Holiday Holidays With the Family

From the baking to the wrapping and last-minute guests (and who can forget the driving on icy roads!), the holidays at home aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be. But a real holiday can feel like a gift to yourself, especially when the whole family gets to vacation in a new place and enjoy each others’ company without all of the stress.

At Carlisle Bay, a low-key luxury resort in Antigua, swap out snow for white-sand beaches Dec. 21–Jan. 1, 2019. Expect Caribbean caroling, pop-up candy shops, gingerbread decorating and pajama parties for kids. For adults, get ready for holiday cocktail parties, wine and cheese pairings, rum tastings, live music and, for everyone, a visit from St. Nick. Lest you think the merriment ends on the 25th, expect even more revelry through the New Year, with a party to ring in 2019 with cocktails and dinner, a Champagne toast and brunch the next day, replete with a juice detox station. The resort offers special activities and programs for kids and teens year-round, along with guided rainforest treks, tennis courts and a spa.

Carlisle Bay, Live Music © Carlisle Bay

Get the heart rate up at Lone Mountain Ranch, where special holiday activities include skiing with Santa, a Christmas Day feast, a sleigh ride dinner, gingerbread house making  and a New Year’s Eve toast with fireworks illuminating the white mountain peaks. Tap your toes to music in the Saloon, with country-Western renditions of Christmas carols.

Whether you’re looking to stay or just get out of cooking Christmas dinner, the Omni Mount Washington Resort has plenty of winter wonderland to share and spare. The Holly Jolly Buffet is offered on the holiday proper 12–8 p.m. Dec. 23–25 brings festive sleigh rides, skiing, snowshoeing and indoor activities like roaring fires, cupcake baking, stories with Santa, games, elf tuck-ins and holiday movies for all who stay at the resort.

Carlisle Bay Guestroom © Carlisle Bay

The gingerbread sleigh at The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Tahoe weighs hundreds of pounds, but the pictures taken of it and in front of it number in the thousands. It’s like a virtual Candy Land walking into the lobby, and the holiday decorations stay decking the halls through the first week of January. There’s a stars and s’mores session nightly at the fire pit, winter scavenger hunts, family nights in the arcade, holiday dining at Manzanita (available for reservations for non-Ritz guests) and fireworks on Dec. 31. Mr. and Mrs. Claus pay a visit or two, and there’s family movie nights, fitness activities like yuletide yoga, and chai spice warmer massages.

Sugarplums meet chocolate at Hersheypark Christmas Candylane. Four million lights transform the amusement park, and 45 rides and coasters are in operation during the holiday months. Live entertainment thrills in every corner, including visits with Santa at special breakfasts and lunches. Families can even visit his reindeer in the stables!

Carlisle Bay, Restaurant © Carlisle Bay

Just call it Santa’s country village … the 2,882-room Gaylord Opryland Resort brings in 2 million pounds of ice for a Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas interactive ice sculpture show, including four, two-story-tall ice slides and a full nativity hand-carved from frozen water. Cirque de Soleil brings on the magic with a special Dreams Holidaze show; there’s an indoor skating rink, special honky-tonk music performances and more than 2 million holiday lights, gingerbread decorating and much more.

Red and green becomes ruby and emerald when it comes to the Emerald City of Seattle. The city celebrates in style this year with a new immersive holiday illumination experience with Enchant, the world’s largest light maze featuring trees up to 80 feet tall, ornaments up to eight feet in diameter, Santa visits and more. The event at Safeco Field has a maze to search for reindeer, ice skating and music. Gingerbread Village pairs bakers and architects to create a confectionary wonderland to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, all at the Sheraton. And, at the Fairmont, the Teddy Bear Suite tradition continues. Every year, one of the largest guestrooms is converted into a holiday delight and decorated for families to visit (it’s free but donations are encouraged for Seattle Children’s Hospital). Families can also gift themselves a stay in the suite itself if they want to splurge a bit. The hotel also hosts a festival of trees, and admission also benefits the hospital.