Before I became a mother, my career as a travel journalist took me everywhere. I spent my late 20s hopping between continents, testing the best spas, interviewing chefs, reviewing luxury hotels and learning firsthand how hospitality works when done exceptionally well. I met my husband three months after I turned 30 and we spent 18 months saying ‘yes’ to every fun opportunity we could, working remotely and packing light. The only thing that slowed us down was the pandemic. Travel was both my job and my joy: something that demanded my full attention and gave me, in return, a sense of clarity, grounding and awe every time I landed somewhere new.
Then I became “Mama.” Twice. In under three years.
Now, when I travel, I see everything through a dual lens: the journalist trained to notice the details and the mother who is carrying diaper bags, wiping noses and wondering how to keep two tiny humans rested, safe, fed and happy in unfamiliar places. My standards haven’t lowered but my needs have changed. And while I still love luxury, I’ve come to value ease just as much.
That’s why I was genuinely excited to experience the Babies For All Seasons program at Four Seasons Punta Mita — a resort I’d heard wonderful things about, especially among families with young children. I wanted this trip to feel manageable, indulgent, and joyful. And it did, in many ways.
Here’s how our stay unfolded: the beautiful moments, the small frictions, the warm touches, and the parts that surprised me.
Arriving in Paradise (With Margaritas!)
Traveling with two little ones is its own sport and for us, the game started at 6 a.m. with two transfers, but once we finally touched down in Puerto Vallarta, everything softened. The resort-arranged transfer was waiting for us, and the 45-minute drive along coastal roads gave us a chance to exhale the travel day out of our systems.
Check-in was calm, smooth and low-pressure. Staff handed our older daughter a popsicle and juice — which she beamed at like it was treasure — and gave my husband and me margaritas, the adult equivalent of being told “good job, guys, you made it.” It was one of those tiny hospitality touches that makes you instantly unclench and something I’ve grown to know the Four Seasons for as I’ve reviewed many of their properties across many continents.
When we arrived at our room, an in-room amenity of guacamole and chips was waiting, which quickly became our unofficial dinner appetizer as we explored our space. We were staying in a Plunge Pool Suite with a breathtaking view of the ocean. The room made an incredible first impression: spacious, bright and designed with a kind of organic minimalism that feels calming rather than stark. And the plunge pool out back was exactly the kind of family-friendly luxury that makes traveling with babies not just doable, but delightful. We had to hold our daughter back from jumping straight into it before even putting on her swimsuit.
The crib for our baby was set up for us and appropriately put in the master closet (IYKYN). They also had a diaper changing pad, some swim diapers, a baby bath, a baby playmat, a highchair, gifts for each of my children and a nursing pillow. All of this is part of the Babies For All Seasons Program and incredibly helpful for families traveling, but not everything was perfectly intuitive: we needed to request dish soap for bottles, since none was provided automatically, and figuring out the best bedtime layout for two kids took some trial and error. But overall, the suite became a haven: the kind of space you return to again and again because it simply works for the season of life you’re in.
That evening, we had dinner at Dos Catrinas, the property’s signature Mexican restaurant. It was lively in a way that welcomed families: loud enough that no one cared if our toddler loudly narrated her tortilla-eating process, yet elevated enough that we felt like we were still having a real dinner. The food was bold and modern, and the service warm, though slower than we expected at this tier. We chalked it up to the heat and the season, August in Mexico is no joke.
Still, the tone for the trip felt set: comfortable, beautiful, relaxed and promising.
Breakfast: The Most Consistently Lovely Part of Every Day
As someone who reviews hotels for a living, I’ve learned you can understand a lot about a property by how they handle breakfast. And Four Seasons Punta Mita absolutely shines here.
Each morning, we walked to Dos Catrinas and breakfast was consistently excellent. Strong coffee. Warm pastries. Perfectly cooked eggs. Fresh fruit that tasted sun-sweetened rather than refrigerator-cold.
