This Turks and Caicos All-inclusive Resort Feels Like Its Own Exclusive Town—With 10 Pools, a Waterpark, and 20 Restaurants

The oceanfront villa at Beaches Turks & Caicos had all the trappings of a great vacation home: bright colors, balconies to enjoy morning coffee, even a private plunge pool with an area for sunbathing. Balloons out front waved in the breeze, and a “Welcome Home” sign hung on the door like a badge of honor.

My family and I passed this spacious house while strolling home to our own room in the resort’s Key West Village after a great dinner, with the evening air on Grace Bay Beach a welcome cool down from the afternoon’s hot sun. I must admit I felt a twinge of sign envy: these were clearly repeat visitors who had won a medal for their loyalty. My son, Bobby, decided right then and there that this wouldn’t be our last visit—we had to show off some flair on a future stay.

If your idea of a great family vacation involves relaxing by the ocean, at a 100-acre resort that feels like its own exclusive town; splashing in a 45,000 square-foot waterpark or relaxing in one of 10 pools; snacking from three food trucks and dining at one of 20 restaurants; and even participating in a Junkanoo-themed parade featuring Sesame Street characters, then you’ll feel right at home at Beaches Turks & Caicos. This all-engrossing, all-inclusive resort offers so many amenities it’s hard to know where to begin, but let’s start with the five themed guest villages—Caribbean, French, Italian, Key West, and Seaside—that together feature 757 rooms of all shapes and sizes. Guests are able to move freely through each village, dipping into the various pools, some of which are adults-only, most of which welcome kids. Carts driven by the wonderful staffers can help shuttle anyone with mobility issues around the resort.

“With an increase in multigenerational travel, we’ve responded with guest rooms that can accommodate larger groups because what families really want are places where they can come together to make unforgettable memories,” Adam Stewart, executive chairman of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, told me. “This has paved the way for new developments like the upcoming Treasure Beach Village at Beaches Turks & Caicos, offering two-, three-, and four-bedroom suites and villas. And that’s just the start.”

Indeed, Treasure Beach Village is projected to open in 2026, adding 101 additional guest rooms, all done in a contemporary coastal design. This sixth village is projected to cost $150 million, with amenities including a 15,000 square-foot pool; a food hall; a 32-seat movie theater; additional dining concepts including Butch’s Island Chophouse, named for the brand’s founder, Butch Stewart; and a 2,800-square-foot, two-story Chairman’s Penthouse Suite. Other locations, including Runaway Bay in Jamaica; Exuma, Bahamas; and Gold Coast, Barbados, are in development.

Reservations are available for the new Treasure Beach Village, and I wouldn’t be surprised if our neighbors with the Welcome Home sign have already booked. If Booby has his way, we’ll have our own sign waiting for us when we come back to see the new wing.

Here is a comprehensive look at what it is like to stay at Beaches Turks & Caicos.

The Rooms

The beauty of Beaches is that there is truly something for everyone, at a range of price points: key if you are traveling with people who are on various budgets. By booking a concierge room, you’ll have a dedicated lounge for check-in and assistance with reservations and spa appointments. The butler elite level goes one further, giving guests a dedicated team member to help with reservations, excursions, and even unpacking, among other perks. Beaches inspires mega-loyalty among its fan base thanks to the warm, Caribbean hospitality; families often request the same room and the same butlers. Our two butlers, Majorie Graci and Ceomar Williams, helped us secure restaurant reservations (a must, especially during peak season), set a wake up call for morning yoga with Elmo, and even brought a cooler stocked with our favorite wine and soft drinks to the beach.

There are pros and cons to each village location, depending upon how close you want to be to the water park, or to your favorite restaurant. The 204-room Caribbean Village is the original part of the resort, with more traditional decor (think dark wood furniture, four-poster beds). The 79-room Seaside Village has some great choices for those who want more space, including the one-bedroom concierge villa suites, which feature updated bathrooms with freestanding tubs.

