Theater Camp at Cliff House

Attention theater-loving children and teens!  Cliff House Maine is partnering with the renowned Ogunquit Playhouse to offer an Arts Academy Theater Camp right at the resort. The program includes professional instruction in acting, voice skills, and dance with the goal of added self-confidence, collaborative skills, goal orientation, and professional etiquette. The camp is available on the following dates: June 17 and 18, June 24 and 25, and from July 1 through Labor Day.  It runs from 10:30-11:30am for children ages 7-12 and 10:30am-12:00pm for teens age 13-17.  There is no cost to hotel guests to attend and all sessions take place at the Cliff House Maine Hartwig Theatre. These private classes are sure to fill up quickly and spots must be reserved in advance!  Cliff House offers a great family getaway with a spa, gym with fitness classes, pool, lawn games, several dining options, movie theater, photography lessons, stargazing, golf tee boxes, artist programs, several dining options, and more.    

Mohonk Inclusiveness

Mohonk Mountain House has recently updated its inclusive pricing to ensure your stay is free of unexpected, added costs.  Rates with tax now include:

• Three meals per day
• Afternoon tea and cookies  
• Access to more than 85 miles of scenic hiking trails
• Yoga, meditation, and fitness classes
• Indoor heated pool
• Guided trail hikes
• Most outdoor activities
• All lake activities
• All winter activities
• Golf
• Tennis
• Nightly evening entertainment
• Special events
• Access to the Barn Museum, greenhouse, and more!

There are some activities at an additional expense (spa services, private fitness or sports instruction, alcohol, specialty coffee, babysitting, guided rock climbing, carriage/horseback rides, and select equipment rentals), but there is no expectation of tipping.  Mohonk offers a variety of discounts and specials throughout the year. The best values are for midweek stays.

Quiet Room at Universal

A new quiet room for guests with autism and other cognitive disabilities recently opened at Universal Orlando Resort.  Located near the front of Universal Studios Florida to the right of the Studio Audience Center and Lost and Found, this safe and low stimulating environment will be open when the park is open. The park’s first designated space for a safe, quiet and low-stimulation environment has rubber floor tiles, an activity wall panel and two hiding tunnels.  You don’t need to reserve the room but you may need to wait until it is vacant to use. A 30-minute time limit is encouraged.  If there is a queue to use the room and your party requires assistance quickly, guests will be invited to Health Services or Guest Services to use the calmer spaces these offices can provide. Universal Orlando Resort’s Guide for Guests with Cognitive Disabilities also lists other quiet areas within the theme parks that typically have less foot traffic for those who need a break from the park action.

Cliff House Goodies

Our families enjoy Cliff House Maine for family reunions, couples’ getaways, solo retreats, camp visiting weekends, and other fun getaways.  The 70-acre resort showcases amazing sea and coastline views from atop majestic Bald Head Cliff along with 226 rooms and suites, several dining options, a spa, gym, indoor and outdoor pools, artist in residence programs, family activities, and more.  And we have recently been invited by the resort to offer you some nice, added amenities for your next stay (which are available for most room categories)! 

• Daily breakfast credit of $60.00 (available at The Tiller restaurant)
• Welcome Gift (Maine Made Gift valued at over $100)
• Preferred access to Cliff House Volvo drive program
• Upgrade upon arrival based on availability
• Priority guest access to special events
• Personalized welcome card from travel consultant and Cliff House

Happy Families in Beverly Hills

Ready for a pampered California getaway?  Throughout the year, the Maybourne Beverly Hills is offering a Happy Families package. This luxury hotel is the former Montage that in 2020 became Maybourne’s first hotel outside of London (they also operate Claridge’s and others).  Just stay at least 2-nights to receive:

• A 50% discount on a second bedroom with children under age 16
• $95 daily breakfast credit for two guests per room
• Welcome bottle of champagne on arrival for parents and smoothies and cookies for your children
• Complimentary noon check-in and 3:00 pm check out if available
• Bring up to two dogs with no pet fee

Contemporary luxury radiates throughout the hotel that is steps from Rodeo Drive and offers a rooftop pool, spa, several dining options, and 202 rooms and suites.

