One of best things parents and grandparents can give to children is the gift of memories, and vacationing together is an ideal way to make them. For those traveling with little ones, certain resorts seamlessly blend luxury with practicality. This list includes some of the most exceptional properties around the world that do a particularly noteworthy job of catering to families, offering enriching activities for kids while ensuring that parents can indulge in well-deserved relaxation. These hotels and resorts have spacious accommodations, tailored dining options and child-friendly amenities and services that make everything effortless. Most important, they elevate multigenerational vacations into extraordinary experiences, fostering lifelong memories.

One&Only Mandarina
Mexico

About an hour north of Punta Mita along the Riviera Nayarit, the glamorous 150-room One&Only Mandarina eco-resort has some of the best children’s facilities and programs in the country. In addition to an impressive 42,000-square-foot multilevel “Swiss Family Robinson”-style kids’ club, the hotel features separate family and adults-only swimming pools cantilevered over the Pacific, plus a child-friendly pool at the beach, allowing youngsters to splash about in shallow water. Thanks to a protective jetty, the gentle surf makes it easy for little ones to wade and swim in the ocean, too. Families can also enjoy activities like cooking classes, horseback riding at the equestrian club and exploring the on-site butterfly farm with a biologist.

Hotel Bareiss
Germany

Set in the little village of Baiersbronn in Germany’s Black Forest, the luxurious Hotel Bareiss presents beautifully landscaped gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and an outstanding spa. Multibedroom Family Apartments accommodate three to four guests, and those traveling with children during school holidays can receive discounts. Weekly changing programs for “Minis, Maxis and Teens” will keep younger ones entertained. On-site kids’ amenities include a petting zoo and water playground, and geocaching, paddleboarding, pony rides, kayaking excursions and torch-lit night hikes are available. Outings to a golf park, high ropes course and toboggan runs can also be arranged. Meanwhile, parents can savor gourmet meals at chef Claus-Peter Lumpp’s Michelin three-star restaurant and relax in pastoral serenity amid the rolling hills of southwestern Germany. 

Alisal Ranch
California

Surrounded by a 10,500-acre estate in the Santa Ynez Valley, a 50-minute drive west of Santa Barbara, Alisal Ranch is a low-key retreat with the authentic feel of the Western frontier. The 73-room resort is intended for multigenerational family vacations, and a wide array of activities are available for children of all ages, like guided horseback rides, fishing in a spring-fed lake, tennis and roping lessons and tours of a barnyard housing rabbits, chicks and exotic ponies. The Breakfast Ride ride on horseback or aboard a hay wagon, rodeos (offered from Memorial Day to Labor Day) and the summer evening seafood barbecues at the lake are especially popular.

Domaine des Etangs, Auberge Resorts Collection
France

Acquired by Auberge Resorts in 2023, Domaine des Etangs is located in the little-known Charente region northeast of Bordeaux. Scattered across the estate’s 2,500 acres, 17 lodgings are located in a 13th-century château, a farmhouse and, ideal for groups, one- to five-bedroom stone cottages with full kitchens, gardens and living and dining areas. This sumptuous property is deliberately family-friendly, offering horseback riding, farm tours and rowboats on several of the ponds that give the estate its name. There is also a playroom stocked with children’s books and comic collections, board games, costumes and puppets, and a floating tennis court, a 50-foot zip line, three in-ground trampolines and a giant chessboard are located nearby. Domaine des Etangs is off the beaten track and ideal for a family holiday.

Singita Faru Faru Lodge
Tanzania

This luxury wilderness camp is set in a wooded ravine overlooking the Grumeti River (famously home to some of the world’s largest crocodiles) within a 350,000-acre private reserve bordering Serengeti National Park. Faru Faru’s nine contemporary air-conditioned lodgings include seven one-bedroom suites, one suite for two adults and two children, and a two-bedroom villa with a private pool that is particularly suitable for families. The Mini Game Rangers’ Course offers youngsters the opportunity to learn animal tracking and outdoor survival skills, and they can admire predators on the hunt during twice-daily game drives. Bush walks are available for guests over the age of 16, while cooking interactions, stargazing sessions and arts-and-crafts sessions can be enjoyed by kids of any age.

Amantaka
Laos

Southeast Asia is (perhaps not intuitively) a wonderful place to bring the family, offering deep history, natural wonders and highly welcoming people. A favorite hotel in the region is Amantaka, a calm haven housed in a collection of French colonial buildings a short walk from Luang Prabang’s historic district. Included in exclusive multiday Family Adventure packages are a buffalo farm tour, swimming in the waters of the three-tiered Kuang Si Waterfall and a private (or group) Lao cooking class with lunch in a rice field. Other activities offered include meeting the gentle giants rehomed at an elephant sanctuary nearby; witnessing the timeless tradition of morning alms, as saffron-robed monks process through the streets at daybreak; biking through Luang Prabang; and traveling up the Mekong River by boat to the hidden Pak Ou Caves, home to thousands of Buddha statues.

