First-hand resort reviews and price snapshots for Canadian families — Mexico, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
Honest, first-hand stories from our family trips — what the brochure does not tell you.
Two adults, two kids, 14 nights at a classic mid-size all-inclusive in Playacar — the buffet, the themed restaurants, the evening shows, and what to know before you book.
Read the review →Chichen Itza gets the crowds. Cobá, about 40 minutes inland from Tulum, gets the adventure — a Maya city in the jungle, and a pyramid you can still climb.
Read the guide →The flight is the easy part. Transfers, the 293 MXN Visitax, money, phones, and the return flight to a Canadian winter — the practical side of arriving in Cancún.
Read the guide →We met the Maya first through food — tortillas pressed by hand and cooked on a hot comal. Then came the cities, and the realisation that this culture is not only history.
Read the story →A 100-kilometre white road through the jungle, built without wheels, iron or draft animals — the longest road the Maya ever built, from Cobá to Yaxuná.
Read the story →One price covers the room, all meals, drinks, and evening shows — but the price swings a lot by season.
Read the breakdown →10 points = $1 off a future stay — but how much you can redeem depends on your tier.
Read the guide →14 nights, family of 4, hotel only: C$3,200 for the whole stay — about C$229 per night.
Read the breakdown →Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day: how to catch real hotel deals and dodge the traps.
Read the guide →One price, everything included — in reality, "everything" has limits.
Read the guide →If the budget is the priority, Mexico wins by a wide margin. If you want Costa Rica, travel in green season.
Read the comparison →September and October are cheapest; May is the sweet spot; December through April is peak.
Read the calendar →Five checks before you book: the room, the kids-free offer, club ages, excursion limits, and food allergies.
Read the checklist →No direct flights from Edmonton to Liberia or most Mexican resorts — how to play routing smart.
Read the guide →Everything we've written about the Maya — the food, the roads, the jungle cities — gathered in one place. Start anywhere; each piece stands on its own.
Hand-made tortillas on a hot comal, maize at the heart of the Popol Vuh, and a culture that is very much alive in Yucatán today — not just in the ruins.
The sacbe from Cobá to Yaxuná: a white limestone highway built on foot 1,400 years ago — and the pedicabs rolling along Cobá's jungle paths now.
A Maya city in the jungle you walk through, not past: climbing the Nohoch Mul pyramid with kids, bikes and pedicabs, and the practical tips that make the day work.
Read the guide →Deep inside a dry cenote in Cobá, candles burn and copal smoke rises. Maya ceremonies like this are still alive today — watch the moment on our Reel.
Watch the Reel →Hotel Riu Guanacaste, Playa Matapalo, Costa Rica. Prices checked on riu.com on 23 October 2026 — RIU Class rate, taxes included, 1 room, 2 adults + 2 children (aged 4 and 12). Prices change; always recheck before booking.
| Stay | 7 nights | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 12–19 September 2027 | 46,204 MXN (≈ C$3,465) | Cheapest week found; green season |
| 23–30 October 2027 | 50,565 MXN (≈ C$3,790) | Cheapest late-October week; Friends & Family Room, free cancellation, 1 kid free |
| 9–16 May 2027 | 50,692 MXN (≈ C$3,800) | Control week; much drier than September |
| 7–14 February 2027 (peak) | 98,679 MXN (≈ C$7,400) | Peak-season comparison |
14 nights, 23 October – 6 November 2027: 114,517 MXN (≈ C$8,590). Transfers from Liberia airport are not included (about a 40–45 minute drive). Flights are tracked separately — the cheapest flight week, not the cheapest hotel week, is what sets the trip.
We're expanding beyond Mexico and the Caribbean. First stop: Spain — from a real trip, not stock photos.
A first-hand look at one of Spain's most beautiful corners: the pink-stone basilica of Covadonga, the Santa Cueva cave chapel, the tomb of Don Pelayo, and the seaside city of Gijón with its San Pedro church and aquarium. Full photo selection coming soon.
Europe's all-inclusive scene is smaller than the Caribbean's, but it is real: the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria), Turkey's Antalya coast, and Greece (Crete, Rhodes). For Canadian families, the flight cost is usually the deciding factor — we compare full trip costs, not just nightly rates.
More Europe guides coming — one new destination at a time.
Next frontier: Asia for Canadian families. Different rules — and different prices.
True all-inclusive is rare in Thailand — most resorts sell room plus breakfast or meal plans instead. The win is on the ground: food, transport and activities cost far less than in the Caribbean once you're there.
For families, a private villa with staff can beat a resort price in Bali — more space, your own pool, and meals cooked to order. The trade-off is the flight from Canada, so the full trip cost matters more than the nightly rate.
Asia guides in progress — we're researching prices and family resorts now.