Once you’re a parent, you’re forced into becoming a morning person, and while I’ve always been one, having fast food on hand for hungry kiddos is a big win to start off the day. Traveling with babies means mornings hold the power: if breakfast is chaotic, everything feels chaotic. If breakfast feels easy, calm, and unhurried, the whole day shifts.
The staff at breakfast were some of the warmest we interacted with during our stay: playful with our toddler and patient as we juggled kid requests. These were the moments where we felt most held by the hospitality. I think they were most impressed with our baby, who is already a foodie in the making, who had zero interest in the purees offered and just wanted baby-led weaning style bites of, well, everything. Watching the staff giggle over them was incredibly sweet and a memory I will cherish.
The Baby Reflexology Experience
After breakfast, we headed to the Apuane Spa for one of the Babies For All Seasons offerings: Baby Reflexology. I can’t express how utterly adorable it was to watch my girls get the ‘spa treatment’ at such a young age. My oldest was captivated by the many mini pools and being led around by a therapist to connect with her inner calm (who knew she had that?). During the massage, my baby was wiggly, my toddler curious and the practitioners handled both with grace.
Midday Heat & The Unexpected Beauty of Slow Plunge Pool Days
By early afternoon, the heat had fully taken over, and the main pools were too intense for our little ones with limited shade. Instead of pushing it, we leaned into the beauty of having our own plunge pool. We grabbed takeout (and frozen beverages for mom and dad!) from the pool restaurant, brought everything back to the room, and let the girls splash in the shade while we lounged nearby.
This ended up being one of the highlights of our trip: the kind of effortless, unplanned magic that happens when you stop fighting the day and greet it exactly where it is.
If anything, this experience made me appreciate the suite even more. But it also highlighted an opportunity: having a small fan available for families who use the closet area as a nap nook (a very common traveling-with-babies hack) would make the room setup even more functional.
Our suite was comfortable, but the space where our baby slept got warm quickly, something even our babysitter the next night mentioned is a common issue.
A Much-Needed Date Night: Mezcal Magic & an Imperfect Dinner at Aramara
One of the true gifts of this trip was carving out a real date night. Two very kind and experienced babysitters arrived to care for our girls so we could slip out into the warm Punta Mita to remember we used to be a couple who traveled freely and wildly together.
We started at Mez, the resort’s energetic tequila and mezcal bar that celebrates what they call tequila’s “seductive brother.” And it truly feels that way: dark, moody, magnetic, a little irreverent and buzzing with an energy that’s equal parts Riviera Nayarit glamour and creative mixology playground. Mez features more than 70 varieties of mezcal, and the cocktails reflect that depth: inventive, layered, hard to pin down in a single sip.
Sitting at the bar, surrounded by laughter, low lighting, and bartenders who clearly love what they do, it felt like an entirely different world from the one we’d lived in earlier that day with sunscreen battles and nap windows.
From Mez, we walked over to Aramara for dinner. The setting was stunning: open-air, elegant, breezy in the way only oceanfront spaces can be. This was, undeniably, the most “us” we had felt all trip: talking without interruptions, eating without cutting someone else’s food, existing without little hands tugging at our sleeves.
But dinner is where my garlic allergy became a noticeable challenge. While the staff were kind and very willing to accommodate it, the kitchen seemed less prepared to modify dishes in a way that still felt exciting or intentional. Several items on the menu couldn’t be adapted at all, and the dishes that could were simplified to the point of feeling bland: plain proteins, under-seasoned vegetables and substitutions that leaned heavily on “removal” rather than “reinvention.”
I’ve eaten at many luxury properties in Mexico, and often chefs there treat allergies as creative opportunities: a chance to reimagine a dish rather than strip it down. So the contrast here stood out. It didn’t ruin the night, but it did take some of the sparkle out of an otherwise beautiful experience.
