It’s no secret that I am slightly obsessed with celebrity. So last year when my friends decided to take a trip to Beaches in Turks and Caicos – the exact same resort that Beverly Hills 90210’s Jennie Garth and her husband Twilight star Peter Facinelli took their kids to – I had to go! Of course there was the small issue of convincing my husband, but I had faith!

So last June we booked the trip even though my husband was convinced we wouldn't be going. It’s not that he didn’t want to go, or that he thought he wouldn’t have a good time – it’s that Beaches isn’t cheap. After all, this is a resort that many celebrities have brought their families to. In addition to my 90210 girl crush Jennie Garth, celebs such as Shaquille O’Neal, Cyndi Lauper, Debi Mazar and Joey Fatone have all vacationed at the luxury resort. And as a family of six, our stay was going to run us in the neighbourhood of $10,000.00 (before flights!) Which meant I had my work cut out for me. But in my experience, you tend to get what you pay for, so I was determined. Then late last year Erica went on a press trip to the very same resort and came home raving about it, only making me want to go more. Fortunately, my husband’s co-worker also had just visited the resort and told him that it was the best vacation he ever had, and at that point it was official – we were going.

So let’s just say that when we arrived at the resort I already felt like a celebrity. With the sun shining we pulled up to the resort and were greeted immediately with a lovely cocktail before being taken to our rooms that were fit for any A-lister. We have friends who have been to Beaches before so we knew going in that we wanted to stay in the Italian Village (the resort consists of The French, Caribbean and Italian Villages – the Italian being the newest and most luxurious). The room was stunning, and we had a walk out patio the led right to one of the resorts many pools. As a big family we often have a hard time finding one room that will fit all 6 of us – but we had room to spare here.

So while I was already getting used to living like a celebrity, so were my kids. The first night we were there, Elmo himself came and tucked them in. Yup, that’s right. Elmo came to our room along with his helper and read my kids a bedtime story and tucked them into bed! I have never seen them so star struck in my life! It was so cute to see them in awe of the big red furry monster – they’re still talking about it! And the Sesame Street characters are in abundance at the resort, often spotted just walking around the pool or leading an impromptu dance party, or you can attend a character breakfast (at an additional charge) where all of them are present. My kids baked cookies with cookie monster, had cake with Elmo at his birthday party and walked in the weekly parade with Big Bird! Before we went to Beaches my kids weren’t Sesame Street fans, but by the end they were all star struck!

We took this trip with five other families, and all of us had rooms in the same vicinity making our nightly gatherings poolside easy to do. We just tucked our kids into bed, grabbed our beverage of choice from our fully stocked bar fridge (did I mention I now have a thing for champagne?) and enjoyed the evening. The resort was incredible. It was at full capacity during our stay, which made it quite busy - but what can you expect when you travel during March break? There were shows most nights that involved the whole family, including a kids talent show and a beach party that featured a fire eater (at which I came 2nd place in the ‘Dance like Shakira’ contest) The kids were in heaven with the water park, lazy river, surf simulator ( my 6yo was body boarding like a pro!) and diner that featured self serve ice cream and cookies – so much so that I think a few of them were on the verge of tears when we had to leave.

To say that we had the best trip of our lives would be an understatement. There were 6 families – all of us girls who have known each other since high school, who went on this trip. There was no way we were having a bad time, but this resort made it so much better. Beaches was the ideal place for us to be because it offered something for all of us. The kids were in heaven with the water park and kid friendly diner, which also featured endless cotton candy daily - those who liked water sports enjoyed taking the sailboats out or going on the snorkelling excursions - and those of us who were just there to relax enjoyed a visit to the incredible Red Lane spa and laying by the pool soaking up the sun and enjoying the champagne and frozen cocktails. We even took advantage of the babysitting services one night and all hired babysitters to enjoy a dinner at the French restaurant Le Petit Chateau followed up by us hitting the onsite nightclub, Liquid Lounge (also open to just the under-18 crowd before 11pm).

We have done a few family vacations before, all of which consisted of me cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and grocery shopping. I don’t know about you but that’s pretty much just like my regular everyday life – just in a warmer climate. For this vacation I wanted to feel like was truly being pampered – I wanted to be treated like a celebrity! And trust me – that’s exactly what happened at Beaches. I woke up each morning and had a fantastic breakfast (the food really is incredible here) and came back to a perfectly spotless room, often with special treats like chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. I then spent the day with my best girlfriends while our kids played in the pool together, never having to worry about when to cook lunch or what to prepare for dinner.

We loved our trip so much we’re already planning next year’s vacation! As a matter of fact 4 of the 6 families who made the trip have already re-booked, and the rooms that we stayed in are sold out already (stupidly I am NOT one of the people who re-booked already and I am so mad that the rooms we had are gone already! Must keep my eyes open now in case of cancellation!!!) I have to say, I quite got used to feeling like a celebrity during my trip – those people have it pretty good! So if you want to spoil yourself and have a vacation you won’t soon forget, check out Beaches Turks and Caicos, you won’t be disappointed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I hear a glass of champagne calling my name.

Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy