This Stunning, Private-Island Resort in Antigua Was the Perfect First Trip for My Baby—With Beachside Naps, Sunset Swims, and Loving Staff

Squinting ever so slightly from my shaded lounge chair overlooking a stretch of white sand and turquoise water, my baby’s head resting on my chest as she napped, I thought, “This is as special as it gets.”

Traveling with a baby can be stressful, and parts of our journey to Antigua had been. Waking our 7-month-old at 4 a.m. for a flight was less than ideal, and getting our extra gear through security while juggling a squirmy little person was undeniably hectic—but if your destination is Jumby Bay Island, you simply push through. And when you step off the catamaran onto what everyone on the private island calls, accurately, “paradise,” you’ll forget all about it.

My husband and I chose Oetker Hotels’ Jumby Bay Island (a previous Travel + Leisure World’s Best award winner) for our first international beach vacation with our daughter, Lily, for several reasons. Antigua has placid waters that won’t intimidate nonswimmers, and the resort is known for being family-friendly. The biggest draw, though, only became clear once we arrived: the staff.

The people who work at Jumby Bay Island took genuine interest in our daughter and her happiness. If she fussed during a meal, nearby waiters would immediately try to entertain her; when I reached haphazardly for my tote filled with baby items, someone was suddenly next to me, offering a hand where I didn’t have one. We had to budget an extra few minutes to leave any restaurant for a goodbye tour, when everyone took turns bidding Lily farewell and trying to make her smile. Whatever we needed to feel more comfortable and give our little girl the best possible trip, we got— enthusiastically. Jumby Bay Island took care of us better than we could have ever anticipated—and as overtired, overstimulated, trying-our-hardest first-time parents, this was a true gift.

Was this trip as laid-back as the vacations just the two of us took before we had a baby? Of course not (no one warned us how time-consuming it was to get a baby properly lathered in sunscreen), but our trip here let Mom and Dad relax more than anywhere else.

Here’s what makes Jumby Bay the perfect getaway for families.

The Staff

We were wowed by the resort’s ability to accommodate families with babies and young children. I cannot emphasize enough how nice everyone we met at Jumby Bay Island was, greeting Lily each day as if she were their favorite person they ever met. They expressed hopes to see her again and “watch her grow,” and we got the sense Jumby Bay gets a lot of repeat visitors who become more like family than transient guests. We did, in fact, meet several groups who had been vacationing here for years, including one couple with seven years of trips to Jumby Bay under their belt who said, “There’s no place quite like it; nowhere can compare.”

When we’d walk into the restaurants or onto the beach, people would yell, “Lily’s here!” and run over to check on us. We felt like celebrities, or at least like we were traveling with one, and they took special care of us as new parents with a young infant. I sometimes would get self-conscious when Lily was loud in a public place, but the staff was always reassuring (“Why? She’s a baby! Of course she’ll be fussy sometimes; she can’t say what she wants.”) and found every way to help, from getting her in and out of the high chair to handing me toys or burp cloths as I was reaching for them and even holding her.

Upon our arrival, our room was equipped with all the baby items we needed and then some, without me needing to request anything (the only thing I had, very shortsightedly, inquired about in advance was a crib). The hotel provided gadgets I never expected, like a bottle warmer, sanitizer, and baby bathtub, along with baby-specific toiletries, plus items you definitely can’t travel with but that make day-to-day life with a baby much easier, like a full-size changing table and smell-masking diaper pail. A canopied, yellow duck-adorned baby float was waiting for Lily in our cottage plunge pool, bobbing invitingly on the water. At one point, when my husband and I were leaving Lily with a babysitter for a few hours, I asked for a play mat, thinking they had one on the property. It turns out they didn’t, but they went to the main island and purchased us a brand-new one as quickly as if they’d had one waiting in an office closet.