Still, when we called for a golf cart to go back to our room later, I felt deeply grateful. Grateful for the mezcal, the uninterrupted conversation. Grateful for the babysitters who made the night possible. Grateful for the time to be a couple, even for a few hours, in a season where that can feel like a luxury in itself.
Spa Bliss, Lazy River Giggles, and the Imperfect Perfectness of Family Travel
The next morning, I had the Punta Mita Tequila Stone Massage, which was phenomenal. As a mom who’s constantly carrying babies, toddlers, bags, groceries, emotions, this treatment felt like someone handing me my body back.
While I was at the spa, my husband took the girls to the lazy river, which became one of their favorite experiences. The pace was perfect for their ages: slow enough to feel safe, dynamic enough to feel fun. I joined them after and my eldest got to order her ‘first drink at a bar’ — a lemonade that she was thrilled to sip on with us. Dinner that night was back at Dos Catrinas to send us off.
What I Would Love to See Added to the Babies For All Seasons Program
As much as I truly appreciate the heart behind Babies For All Seasons — and I really do think the intention is strong — I found myself wishing for a bit more depth, especially for families traveling with children in that tricky “in-between” stage. Once babies age out of purees but aren’t old enough for the Kids Club, the offerings can feel sparse. Our toddler was too big for the baby amenities yet too young to participate in older-kid activities, and that gap left us improvising more than I expected. This isn’t unique to Punta Mita: most resorts overlook the one-to-three age range, but it’s exactly where Four Seasons has an opportunity to stand out.
A baby-led weaning–friendly menu would be a huge step forward. Many modern families aren’t relying on purees after a certain age, and something as simple as a few BLW plates (soft-cooked veggies, shredded proteins, toddler-safe bites) would make mealtime significantly easier for traveling parents. Similarly, more intuitive in-room amenities would support the program’s mission: dish soap available without needing to request it, bottle warmers or sterilizers upon ask, fans to cool the closet “nap nook,” and bath mats for little ones who still slip easily. During our stay, both the baby/toddler float and a truly baby-sized robe were unavailable: the float missing, and the robes so oversized that neither of our girls could wear them. None of this ruined our stay, but when a program centers babies, these omissions stand out more clearly.
And then there’s the toddler opportunity. For families like ours, with multiple kids at different developmental stages, a few small touches could go a long way: bath toys delivered at turndown, a bin of beach toys, simple sensory crafts, a toddler-friendly snack basket or even a short morning activity (bubbles by the pool, a 10-minute storytime, coloring pages at breakfast). These don’t require a full Kids Club curriculum: just a little intentionality for the children who aren’t quite babies anymore but aren’t fully “big kids” either.
Punta Mita already has the warmth, the setting, and the heart for this program. With these thoughtful additions, it could become one of the most truly family-forward — and genuinely baby-and-toddler–friendly — luxury offerings in Mexico.
Final Thoughts: Beautiful, Memorable & Full of Potential
Overall, our stay at Four Seasons Punta Mita was meaningful, memorable, and beautifully restorative. Our girls splashed, giggled, napped and explored. We reconnected as a couple. We ate well, slept well (as well as parents of two under three can), and felt genuinely grateful for the time together. The property is stunning. The breakfast is fantastic. The spa is exceptional. And the setting is a dream.
There were also moments where the resort’s service felt stretched, where communication required follow-ups, and where the Babies For All Seasons program didn’t quite meet the depth and intuitiveness we expected for a brand of this caliber.
But none of that overshadowed the beauty of our time there. If anything, it clarified the potential: with a few thoughtful enhancements, this could easily become one of the best baby- and toddler-friendly luxury properties in Mexico.
Would we return? Yes. Absolutely.
We’d return for the warmth, the beauty, the ease of the suite, the breakfast, the spa, and the way our girls lit up in the plunge pool.
And we’d return with the hope that the program continues growing: into the truly exceptional offering it has the bones to become.
