July 2, 2008

Mexico for the Whole Family


My daughter got to experience her first fam trip at 10 months old when we were invited, as a family, to experience Club Med Ixtapa Pacific. It wouldn’t be her first flight, or her first time out of the country, but the seven-day trip was going to be the longest period of time we’d be away from home together. And, since we were staying at the resort, we figured that we would have to bring everything, or take a very expensive cab ride to town and try to figure out what “Enfamil” formula was in Spanish. So, when we packed our belongings, it looked like the luggage aisle at Wal-Mart.
In my infinite wisdom (or lack there of), the night before we left, I read all of the amenities that Club Med had to offer families, and as it turned out, they provided just about everything we would need. Their Baby Welcome, which is free for parents, includes changing pads, a crib, a highchair, a bottle warmer and even a stroller. Babies have their own buffet in the main buffet restaurant, where they have a selection of baby food jars as well as formula, milk and yogurt. There’s also 24-hour access to a room with bottle-warmers, microwaves and more baby food. Our room had a refrigerator and bottled water was replenished daily.
So, needless to say, Club Med’s Baby Welcome puts a whole new spin on all-inclusive – and saved my husband a lot of extra baggage…in more ways than one.