THE STAY
Where did you stay? We stayed at a beautiful hacienda in Puerta Adventuras. You can find the link to the home here.
Did you enjoy the house where you stayed? We enjoyed the house where we stayed very much! We chose this particular house for a few reasons. First and foremost, it had enough bedrooms! We were a large group and finding a house big enough to sleep everyone was a challenge. We also chose this house because it had a pool and was on the beach. With small children, it was important for us to have both, and to have them be easily accessible. A lot of the houses we looked at were either far from the beach or didn’t have a pool. We were so grateful to have found a home with both. The house itself is a typical open air style hacienda with big balconies overlooking large beautiful courtyards. The bedrooms were the only area with air conditioning which wasn’t a problem since the high everyday was in the 80s. At night we often wore light sweaters during dinner as the temperatures would drop. The house also had a tennis court which was amazing for both the children and the adults! We played tennis almost everyday and the children often ran around chasing tennis balls. The bedrooms were clean, neat and very spacious.
Did you hire a chef? Have groceries delivered? Eat out? The hacienda came with a staff which included a chef so we never had to eat out or deal with groceries which was so nice! Probably the most luxurious part of the entire stay! There was also a house manager, Mimi, who checked in on us everyday and made sure we had everything we needed. Once I asked if there was someplace I could buy more swim diapers and Mimi ran to the pharmacy for us! She was wonderful and so attentive.
How was the hospitality? Everyone was so incredibly friendly and helpful. You could tell they really wanted you to have a good time and enjoy yourself. It made a huge difference to have all meals + cleaning taken care of! By the end, the entire staff felt like family! In the 7 days we were in Mexico, we only left the house twice – once to visit a cenote, and once to enjoy a catamaran sail. Both were done privately so we were the only ones there. We booked through Adventuras Mayas for the Cenote {Aktun Koh} and Riviera Elite for the catamaran tour. We had great, safe experiences with both.
Did you feel safe while there? Yes! The hacienda itself felt very safe. On the street side were two large doors we kept locked at all times, and on the beach side there was nothing but sand and water. At night however we would close all the sliding doors on the beach side and lock up. I had some reservations about visiting Mexico before our trip but definitely felt safe while we were there. The hacienda was also a block away from the Naval base so that was a nice added bonus for safety.
Were you worried about getting sick from the water? I wasn’t! The first day we asked if we were able to eat the salads + fruit etc assuming they had been rinsed in the local water, but they assured us that all measures had been taken to make the food + water as safe as possible for us and we never had any issues!
The tennis court inside our hacienda. We loved having this!
TRAVEL
How did you book your trip? Did you work with an agent? Yes! We worked with Beverly Ware from All Aboard Travel and she was wonderful! Her contact # is 214-521-8444
How was flying international with Covid? What was the process for international travel with COVID guidelines? We didn’t need to test before departure or after arrival. We keep our pod pretty tight at home and had just finished the holidays where we stayed together. Everyone wore masks except for Henning {18M} and his baby cousin George {11M} because they are under the 2 yr age limit.
Did you feel safe flying during Covid? I would say, all things considered, I felt pretty safe. We did everything we could to keep ourselves and others safe + healthy.
What mode of transportation did you use while there? Our travel agent Beverly arranged everything for us! Made it so easy. There were 4 suburbans waiting to pick us up at the airport + drive us the 1 hour to our hacienda when we landed. Car seats were arranged in advance and provided as well.
How did you decide to take/lower the risk? We bubbled over the holidays together and were very strict. Before the trip, everyone worked from home, no one went to restaurants, and we didn’t see anyone outside of our family. With that being said, I didn’t let myself get excited for the trip until the day before because I wasn’t sure it would actually happen. With covid, so much changes so quickly so it was an everyday watch until we left.
Did you have to take a covid test before/after returning? We were prepared to, but it wasn’t required at the time. I believe the rules have since changed and a negative covid test is required before coming back into the United States. Read more here.
Did you have to quarantine in US/MX? This was not required at the time, but again I would check CDC guidelines as they are constantly changing.
