Aruba’s Westin Resort offers $300 for your baby

I can understand the idea of a babymoon, a vacation taken right before a new baby is born. Enjoying one last (for a while anyway) trip before your life becomes a crazy blur of diapers and late-night feedings almost seems medically necessary. But taking a vacation with the sole purpose of getting knocked up – a procreation vacation – well, that sounds a little too “desperate marketing ploy” to me. Can’t people just have sex at home? Or just go on a trip and say “We’re gonna go on vacation, have a lot of sex, and see what happens” without making pregnancy the objective? Apparently, the Westin hopes not.

The Westin Resort on Aruba wants couples looking to take their own procreation vacation to book a stay this fall. The Resort is offering a $300 credit, to be used on on a future visit, to any couple that conceives while staying at the resort between September 1 and December 19. During that time, the Resort’s “Classic Package” is $399 per night for two and includes all meals and drinks, including alcohol. Guests who book by September 30 will also receive a $100 Resort Credit.

It’s an attention-getting promotion, but I doubt many couples will be able to collect. Getting pregnant seems like a crap shoot that requires the perfect storm of several factors. No matter how much sex a couple has over the course of their stay, the odds that the woman will happen to be ovulating and get pregnant within that time frame are slim. But if it does happen, the couple just needs to provide a doctor’s note confirming that conception was on or around the dates of their stay, and they’ll receive the $300 credit. For those who do receive a visit from the stork, I suppose it’s a nice incentive to return to the Westin for the first post-baby vacation.

[via USA Today]

Aruba Babymoon: Mocktails & Belly Shots

Before you announce that your next bun is in the oven, why not consider a Babymoon? A few weeks ago my good pal Rebecca called to fill me in on the details of her spring break getaway to Aruba with her hubbie Tom. But instead of talking beaches and bikinis, we squealed about baby names and bottles after Becky broke the news that she’s pregnant. Her and Tom planned it this way exactly — she knew she was pregnant in January, but kept it a secret till she was good and ready — and AFTER her and Tom had time to run off on a spontaneous pre-baby adventure. (The photo is hard to see, but it’s their shadows and footprints, standing over “Babymoon – March 2007” scribbled in the white sand of Aruba. First pix for the album!)

I think it’s a great idea for couples to consider — a quick escape to someplace warm and peaceful where you can relish in your pre-parental freedom. (Well, that is, if you’re not already one :) This will be Tom and Becky’s first child, and they wanted to celebrate the big life event together, before sharing the good news with all the friends and family. So they headed south for a long weekend of gender-guessing, mock-tails, and “3-months-along” profile photos (a.k.a. “belly shots”) of Becky in the hotel pool.

Incidentally, Rebecca and Tom relaxed at the Radisson, where they had already enjoyed a stay on a previous trip to the island. They had good things to say about the Ruinas del Mar restaurant in the hotel, as well as nearby Madame Janette’s. They also visited the Hyatt while in Aruba, and designer chic Rebecca gave the recently refurbished lobby’s black/white motif a two thumbs up. She especially enjoyed the modern decor and the “Alice in Wonderland” chairs (big enough for two, and daddy makes three!)

Of course, this is a popular trend that our Parentdish pals have written about frequently, but I’m not sure we’ve ever journeyed into babymoon territory at Gadling before. Do you know anyone who’s performed a similar pre-baby travel ritual? What first and second trimester travel have you taken? Any excuse for a vacation, right? As good as any I suppose :)