Down Mexico Way
In Mexico particularly, many quality resorts work hard to make you feel secure. Yet to curious souls, the cocoon-like settings with their security–patrolled perimeters can seem like compounds—and leaving them can be as difficult as escaping Alcatraz. That’s why the Well Rounded Woman adores Xpu-Ha Palace, located an hour south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera. Guests booking at least three nights at this all-inclusive qualify for a “Palace Passport” which includes unlimited free tours of top off-site attractions like the Mayan temples at Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Coba, as well as the colonial city of Valladolid. Outings to Isla Mujeres and to Wet’nWild’s Parque Nizuc are also available.
Of course, her family is welcome to go wild onsite, too. The thirty-seven-acre property was first developed as an eco-park and that infrastructure remains. So aside from the expected restaurants, pools, and beaches, it has some unique bonus features: most notably a mangrove-lined estuary, a fish-filled lagoon ideal for junior snorkelers, an aviary, and pens for monkeys and crocodiles. In short, Xpu-Ha’s natural attractions are divine. The 144 casita-style rooms aren’t too shabby either. Although their traditional thatched roofs may look rustic, beneath them lie five-star amenities like satellite TVs, double Jacuzzis, and amply-stocked mini bars. This month, the nightly rate for two adults is $448 (kids aged 4–17 $53).
Hungry Like a Wolf
For all the joys of foreign travel, sometimes what the Well Rounded Woman really wants is to be free of the need to dig out her passport, buy plane tickets, and drag her cumbersome crew through airport security lines. Luckily, Great Wolf Lodges comes to the rescue by offering a selection of drive-to resorts right here at home: ten of them to be precise, within 150 miles of such major cities as Chicago, Dallas, NYC, Philadelphia, and Washington. The idea of visiting one might sound like cold comfort to frostbitten families eager to warm up. But our savvy sojourner knows that each has an over-the-top pool complex where the mercury holds steady at a tropical 84° every day of the year.
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