I took my teenagers to an all-inclusive resort. Not having to plan every moment helped me be more present as a parent.

26.11.2024 - 11:37 / insider.com

My husband and I have traveled to several all-inclusive resorts together, but we'd never taken our kids to one until recently. While our family's decision to homeschool leaves lots of travel opportunities open to us, an all-inclusive vacation just hadn't lined up until we decided to visit Beaches Turks and Caicos with our 14- and 16-year-old earlier this month.

As the parent who does the bulk of the planning when we vacation, I suspected visiting an all-inclusive resort with my kids would be a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of being the travel coordinator. Eager to test my theory, we chose a Beaches resort because it's the sister resort to Sandals, where my husband and I spent a week earlier in the summer and loved it. Here's what it was like.

Like most all-inclusive resorts, everything at Beaches Turks and Caicos was taken care of for us. With more than 20 restaurants on the property, there was always something for everyone at mealtime. Excursions could be booked easily through the resort, and the front desk staff helped us book a taxi into town. There were pools, miles of white sand beach, and a schedule of activities like karaoke and trivia. There were also kids clubs, including one for teens in my kids' age group.

I'm known to develop quite the busy itinerary when we travel on our own, so being able to show up at an all-inclusive and play things by ear felt like a welcome respite.

Because there were pools, activities, and teen clubs, my family was flexible about splitting up and doing our own thing when we wanted. My son, more of an introvert, enjoyed watching movies on the television in our room or reading during his downtime, while my daughter made time to work on her tan and float on rafts.

My husband and I were able to sneak off for cocktails and mocktails or early-morning beach walks while the kids did their own thing. But we also scheduled mandatory family time, like excursions or nightly dinners together, to get an even split of independent activities and family bonding.

I'm a big researcher of restaurants, and it's happened more than once that we've traveled to a specific restaurant on vacation, only to be disappointed. Since there are tons of restaurant options available at an all-inclusive, we found it easier to pivot and choose the best restaurant for our family during our sit-down meals together.

Case in point: After being seated at the on-property hibachi restaurant, we realized the experience was going to be much louder and more chaotic than we were in the mood for. We politely excused ourselves before ordering and headed to a French bistro instead, where we enjoyed a quiet meal and some great conversation with our kids.

There was an on-site desk where