Opened in 2009, the Italian village is popular for the pool—the largest on property, at 15,885 square-feet—and a room design that also skews traditional, but slightly more contemporary than the Caribbean section. Beaches knows how to design for families: the concierge and butler family suites, which either face the pool or the ocean, all have a kids room with adorable bunk and trundle beds. The French village is slightly smaller by comparison (156 rooms, as opposed to 162), with room categories ranging from a luxury double to a two-bedroom concierge suite.

With its cheerful blue and yellow hues and old-school Florida vibe, the 156-room Key West Village is the newest kid on the block, having opened in 2013 after Beaches took over an existing resort. Our family loved staying in this section, which sits further north on the beach, finding it slightly quieter than the French village (very close to the waterpark) and the Italian village (there’s that highly popular pool and swim-up bar). It also has a wide range of views (garden, oceanview, beachfront, and oceanfront, to name a few), all easy to access on the website so that you have an understanding of what you’re getting on property.

Our room was a two-story, two-bedroom butler suite in the main Veranda House, and it had a fantastic open-plan kitchen and dining room, as well as a laundry room (clutch for kids’ spills) and three full bathrooms. The furniture was comfortable and functional–plush couches, a daybed, and bar stools by the kitchen counter for entertaining–and just what you want out of a beach house. The housekeeping team was constantly leaving us fresh towels and sweeping away any specks of sand we tracked in from Grace Bay. Our butlers also answered any questions with prompt attention, giving us a phone to use on resort grounds.

About that three-story home with the sign: it was a four-bedroom butler villa residence with a private pool, sleeping up to 10–the most expensive category suite there is at Beaches (for now). Majorie, told us there are only eight of these suites, and they’re in high demand.

Dining and Entertainment

For many families these days, dining flexibility is paramount, and an all-inclusive such as this one takes the pressure off of everyone having to be together all the time. (Grandmom and granddad can have a quiet dinner alone, while the kids and grandkids still splash in the pool.) And with so many options available, it’s a guarantee that even the pickiest eater will find something to enjoy.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and presentation of the food for an all-inclusive resort of this size and scale, and the staff consistently asked if everyone in our party had allergies or dietary restrictions. Some concepts, such as Bobby Dee’s, a 1950s themed diner set inside a ship, and Mr. Mac, a mac-and-cheese-themed food truck—both located right next to the waterpark—skewed more for the kids. Kids need carbs and comfort food, and Beaches delivers.

One of the highlights is Kimono’s, a  teppanyaki-style restaurant in the French Village where the chefs come out to the grill and prepare fresh lobster, fish, chicken, and steak, right in front of your party. Our chef, Cookie, is something of a Beaches legend. With his theatrical glasses, booming voice, and easygoing personality, he kept the kids at our table laughing with joke after joke. (His knife skills were also superb, and the food, delicious.) There are multiple seatings a night, but reservations are hard to come by–this is where booking a butler category room comes in handy. For the adults, we were given house wine options and could of course order any cocktail or mocktail we wished; certain premium pours came at an additional cost.

Two standout experiences  near the water include Schooner’s in the Caribbean Village, open for breakfast and dinner (chef Chris’s swordfish steak was excellent) as well as Barefoot by the Sea in the Italian Village. At Barefoot, we sat at a long wooden bench, taking our sandals off to put our feet in the sand and enjoying a lunch of fish tacos and skinny margaritas, which could have easily cost $200 or more at a competitive resort.

Activities

Many visitors to Turks also choose Beaches for activities, which include everything from sports like beach volleyball and tennis to an Xbox Play Lounge. There are numerous spaces where kids can burn off energy and you, as the parent, don’t have to work too hard to manufacture fun. A key differentiator from your typical hotel is the 45,000-square-foot Pirates Island Waterpark with its nine slides and surf simulator, as there is nothing else like it on the island. Bobby had a great time bopping in and out of inner tubes on the lazy river; choosing from the three main waterslides, colored red, blue, and yellow, with varying speeds and styles of loops; or running on the splash deck. There are some lounge chairs here to place your things, though they fill up. You can also park your stuff by the French village pool (a cabana rental is worth the splurge) and take a short stroll over.

