Attempting to book holiday for 2 adults, 1 infant and one toddler

[amamma]

Can someone advise- some booking sights I'm using really crank the price up for the infant. The infant is tiny and doesn't need an all inclusive holiday space. He only drinks milk, which I supply. Yet, I believe some sites are charging full price, as they expect us to take two bedrooms- which we will not do, with an infant and a two year old.

Does anyone have any advice on how to book / which sites to use ? Or is this just the reality, that I need to pay a full adult price for my tiny baby at an all inclusive resort for example ?

Many thanks in advance.

*sites

I’ve found in these circumstances it’s difficult to sort via the website - we’ve had to find the place we like online and then call up and explain the situation.

Where are you looking to book?
What time of year are you looking to go?

Lots of places are expensive for toddlers or infants I often assume it's the mess they can leave and the added expensive of disposing of nappies ect. Most places in the UK you have to agree to bring a travel cot or pay for one if you bring an under 2, over 2's they assume will sleep in their own bed. Again I guess this means the room or apartment will be a bigger family room to accommodate this

Have a look at Jet2holidays if the airports suit and look for free child place deals.

But also, is AI really worth it? Presumably with two little ones you won't be getting pissed every night?

How about you go B&B and look for a room with at least a fridge or possibly a kitchenette and eat out at lunchtime, then get nice snacks/nibbles like cheese, olives and crisps from a local shop to have in the evenings on the balcony. Also stock up on drinks and ice creams.

Go in to a high street travel agent, they'll advise about free child places etc. Also, clear the cookies on whatever device you're using to get better prices.

Look at if you’ve selected more than one room. I’ve never been automatically allocated a 2 bed option when booking and my children are much older.

You need to look for family rooms - Holiday Village, Tui Blue type set ups. Even if you get two rooms in a hotel they will expect one adult and one child in school room and they could be nowhere near each other.

Or self cater in apartment or when mine were small we always did eurocamp type caravan holidays. You have your own bedrooms, space for the baby and a terrace to sit out on once they are asleep.

AI comes into its own when they're a bit older.

We are looking to go to Italy. All inclusive is definitely not a must, definitely won't be drinking. It's just that I saw one that was all inclusive and I thought it might be handy, so we know we won't be spending lots on food and also like the idea of the food being right there, if tired etc.

My husband and I have a habit of getting tired and wanting to eat at the hotel, which can get extremely expensive ! But if it's not all inclusive, then we need it to be walking distance to places where we can eat. So that we don't spend an absolute fortune on hotel food and room service.

If you are booking on hotels . Com or similar search for 2adults, 1 child and then read what it says under the hotel for infants.

For example our holiday hotel said infants are free in cot beds. Etc

Having been away with 2 under 2, trust me you’re much better off with self- catering. A fridge and cutlery/crockery are a godsend, and the more space you have in the room for playing/crawling etc. the better! We stayed at Olive Beach Alcudia with ours with an extra large balcony, super cheap, Lidl nearby and lovely child-friendly soft beach, even if it wouldn’t usually be our first choice! Alcudia old town is beautiful. Absolutely worth paying a little extra for the larger balcony so you can sunbathe in the unlikely event they’re both napping at the same time.

Ignore me, just said you want Italy - same principals apply though!

I've totally consisted self catering , but thought it would just be stressful ? I am planning to have snacks etc around for the older one. But I can't be dealing with cooking meals and logging the kids around the entire time. I want to be able to pop downstairs to a restaurant and eat, or get room service etc. I don't want to be worried about cleaning up and cleaning bathrooms / changing sheets etc.
or am I deluded ?

All inclusive might reasonably be v. expensive with infants if it includes space for them in a holiday club?

Italy tends to be family friendly so might be British websites/filters not letting you have both children in with you rather than the hotel policy.

Agree that ringing and discussing if you can is a good way to approach somewhere you like the look of.

We have had the same situation and found a travel agent was able to select different rooms and leave a note on etc, so leaving kids off hotel room allocations, but ensuring they have a plane seat, etc.