Were you worried about covid? I think it is only natural to worry about Covid. I will likely worry about Covid for the next several years as I don’t believe it is something that will be going away anytime soon.
How did you make the decision to go? We had all bubbled together leading up to the trip and felt good about our health.
Swimsuit – top + bottom // Nipple covers
Leaving on our private catamaran adventure
Aktun Koh Cenote
View from our pool
HENNING
How was traveling with a toddler? Any tips? Covid or no covid – traveling with a toddler is stressful! Even with many hands to help, it was a LOT! My biggest piece of advice is to pack ALL the snacks and bring some sort of tablet {we have this one} or iPad that will keep them entertained. We packed veggie sticks, cheerios, Cerebelly pouches, apple sauce, and Annie’s bunny grahams. If you think that sounds like a lot, you are wrong! Henning {or his cousins} polished almost everything off that we brought. It was also nice that we didn’t have to worry about buying them too many snacks etc while on the go. PS – we have loved this snack container because the lid stays attached and takes H a little bit longer than normal to get the snacks out and eat them. The last thing I did was give Henning his pacifier {something I normally reserve for bedtime or the car} I did this because it kept his hands out of his mouth. The only thing I didn’t do, which I should have, was to bring a pacifier clip – something I haven’t used since he was a tiny baby, but would have been great for when he dropped his pacifier on the airplane floor etc!
Did the children eat with y’all or before? We would bathe the children and have them fed by 6:30 and then let them run around on the tennis courts in their pjs to get their energy out. By 7pm they would all be down and we would eat around 8pm. I loved the hour before dinner because I could take a nice long shower, get dressed, grab a cocktail and play Mexican Train with my in-laws. It was so relaxing!
Did you bring a nanny? We did! We brought two nannies to help with the 5 children. They were recent college grads and best friends who covid tested before joining our bubble. Even though we were all together all day, it was amazing to have another set of hands {and eyes!} to help out. You can never have too many eyes on children around the water.
Were you nervous about Henning getting out of your sight around the pool? How did he do with the puddle jumper? Yes! The open air hacienda was amazing, but it also meant there were less barriers to get to the pool. We just all made sure to keep a very close eye on the children – especially the ones that can’t swim. As for the puddle jumper, Henning liked it! This is the one we brought. It was great because it was small enough to fit Henning. He’s little {around 24lbs} so I was worried I might not find one that fit! Everything I had bought this past summer was either huge or super bulky, so I was super relieved when this one not only fit, but was also comfortable for him. He is still very young {18M} so one of us had to be with him holding on to him in the pool at all times, even if he was in the puddle jumper, but I am confident by the summer he will get the hang of it enough to be able to swim on his own {albeit still supervised!}
What did you bring for Henning on the flight? How did he do? How did you keep H entertained on the flight? Snacks, snacks and more snacks. Kicking myself for not remembering an iPad or his fire tablet. My husband even asked me before we left if we should bring it and I said no. It was kind of bulky and I thought he would be entertained enough by his cousins and/or books. HA! Was I wrong!!!! My SILs packed their bulky iPads and their children sat quietly watching movies while Henning did NOT! He wanted to run around and touch everything and honestly it was exhausting keeping him entertained/contained! Oh well! Live and learn.
Were you nervous about Henning eating the food/drinking the water? I wasn’t! I did however bring a bunch of veggie + applesauce pouches from home and I’m SO glad I did. They were game changing when Henning wanted a snack but the chef wasn’t around.
My swimsuit – top // bottom // Hat // Henning’s swim shirt // Swimsuit
Little boy shorts // Waterproof shoes
Little boy shorts {wearing a sz 2}
Scrunchie // Smoothing brush // Hairspray
Hunza G swimsuit // MAMA necklace
Swimsuit on the L // Middle swimsuit {color is ‘rescue’} // Swimsuit not avail
MORE REQUESTED LINKS BELOW!
Ok! That’s all I can think of sharing for now, but please let me know if I missed any major questions and I’d be happy to answer them in the comments!
This looks like such an awesome trip!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes