My sons were 3 and 4 when we rented a villa in Jamaica. We could not have had more fun, been more comfortable or safe, or gotten better value for our dollar. Read all about why. 

"We are a Mom and Dad and three boys, ages 5, 3, and 1, and we love to travel. My oldest son has entered Kindergarten this year. Therefore, I now have to battle vacation time with the rest of the school-age groups. Any suggestions for a sunny Presidents' Week Vacation or Spring Break in April to avoid the crowds? This is painful for me because I usually love finding the "deals" at the off-peak times. I do have plenty of AAadvantage miles to use. Thanks!"

by Katherine Hottinger on Travel Deals

Last month, as the Mexico travel advisory was lifting, we told you about how Riu Hotels and Resorts was slashing prices by 40% at nine of its all-inclusive properties in Mexico. Now Riu has another promotion, this one targeted at families: At five Riu properties, there's no charge for children ages 2 to 12 staying in their parents' rooms. (Under twos always stay for free).

What's that? "Don't kids 12 and under always get to stay in their parents' hotel rooms for free?" you ask. Yes, that's the case for traditional hotel rooms, but at all-inclusive resorts, the pricing is per person. At Riu properties, the children's rate is normally half the adult rate, and it covers meals, activities such as water sports, and supervised child care in kids' clubs. Under Riu's current promotion, you get all these goodies gratis.

The Savings: For a family of four, the kids-stay-free deal puts the discount at 33%. But the reduction is even more dramatic when you consider what you would have paid last year. In 2008 Cancun's Riu Caribe (shown here), for instance, would have cost $119 per person per night in a standard double room, or $357 for a family of four (rates include taxes and fees). This year, the rate is $90 per person, or $180 per night for that same family--almost 50% off last year.

The Properties: Here's what two adults and two kids will pay per night for a standard double room in the participating resorts:

$164 at Riu Emerald Bay in Mazatlan
$178 at Riu Santa Fe in Cabo San Lucas
$150 at Riu Jalisco in Riviera Nayarit
$178 at Riu Playacar in Playa del Carmen

The Review: How good are these places? Condé Nast Traveler editor Beata Loyfman has stayed at several Riu locations and says they're great for families.

Book by: August 22. Good for travel June 26 - August 22, 2009.

How to book: Call 888-748-4990. Or log on to riu.com; when we checked, there was no page outlining the promotion, but the special price shows up when you make your reservation for the applicable dates at participating properties.

Downtown Aspen, Colorado, seen from Red Mountain.
Photo: Daniel Bayer

by Julia Bainbridge on Travel Deals

Thinking about the Rocky Mountains this summer? There are deals in Aspen, Colorado, that amount to 25% savings.

* Get your fourth night free when you book three nights at certain properties such as the Hearthstone House, a quaint lodge in downtown Aspen with a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design, or the Limelight Lodge, which reopened last November after a two-year renovation.

* Book a minimum two-night stay over a Wednesday at any participating Aspen lodge, and you get Wednesday night for half price. So, for instance, at the aforementioned Hearthstone House, you pay $123 per night (including taxes) instead of $164. At the Limelight Lodge, you pay $191 instead of $254.

* Book a two-night stay at any Aspen lodge (even those not listed in the deals above), and get the Aspen Summer Pass, which gets you 50% off admission to any recital or chamber music event at the Aspen Music Festival (and kids under 17 are free at festival and school events) and 30% off bike rentals at Aspen Sports, among other discounts.

Caveat: No Condé Nast Traveler staffers have spent a night in any of the participating hotels, so we can't vouch for them. What we have road-tested are those Aspen properties on Condé Nast Traveler's 2009 Gold List: Little Nell and the St. Regis Resort. Another caveat: Unfortunately, you can't add the first two deals together: You get either 50% off Wednesday night or a fourth night free--not both.

Book by: You can book on the Web site up to 48 hours in advance. If you want to book the day of, call 866-572-9641.

For travel from: May 25-October 31, 2009.

The Reef Resort is located on the east end of the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman--which is less developed and quieter than the west end.

by Julia Bainbridge on Travel Deals

Looking for a quiet, affordable, family-friendly Caribbean getaway? The all-beachfront-suite Reef Resort, on the east end of Grand Cayman, has a deal running for 79 hours, starting at 5 p.m. EDT today.

The resort's studio suites usually cost $253 per night (including taxes). With this deal, though, you can get one of these 450-square-foot rooms with a kitchenette and private patio or balcony for only $87 per night (including taxes). That's a savings of $166 per night.

Caveat: No Condé Nast Traveler staffer has stayed at the Reef Resort, so our coverage of this deal should not be viewed as an endorsement of the property. Normally we would not write up a resort we haven't road-tested, but Wendy felt that it was okay in this instance because of the large number of readers of The Perrin Post who are parents seeking not a Conde Nast Traveler Gold List or Hot List property but rather a budget-friendly, kid-friendly condo-style getaway.

Bonus: The property has blanketed its beach with Wi-Fi coverage. You can access the Web in your room, on the beach, or in the resort's Rusty Pelican bar and grill.

Book by: This deal must be booked within 79 hours; it started at 5 p.m. EDT today and ends at midnight EDT Saturday, May 16. To book, call or visit the Reef's promotion Web site.

For travel through: December 16, 2009. Blackout dates are September 5 to 18.

All this and kid-friendly too: A standard room at the Hotel Helix.

by Katherine Hottinger on Travel Deals

As Wendy's told you, Twitter has become a true tool of the clued-in traveler. One of the latest ways the twitterati can use the messaging service to their advantage: Through this Friday, May 8, you can use a special Twitter rate code to score a discount at four of Kimpton Hotels' Washington, D.C., properties this summer.

The deal is meant to mark the properties' @HipHotelsDC Twitter account reaching the 1K followers milestone. But just how big is the bargain? These rooms normally go for about $148 per night on Thursdays through Sundays. During the promotion, you can secure them for just under $102, or about 30 percent off. (All prices include taxes and fees.) The promotion also gives a 15 percent discount on the best available rate for stays on business-heavy Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. (This means a single-bed Queen Deluxe, usually costing about $252 can be had for $213.)

Washington, D.C., can be hot and sticky in the summer, but its monuments and museums make the nation's capital a family travel mecca during vacation season, with hotel rates typically even higher than in Manhattan. And Kimpton Hotels are particularly great for families: Its KimptonKids program provides freebies like kid-only comment cards and lists of local parks and kid-friendly restaurants. Extras like stroller rentals and referrals to accredited babysitters are also available.

Book by: May 8, 2009. Book though the Kimpton Hotels' Washington, D.C., property Web sites: Hotelhelix.com, Hotelmadera.com, Rougehotel.com, Topazhotel.com. Enter TWTR in the Rate Code field.

For travel on: June 25 through September 7, 2009 (except July 4 weekend).

by Wendy Perrin

Attention, families: Just a quick reminder that Walt Disney World's unprecedented buy-4-nights-get-3-free deal (which includes 3 days' worth of free theme-park tickets) ends this Sunday, March 29. It's for travel to most Disney resorts from April 27 through May 18, May 23 through June 6, and June 26 through August 15. By all means, book your trip through Susan Kelly of Travel Magic, the Disney specialist on my list of the world's best travel agents. She's been to Walt Disney World more than 20 times and knows every resort, restaurant, and ride like the palm of her hand. She advises 300 families a year on everything from bed configurations at your hotel to the perfect spots for viewing the parks' shows, parades, and fireworks. (She's at ask@travelmagic.com or 800-810-2844.)

by Wendy Perrin

Just stumbled upon the hilarious TravelSavvyMom.com article "Weirdest Places I've Changed a Diaper" and, after reading the comments from the like-minded moms who've been reduced to all manner of embarrassing diaper-changing scenarios worldwide, couldn't resist sharing this photo of yours truly back in October 2005, changing my then-one-year-old's diaper in the Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy:

Yes, that's the same piazza where the Palio is run. I kept Doug still by giving him a view of the Palazzo Pubblico and its campanile.