It’s All-Inclusive

My husband and I aren’t necessarily good all-inclusive candidates. We don’t drink that much, and we accidentally missed lunch one day when Lily needed to nap with sudden urgency, so we didn’t take full advantage of all of the inclusions you pay for, but there’s an invisible perk of the all-inclusive setup we discovered while there: There’s nothing to think about. On another type of trip, we’d have needed to coordinate transfers between the airport and our hotel, then we’d have had to make dinner and lunch reservations in advance (fingers crossed the times work for a temperamental baby on a time change), and we’d be schlepping our diaper bag everywhere since we’d be away from home base. The simplicity Jumby Bay Island afforded was a priceless ingredient for our first international family trip.

Traveling with a baby is a massive thought exercise and coordination effort, but we could turn our brains off a little because we had nothing to plan. At Jumby Bay, our biggest decision was where to pick beach chairs. The property’s restaurant options keep guests from getting tired of the same old, and the resort hosts special events that keep things fresh and add a temporal element people don’t usually expect from all-inclusives. During our visit, Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc’s famous Italian restaurant, Giovanni’s, ran a pop-up, and we took a pizza-making class with the restaurant’s three-time World Pizza Champion and four-time Pizza Champion of France, Jeremy Viale.

You can prearrange itineraries before arriving, but managing director Frederic Vidal also told me, “People just do whatever they want here.” If you prefer a follow-your-heart approach, you can throw your plan out the window, and the front desk and butlers can help you coordinate activities as you think of them while you’re there.

The Setting and Accommodations

The beach is stunning, with calm water for an infant new to the ocean to splash around in and experience light waves lapping in shallow water. Once her initial tentativeness subsided, Lily loved sitting at the water’s edge, kicking excitedly when the water rushed in.

We stayed in a pool cottage, which came with bikes and a baby seat, but every option up to the private estate houses has perks for all families of different sizes, ages, and needs. If my family ever planned a multigenerational trip, the estate houses would be especially appealing. Each of the 31 properties, ranging from four to 11 bedrooms, comes with its own golf carts and staff, including gardeners, a chef, and a house manager who can arrange any personalized experience to accommodate your whims. Meals can happen at home, but no two have to be the same, from casual patio breakfasts to theme nights with elaborate setups in unique pockets of the properties. Most of the estates have their own stretch of private beach, and those that don’t have elevated views of the surrounding landscape.

The houses all have unique draws and layouts: The Delphis house occupies its own peninsula and is brimming with vegetation, from a mangrove-lined boardwalk to an herb-filled garden; Bala Vista has a projector by the pool for family movie nights; Lost Puffin is on the beach where sea turtles nest starting in June; and Lazy Lizard has the largest pool on Jumby Bay Island. House managers say that they often see guests returning year after year because once you try one of these houses, it’s hard to imagine booking anywhere else.

The Activities

For older children, there is a kids’ club, plus tons of water sports through the resort’s Sailing Academy and 22 Knots program, which offers sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking, snorkeling, and more. Throughout the day, we heard so much laughter bouncing from the water to the beach as tubing boats whizzed by. You can also arrange private nautical trips, such as sunset boat rides and fishing outings. The property also has tennis, pickleball, and basketball courts, along with a spa I visited for some “me” time, including a massage and facial, which left me feeling fully renewed.

The Restaurants

For adults, the food and atmosphere at each restaurant are a big draw, and for parents, the kid-friendliness is a lifesaver. Plenty of high chairs are available (the staff even dragged one to our table for the Sunday night White Night Beach BBQ), along with separate kids’ menus. The breakfast buffet was also great for letting our new eater sample different foods without ordering an entire dish she might not like— and definitely wouldn’t finish. The restaurants also let us customize orders, and not just for the baby: my husband was between snapper and taco dishes at the Sand Bar, and they made the snapper into tacos so he could have both. You can also have dinner at the on-property farm, which has turtles and chickens for little ones to visit, plus black-headed sheep that roam and graze freely in the fields by the lake.

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure