Help Pick Our Honeymoon Destination!!!

Hey y’all, thanks in advance for any and all advice. It’s greatly appreciated.

Background: My fiancé and I are getting married in late September of 2025. We have 3 kids under 3 years old. While all of our family is in town, we plan to leave for our Honeymoon the day after. A friend of ours owns timeshares, and lets us use them from time to time. For our wedding gift, they’re giving us a free stay at any of his possible accommodations. We’ll have to pay airfare, and any other related fees to the usage of the hotel / resort (cleaning, all inclusive, etc) we’ll also be responsible to pay for any excursions, dining, rental cars, taxis, etc. Because we’ve saved on the hotel/resort, we’re more than happy to spend whatever is necessary to have a great time. Thinking around $5,000 total if need be. We have one full week. This will be the first time my wife gets out of the country (besides a cruise), and will be the last time in a very long time we’re able to enjoy a vacation together without the kids. I’ve narrowed the list down to just a few places, and I’d really like to hear your thoughts.

1: Bay Gardens Hotel Castries, St. Lucia So this one is interesting and different than most of our other options. This seems to just be a very regular 3 star hotel. The rooms are quite nice, but it’s not a resort, just a hotel. There’s a couple pools. It’s not on the beach, but we would get wristbands with a free hourly shuttle to the Bay Gardens Beach Club at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa. Allowing us access to sun loungers on the beach, unlimited use of Splash Island Water Park, unlimited non motorized watersports and complimentary WiFi. You can also bill meals and spa treatments enjoyed at the Resort to your room at Bay Gardens Hotel. While this is the “worst” hotel, it’s also freaking St. Lucia. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s amazing. We wouldn’t be chained to a resort, and could freely explore the island to our pleasing. Obviously this would end up being a more expensive trip. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g8843287-d149489-Reviews-Bay_Gardens_Hotel-Rodney_Bay_Gros_Islet_Quarter_St_Lucia.html

2: Mayan Palace Riviera Maya Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico This is definitely the largest and nicest resort out of the bunch. It’s 338 acres, with multiple massive pools, and right on the beach. Apparently the beach it’s on is a little rocky though. Which should be considered. There is no all inclusive package with this option, which could be a good or bad thing. Good because the food and drinks are probably better, bad because the value is a bit worse. This resort is massive, so I don’t think we would really be leaving the property at all. It’s listed as a 5 star hotel on google with 4.4 stars. On yelp is gets hammered at 2.2 stars. 4.0 stars on TripAdvisor. It sounds like while the resort is really nice, the Mayan Palace specifically is somewhat dingy. There would be a ton of walking involved, although we’re both young and fit. Some people are complaining about the prices as well. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g663501-d295766-Reviews-Mayan_Palace_Riviera_Maya-Playa_Paraiso_Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

2.5: Mayan Palace Puerto Vallarta, Mexico So this is a hotel inside another Vidanta resort, but in a completely different area of Mexico. This resort is not as large, but the accommodations and beach seem nicer. It scores better on both TripAdvisor and Yelp. A lot of the complaints are the same in both. High prices, poor service, not great rooms, bugs, bad fees. This would be different from the other Mayan Palace, where we would probably often leave the grounds and be able to do other things as well. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g150793-d263326-Reviews-Mayan_Palace_At_Vidanta_Puerto_Vallarta-Puerto_Vallarta.html

3: LHVC – Presidential Suites, Puerto Plata, Domican Republic This is the first of the all inclusive resorts. 5 specialty restaurants, multiple excursions available. $320/day for the all inclusive package which must be purchased. The rooms here seem much nicer. It’s definitely not beachfront either, as you have to be bussed to another resort. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d627088-Reviews-Presidental_Suites_By_Lifestyle-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Republic.html

3.25: LHVC – Cofresi Palm Beach & Spa, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic This is like exactly next door to the Presidential Suites. It seems significantly larger, but the reviews and ratings are worse. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d218484-Reviews-Cofresi_Palm_Beach_Spa_Resort-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Republic.html

3.5: LHVC – Residence Suites, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Another LHVC all inclusive resort. This package is much cheaper at only $65/day per person. Free entrance into Ocean World. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d310282-Reviews-The_Residence_Suites_Puerto_Plata-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Republic.html

3.75: LHVC – Tropical, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Another LHVC all inclusive resort in Puerto Plata. Same fee as above. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147290-d286726-Reviews-Lifestyle_Tropical_Beach_Resort_Spa-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Republ.html

4: Jaco Bay Towers, Jaco, Costa Rica This is another similar situation to the Bay Garden Hotel. Except these are essentially condominiums that people own. The rooms seem large and nice, but it would be up to us to make our experience in Costa Rica. I’m not sure about the area. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g309271-d1450457-Reviews-Jaco_Bay_Condominium-Jaco_Jaco_District_Garabito_Municipality_Province_of_Puntarenas.html

5: Do our own thing entirely We don’t have to accept this gift. If it makes more sense, we could also consider doing our own stay somewhere else. After paying for the wedding on my own entirely, paying for airfare, babysitting, etc, it does make a lot of sense to accept this gift. I’ve also considered some other options as well. If none of these places sound like they’re worth the stay, let me know!

Current Standing I’m leaning towards either the Bay Garden Hotel in St Lucia, or one of the 2 resorts in Mexico. The large resort sounds like it could be very nice. Massive place. Tons of pools. A bunch of different dining options. The downside sounds like it’s expensive and the rooms kind of suck. The smaller resort has the best reviews on TripAdvisor out of them all. The St Lucia place would simply be a nice spot to lay our heads, relax, and chill at the pool there. We would primarily be exploring St. Lucia which I believe to be very safe, and really an amazing island. It would be a similar experience to the Jaco Bay Towers, but I think we would enjoy St Lucia much more than Costa Rica. I don’t think any of the LHVC properties make any sense. The all inclusive part sounds really nice, and one of these would probably be our route to the most affordable vacation. Especially the places that only charge $65/day per person. With that being said, we’re going to be receiving $$ from our wedding gifts, and this is really our last opportunity for a long time to have an amazing vacation. Which is why I’m considering doing something different entirely. All of these rooms would be for 1 week, but if we did something else we’d probably only stay for 5 nights. I’m not sure if $5k would cover flights, resort, and everything in between for a super luxury place.