.

Universal Orlando’s first Value property introduces extra affordability to your Universal vacation. The feeling here is relaxed and easy, with a cool surf vibe woven throughout.

Check out our recent episode of Travel Chat for an honest review of Surfside Inn & Suites, including feedback on the 2-bedroom suites!

ACCOMMODATIONS AND AMENITIES

In addition to standard rooms, Surfside Inn and Suites feature spacious, 2-bedroom suites, making it the perfect spot for families of any size to base their Universal Orlando Resort vacation.

• 390 2-bedroom suites
• 360 standard rooms
• Complimentary WiFi in guest rooms and public areas
• Universal Orlando Vacation Planning Center
• Self-parking (daily fees apply)
• Car rental available on-site
• Universal Studios Store

DINING

Surfside Inn and Suites favors comfort over fuss. Guests will even find this free-spirited attitude in their dining options.

• Beach Break Cafe – A casual food court offering SoCal inspired flavors with fresh ingredients
• Sand Bar – Poolside bar offering signature cocktails, frozen drinks, wine, beer and smoothies
• Starbucks® – Conveniently located in the lobby, serving premium coffee, tea, and fresh food items 4 Pizza delivery to room

RECREATION

The surf theme is everywhere here. Guests can recharge after a fun day in the theme parks.

• Resort-Style Pool – in the shape of a surfboard with poolside activities
• Fitness Center – with cardiovascular and weight training equipment, lockers, shower and changing facilities (complimentary to hotel guests)
• Game Room (fees apply)

EXCLUSIVE HOTEL GUEST BENEFITS

Only Universal Orlando’s hotel guests get more ride time, more free time and more family time every day of their vacation. It couldn’t be easier.

• Early Park Admission† to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and Universal’s Volcano Bay, one hour before the theme park opens (valid theme park admission required; select attractions).
• Free shuttles so it’s always a quick hop between your room and the theme parks.
• Resort-wide charging privileges with your room key.
• Complimentary merchandise delivery to your hotel from Universal shops.
• Complimentary Club-to-Club access at Universal CityWalk* to select venues for the length of your stay (age restrictions apply).