We just returned from a wonderful stay at the GBP Coba. Before I left I was searching the reviews for tips on going to Coba with a baby, so I'm going to focus my review on that experience to help other parents thinking of going with their wee ones. Here are the highlights: Rooms - The rooms are large, well equipped and clean. I felt comfortable letting our baby crawl around on the floor. We requested a king sized bed and had the couch turned into a bed for our 3 year old. We used the hotel's playpen. The king size bed was great for nursing in bed and our 3 year old was very comfy in her little bed. The hotel's playpen was in good condition and clean, but the mattress does not fit snugly against the sides like our playpen at home. The room could get quite stuffy or cold depending on how much we cranked the a/c. The bathtub was a deep jacuzzi tub with a half wall and it was too deep to easily bathe the baby, so we used the bathroom sink instead. That worked well. I brought an antibacterial cleaning cloth from home and used it to clean the sink beforehand. Food Buffet - Ahh...the food. It was great! We all put on a few pounds this vacation. We really enjoyed going to the Cozumel (small buffet) for breakfast and the Kukuclan (large buffet)...We just returned from a wonderful stay at the GBP Coba. Before I left I was searching the reviews for tips on going to Coba with a baby, so I'm going to focus my review on that experience to help other parents thinking of going with their wee ones. Here are the highlights:

Rooms - The rooms are large, well equipped and clean. I felt comfortable letting our baby crawl around on the floor. We requested a king sized bed and had the couch turned into a bed for our 3 year old. We used the hotel's playpen. The king size bed was great for nursing in bed and our 3 year old was very comfy in her little bed. The hotel's playpen was in good condition and clean, but the mattress does not fit snugly against the sides like our playpen at home. The room could get quite stuffy or cold depending on how much we cranked the a/c. The bathtub was a deep jacuzzi tub with a half wall and it was too deep to easily bathe the baby, so we used the bathroom sink instead. That worked well. I brought an antibacterial cleaning cloth from home and used it to clean the sink beforehand.

Food

Buffet - Ahh...the food. It was great! We all put on a few pounds this vacation. We really enjoyed going to the Cozumel (small buffet) for breakfast and the Kukuclan (large buffet) for lunch and dinner. They have nice highchairs for babies that have trays that they clean and then cover with saran wrap so that you know it's clean. It comes with a paper napkin and a plastic spoon. They do not have booster seats. Our 3 year old sat on her knees most of the time but if this is an issue for your kid you may want to bring a travel seat. For the baby, I brought baby cereal from home and mixed it in a coffee mug at the restaurant. I supplemented this with cubes of papaya, banana, or melon from the buffet. Occasionally there was mango. For lunch and dinner I found the make-your-own-pasta station helpful. There was peas, corn, cooked unseasoned chicken, and bow ties and penne noodles. I added bread and occasionally some grouper that I removed the seasoning off of first. I also found cucumber, broccoli, and cooked carrots. Most of the time the baby just ate from the buffet, but occasionally I gave her the baby food that I had brought (Baby Gourmet is great because they use bags, not jars). (Bring baby food though because it comes in handy for the restaurants.) At the large buffet there is a kids corner which features non-spicy choices that appeal more to kids (hamburgers, rice, ice cream, cucumbers cut into smiles, etc) . They even have plastic rimmed Winnie-the-Pooh plates and matching plastic mugs.

A La Carte Restaurants - We got to go to 4 a la carte restaurants and we went to one as a family (the Japanese restaurant). It was incredible and the three kids enjoyed the food. The baby ate baby food on that occasion and the waiter brought us some bread for her after we specially requested it. For the other restaurants, we did not bring the children. We fed the kids at the buffet and then took turns watching the kids (we went with another couple and their two kids) while the adults enjoyed the restaurant. The Japanese restaurant was the clear favourite, followed by the Italian, seafood and gourmet restaurants.

Beach - the beach is great and the swimming area is very shallow so safe for kids. We had no trouble getting beach chairs and shade. Here's a tip for dragging your stroller down to the beach - drag it behind you on the two back wheels.

Pool - our kids loved the pools. There are lots of shallow ends, even parts shallow enough for a baby to sit in. We brought a baby floaty thing with a sunshade and she loved that.

Kids club - we spent one morning at the kids club with the 5 year old, 3 year old and 2 year old but did not leave our kids there unattended. We would have done that but honestly ran out of time. They would have accepted our 3 1/2 year old daughter if she was okay being left without her parents, but usually they accept 4 years and up. It really was fantastic. The staff running it were wonderful and we heard from other parents that their kids loved them and had a great time at the Kids club. The facility is amazing - a playground and sandpit, and inside there is a big clean open space with a play area (with foam mats), a craft table, a small stage for a puppet show, fooseball table. There is a separate area with toddler beds for nap time! I wish my daycare had a room like that! The bathroom is great - small toilets and sinks and a big murial of Arial on the wall. I was dubious of the kids club before we came to the resort but I would definitely feel comfortable leaving my kids there.

Kids show - at 8pm every night there is a kids show. We went at the end of the trip when being overtired didn't seem to matter anymore. The kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed being up on the big stage and being part of the show.

Other - The resort is very stroller friendly so bring your stroller - there is a lot of walking at the resort and it will come in handy, even if your tot usually prefers walking. We also brought a baby carrier and that came in handy too. We brought a solar cover for our stroller ($15 at Walmart) and that was great to keep the sun off the baby when she was in the stroller. Bring LOTS of sunscreen. We ran out and paid $18 US for the cheapest stuff at the resort. The waterproof baby sunscreen was about $36 US. Ouch.

Another tip relates to dishes. I brought a few rubbermaid containers for serving baby food and toting snacks, baby spoons, water bottles, and sippy cups. All required washing. I brought a small travel container of dish soap and a dish cloth from home. I washed the dishes in hot water that I brewed in the coffee pot and rinsed them in bottled drinking water.

In closing, I think the best advice I can give to parents about to travel with small children is to have realistic expectations. This is not going to be a relaxing vacation. There may be "relaxing moments" for sure. There will also be middle-of-the-night walks to get babies to sleep, meltdowns in restaurants, battles to get overtired kids to bed, etc. But you will be able to create lasting memories with your children and spend quality time as a family that you will cherish forever. We had a wonderful vacation and it was so nice to be able to give our kids an experience like this. I enjoyed going with kids and would certainly return to the GBP Coba in future years.More