Ireland has a huge range of top quality family friendly hotels and child friendly hotels and accommodation. In this section we feature some properties that have made a special effort to cater for the family market either through their family hotel accommodation options, the facilities they have or their family accommodation packages.
Booking.com have a good range of family accommodation in hotels and self catering properties at discounted prices and you can search for family rooms and apartments which is a great feature. You can read reviews by families who have actually stayed there by category such as families with young children or older children.
Having a kid's club or a playground does not in itself make a property family friendly. There is no magic formula and fancy facilities while welcome do not always mean that the family has a great stay. What is important is providing a real welcome for parents and their children and appropriate facilities. Feeling welcome and being able to relax knowing the kids are enjoying themselves are the two things parents highlight most.
Facilities on premises will depend on the type of accommodation you are looking at. Families generally want premises where children can have fun and parents can relax in the knowledge that the children are welcome. They want a safe environment and in some cases activities and facilities on premises such as a leisure facility, sports facilities or a kids club. Finally activities and things to see and do with the children in the local area are important. Beaches, parks, outdoor activities and indoor facilities for rainy days are all important in getting the balance right on a family holiday.
The Irish Hotels Federation has a great new Healthy Eating for Kids campaign with over 250 hotels and signed up so far which is good news for parents who want their children to eat healthy food while on holiday which can be an issue.
In terms of accommodation families generally need more space than couples or people travelling alone. While a baby in a travel cot does not take up that much room if a double room is small this can limit circulation space. Interconnecting rooms, family rooms, suites and self catering attached to hotels with full use of the hotel facilities are great for families. Families also like to have good in room facilities including TVs, DVD, movies and with a young baby a fridge in the room is always useful.
You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday.
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