Where to Stay With Young Children
Apartment or hotel, the questions to ask before booking, and why the room matters more on a family trip than any other kind.
7 min read
On a family trip, accommodation is not just where you sleep. It is where you eat some meals, wait out the rain, put children to bed at seven and then sit for three hours yourselves.
That last part is the one people forget when booking.
The seven o'clock problem
If your children go to bed early, you need somewhere to be afterwards that is not the dark edge of the same room.
A one room hotel room means whispering in the bathroom by torchlight. An apartment with a separate living space, a two room family suite, or a balcony solves it. This single factor changes how the holiday feels more than the view does.
Apartment or hotel
Apartments give you space, a kitchen, a washing machine and separate rooms. They cost less per person and suit longer stays and fussy eaters.
Hotels give you breakfast you do not have to make, someone to ask for help, and cleaning. With very young children, a good family hotel can be the more restful option even at higher cost.
A useful middle ground is an aparthotel, which offers both.
- Separate sleeping and sitting space
- A kitchen or at least a fridge and kettle
- Laundry access on trips longer than a few days
- Breakfast available, or a supermarket within walking distance
Questions to ask before booking
Photographs never show the things that matter. Message the host or hotel and ask directly.
Is there a cot, and is it free. How many stairs are there and is there a lift. Is the balcony railing enclosed. Is there a high chair. Is the kitchen usable or decorative. How far is the nearest food shop.
A place that answers those quickly and clearly usually turns out to be well run in every other respect too.
Location, at child scale
Judge distance in child steps, not adult ones. Ten minutes on a map is twenty five minutes with a four year old and an ice cream stop.
Being near a park, a beach or a quiet square is worth more than being near the historic centre. So is being on a street where you can let go of a hand.
A quick safety pass on arrival
Take five minutes when you arrive. Check window locks and balcony access, move anything breakable up high, look for exposed sockets and cables, and note where the stairs are.
It is the same thing you did at home once, compressed into five minutes, and then you can relax for the rest of the week.
In short
With children, the right accommodation quietly makes the whole trip work.
Ask the boring questions before you book and you will spend the week enjoying the place instead of managing it.
