My question to you all last week got me thinking: What’s the best FAT (or zaftig/chubby) hotel with a great family pool? Bonus if it has a waterslide.
I visited St. Regis Punta Mita at the end of March with my kids. Quick context for anyone who follows my posts: I stayed at the Four Seasons Punta Mita on the same trip, and the natural question for anyone considering the area is which of the two resorts is the better fit. After this trip, my answer is that they're both excellent and the right choice depends entirely on what you want out of the stay. The St. Regis is smaller, more design-forward, and meaningfully more polished than it was three years ago. If you've ruled it out as "the adult-only option" based on old intel, it's worth a fresh look.
About me
I'm a luxury travel advisor and a parent of three kids. I travel 12+ weeks a year, almost always with my children, so I evaluate every property through the dual lens of an advisor and a parent.
Property overview
The resort opened in 2009, sits on 22 oceanfront acres inside the same gated 1,500-acre Punta Mita peninsula as the Four Seasons, and just completed a $45 million property-wide renovation timed to its 15th anniversary in 2024. Phase one wrapped in early 2023 (lobby, eight Ocean Front Beach Villas, Las Marietas restaurant, the Marietas Pool and beach, Altamira Lobby Bar, outdoor wedding spaces). Phase two finished out the rest of the rooms, suites, the Beach Club, and the Remède Spa.
The renovation incorporated travertine marble, blown glass, clay tiles, hammered brass, and silk rugs. The aesthetic is what they're calling Mexican-Mediterranean, with hacienda-style arched patios and commissioned pieces from Mexican artisans like Perla Valtierra (Guadalajara) and Caralarga. I really loved the style. It felt both authentic to the place but wonderfully fresh and new.
Total inventory is 120 rooms, including five new residential-style beachfront villas. Two-story buildings only, no tower. Every room faces the ocean.
Location and getting there
Fly into Puerto Vallarta (PVR). The drive is about 45 minutes. Punta Mita is a gated community with double entry (community gate plus hotel gate), and the only resorts inside are the Four Seasons and St. Regis (with Pendry and Montage planned for 2027/2028, which I'll believe when I see).
Accommodations
Four room categories. They're easy to keep straight, which I appreciated:
What's standard across all rooms: butler service (even at the entry level), bathtub plus indoor and outdoor shower, espresso machine, walk-in closet, ocean view (some are partial garden, but all face the ocean), thoughtful local-product minibar (handmade beers from Bucerías, artisanal chocolates made for the brand).
There are 35 connecting rooms total. Casita-to-casita connectors are configured one king to two queens. Suites can connect to a casita as either one king or two queens, your pick. Suites are always one king on their own. For families with three or four kids, the two-bedroom villa was my favorite: full kitchen, plunge pool, jacuzzi, lounge area where they'll set up a private barbecue dinner if you want one. Three full bathrooms means kids don't have to share, which (as anyone with multiple kids knows) is its own form of luxury.
My recommendation for most families: connecting casitas on the ground floor. Easier with younger kids, you get the same view, and the property is so walkable that "ocean access" isn't a meaningful differentiator.
Food and beverage
Six restaurants under Executive Chef Pablo Arias, who came on with the renovation:
Carolina is the signature. Contemporary Mexican fine dining with five-course and seven-course tasting menus plus à la carte.
Mita Mary Boat Bar & Bistro is the toes-in-the-sand taqueria and the property's best casual outlet. Shrimp tacos, octopus, fish tacos, ceviche, lobster specials, cold beer. One of the waiters overheard me talking about how I really needed a taco because I was starving after a long day of travel and he brought me a complimentary plate. Service and tacos were 10/10. This place also gets booked up with outside guests- it is popular for a reason.
Las Marietas is the main breakfast and lunch restaurant. Renovated as part of phase one. Buffet breakfast with an omelette and quesadilla station, ceviche bar, fresh juices. It's actually a very strong buffet, which I generally don't say about hotel buffets.
