Becoming a parent impacts on your life in so many ways, and holidays are no exception.
Those PB (pre-baby) days when a holiday involved booking an airfare or jumping in the car and taking pot luck with accommodation doesn’t work as well with children or at least not in my experience haha. These days I have to admit that pre-booking is the way to go.
Accommodation is often the major cost of the family holiday, but it is not case of a one size fits all. It is a very personal choice and a property that some families love, others will not. You can spend a lot of time in your holiday accommodation, so it’s important to get it right.
This was why school mum Amanda Woodward’s decided to create www.familyfriendlyaccommodation.com.au, to help other parents find holiday accommodation that welcomes and caters for families is such an awesome idea!!!
Family friendly can be as simple as providing comfortable, spacious rooms. It can be having fenced yards, break-proof plastic crockery, through to playgrounds, toys and games consoles. Swimming pools are popular for all ages and many places provide or hire out cots & highchairs.
Family Friendly Accommodation doesn’t have the most listings on offer, but you don’t have to sift through hundreds of generic listings to make sure the property you are interested in welcomes, let alone accepts, children.
There are a range of properties listed – from resorts with all the bells and whistles, through to apartments, holiday homes, farm stays and even B&Bs, not to mention the ever-popular holiday parks and with School holidays just around the corner I think it would be worth a look 🙂
Remember, when choosing accommodation, look for what suits you and your children in your current stage of life.
Parents with a baby can still stay at a lovely hotel or B&B with the addition of a cot, while the toddler stage might be time to give an apartment with a separate sleeping area a go – particularly if your toddler is a light sleeper.
As children get older, they may no longer want to share a double bed in a hotel room. Free WIFI becomes more important and you might want more activities to keep them occupied – a great time for a resort or farm stay.
There are also a few things you can pack to help make your stay a bit more comfortable on any family holiday. They include:
Clothes pegs – not just for pegging up your clothes, but handy to gold together curtains that won’t meet or to peg up a blanket for extra block-out for toddlers (or parents) needing a day-time sleep
A small container of washing powder – handy if you are travelling for a shorter amount of time, but might need to clean underwear and stained clothing
Duct tape – can be used for anything from removing lint on clothes to baby-proofing powerpoints.
Check out www.familyfriendlyaccommodation.com.au for more advice and property details. You can also download luggage tags and a holiday countdown chart.
What sort of family friendly features are on your list when choosing holiday accommodation? Let us know below…
* This post was Sponsored by Family Friendly Accomodation