That’s weird because I’ve looked on tui and my baby (8 months) isn’t factoring into the cost at all. Same with jet2 and holiday pirates. Toddler yes, same cost as an adult / child cost but tui do have some free child places worth a check

This place looks lovely:
villapia.com/
I've never been but have heard good reviews. We went to similar places in France and Spain when our kids were tiny and they were great - felt a lot more like a proper holiday than self catering. Not sure it's any cheaper than AI though, unfortunately.

We have been on a couple of AI holidays with a toddler and a baby, we've always been given one room with a sofa bed for the toddler and a travel cot for the baby, never needed two rooms or been offered two rooms.

You don't normally get charged much for the baby's flight as they go on your lap and don't get a baggage allowance but there is usually a charge. The child's flight is usually full price as they are taking a seat on a plane same as everyone else, adult or child.

AI is good with a small child because you can stay in the hotel for dinner, don't need to go out and find somewhere to eat, you can eat at what time you like without needing to book and if your toddler doesn't like what you choose you just go up for something else. They also enjoy the unlimited ice cream/lollies.

You don’t have to actually cater on self/catering - just ensure you’re surrounded by nice places to eat out. However, if the kids are particularly tired/grizzly, the option to just have fresh bread/local cheese etc. in the room instead of taking them to restaurant is handy. I’ve never actually cooked anything on a self catering holiday but there have been times when very small children have been too overwrought to manage a meal out, especially with the leisurely service you often get on holiday!

I think in Italy, in particular, you’d be much better off just paying attention to the location of the hotel. I think some site, maybe it was TripAdvisor, if you search a hotel’s name on there, assigns them each a walkability score or something and will say something like, “This is a walker’s paradise. There are 20 restaurants within a 5-minute walk.” Etc. It sounds like you need a hotel like that more than you need an AI. An AI is really only worth it if you’re going to stocking up on drinking all holiday along with your food, and it would be quite expensive otherwise.

Also I’m another who back when I used to actually travel (I can’t anymore; tried recently and it was a fucking disaster) used to do self-catering but never actually cooked a thing. Just meant we stayed somewhere very central with a choice of restaurants nearby and a small market with fresh bread and cheese for a cheese/baguette supper sometimes.

I think 100 people have already addressed the infant in the room, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

^I've totally consisted self catering , but thought it would just be stressful ? I am planning to have snacks etc around for the older one. But I can't be dealing with cooking meals and logging the kids around the entire time. I want to be able to pop downstairs to a restaurant and eat, or get room service etc. I don't want to be worried about cleaning up and cleaning bathrooms / changing sheets etc.
or am I deluded^

If you stay on an apartment complex, there's often maid service but I wouldn't clean the bathroom or change the sheets during a week's or fortnights holiday anyway. We just clean up at the end, but that's the same whether in a hotel or SC - make sure it's not a total tip for the cleaner and get rid of rubbish.

We rarely cook, or might do breakfast but it's very easy like a quick omelette or those ready made Spanish ones, or just nice bread, pastries etc.

Then we have one proper restaurant meal out once a day and for the other meal, have a big ice cream, ham, cheese, bread, olives, crisps etc on the balcony or drinks and tapas out. With little ones it's probably easier to have the meal out at lunch time then you and DH can eat, drink and chat on the terrace after DC have gone to bed.

Make sure there's some restaurants and at least a decent sized convenience store within walking distance and likely to be cheaper than AI and a nicer experience too as no queueing at the buffet.

Second the recommendation to go into a travel agent and ask for the best way with rooms for your situation. A lot of the time they'll say a room sleeps 2-4 but the second bed is a sofa bed in the living space, so I don't know how you feel about putting a toddler there? But you should be able to get a cot for the baby.

I'm abit confused why you are being offered two rooms. I have two young DC and we always just get a family room/normal room with sofa bed.
When youngest was under 2 depending on the airline he flew free or for an admin type fee. We often look at everything separate see how much it is compared to a package and 95% of the time book things separate as it's much cheaper.
We recently went all inclusive it was great. No waiting for meals sat down and just getting abit of everything for kids to try.