Wednesday 15 May 2019

PARENTHOOD: 20 Tips for Staying in a Hotel with Children

PARENTHOOD: 20 Tips for Staying in a Hotel Room with Children
Parenthood and hotels aren't two things that naturally go hand in hand, are they? The idea of squeezing the whole family into one hotel room can bring even the calmest parent out in a cold sweat. How will we all get any sleep? Will we have to spend the evening in the bathroom? etc. But it doesn't have to be out of the questions and since we've stayed in a few hotels recently I've learnt a few tips along the way. All of our hotel stays have been positive and a good nights sleep has been had all round. Mainly thanks to the following twenty tips, so I thought I'd share them with you...

1) Use furniture/wardrobes to create sections in the room for your children to sleep in.
2) Take snacks that don't need to be kept in the fridge, for example tuna/mayonnaise in a can as a sandwich filler, cheese covered rolls, yogurt pouches etc.

3) Plastic cups can provide endless fun, from entertainment at bath time to making a game of skittles.

4) Roll up a towel and put it at the bottom of the door to help block out noise from the corridor.
5) Request a room with a bath, so that if you do need to retreat to the bathroom in the evening at least one of you has somewhere relatively comfortable to lay!
6) If possible, choose a hotel with a mini fridge for milk if you have a baby who has milk before bed.
7) Take your own pop-up tent cot. We have the NSAuk Deluxe Pop Up Travel Cot Large Ocean (0-4 years) and it is perfect for travelling with because it is lightweight, compact and helps to keep noise out when your child is sleeping.

8) Bring children's headphones for the early morning wake-ups, so that one child can watch videos on a tablet/phone without disturbing other children who might be sleeping.

9) Use an extendable shower pole and bed sheet to create 'bedroom' within the room. This is normally easiest to do in the corridor usually found on the way into a hotel room.
10) Remember a book for bedtime if that's part of your usual bedtime routine. Keeping to your usual routine will hopefully help to get a good nights sleep.

11) Bring disposable plates/bowls/cutlery for hotel room picnics.
12) Take something that plays white noise, which will again help to block out background noise and hopefully result in a peaceful night.

13) Layering pyjamas are important because hotel rooms are often really warm, but not always. Taking cooler pyjamas and then putting a long-sleeved vest underneath allows you to adjust accordingly.
14) Large sandwich clips are useful for keeping curtains closed and the room dark when it comes to bedtime, especially helpful in the lighter summer months.
15) Use the bathroom as a bedroom during daytime naps. If one of your children still has a nap in the day and you're at the hotel for it then pop their cot in the bathroom, allowing you to play with your other children in the bedroom.
16) Check what time breakfast is served from prior to booking - the earlier the better if you have children who wake up at 5am like we do!

17) Scented nappy sacks - they keep disposing of nappies in your room bin a bit more tolerable and there is always lots of with to be had with a nappy sack at bath time. Filling it up, then squeezing all of the water out will provide your little ones with lots of fun!
18) Take games/DVDs/laptops/drinks/snacks/books for your evening of quiet once the children have gone to sleep. 
19) Try to position multiple children as far away from each other as possible to minimise risk of disturbing each other.
20) Take easy to clean water bottler for the children, so they are easy to wash in the bathroom sink.


What are your top tips for a successful family stay in a hotel room?


Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)


Helen x
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9 comments

  1. Great post this. My sister did it with her kids when they were both very young and she was pretty much scared for life from the experience lol

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  2. Fab tips - love the one especially on the headphones we are all staying in a hotel together this weekend for a wedding so will definitely be packing those!

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  3. I don't think we were brave enough to stay in a hotel when our children were young. I had five under 8 at one stage. I like the idea of the multi purpose Bathroom.

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  4. Great advice! We stayed in a lot of hotels with kids, and if you do it fairly often they soon get used to it and its not such a novelty!

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  5. You have a great post here and I am going to pass this onto my sister. I love the pop up tent idea and the food bag clips.. the little things make the biggest differences

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  6. I can't remember making any kind of provisions, other than a travel cot, for when we stayed in hotels. I guess with endless phonecalls and yapping dogs my two as babies were used to constant noise so they slept through it. But as others have said, once you do it a few times the novelty wears off

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  7. Some great tips here - we tend to favour cottages / apartments purely so the kids have some space

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  8. Great tips. And good for older kids too. We’ve just booked our summer hols so this will be very handy.

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