All I can say is thank God my days of diaper changing on the road are over.

That's my 5-year-old at Loterie Farm, Feb. 18, 2009.

by Wendy Perrin

Remember when I asked the Twitterverse for travel tips for the island of St. Martin, and DineSXM recommended zip-lining and lunch at Loterie Farm? Well, I just wanted to report back that the three males in my family loved it so much they did it twice.

Loterie Farm is located on the French side of the island, in a 150-acre rain forest preserve at Pic du Paradis, St. Martin's highest point. There are three different tree-tops challenge courses to choose from: junior, adult, and extreme. Leave it to my family to test all three.

Each ropes course includes all manner of challenges in addition to zip-lining: You get to walk tightropes, crawl up net ladders, swing on ropes from platform to platform, etc. I feel like my sons came away having learned the basics of mountaineering.

That's my 6-year-old on a cable suspension bridge.

Personally, though, my favorite part was lunch:

That's my 6-year-old holding two Owl Butterflies.

by Wendy Perrin

Anyone who's been following my St. Martin adventures on Twitter knows I'm way too zonked from today's action-packed day trip to Anguilla to stay awake right now recapping it. So instead I'll share a few pics from yesterday's awesome visit to The Butterfly Farm.

What an Owl Butterfly looks like when it opens its wings.

Not only did we watch one butterfly emerge from its chrysalis and another newborn take its first flight, but we also learned how to lure butterflies onto our fingers. First you sweeten a finger by dipping it into a glass of punch.

Click to the next page to see what happens when your 5-year-old soaks his entire hand in punch:

My kids are loving that they can hit the beach in two different countries in one day. That's my 5-year-old on the Dutch (Sint Maarten) side of the island yesterday.

by Wendy Perrin

Thanks to the in-the-know community of globe-trotters on Twitter, I'm getting all sorts of fab real-time suggestions for what to do during my trip to the half-Dutch, half-French, all-Caribbean island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin. Anyone else got activities to recommend? Among the tips so far:

* Local restaurant expert DineSXM (whom you can follow on Twitter here) recommends ziplining and lunch at Loterie Farm.

* Airplane junkie Benet Wilson (whom you can follow on Twitter here) suggests planespotting at the Sunset Beach Bar, located near the end of the main airport's runway.

* The Trip Chicks (on Twitter here) are all about Aqua Mania Adventures at Pelican Marina, Simpson Bay. Apparently the kids can ride a catamaran to a lagoon where they bomb a wreck with water balloons.

* Travel consultant Gwen Kozlowski (known here at PerrinPost.com as TravelerGwen and found on Twitter here) swears by beachfront Segway tours and shipwreck snorkel excursions.

*Marie-Julie Gagnon (found on Twitter here) says I can't miss the "St. Maartini" at Temptations Restaurant.

I'm also bound for Anguilla and St. Barts and maybe even Saba as well. So feel free to fire off any and all suggestions for these islands too (as frequent Where's Wendy? Contest winner LoriB already has).

Last but hardly least, if you're looking for a value destination in the Caribbean this winter, St. Maarten/St. Martin certainly qualifies. Many of the restaurants and shops on the French side are valuing dollars the same as euros. Yesterday, for example, at a restaurant in Grand Case, I paid $35 for a lunch for four that on the menu costs 35 euros. They're offering the same deal in Marigot:

There I am with the boys in Terminal C of Newark Airport yesterday.

by Wendy Perrin

No sooner did my family and I land on the Dutch-French Caribbean island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin yesterday afternoon than I saw that the wonderful family travel site Ciao Bambino just published an interview with yours truly about how I balance the need to hit the road for Conde Nast Traveler with the need to spend time with my kids. You can read my answers to such burning questions as:

*Your job seems so ideal and exciting from the outside. What is the reality?
*How do you feel about taking your kids out of school to travel?
*Of all the places you've traveled with your kids, what is your favorite destination with them?