Sea Breeze is the all-day pool and beach restaurant. Lunch is casual (burgers, sandwiches, salads, empanadas, quesadillas, served pool and beach side). Dinner shifts to a trattoria concept with wood-fired pizzas and pastas. Cozy, family-friendly.
Sushi Por Casona (the sixth outlet) is at the adults-only pool. Nikkei cuisine, sushi, sashimi, poke bowls. Open 24 hours for the bar with food service starting at noon.
Kids menus are available at every restaurant.
Pools, beach, spa, fitness
Three pool areas, all renovated in the project:
All
(all ages).
The beach is swimmable on the right (north) side of the property. Calm water, white sand, complimentary kayaks, surfing lessons and paddleboards for rent. You can also book private boat excursions out to the Marietas Islands (the famous "hidden beach") directly from the resort beach. The left side of the property is more for relaxing than swimming.
The Remède Spa was completely renovated. Ten treatment rooms, separated humid areas for men and women, outdoor showers, dry sauna, a new Couples Spa Suite with private plunge pool and side-by-side massage tables, and a Temazcal.
The fitness center is open 24 hours and offers complimentary TRX, dance, and power jump classes (did not try but hear they are fun). Outside the resort there's a jogging trail running through the gated community.
Kids club and family programming
The Children's Club takes kids ages 5 to 12. Younger kids can use it with an adult. Activities include cooking lessons, daily handcraft activities (a $35 add-on for some craft sessions, otherwise complimentary), an afternoon movie, and a designated play room. The kids club is on the smaller side compared to the Four Seasons next door.
For teens, there's no dedicated club, but the resort can set up activities.
Service
Service feels warm, intuitive, and highly responsive without being overbearing; everything (to me) felt well-coordinated but not scripted. Every room includes butler service, which acts as a consistent point of contact throughout the stay. Requests are handled quickly, often within minutes, and the team adapts fast to guest preferences after just a short time on property.
Is this a family resort?
Yes, with context. St. Regis Punta Mita works best for families who want luxury first, with kids integrated into that environment rather than the resort being built around them.
It fits a wide age range, from young kids through teens. The kids club is strong enough that parents can comfortably carve out time alone, and the programming holds attention for children who are used to structured activities. Younger children are also well accommodated, but the experience is strongest when kids are old enough to participate independently for stretches of the day.
The beach and pool setup supports families without feeling overly communal or chaotic. Guests are spread out across the property, so even at higher occupancy it rarely feels like a heavy family scene. Dining and common spaces stay refined, but still relaxed enough that families do not feel out of place.
Water conditions vary by season and side of the peninsula, but there are typically calm, swimmable areas that work well for kids with supervision. The layout is compact enough that getting between beach, pool, and rooms feels easy, which matters more for families than raw size.
Bottom line: it is a luxury resort that accommodates families extremely well, not a family-first resort.
Final takeaways
The renovation is beautiful. St. Regis Punta Mita went from a property that was admittedly starting to feel dated to one that's holding its own against any new build in Mexico. It's smaller, quieter, and more design-forward than the Four Seasons, with the same level of service polish and a meaningfully better aesthetic point of view than it had pre-renovation. I'd go back myself with my kids.
Who this is for
Who this is not for
We got into a heated debate at dinner tonight trying to rank our trip goals for the next year and I thought it would be fun to ask this group:
What’s the best family hotel you’ve ever stayed at, and why? Looking for places that actually nailed it for parents and kids at the same time, not just one or the other. Bonus if there’s a waterslide.
For me the most recent best/standout was Blackberry Mountain. The kids’ programming was awesome, the hiking and activities were fun for grown ups, and the food was beloved by everyone (an unusual feat).
Property Overview
The original Kona Village opened in 1965 as one of the first three resorts on the Big Island, founded by John Jackson, who originally arrived by boat in the 1960s before there were highways out here. The road that runs through the resort was the original landing strip prior to more extensive island infrastructure.
