Curaçao for the whole family.
Three generations, one week.

Tony wrote the first in a review of Bayside Hill. Danielle wrote the second in her Captain’s Briefing, before her family had even landed. Read them twice. The whole page is in those two sentences.

Most of the weeks like this one are bought for somebody. A birthday that ends in a zero or a five. A mother who has carried the bill since before the kids could spell vacation. This page is for the week it’s finally somebody else’s turn — with three generations under one sky and nobody running the show but us.

Here is the belief I would like to take off your shoulders: that a trip with three generations means somebody spends it managing everyone. The grown child doing the logistics. The grandparent doing the paying. One person on the phone with a taxi company while the rest are in the pool. That person deserves a week, too. Usually they get a spreadsheet.

So let’s walk through it the way my family does — the house, the flights, the days, the dinners, the money — and you’ll see where the managing goes. It goes to us.

The first question is never the view. The view takes care of itself; it has been doing that for a long time. The first question is who sleeps where, and who wakes up first.

Dushi Hideaway is single-level: three king bedrooms on one floor, a fully fenced backyard, a private pool with a swim-up bar and a hot tub that is at 37° when you land. Up to six guests. One floor, one pool, everyone within earshot of breakfast.

Bayside Hill takes seven to eight under one roof: four bedrooms — three kings and one queen — a private pool, a panoramic hill view over Spanish Water and mini golf in the garden. Somebody’s grandfather will take the mini golf far too seriously. That is allowed.

Bigger than eight? Dushi Hideaway opens to Happy Hideaway next door, for up to twelve. Two houses, two pools, two kitchens, and enough space for everybody to spread out and still feel together. The grandparents can close their door at nine. The cousins can keep theirs open until the moon gets bored.

If anyone in your group needs to know about steps, rails or pool edges, ask Boy before you choose. I would rather you hear it from him, about the exact house, than read a guess on a page.

That is the normal shape of a three-generation week. Grandparents from one side of the ocean, grandkids from the other. One flight lands at lunch, the other after dark, and the airline does not consult anybody.

Jeremiah meets every arrival at Hato. The drive to Jan Thiel is about forty-five minutes, and he doesn’t mind which flight is late. He has heard every excuse an airplane has ever made. He meets the departures, too, so nobody spends the last morning arguing about taxis.

The group chat goes live the day you book, with my family in it — Boy, Raymonde, Britt, T-Cam and Jeremiah. The grandparents’ flight number and the grandkids’ flight number stop living in one person’s inbox. They live with us.

Brakkeput Mei Mei has been standing since 1700. It has a playground and a mini golf course, which means the four-year-old has somewhere to be while the grown-ups finish their sentences. Nobody has finished a sentence at a family dinner since 2019. Mei Mei is working on it.

Every dinner on Dushi Week Easy and Dushi Week All Inclusive is already booked: Villa Vis, the table by the water; Brisa Do Mar; Mei Mei; Pasawa Eatery, seven food stalls and a bar in the middle, so nobody has to agree on a cuisine; and De Gouverneur, the one to dress for. Wednesday is the Sunset Club Beach BBQ on Jan Thiel beach — a bonfire, marshmallows for the kids and the family behind the grill. You show up, eat, sign the tab and leave.

Small kids eat early; grown-ups like to eat late. Tell Boy when the youngest ones fade and the tables follow your family, not the other way around. See all of Tommy’s tables.

That’s Julie, in her Captain’s Briefing. Some families run the other way around. The grandparents are the planners. They take each grandchild somewhere for a milestone, they book the flights, they choose the house — and planners don’t get vacations. They get spreadsheets.

We have a fix for that. It starts with a massage for whoever booked. Claire comes to the estate. Not as a thank-you card; as a handover. From that hour the planning belongs to my family: Boy holds the week, Britt holds the dates and payments, and the planner holds a drink.

If you are the grandparent who always pays: you are allowed to be on this vacation. Not supervising it. On it.

Lee wrote the first after the week. I start with the ending because it tells you what the middle was like. Jennifer wrote the second, and it is the middle.

Put three generations on an island and something will go sideways. Somebody’s parents will end up at a beach without a ride back. A sun hat will stay behind at lunch. A flight will move. The question is not whether it happens. The question is who gets the phone call. In a Tommy Coconut week, it’s my family.

The group chat has real people in it, not a call centre. Ask the question you think is silly. None of them are. The island has an answer for most of them, and my family has the rest.

The price is for the whole group, not per bedroom and not per generation. Children aged two to five pay 75% of their share. Children under two are free and don’t count toward the group size. Everyone else pays the group rate.

Say it’s two grandparents, two parents, an eight-year-old and a four-year-old, seven nights. Dushi Week Easy is US$11,931 for the whole group. Dushi Week All Inclusive is US$23,949 for the whole group. Dushi Week Royale is by application, from $75,000 for the week, for parties of four or more. Three different weeks, built for three different appetites. Those figures carry the Introduction Rate.

All-in means all-in: no service fees, no cleaning fees, no resort fees, no tipping expected. Flights, travel insurance and personal purchases are separate. For two estates, my family writes the total for your group before anyone decides. You get the exact number in writing. Who pays it is your business. Whose turn it is — that we celebrate.

Is Curaçao good for grandparents?

It can be, when the house, the flights and the days fit everyone. Every estate is in Jan Thiel, within walking distance of the beach and the marina. Jeremiah drives you from the airport, every dinner is booked before you land, and nothing in the week is mandatory.

Do you have single-level homes?

Dushi Hideaway is single-level: three king bedrooms on one floor, for up to six guests. Happy Hideaway, next door, is not. For anything else about a specific house, ask Boy before you choose.

What if someone needs a doctor?

We have our own huisdokter, the family doctor we call for ourselves. Tell us, and we’ll get them to you.

Do children pay full price?

No. Children aged two to five pay 75% of their share, and children under two are free and don’t count toward the group size. Everyone else pays the group rate. You get the exact total in writing before you decide.

Can we arrive on different days?

Different flights are normal for three generations, and Jeremiah meets every arrival at Hato. If part of your group wants to come on a different day, tell Boy your dates when you plan the week and my family will tell you what works. Arrivals are any day except Sunday.