The largest resort on the island, this place overwhelmingly outperforms the Club Med despite its more family-friendly angle. It eschews the institutional feel of other all-inclusive properties and seems rather like a cruise ship on land.
The Beaches brand represents the company's expansion from the highly successful couples-only concept into the booming family market. For kids, and for parents delighted to set them free without worry, Beaches can seem like paradise. Groups are also nicely accommodated here, and couples flock here for the substantial offerings and pleasant surroundings.
The French Village with Parisian architecture has added 166 deluxe rooms and three specialty restaurants (including a Japanese steak house and open-air sushi bar), bringing the room count to 462 and the selection of restaurants to 10 (including two off-limits to children and requiring reservations and a stricter dress code). The Italianate Seaside Village, scheduled to open in 2009, will feature a 12,000-sq-ft pool and one of the largest water theme parks in the Caribbean. It will also add yet more restaurants, plus boutiques and additional family suites.
A pleasant palm-lined drive leads to a complex of pink West Indian-style structures with white trim and wooden balconies tucked into tropical gardens. In the atrium-style lobby, eclectic, exotic decor prevails, with a marble reception counter, lush greenery, jungle-print fabrics, rattan furniture and ornately carved beams that extend into the lounge, a sprawling split-level affair incorporating intimate sitting areas clustered on plush rugs. Arrivals are welcomed with cold towels and tropical punch.
Cafe-style seating spills out into the lobby from the buffet restaurant.
Other dining options include the popular Italian buffet, Southwestern Tex-Mex and French dessert cafe, plus the Sushi Bar, all of which provide enough variety and creative menu ideas to keep guests satisfied for an entire week. The six bars provide premium alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. A nice touch is the weekly welcome party with champagne and snacks held poolside.
After dinner, rake and scrape, reggae, limbo and talent quests keep evenings lively in the French Village. The property's five immense freshwater pools, plus two children's pools, are the undisputed daytime social hubs. Some feature waterfalls and swim-up bars. The dive shop offers courses, with two tank dives included in the rates, but certification and an introductory resort course exact an additional charge.
A fabulous and unique touch is the five-day National Geographic scuba program that teaches kids older than 10 how to dive while educating them on marine ecology. At the beach, snorkeling, sailboarding, sailing and volleyball await. Tennis courts are lighted for night play. Crafts markets infuse a dash of local flavor, and the duty-free store in the lobby tempts bigger spenders.
But the draw for the kids is undoubtedly Pirates Island. This state-of-the-art children's center and water park features a huge wooden pirate ship surrounded by waterfalls and two giant waterslides, a kids-only pool and swim-up soda bar, a high-tech video-game room, teen disco, Bobby D's 50s-style diner, popular soft-serve ice cream station, nanny services and much more.
Two conference rooms with audiovisual equipment seat 170 each, and they are becoming an increasingly requested service as more groups discover this resort. The lobby offers wireless 
Internet access for laptop luggers, but the pricey business center attends to other guests' needs. Complimentary airport transfers are provided.
The Ultra Spa features an exercise room, treatment rooms for massages and facials, a beauty salon, saunas, steam rooms and plunge pools. Aerobics, yoga and Pilates classes are part of the daily program, and nonmotorized sports are included in the rates. The lighting of paths and in restaurants is low, and it can be difficult to see where you are going or even what you eating.
With more than a dozen categories of guest rooms, amenities and rates vary widely. Set in gardens back from the beach, the original accommodations are in a pair of three-story wings fanning out from the main building, and in villas scattered around the pool and garden. The quarters range from standard rooms to two-bedroom suites close to the beach.
Interiors feature tile floors, and good-sized patios or balconies with racks for swimsuits, wet towels and gear. All rooms are air-conditioned and now have king four-poster beds. Decor throughout is tasteful contemporary plantation style with tropical spreads and drapes. Other room amenities include phones, TVs, coffeemakers, clock radios, safes and combination baths with hair dryers and large vanities.
Spacious stall showers (with decent water pressure), WCs and colorful toiletries. Suites add sofa beds, minibars, concierge service with preferred check-in, The New York Times, fax service, fully-stocked complimentary minibars and robes. Villas 500 and 508 afford the best vistas.
The French Village is composed 
of a series of riotously colored French-style buildings around a central square with cafes, restaurants and nighttime activities. Accommodations here come in three categories, with four-poster king-sized beds or two doubles, plus twin or full-sized sofa beds. These units can combine to form one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
New for 2009, 14 two-bedroom oceanfront Imperial Suites for families sleep twelve and come complete with bunk beds for the kids, who get their own TV with XBOX, while both the lounge and master bedroom feature 42-in flat-screen TVs. And 168 family suites in the Italianate Seaside Village will also feature separate areas for parents and children.
School holidays see this lively resort packed, a boon for families who want to keep their children entertained. Kudos to the management for offering a departures lounge with beverages, snacks and a place to relax for guests whose flights leave after the hotel's checkout time.
Children stay at reduced rates, as do extra adults in the same room, and kids younger than 2 stay free. Room service operates at all hours, but only to suites. The resort is smoke-free, except for in designated areas. A few maintenance issues are beginning to creep up, but that is to be expected at such a large property now more than a decade old.
The staff ranges from friendly vacation pleasers to indifferent employees who perform their duties robotically. The somewhat gauche furnishings may not be to everyone's taste, for which reason Club Med may provide a viable albeit lesser alternative for adults without children.