I'll be reporting from down here in the islands for the next 10 days. While I can't divulge the business purpose of this particular trip--you'll need to wait for my article in Conde Nast Traveler's upcoming June issue--I'll be able to let you in on most of my family's island adventures (yes, we'll be checking out Anguilla, St. Barts, and more). So stay tuned!

By the way, if you have any questions about hitting the road with kids--what toys/games I pack, how we keep them occupied in restaurants, how we make sure their homework gets done, whatever--please feel free to ask (just click on "Comments" below) and I'll do my best to answer.

My sons and me on a Continental 767 from Newark to Madrid in November, en route to our tri-continental cruise.

by Wendy Perrin

I just had to share a wise and funny article by Jamie Pearson of TravelSavvyMom: Her  "Age-by-Age Guide to Planning a Family Trip."  The right vacation choice for you and your kids completely depends on their ages, after all. Here, for instance, is Jamie's recommendation for trips with infants:

"Babies have a lot going for them as travel companions. For example they're hardly ever conscious. Also, they're about as much trouble as your average purse. Although it seems counterintuitive, this is the time to pack up your pacifiers and go on a cultural odyssey.

Consider: Big cities like Paris, London, San Francisco, and New York.
Avoid: Destinations without easy access to medical facilities--ear infections and dehydration are depressingly common at this age.
Remember: This will probably be the last time you see the inside of a museum for at least a decade."

It's all too true. You can read Jamie's full article at Fodors.com.

Four happy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade watchers this morning. Two of them belong to me, the other two to Kara Williams of Traveling Mamas fame.

by Wendy Perrin

Lately I seem to be spending my holidays with fellow travel bloggers I've met through the Internet--specifically, through the online water cooler known as Twitter.

Last month it was Halloween with SoulTravelers3. Today it was Thanksgiving with the Traveling Mamas' Mountain Mama, a.k.a. Kara Williams, who lives near Aspen, Colorado, but brought her family to NYC for Thanksgiving. 

Notice how our kids seem taller than the other parade spectators? That's because they're perched on ladders.  That's how my family watches the parade every year.

Kara (right) with me and Horton the Elephant on the corner of 54th & Broadway this morning. 

When I was a little girl, in fact, I used to sit atop those same ladders on this same street corner, just one block from the apartment building where I grew up and where my mom still lives (in an apartment that doubles as our ladder storage unit). When I learned Kara and her kids would be in town, of course I asked her to join us on our street corner.   

Meet you there next Thanksgiving? In the meantime, I'm taking a few days off from blogging because I've got to pack, get the family to Spain (for a work assignment), write my Perrin Report for Condé Nast Traveler's upcoming February issue, etc. Should be back by Wednesday or so.  Until then ...

Grand Central Terminal's Kaleidoscope Light Show is one of my kids' favorite holiday must-sees.

by Wendy Perrin

Each day this month the delightful family travel site We Just Got Back is highlighting advice from a different travel-blogging parent in a different part of the U.S. Each mom is sharing her five favorite free things to do with kids in her hometown. Today it's my turn. Click to read my top five picks for my hometown, New York City.

Swimming with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands. Photo: Lindblad Expeditions

by Wendy Perrin

A great question has come in that I'm going to throw out there for all you travel-savvy parents to help me answer:

"Can you recommend a few great ideas for Spring Break?" asks reader cliffcadle. "We are a family of four with a 15-year-old and a 6-year-old. We have done the Disney thing a few times already."

It's hard to answer without knowing where you live, how exotic you want to get, what your budget is, how much culture you want, etc. The most family-friendly and budget-friendly ideas that come to mind are (1) Hawaii and (2) a Caribbean cruise. If it were me, though, and if money were no object and I wanted my kids to have a vacation that's also an education--yet includes plenty of beach activities--I might opt for an expedition-ship cruise in the Galapagos Islands.

I invite all you traveling moms and dads out there to post your spring break suggestions in the "Comments" section below. If you've got a travel blog or web site, please include the URL so we can click to read more. Thanks!