The 2011 tsunami closed the property, and it stayed closed for 12 years before Rosewood reopened it in 2023. 150 keys (thatched-roof hales echo the original 1960s village) spread across roughly 80 acres of beachfront, structured as three villages: South Village, North Village, and Lagoon Village, with the Heart of the Village (front desk, main lawn, restaurants) in the middle. You travel between them by golf cart, walking or on the free bikes scattered throughout the property (both adult and kids sizes. They have updated the bikes with rubber chains so the issue of rust/damaged bikes seems largely solved).
It is also 100% solar-powered, with about two acres of solar panels on property and the largest privately owned microgrid in the state.
About Me
I'm a travel advisor and a parent of 3 kids. I travel 12+ weeks a year, almost always with my children, so I evaluate every property through those two lenses.
Location and Getting There
Fly into Kona International (KOA). The drive is about 15 minutes. Kona Village is one of the closest resorts to the airport on the Kohala Coast. Self-parking is included and you are not getting nickel-and-dimed on resort fees the way you are at other Hawaii properties.
The resort borders the Four Seasons Hualālai to the south. It's an easy walk between the two to get dinner.
Accommodations
The room categories are (thankfully) simple: King Hale (standalone), Two-Bedroom Hale, Four-Bedroom Suite. There is no three-bedroom. If you need more than four bedrooms, they cluster nearby hales together; multi-gen groups can effectively rent five, six, or seven rooms in close proximity.
King Hale — 850 square feet total. 650 inside, 200 on the lanai. Every King has an outdoor shower. Consistent across the property.
Two-Bedroom Hale — King side plus a living room and a queen room with a lock-off door between them. The two-bedroom we stayed in was in Lagoon Village and was very comfortable for our family of five - my kids all got their own beds.
Four-Bedroom Suites — Two types. The Presidential Four-Bedrooms are oceanfront with detached bedrooms around a large central common area, private pool, hot tub, fire pit, full kitchen, laundry room, dedicated butler. The Ohana Four-Bedrooms are more family-oriented: enclosed layout instead of detached, connected to the main building rather than scattered, sleeps up to 12. If you have small kids, choose Ohana over Presidential.
Legacy Rooms — Six rooms total, all built on the exact footprint of structures that pre-dated the tsunami. Grandfathered in closer to the water than the current 60-foot setback rule would otherwise allow. They look slightly different from the rest of the inventory but they get you the closest to the ocean of any room category.
My recommendation: South Village beachfront. White sand on this side, angled slightly more toward sunset. The North Village has black sand and faces northwest with views of Maui across the channel, also lovely, but the rooms sit higher above the water, so you lose the direct ocean access the South Village provides.
Food and Beverage
Moana — main restaurant. Breakfast and dinner. Closed for lunch. Located right at the main beach. Food was fine.
Kahuwai Cookhouse — dinner spot. Hosts the weekly Pulehu Night every Thursday — Hawaiian cowboy cookout, all-you-can-eat, kiawe-smoked steaks and lobster and crab and poke, oysters, sides, live music. No reservation required but suggested. We thought the food was great and the service was good here.
Paniolo Night — once a month, usually the third Thursday, at the event center near the lagoon. Same concept as Paniolo Night but bigger. Horses for the kids, fire dancers. Effectively their luau.
Island Roots — twice weekly (Wednesday and Saturday), 28 guests max, in the Kiawe Grove. Traditional imu pit, communal long-table seating, family-style. Two property executives host. The head chef cooks on the open fire in front of you. Adults only. If you can swing the timing, this is a fun dinner to attend.
Kahuwai Market — casual daytime spot for coffee and snacks in the Heart of the Village.
Talk Story Bar — main bar, also in the Heart.
Shipwreck Bar — small bar built on the actual ship that belonged to founder John Jackson. He had it parked in the bay in the early 1970s, the bilge was open, it sank, and they brought it up too damaged to repair, so they made it into a bar.
Service
A mixed bag.
The property sat closed for 12 years so the team was hired entirely from scratch after the reopening: nobody coming over from prior tenure, no muscle memory on the property. That's a meaningful structural challenge. They are still working through it.