New Tours at Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is offering new and cool opportunities to get closer to space and history with two new bus tours:

Cape Canaveral Early Space Tour (Available Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday):  The American spirit comes to life.  Hear stories of the early days of space exploration while your family visits the very places where history was made. The journey begins at the Air Force Space & Missile Museum at Pad 26 on Cape Canaveral, famously the home of the first successful launch of a manmade satellite in the US. You will visit the site of the Mercury and Gemini launches, the launch pads along the ocean shore, John Glenn’s launch pad at Pad 14 Blockhouse, and the memorial site for the Apollo 1 crew.

Cape Canaveral Rise to Space Tour (Available Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for ages 14 and up): Access restricted and historic areas of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. During this tour, a space expert will lead you to historic launch sites, the Sands Space History Center, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, and Hangar C – the first permanent and oldest surviving structure at the Cape built and used for missile assembly. Inside Hangar C, you will view artifacts like Atlas, America’s first intercontinental ballistic missile; the only known Firebird missile still in existence; and early space artifacts like Gemini and Apollo “boiler plates” that were used during simulations for training.

Tour tickets must be purchased at least 72 hours prior and you also need an entry ticket into the Space Center.  For security purposes, pre-registration is also required.

Broadmoor Holiday

The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs is offering long holiday weekend packages for a fun family getaway.  Choose from Memorial Day (May 27-31), July Fourth (July 1-6), and Labor Day (September 2-6) for 3 or 4 nights.  Inclusions are:

• Classic accommodations (upgrade options available and suites are 25% off)
• One time dining credit ($200-$300 depending on dates and number of nights)
• One (1 hour) horseback trail ride OR one Garden of the Gods Jeep tour for each person on the package
• One time admission to Seven Falls for each person in the package
• Special Family Activities

You may want to stay longer as the resort offers an endless amount of recreation and amenities!  Your family can enjoy great golf, spa, gym, pools, waterslides, children’s programs for ages 3-12, tennis, pickleball, biking, indoor and outdoor pools, bowling, ziplines, horseback riding, movie theater, and their own cog railway with brand new trains for a ride to Pikes Peak! A plethora of other outdoor adventures is nearby.

Hudson Valley Getaway

Wildflower Farms in upstate New York will open in autumn 2022 on 140 acres with an oasis of green space for your family to enjoy. Located where the Hudson River Valley meets the foothills of the Catskill Mountain range, the Auberge resort in Gardiner, NY is an easy drive from both Boston and New York City. The property will feature sixty-five freestanding and spacious bungalows, cottages, and suites. Tennis courts, a pavilion-style open-air gym, farm-to-table restaurant, cooking classes, and a spa with outdoor hot tubs and an indoor saltwater pool round out the amenities and recreational options. The resort also offers nearby access to the outstanding beauty of the Mohonk Preserve, the largest private nature reserve in the state with excellent hiking, biking, and world-class rock-climbing opportunities.

American Spirit

We appreciate resorts that offer unique and fun lodging options which can be found at Southern Utah’s Capitol Reef Resort.  Families can choose traditional lodging or opt to bunk down in an authentically designed Conestoga Wagon or TeePee complete with private bathroom steps away and firepits for cozy star gazing evenings.  The wagons sleep up to six and were built based on authentic 19th-century designs.  The TeePees have king beds and sleep two.  Both are available seasonally from late May through September with a 2-night minimum stay for the wagons and 3 for the teepees. Located one mile from the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park, this deluxe and 58-acre resort also has 98 rooms and suites and 22 standalone cabins with up to two bedrooms. A pool, restaurant, and gym round out the amenities. Nearby adventures abound including unique llama hikes, jeep tours, canyoneering, and horseback riding. Experience the best of the region with an Adventure Package that combines lodging + Half Day Jeep Safari + 2 Hour Horseback Ride + 2 Hour Llama Hike + Daily Breakfast with at least a four-night stay.

More Manhattan Luxury

We look forward to the New York City debut of two new luxury and family-friendly hotels. The Aman New York will become just the brand’s third property in the United States. Located in the former Crown Building at 57th and Fifth Avenue, the 83-room hotel will offer some of the largest rooms in Manhattan along with a three-floor spa with an indoor pool, subterranean Jazz Club, Wine Room, and 22 spacious residences. The Hotel Barrière will bring French flair to New York and will be their first property in the United States. Opening in Tribeca this summer, hotel amenities will include a spa, swimming pool, interior courtyard, rooftop terrace, and state-of-the-art screening room. It will feature 97 residential-style rooms and six suites.