Top Family Resorts

Every year, the opulent travel magazine Travel + Leisure surveys readers for the "World's Best Awards" in several categories. Readers are also asked to rate resorts for family friendliness, and the result is the "T+L Family 50": fifty choice resorts, including "Top 10 Resorts in the Continental US + Canada."

Travel + Leisure Family Magazine:
"T + L Family 50" - Top Resorts for Families

The family resort winners in Travel + Leisure's annual poll are grouped in several categories. Probably the most interest is in the "Top 20 Resorts in the Continental US + Canada" , and the top 10 properties are listed below. Interestingly, five Disney resorts made the cut, four of them at Disney World. Disney wasn't the number one winner, though: that bouquet went to The Cloister, an island retreat in Georgia.

Other categories in the T + L Family 50 include:

• The Caribbean, Bermuda and Bahamas Top 10: Casa de Campo won this, a giant resort in the Dominican Republic, and probably the only contender to have polo on-property, and an airport that bears its name. Meanwhile, The Atlantis, Bahamas got a special mention for "Biggest property; most pools"

• Top 10 in Mexico and Central America: Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, in Puerta Vallerta, aced this one, while The Explora, in Patagonia, made the list while also being named Smallest Property, Most Expensive Overall, with a pricetag of $1398/person.

• Hawaii Top 10: Four Seasons Resort Hualalai came first (and was also tapped as the Most Expensive Property in the US and Canada); Kona Village was a winner too

Read all the names, with links to websites, at Travel + Leisure: T + L Family 50.

And the Top 10 in the US and Canada are:

• 1, The Cloister , Sea Island, Georgia
• 2. Fairmont Le Château Montebello, Montebello, Quebec
• 3. Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Walt Disney World
• 4. Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Walt Disney World
• 5. Disney's Yacht Club Resort , Walt Disney World
• 6. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel , Disneyland, California
• 7. Disney's Boardwalk Resort, Walt Disney World
• 8. Sundance Resort, Provo, Utah
• 9. Portofino Bay Hotel, Universal Orlando
• 10. Westin Resort & Spa, Whistler, BC, which also got the nod for "Least Expensive Overall", for rooms starting at $114/night

* photo of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (c) Teresa Plowright