What we experienced:
The resort was at capacity when we were there. It did not feel crowded except at Moana breakfast, where service was slow. Not catastrophic, but slow enough to notice every morning, and some things took longer than I wanted to arrive; a golf cart scheduled for a pickup for dinner next door, responses to texts I sent the concierge, etc.
Things that were good: In-room dining was fast. Genuinely impressive turnaround (although does anyone else have the same problem as me in that their kids never freaking eat it??!). Pool service was good - they kept the food and drinks coming.
Spa treatment was solid.
We also overheard a couple arguing because the husband hadn't made dinner reservations; a staff member quickly jumped in and offered to find them a spot to dine. I thought that was pretty smooth. We had several managers stop by to greet us throughout our stay, and if we mentioned anything to them that needed addressing it was taken care of immediately.
This is a young property staffed by a young team. They take feedback well — the GM and Managing Director both made it a point to ask for honest feedback during my stay, and I saw them around the property every day we were there - interacting with guests, helping with staff, and present and available if someone needed them.
Beach and Activities
The Big Island is mostly rocky/lava coastline, and Kona Village has a good sand stretch in the South Village plus a separate small black-sand swimmable cove in the North Village. We loved the snorkeling and the rafts. This beach is most fun if you and your kids are strong swimmers. The water is generally calm but the waves can pick up, and the snorkeling rewards getting out a bit. My kids loved it.
Kids Club was good - my kids were happy there and there were a lot of kids who participated so it was pretty fun for everyone. Complimentary as part of the resort fee, no appointment needed, runs five hours a day, ages 5-11. Shave ice, lei making, swimming/snorkeling, lots of organized activities.
Fitness center - solid.
All ocean activities (sunrise canoe, snorkel gear, paddle boards, kayaks) are complimentary, as are spa facilities (cold plunge, hot tub, sauna, steam room), even without a treatment booked, Tennis and pickleball, Self-parking, Pool cabanas at both pools, adults and family.
Two pools:
Adult pool with hot tub on top and lap pool below.
Moana family pool. Two big hot tubs flanking it, plus a sand-bottom splash pad area that is perfect for younger kids. Right across from the Kids Club.
Spa
The spa facility is beautiful. The treatment rooms look out over the lava rocks. The communal spaces (cold plunge, sauna, steam, hot tub, indoor shower, outdoor shower) are open to all guests without a treatment booked.
Is This a Family Hotel?
Yes, but it depends on the age and independence of your kids.
We saw a mix of families, couples, and babymooners. The detached hales are nice for keeping noise out and making sure guests have privacy, and the resort is spread out enough that it never feels overrun with kids.
Where it becomes more specific is logistics. This is a large property. You are walking, biking or using a golf cart to get most places, and you are not casually running back to your room mid-day. The beach is beautiful but the water can be rough.
IMO, it works best for families with kids 5 and up who can bike, and who are confident swimmers, comfortable being active throughout the day. Otherwise if you’re coming with a baby ask for a hale near the Moana pool so you’re not too far of a walk back to your place.
Final Takeaways
The land, the architecture, the history, and the beach are all reasons to come. So is the sustainability profile, the included amenities, with the caveat that service is still catching up to the rest of the operation. Still - I will be back.
Who This Is For
Multi-generational families who want big, distinct accommodations with private pools, butlers, and full kitchens.
Travelers who care about architecture, history, and sustainability as part of what they are paying for.
Outdoors-oriented travelers who want the ability to see active volcanoes, lava fields, black/green/white sand beaches on one island, Mauna Kea stargazing at 14,000 feet, snorkeling with manta rays, the most varied ecosystems in the chain (you can drive from desert to rainforest to alpine in a day).
Strong swimmers and snorkelers who want a good beach in Hawaii.
Travelers who want included amenities (cabanas, kids club, watersports, spa facilities)
Who This Is Not For
Those with very young or non-swimming/biking kids who need a swimmable beach.
Those expecting flawless service. (Hawaii in general is not the place for that IMO)
Anyone who wants nightlife or off-property action. The Big Island is wild, rugged and much quieter than Maui or Oahu.