The Kids Camps were equally as comprehensive, accepting newborns in the nursery to 17-year-olds in a more age appropriate space, like a karaoke bar. Staffers are trained by the International Nanny Association (INA). Bobby fell in the “Adventurers Program,” with activities including scavenger hunts and capture the flag, but chose to play with a younger friend in the Navigators Program. Special Sesame Street–themed activities take place at Camp Sesame, or at various places throughout the resort. Some, like “Letter of the Day with Grover,” are included, while others, such as “Morning yoga with Elmo” are not. The Elmo experience made for a great photo-op, and we were able to do it in a shaded area right outside our room at the Veranda House.

Being out on the water is another part of a Turks vacation, and Beaches offers PADI certification and instruction as part of your rate–a big inclusion. One extra cost to consider is a sunset or snorkel cruise, or a private charter through Island Routes, the resort’s own tour operator. Our party set out on a stunning half-day excursion, putting on fins and masks to swim at a healthy coral reef just 20 minutes from the property; we later grabbed a cocktail at Noah’s Ark, a fabulous floating bar, and dropped in on Little Water Cay, a 116-acre island inhabited by the endemic rock iguana. The surrounding water was such a vivid blinding blue, it made for a stunning backdrop.

Two activities stood out as fun, family bonding experiences: an all-white silent disco party and the Sesame Street parade. If you’ve never been to a silent disco, put your skepticism aside for a minute, for the sake of the kids. After our dinner at Kimono’s, we walked over to an open-air plaza where three DJs were on a massive stage, playing crowd-pleasing music that everyone could enjoy at their own pace thanks to the resort’s loaner headphones. Is it a bit awkward to see people in white jeans and shirts dancing to complete silence? Sure–until you put on the headphones and hear Lady Gaga, too.

At the Friday night street parade and beach party, Sesame Street characters such as the Count, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, and more, stroll up the main drag, next to colorful costumed dancers and a Junkanoo band. Children can actually be in the parade itself (they get picked up from the kids’ club) or watch from the sidelines; it all leads to a lovely market featuring local vendors.

Sustainability and Accessibility

Beaches has four accessible rooms and also offers zero-entry pools, beach wheelchairs, and portable ramps so that guests can more easily access the water. The resort also recently hosted an accessible wedding, creating a special dance floor for the party.

Families who have children on the autism spectrum should know that Beaches was the first resort group to achieve Advanced Certified Autism Centre (ACAC) status from the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). For an additional cost, a child can be paired with a specific Beaches “Buddy,” someone who has taken a 40-hour training course to better understand sensory, motor, social, and emotional needs. (Booking this service comes with an additional cost.) There is even a specific kids’ camp class that highlights art with Julia, the first Sesame Street character on the autism spectrum. Special inclusion weeks for families who have children with special needs, as well as mapped sensory guides, highlighting all aspects of the resort, round out the offerings.

Sustainability efforts are ongoing at Beaches, and its sibling brand Sandals, through the Sandals Foundation–a recent Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award winner. One recent initiative involves composting, with the resort inviting local farmers and students on property to better understand and nourish a healthy food chain: it is critical to the Caribbean, where many ingredients, even fruits and vegetables, must be imported. At the Turks and Caicos property, nearly 20,000 tons of food waste was diverted from local landfills to support the production of fertilizer.

Location

Beaches Turks & Caicos is located on Grace Bay Beach, an immaculate, 12-mile stretch with a who’s who of resorts to choose from. Beaches, the largest resort on the island with 1,800 staffers, is only a short, 20-minute ride from the main airport (TCI). Due to the small size of the airport and the compression that can occur when multiple flights land at the same time, I highly recommend booking the airport’s Fast Track service (prices start at $75 per person) so that you can enter a special lane for immigration and have luggage assistance; this concierge service is also available for departure.

Getting the Most Value Out of Your Stay

Check the websites of both Beaches and Sandals for current deals and special offerings. Though Beaches is all-inclusive, certain services come at an extra charge, including the spa; gratuities are included, except for butlers, drivers, and spa therapists. Nightly rates start from $570 per person.