Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind – Seneca
Because our children are still smallish, our vacations are typically more like staycations to places that are easily accessible via car. Even a long weekend away is enough to relax and reconnect. But many couples are afraid to travel with children because they worry about meltdowns, disruptions in routines, fatigue, and more. Despite the challenges of traveling with small children, we still believe that the benefits far outweigh the difficulties.
I’ve written several articles on my best tips for traveling with kids, and one of the most important is choosing a reputable, comfortable, family-friendly hotel. If you have small children, you’ll likely spend a good amount of time in the room, so here are my “must-haves” when choosing a hotel:
1. Location. Is the hotel centrally-located? If not, the savings you reap from staying on the outskirts of a city could result wasted time and money getting from the hotel to the city’s main attractions.
2. Space. My children have a ton of energy, so spacious accommodations are a must. Being cramped in a tiny hotel room is enough to take some of the joy and relaxation away from travel so we always look to see if the destination we’re traveling to offers hotels with mini-suites.
3. Kid-friendly features. Because most of our trips are rather short, we inevitably spend a fair amount of time at the hotel. A kids club, complimentary breakfast, and even babysitting services are features that will influence our choice of accommodations.
We are a family that is passionate about travel, and I’m excited to be partnering with Embassy Suites for the next few months to talk about how we get more out of our family vacations. As I mentioned above, we are considered “vacation dabblers”, taking a few vacation days here and there throughout the year. Embassy Suites conducted a survey of Parents magazine readers and identified the following four types of families:
1. Vacation Dabblers – those who take vacation days here and there throughout the year
2. Vacation Extenders – those who tack vacation days onto holidays
3. Vacation Maximizers – those who save all of their vacation days for one big trip
4. Vacation Accumulators – those who hold onto all of their vacation days until the end of the year and then end up having to use them or lose them
Because many families classify themselves as vacation dabblers, Embassy Suites has pledged to give guests more during their vacation stay. The hotel chain, which was ranked as Parents magazine’s 10 Best Hotel Chains for Families of 2012, offers guests two-room suites, complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast, and a nightly Manager’s Reception with complimentary appetizers and beverages. These are just a few of the amenities Embassy Suites offers to help families “more-imize” their vacation days.
I recently stayed at the Embassy Suites in La Jolla with my family and I can’t wait to share our wonderfully relaxing staycation experience. We live about an hour from La Jolla and despite the fact that it was a short trip, we used that time to relax, catch up on sleep, and reconnect with each other.
In conjunction with their commitment to help families “more-imize” their vacation time, Embassy Suites has partnered with health and happiness expert Dr. Susan Biali to offers some tips on helping families get the most out of their vacations, regardless of the duration. Here are my favorites:
If you’re a vacation dabbler, use your vacation days to relax and do something fun. If you’re a vacation maximizer, schedule a transition day between when you get home and when you have to return to work.
Travel the night before, if possible, to maximize your first day away
Balance scheduled activities with down time and relaxation
Create a scrapbook or photo album of your vacation memories to remember your time away and anticipate your next vacation
Sign up for airline and hotel travel rewards programs to accumulate perks like complimentary services and free stays
Embassy Suites recently launched their Get MORE Vacation contest on Facebook. You can enter daily to win two free nights…one for you and one for a friend.
For more information, you can visit Embassy Suites on Twitter and Facebook!
Disclaimer: I wrote this post while participating in an Ambassador Program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Embassy Suites Hotels and received a one-night complimentary stay at an Embassy Suites Hotel to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
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Agreed. When my oldest son recently graduated high school, my parents, who were in from out of town, stayed at the Embassy Suites connected to the venue. It was very nice, the people were friendly, and it was nowhere near as expensive as I thought it would be. I just wish we’d been there long enough to have a meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
We love Embassy Suites! I have to say that my personal fave perk of staying at the one we were at recently wasn’t really kid friendly… but it was MOM friendly… they had a complimentary happy hour drink hour….
I don’t travel as often as I would like because I have young children. I don’t mind going on trips that aren’t too far, but a car full of kids on a long road trip has been something I have been avoiding.
Never stayed at Embassy suites. I agree we need to balance the activities during your vacation or you would need a vacation back home.
I really wish I could afford to travel more. I wonder if Embassy has a location near Frederick, MD? I am going there for my brother’s wedding in Sept. I’ll have to check it out.