'that £340 is too expensive for a staycation ?

[Isitameproblem]

My friend decided that she wants to have one night in a nice spa hotel for one night. So far so good. They can leave their kids at home, but we can't, so hers is only £225 whereas ours is £340, no spa treatment, just bed and breakfast.

Isn't that a bit too steep?

I think you’re maybe still missing that she’s not going to really want your child there if she’s leaving hers at home. Naturally your attention will be taken, you can’t obviously drink which sounds like what she wants to do? It just all seems a bit pointless to drag husband and child there for that much.

Are they secret swingers !??😂

Just make it clear you can't do couples this time around.

I wouldn't drag my DC on a "relaxing" spa trip - it would make the entire trip pointless 😂.

Yeah but that’s long enough to have a spa treatment. You and DH can also tag team. Or just go own your own. Or not at all. Given that’s the choice of hotel, personally I’d go with the family or not at all. I wouldn’t spend £300 a night to leave my kid at home and then be overrun by other people’s!

So if I go for two weeks holiday to the north of Scotland (from South awakes) it’s a staycation to you? Or would it have to be just 8n awakes? So if I went to Anglesey it wouldn’t be a holiday? I’d definitely call both holidays. All my childhood holidays were in the UK. Nobody would have thought we were ‘staying’ and I don’t now. The drift of ‘staycation’ to mean this sort of thing is really annoying and makes it seem like only travelling abroad is a proper break.

@Isitameproblem i would t do it with a small child whatever it cost. It won’t be fun to be at a spa with a small child. If it were further away, maybe, and treat it just as a weekend break, going out if the hotel to see and do things. As yours is so close to home there’s no point at all. Even if it cost pence.

What is their childcare, is it a nanny or something? Could your child maybe stay with their children with whoever is looking after them?

I wouldn’t pay £340 a night to stay anywhere, especially not with my dc in tow. It’s perfectly reasonable for a few nights away. I’ve been to lots of spas and yet to find one where it was £340 of amazing for 24 hours.

And a staycation is where you don’t go away, just do day trips from home, like we all did during COVID. Otherwise it’s a holiday or a weekend break or a spa break. Everyone going past my bloody house to Cornwall all summer long is definitely going on holiday, not off for a staycation 7 hours drive from home.

Exactly. Mumsnet are obsessed with a staycation meaning to stay at home and have days out. Everyone in real life calls days /nights away in the UK staycations.

No it’s not. Many, many hotels are less than that, even in expensive places like London. Spa hotels can be more expensive, but even then it seems pricey.

When we talked about it (on Sunday) she said she could bring her DM.

So I think they talked about it and decided they wanted a spa hotel stay. Which is great, but not when it includes a 5yo.

I would do it just with her, but I don't think that's her plan. Had

A hotel that charges £140 per night for one child to sleep in parents room and eat breakfast is basically saying they don’t want kids. Your friend is possibly also saying the same thing.

No it's her DM that doesn't speak English very fluently, but her DC can communicate with their own grandma

Disagree, if booked way in advance then sometimes but one night is going to work out more per night than a stay over a few days at some places

Seems extremely pointless, unless you can get an early check in (2pm) and a late check out (12pm).

I’m in real life as well as on MN, and I suspect the same is true of everyone else commenting about it. It maybe an age thing. When the word was first used I think it was in the credit crunch ch of the 80s when everyone’s mortgages were sky high due to double digit interest rates and the word ‘staycation’ as an alternative to paying for other accommodation was invented for taking your annual leave but exploring your own area, from a home base. (It may not have been the 80s,, May have been another credit crunch, but I think it was). It’s later been used for holidays in home countries which is nonsense really when you think about it. It’s a holiday, as worthwhile and exciting for many as going abroad. It devalues cheaper holidays. In the CoL crisis I really think the original meaning should be resurrected.

It’s an incredibly child friendly hotel and the hotel most definitely wants families there- it has a kids club, huge play area, giant kids swimming pool, pony rides, kids eat free etc. It’s just that an extra bed doesn’t fit in the cheapest room category so OP will need to book a larger, more expensive room to accommodate that.

Whether the friend wants OP’s DS to join her child free break is another matter entirely though…

Yes, booking later and for only one night can sometimes raise the price. £340 is still not ‘cheap’. Not in my experience. I don’t think I’ve ever spent that for a hotel and I travel a lot.

Well it doesn't have most of things.... Not a huge play area (average), small swimming pool, NO pony rides, and kids don't eat free either!

My questions would be....

Can you afford and do you mind spending that kind of money?
Do you think you and your family will enjoy it?
If the answer is no to any of the above - don't go

Make it a school day, be very nice to parents of school friends to see if you can drop child off early and collect late?

Leave husband with the child and enjoy the spa treatments. What kind of relaxing spa day are you supposed to have with a 5 year old!? Ruin everyone’s chill.

DH unequivocally said that for that price tag there was no way in hell he'd enjoy it.

I don't mind spending that sort of money when I feel it's worth it. We're going to the Four Seasons in Hampshire at some point (and that's £700 per night) but we've bought into that concept and now we can make use of everything they have to offer. Plus it's a long way for us, so to me it feels like a proper break.

Any chance of sharing their nanny overnight?

I wouldn't be taking kids to a spa hotel. Can you make it a girls only trip?

Can't your husband stay at home with your child ? And you go alone ?