With quite a rough hurricane season tearing through Florida this fall, we were a bit worried our travel plans might be a disrupted due to inclement weather, but our friends at Club Med Sandpiper Bay assured us that everything was up and running after the storms.
We landed in Fort Lauderdale and were greeted by a very friendly driver who kept us entertained on our hour and 30 minute ride up to Club Med. I didn't really think through landing in Fort lauderdale smack in the middle of rush hour (5:30 pm landing) and having to take the highway about 60 miles north... But moving on!
We arrived at the beautiful Club Med's Sandpiper Bay a little after 7 pm and were greeted by the staff, checked in, and walked to our beautiful Family Deluxe Room, which gave us two bedrooms and two bathrooms, which even with just 3 of us is a huge blessing! The staff from Mini Club Med even left Ellie a huge coloring book, ballons, snacks, and a signed card welcoming her for our stay! Such a cute little touch, that made her feel like a real princess getting the royal treatment. We were also left with a nice welcome package with fruits and snacks they were well put to use during our stay. Needless to say we were given such a warm welcome by the resort's staff, we new we were in for a treat.
We landed in Fort Lauderdale and were greeted by a very friendly driver who kept us entertained on our hour and 30 minute ride up to Club Med. I didn't really think through landing in Fort lauderdale smack in the middle of rush hour (5:30 pm landing) and having to take the highway about 60 miles north... But moving on!
We arrived at the beautiful Club Med's Sandpiper Bay a little after 7 pm and were greeted by the staff, checked in, and walked to our beautiful Family Deluxe Room, which gave us two bedrooms and two bathrooms, which even with just 3 of us is a huge blessing! The staff from Mini Club Med even left Ellie a huge coloring book, ballons, snacks, and a signed card welcoming her for our stay! Such a cute little touch, that made her feel like a real princess getting the royal treatment. We were also left with a nice welcome package with fruits and snacks they were well put to use during our stay. Needless to say we were given such a warm welcome by the resort's staff, we new we were in for a treat.
(view from our room's patio) | |
Club Med Sandpiper Bay is not a massive all-inclusive resort like you might expect traveling to the Caribbean, instead it is intimate and private, never feeling crowded, yet offering the amentitites of that of the larger resorts. Its grounds are covered in lush fauna of palm trees and other greenery making you feel like you've escaped to an exotic oasis. The main restaurant was centrally located between the kids club, gift shop, bar/club, pools, and the hotel room buildings. It was a buffet style set up in a large circle, with stations around the outside as well as in the center, and self service drink stations in two separate corners. This allowed a nice flow to scope out the different choices and pick out your meal options.
I think the food is what truly separates Club Med from the rest of the all-inclusive resorts we've visited. Their cuisine is taken to a new level, while sometimes all-inclusive resorts foods can taste a bit bland, or leave something left to be desired (it can be hard when preparing food for such large numbers). Club Med's food was delicious, always seasoned, cooked to perfection. The chef's were always present at their stations, happy to explain the options before you and encourage you to try different dishes. This created an experience rather than just your standard buffet. Each day the food was different and equally creative and flavorful, never getting dull in our 4 days there.
I think the food is what truly separates Club Med from the rest of the all-inclusive resorts we've visited. Their cuisine is taken to a new level, while sometimes all-inclusive resorts foods can taste a bit bland, or leave something left to be desired (it can be hard when preparing food for such large numbers). Club Med's food was delicious, always seasoned, cooked to perfection. The chef's were always present at their stations, happy to explain the options before you and encourage you to try different dishes. This created an experience rather than just your standard buffet. Each day the food was different and equally creative and flavorful, never getting dull in our 4 days there.
Onto one of the unexpected perks of Club Med's Sandpiper Bay, the kids club, or "Mini Club Med", which is an amazing (included) benefit for the kids. From 9am-5pm everyday, there was an activity schedule where we could drop Ellie off for any amount of time. Ellie got to meet new children from lots of different countries, and even some who spoke different languages. She made a friend who spoke fluent Spanish and almost no english, it was amazing watching the two of them hangout all week, without being able to communicate through spoken word. Some of the activities Ellie got to experience were swimming, arts and crafts, a talent show (ellie sang :) ), and even the trapeze and some other circus stunts!
So after discovering the amazing kids club at ClubMed, naturally off to the gym! With such an active style resort, we should have known how nice the gym would be. So as you all probably know, hotel gyms almost never have proper racks for squatting and benching. Some rare gyms offer a smith machine, but never a rack... Well ClubMed changes that, not only do they have a power rack, they have the full set up. A full olympic lifting cage, platform and all. I nice sturdy rack for benching, squatting, pull-ups, you name it. This was impressive from the resort, not to mention the amount of state of the art machines available, we definitely felt at home in the weight room at ClubMed.
When we weren't in the gym or buffet, we were poolside. The main pool was a buzzing area of the resort, hosting pre-lunch aqua fitness classes and always having activities going on in or around the pool. Ellie loved swimming here, as it was a zero entry pool so she could swim off and comfortably get back to shallow wonder with ease. It also made swimming with and watching her in the water a lot less worrisome. The pool area was never overcrowded and we always more than enough options between loungers or cabanas to set up on.
Club Med Sandpiper Bay was an unexpected oasis, tucked away right under our nose in Florida. From a value standpoint, you get so much for one price. For families looking to get away, but not travel outside of the US, this is the place. It offers something for all ages and we honestly cannot wait to return. We were hosted by Club Med for this blog review, but as always all opinions are my own, and I truly have nothing but good things to say about this stay. I see why Club Med has return guests again and again!