Family friendly hotels
The range of family friendly accommodation and family friendly hotels has improved significantly over the last few years and there are now many options for families including standard rooms, family rooms, interconnecting rooms, suites and self-catering accommodation. Many hotels in Ireland and abroad have excellent childcare facilities, kids clubs, babysitting and child friendly sporting and leisure facilities with lots of things to see and do with the kids.
For inspiration look at our Destination Guides or for some Tripadvisor Awards look at their Travellers Choice Awards here.
Booking a hotel room
Word of mouth is a great way of determining whether a hotel would be suitable. Check out our
forum for parents tips and great family friendly holiday inspiration. Where possible try to look at previous reviews by families such as those featured by
Booking.com for hotels abroad and
goireland in our Ireland booking option.
Book stylish and child-friendly hotels with Mr & Mrs Smith.
Type of family friendly accommodation
If you have a young baby, a double room with a travel cot is likely to be your preferred choice. If possible do try to get a larger room as a small travel cot in an average double room will reduce significantly your navigation space around the room. For families with older children interconnecting rooms or junior suites can offer a good option as well as larger family rooms. Some rooms can accommodate up to four in a family with two adults and two children on a pull-out couch. This can sometimes be a squeeze and you should check the square footage of the rooms where possible. Check the pricing for children in their own room as there is usually a discount if they are travelling with their parents.
One way of ensuring you get good facilities is to choose a hotel or a chain that has a positive policy of welcoming families. Some hotel chains have special concessions, activity programmes and children's menus in their restaurants. Free offers and discounts are also a feature of hotels who welcome families although they can be restricted to off season breaks and weekends. Check out in particular the excellent value families can get with special offers such as two nights one evening meal specials which are a family favourite.
Choosing your family friendly accommodation/hotel
Just because a hotel calls itself family friendly does not mean it is suitable for you or your family and we would advise that you check the facilities and the accommodation to see if families are truly welcome. Simply providing a travel cot is not enough to make a family welcome these days.
Top tips for family friendly hotels
Check the facilities the hotel will provide and in particular if there are cots and high chairs available and any cost for supplying them. If there are none, it is generally a good indication that the property is not geared for babies and small children you are probably better staying somewhere else.
Check what type of rooms available including family rooms, interconnecting rooms, suites, apartments or self-catering facilities. If there are self-catering facilities check what facilities in the hotel you can use as sometimes there can be restrictions if you are not staying in the hotel itself.
If the hotel offers babysitting, check what this means and the qualifications of the babysitters. Some hotels offer a baby listening service although, this will mean that your children are in a room by themselves without a responsible adult. That is something that does cause us as parents ourselves reason to question the suitability of this.
Many hotels are now providing childcare facilities and kids clubs. We have highlighted a number of our favourite hotels that provide good kids clubs and childcare facilities in our Ireland accommodation section, our editors picks and our destination guides. This can be a great chance to you to have a couple of hours off and have a swim, a massage or a coffee with your partner. Whether you use this facility will generally depend on your comfort levels and we would suggest that you look into this carefully when you are on site. We have provided a guide on how to choose a kids club including things you should look out for and questions you should ask.
Ask for any special family packages or discounts. If you do not ask you will not receive and families are a really important market for hotels both home and abroad.
Check that there is a bath and not just a shower as a bath is an essential for many families especially with young babies and toddlers.
Check if there are cost effective laundry facilities which can be used either for emergencies or otherwise. If your children are anything like ours they may come in handy if you are away for more than a few days. We try to schedule a midweek trip to the local launderette which is a much more cost-effective way of getting your laundry and returning with at least half your suitcase clean.
Enquire about family activities and facilities in the hotel and in particular family activities and things to see and do for the kids in the local area for families. Check that they operate when you are going to be there as often facilities can be seasonal.
Enquire about family eating times, children’s menus or children's meal times and whether there is a policy of excluding children from the restaurant at a certain time. Also ask about special children's menus and if your children have any allergies, the ability to accommodate these.
See if there are dedicated play areas for children, a playground or grounds that they can let off steam in.
Pre book your babysitting directly with the hotel and get confirmation in writing.
The pros of family hotel accommodation
Hotels offer the facility for someone else to cook your meals and tidy your room.
Family friendly hotels often have good babysitting facilities and childcare facilities to enable you to have a break.
Hotels provide leisure facilities in some cases which can be a great option for entertaining the family on a rainy day or otherwise.
Many hotels have kids clubs and have special activities for the family.
Children of most ages and in particular from toddlers upwards love the company of other children and this can be a great way for them to make friends and be entertained.
The cons of family hotel accommodation
Hotels can be an expensive holiday option.
Space can be restricted and in many cases you are restricted to eating out which can add to the cost.
If your children are crying or upset you can be stressed at the concern that you may disturb other residents.
Privacy in common areas can be restricted.
Hotels and their rooms can sometimes take some child proofing and we would recommend that you always spend the first five minutes after you get into your hotel room removing all potential dangers including chocolate on pillows, mini milk cartons, glasses and all of the other items that you used to appreciate when travelling without children.
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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