Hotels or self-catering family holidays and breaks
hotels
Hotels generally offer a wide range of facilities, including restaurants under one roof. And the mess your family might make is generally cleaned up for you. For city-break trips hotels are also likely to be more centrally located. If you are travelling on a tight budget the whole family can often be accommodated at a reasonable cost per head in a family room.
However, hotels can also have major drawbacks for family travel unless you plan carefully. Try to book two interconnecting rooms or even a suite to allow the evening to yourself. Or seek out a hotel with a listening service (at a smaller hotel your baby monitor may do the trick). Even better still, invest in a Bébétel. And bear in mind that hotels can prove substantially more expensive than other accommodation options. Nor are most hotels generally renowned for child friendliness (although there are some great exceptions).
You'll find 'hand-picked' family friendly hotel options within our destination guides. And you can check availability and book rooms at a wide selection of hotels throughout the world.
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self-catering
Self-catering can be far less expensive and offers greater flexibility and freedom. Although most parents would prefer to spend minimal time in the kitchen while away from home, kitchen facilities can certainly prove useful for the odd meal, or for heating bottles. And your children may warmly welcome the odd 'home' cooked meal, especially in countries where local cuisine differs substantially from the meals to which your children are accustomed. Useful too if you need to make, mash, store and consume baby food. Villas, cottages and apartments generally also offer families far more space than one or two hotel rooms.
Before booking self-catering accommodation it's worth conducting careful research and asking the following kinds of questions:
- How many bedrooms?
- How far from local shops and restaurants? The beach or ski slopes?
- Are there baby sitting services or any other form of childcare or activities for children?
- What kinds of facilities are available for children?
- How often will the accommodation be cleaned?
We offer a wide range of cottages for short and long stays in the UK, France and Ireland through our partners, the Holiday Cottages Group. You'll find apartments to suit different budgets when you conduct a search for hotels and apartments from our Book page. Villas are available across Europe from our partners at James Villas and Simply Travel.
And if you're planning a ski trip yet another accommodation option is a chalet. Check out our 'What sort of trip' guide for further thoughts.
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buying a time share
Time shares are a convenient way to own a second home abroad, albeit for just a week or two a year. This can be a cost effective option for families, especially for those who prefer to visit the same resort at the same time each year. In addition to the purchase cost an annual maintenance fee is generally payable.
And time share offerings are becoming more reputable as the larger hotel chains like Marriott and Hilton significantly expand their offerings. Increasingly, you can exchange your week(s) for weeks at different times of year and / or at different resorts by joining the schemes of one of the two major time share exchange companies, RCI and Interval International. This explains, in part, why time share is becoming increasingly popular with over 400,000 owners in the UK.
But there are also substantial drawbacks. Unless you exchange a long time in advance it is very difficult to secure accommodation in other resorts during peak (i.e. school holidays) periods. And the value of a time share invariably drops substantially immediately following purchase.
The Timeshare Consumer Association exists to make timeshare an enjoyable, value-for-money form of holidaying.
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exchanging your home
Exchanging your home can prove to be both the least expensive and most compelling option for a family holiday, but there are certainly pros and cons.
On a positive note, home exchange can cost just £29 (the price of listing your home in a directory with an agency). And if the owners of the house with which you are exchanging have kids of a similar age then you can take advantage of their cots, toys and even their babysitter or other support. If you live in a 'sought after' area of the UK for other families then you can increase your chances of exchanging for a highly demanded location - in the UK or abroad. Other benefits can include the fact that your house may be less susceptible to burglary if it's inhabited and getting invaluable 'insider' tips from your exchange family about where to go and what to do. You can swap cars too and even pets.
Considerations that can potentially make a home exchange less appealing include the prospect of sharing your house with complete strangers, feeling obliged to look after it with a higher level of respect than you would a hotel room or other rented accommodation and not finding a 'fair' match in the first place.
If you're thinking of a home exchange then plan a long time in advance and choose a reputable agency. Some available options include:
Home Base Holidays - established in 1985 with over 2000 properties featured across the world. Membership is £29 for a year or £39 for two years.
Intervac - operates in 50 countries with annual fees ranging from £85 to £129.
HomeLink International - established in 1953, HomeLink International is the oldest and largest home exchange organisation in the world. It now has 24 offices worldwide, staffed by experienced home exchangers and meeting the home exchange needs of 12,500 listed members in 50 countries. Membership costs £95 for a 12 month listing.
National Childbirth Trust's House Swap Register - offered 229 houses in the UK in 2003, membership is £29.99 per year with all profits going to the NCT. Contact: Denise Tupman for further information at: thetupmans@yahoo.co.uk, or tel. 01626 360689
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