Cottar’s 1920s Camp
Kenya

While many safari lodges require children to be a certain age in order to stay at the property, Cottar’s 1920s Camp is an exception. Located adjacent to the Maasai Mara, this vintage-style ecolodge welcomes all little ones, and those 5 and under stay for free. Of the property’s 11 luxury tents, four are two-bedroom family tents with a shared living area. Especially suitable for those traveling with multiple children is the five-bedroom Bush Villa, which comes with a kitchenette and an open-plan living/dining area as well as its own pool. In addition to game drives and school visits, Cottar’s offers a fascinating range of kid-oriented activities, including a junior entomologist program in which youngsters are outfitted with everything they need to study insects, and a Warrior School in which children are taught local traditions including fire making, spear throwing and Maasai jumping.

Eden Roc Cap Cana
Dominican Republic

Tucked within a larger development on the east end of the island, the upscale Eden Roc Cap Cana encompasses 68 suites housed within brightly painted cottages surrounding a lagoonlike pool. Lodgings each sit on their own plots for privacy, with back terraces and small pools and spas, making them idyllic self-contained worlds perfect for families. While parents play a round on the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course or enjoy a treatment at the expansive spa, children can roam free in dedicated spaces: a supervised kids’ pool, an enclosed sandy “beach” staffed with lifeguards and, beside an artificial lagoon, a tree house-style club containing video games, a mini-kitchen and a play area. Child-size kayaks and adventure camping tents are available, and the resort regularly organizes scavenger hunts, arts-and-crafts lessons, cooking classes and movie nights.

Four Seasons Resort Lanai
Hawaii

The Four Seasons brand is known for its family-friendliness, featuring well-run kids’ clubs, babysitting services and its signature Kids for All Seasons program at nearly all of its resorts. The Four Seasons Resort Lanai overlooking the marine reserve of Hulopo’e Bay is no exception. Highlights specific to this island retreat include a two-tiered adventure tower with an obstacle course and a zip line, an on-site observatory offering stargazing lessons and a cultural center where children can participate in hula and ukulele classes, bracelet weaving, lei making and poi preparation. Under the guidance of a local wrangler, a rancher experience is also offered for youngsters ages 9 and up, in which they groom miniature horses and learn about Lanai’s paniolo (cowboy) culture. Kids under 17 can even play a round of golf on the dramatic Jack Nicklaus-designed course for free with an adult after noon.

Acqualina Resort & Residences
Florida

Among the buildings of Miami’s Sunny Isles Beach, the lavish Mediterranean-style Acqualina Resort & Residences sits on 4.5 acres fronted by 400 feet of white sand. AcquaMarine, a marine biology program, is a complimentary service offered Friday through Sunday for ages 4 to 12. Activities may include engaging seashell-themed arts-and-crafts classes, animal-protection lessons, beach yoga and even cultural immersion through Spanish-language classes. Midweek sessions can be arranged upon advance reservation. Families can also participate in beachside basketball games, chess tournaments on a life-size board and soccer matches on the Great Lawn. This resort is an elegant, family-friendly refuge, where kids can be kids and adults can unwind without pretension.

Estelle Manor
England

On an expansive parkland estate in Oxfordshire, the stately Estelle Manor hotel and country club is an elegant world unto its own. The setting sounds perhaps too genteel for little ones, but the property offers proper family adventures. Kids can take the wheel of scaled-down Land Rovers, navigate off-road courses and enjoy supervised den building, archery, falconry and bird-watching. Parents can unwind at the sophisticated Roman-inspired spa, while the heated outdoor pool and game room offer more opportunities for fun. Though children under the age of 13 are not permitted in Manor House accommodations, the two-bedroom Woodland Cabins and three- to six-bedroom houses, most of which feature living and dining areas, playrooms and private gardens, are stylish hideaways ideal for those traveling with youngsters.

Galapagos Safari Camp
Ecuador

The original upscale land base in this famous archipelago is the Galapagos Safari Camp, perched at an elevation of 1,475 feet on the island of Santa Cruz. The spacious Family Suite — the very same home in which husband-and-wife founders Stephanie Bonham Carter and Michael Mesdag raised their children — encompasses a master bedroom and two twin rooms; all three of which have their own baths. The feeling of being on safari makes this property a highlight for people of all ages exploring this otherworldly group of islands made famous by Charles Darwin. Carter and Mesdag designed the hotel with multigenerational groups in mind, and a five-night Family Safari package that presents “flexible schedules, private land tours and tailor-made itineraries” is available year-round. Activities like fishing adventures, day cruises to uninhabited islands, hands-on biodiversity classes and giant tortoise visits provide kids with a deep understanding of the endemic wildlife and unique ecosystems of the Galápagos.