Here in Cleveland, late winter/early spring can be a tricky time. The holidays are over but the snow’s still here, and the weather doesn’t really start warming up until April. That’s why I like to book a trip for the spring; it gives me something to look forward to when it’s dark and snowy outside. Kind of like spring break, but with PTO and no Natty Light. Spring vacations of years past include:
- A two-week trip to Thailand to visit my sister (along with Michelle, Robin, and my boyfriend)
- A French adventure with my boyfriend
- A trip to Disney to visit my boyfriend’s college roommate
So, faced with another stretch of chilly and uninspiring months to kick off 2017, it was official: I needed a vacation. For a while now, Michelle has been pushing the idea of a Ladies Beach Vacation, and I was ready to jump on board with that plan. We recruited our friend Maggie (who never takes a vacation and deserves a break!), along with Robin and Robin and Michelle’s college friend Amy to join us on a ladies trip to Mexico!
Michelle, Maggie, and I will be leaving from Cleveland, Robin from LA, and Amy from Chicago, so with travel schedules all over the place, we kind of have two phases of vacation happening. Michelle, Maggie, and I will be in Cancun for two nights before Robin joins us, then Amy arrives the day after. So, for the first few nights, we are staying at an all-inclusive resort.
Most of the time, if I’m going on a big trip of some kind, I’m trying to experience local food and culture, but this isn’t a trip; this is a vacation. So, we’re paying a flat rate to stay in a touristy resort with all food and booze paid for. None of us has ever stayed at an all-inclusive, so we’re excited to see if it lives up to the hype.
We tried a few different options for getting the best price for our resort stay, from checking friend and family hotel discounts to vacation planning sites. There were spreadsheets involved. Ultimately, we found the best price on booking.com, but a surprising resource we checked out was wholesale club websites.
Michelle’s family recently went on a cruise booked through Costco, so we checked there and BJ’s Wholesale for their all-inclusive resort packages. They had some great prices, but it was ultimately too complicated to book through them with our staggered arrival schedule. If, however, you are looking to book a more straightforward vacation, I would highly suggest checking out a wholesale club. They had some really great packages!
We don’t leave for a few more weeks, but we’ll be back with our packing lists and tips for planning a ladies trip to Mexico with people leaving from various cities.
Have you been to Cancun? Any suggestions on places to see/eat or things to do while we’re there? Let us know!
