Luxury(ish) 5k, winter?

[NeedTheBeach]

Well, it doesn't have to be total luxury to be fair! We're not used to such things 😂 Just nice and ideally not full of kids clubs etc.

Looking at our work schedules the next time we can take a meaningful amount of time off just the two of us, is next January / February.

We have had a very stressful time recently, illness (him) bereavement (me) and we'd like to do a fly and flop which we never normally do.

Interested in Maldives/Seychelles/Barbados/Dominican Republic etc etc. Basically guaranteed warmth and nice beach. NOT the canaries, I've been before in winter and the weather isn't guaranteed enough for me.

Can anyone recommend any good hotels? or even travel agents (we never use those usually either but like I say, we're just burned out).

We are early 40s and priorities are a good beach on site, nice cocktails, decent food. We want to try a do nothing holiday, usually we backpack and run ourselves ragged between destinations, it's actually been about 4 years since we've had a holiday.

Budget is hopefully 5k but maximum of 6 and we'd ideally like to do 10 days given travel time.

I would love to hear any thoughts or recommendations :)

@EdgarAllenRaven we are off to Paradise Cove for my 50th later in the year, very happy to see your endorsement!
OP how about Sri Lanka, can fly and flop or mix it up with as much or as little activity as you like?

I went to Sandals Barbados for a fly and flop holiday and enjoyed it.

Antigua ... awesome

We got a great deal with BA holidays to St Lucia in February. All inclusive. Fabulous holiday.

Love Barbados! You can get the local bus around the island too which is really fun. Cool little restaurants, rum shacks. Stunning place. Safe. But watch out it’s very expensive for food and drink! Budget for that.

Highlights- Bathsheba on the east coast, turtles in the sea on the west coast, surfing on the south coast,seeing the racehorses having their daily swim , eating goat curry, the local bus. We loved it!

An alternative to the bigger hotels in Barbados - Bayfield House. It’s a lovely b&b about two minutes walk from the beautiful Mullins beach. Has a handful of rooms and pool on site.

What about Sri Lanka? Best time of year to visit, weather wise.
Direct flights from London to Colombo and stay at somewhere like the Jetwing Beach or Jetwing Blue hotels in Negombo.
As well as being interesting in itself, Negombo is also a good base for trips to Sigiriya, Kandy, Dambulla etc.
Jetwing often have very good offers on their hotels, if you book directly, more than 30 days in advance.
The other advantage of Negombo is that it is only about 30 minutes' drive to the airport (sounds awful, but really worth it, if you want maximum time to explore as road travel, despite the expressways, takes some time).
Have a look at Walkers Tours on the internet for ideas and inspiration.

Thanks for the hotel recommendations much appreciated. We are no further along in booking but I think we will soon. I've got some travel agent quotes which have come up cheaper than booking separately myself.

Sorry to everyone who said Sri Lanka, I fully agree it is amazing but I'm afraid I've been and I'm really looking for somewhere new.

I'm having a bit of a wobble because oddly enough I've never done a beach holiday really mostly backpacking and on the move quite a bit so I'm terrified I'll hate it but it also seems better than January at home so think I'll take the chance.

Paradise Cove Mauritius, not the best beach on the island so would still recommend a few trips out, but everything else is wonderful for a fly and flop.

ps sorry for your loss, enjoy your holiday.