Honeymoon Destination Decided!

When we first got engaged, choosing our honeymoon spot was far, far from my mind. I was more involved in all the other uber important details that choosing our honeymoon didn't seem so important at that exact time.

Fast forward a few months. The stress and the drama from wedding planning had set in. We were tired and cranky. Ok, ok...I was the tired and cranky one! I needed some cheering up. So for the better part of two weeks, I spent all my time looking at honeymoon destinations.

My first thought was Greece, specifically Santorini.

Seriously, is this place even real?? / kategale.wordpress.com

But after talking to a travel agent and doing some internet research, I quickly realized that Greece was way out of our budget.

Keith and I really love to travel and we knew that we wanted to go somewhere warm, where he could golf (obviously!) and we preferred an all-inclusive. I liked the thought of paying upfront for all our meals and drinks and not worrying about what we were spending when we were there. 

So my next obsession became Costa Rica. Especially once I found this resort, Hilton Grand Papagayo.

Aerial View of the Resort / Image via memorablecostarica.com

 

I love the rugged coast! / Image via Tripadvisor.com

For the price, we really couldn't get a better deal. Because Costa Rica is still a relatively "new" tourist destination, the prices for an all-inclusive were much more reasonable than say, the Caribbean. But I kept reading mixed reviews on Trip Advisor and I was starting to get a little bit worried. We obviously weren't expecting perfection, but I still wanted to go somewhere that got consistently positive reviews.

Then one day I came home from work to a large envelope from Sandals resorts. I was slightly confused as to how they got my address, then realized I must have given them my info at a bridal show I attended the month before. 

I had briefly looked at Sandals, but only two of their resorts had golf courses, and one of them was St. Lucia, where BM AC had just gone on her honeymoon. She had an amazing time, but I kind of want to go somewhere none of our friends had gone. (Petty, I know!) Then I saw their resort at Great Exuma Bay in the Bahamas. Keith had originally suggested the Bahamas, but I had turned the idea down because he had been there once with an ex-girlfriend. (Again, I'm petty I know!) Anyway, after some research on their site, I 100% fell in love with their Emerald Bay resort, for the following reasons: 

• The resort is brand new, only 2 years old, and is their nicest resort yet. 
• The resort is located on one of the outer islands, making it far away from all the tourism and places people normally go. I still wanted something different, while romantic and secluded.
• They were running a special for unlimited golf at their championship designed golf course. We could golf for free the entire week by booking a specific level room. Keith was especially excited about this!
• We were able to get an ocean-front, beach walkout, butler-serviced suite. Our room is amazing.

Want to see pictures?

This is where you will find me for the entire week. Look at that water!! / Image via Sandals.com 

The golf course. Keith is in heaven! / Image via Sandals.com

The main pool of the rest / image via Sandals.com

The one downside is that our seven-day honeymoon at Sandals is costing us double what our ten-day honeymoon in Costa Rica would have been :/ I was nervous spending that much money, but we decided that since we'll only get one honeymoon, we figured that we might as well go all out! Plus, Sandals lets you put down a small deposit, and pay off the trip over the next several months. So, we decided to book it! 

Planning and booking our honeymoon was definitely a nice distraction from the stress of wedding planning, and gives us a great vacation to look forward to!! 

How far in advance did you book your honeymoon? Where are you going? Has anyone been to Emerald Bay?