Holiday with kids - would you stay at hotel or Airbnb?

[Doremi1689]

Which would you choose and why

We've done hotels and cottages with DS at all ages. Depended on the destination. America/Canada hotels often do family rooms which are more like small apartments with a mini kitchen. Never gone AI anywhere as like to eat out and people watch in the evenings.

We have a 1YO and 5YO. My personal preference would be for a 1 or 2 bed suite at a nice hotel so we have space to hang out when the kids are asleep but we can also order room service and get drinks from the minibar. Air BnBs usually aren’t babyproofed and you have to cook/clean so it’s harder with young ones! However, if hotels in that set up didn’t exist in my preferred location or were out of budget then I’d definitely go for an Air BnB over all sharing a family room.

Air B& B all the way. Eat when you want (out, if you prefer), have a whole house or flat to yourself, quiet, you don't have to shell out a fiver and wait 20 mins just to get a cuppa.

Apartment (be that AirBnb or booked directly) over a hotel for me anyway.
Depends on the ages of your kids of course but I would struggle to do a weeks holiday abroad in a hotel room with two young kids.

Apartment means separate bedrooms and a separate living space that you can chill out in when kids are gone to bed
in the evening.

Thanks all! Thinking to do Airbnb as much cheaper than hotel AND much bigger space and 2x bedrooms! We have a baby + 4 year old. Only issue for me is I’d miss the luxury of staying at a hotel as food is already made for you rather than searching for a restaurant for kids to eat. Also there is the kids club at the hotel but I havent put my 4 year old in one yet

I'd do self catering for the extra space but not Airbnb; I think its time has gone. There are much better deals to be had booking with a dedicated self catering outfit or even directly if you can hone your Google search sufficiently.

There's a lot of shit on Airbnb and a lot of extra charges. Booking.com is a bit better but a lot of the listings are unclear where an owner has multiple properties. Really ime the best deals are from people on the ground in the place as it were, and now that sites are a bit more savvy about key words etc you can find them.

Deliveroo etc. If your going to popular area alot of the good restaurants do delivery now.
Our own place any day.
Do a shop to take with you so you've got some out together meals ready.

Mostly apartments when DS was younger, or - best of all worlds - an aparthotel with cooking facilities but also a kids club and restaurant.

Uk or abroad?

If abroad I found all inclusive hotels perfect at those ages. Buffet restaurants so always something they'd eat, lots of kids activities and lots of families with kids so they made friends. Yes maybe not my first choice for a holiday but they absolutely loved them!

Ask for a room not near the entertainment so quiet at night. We used to get them to have an afternoon nap which they did long past nap age as tired from all morning in the pool. They then stayed up later for dinner. We would then sit on the balcony and have a drink whilst the kids slept.

Make sure you choose a hotel with a few restaurants.

I prefer Airbnb in the UK. Abroad I tend to go for an aparthotel so we have multi rooms but also hotel benefits (although I don't book meal plans personally as prefer to eat out)

We've done airbnbs and aparthotels where they've been available. Even before kids, we always liked having more space and a kitchen unless we were going on a "special" holiday. Now we have a child we want somewhere for him to sleep whilst we spend the evening alone. I couldn't imagine doing what my parents used to do with 2 kids (6 years age gap) in one Travelodge room for the week.

The best option is self catering at a hotel! We've done that a few times and it's great.

Self catering means more space and none of this nonsense of sitting in the dark when kids go to bed.

If a hotel interconnecting rooms are the best.

I reported the spam ^^

At that age - only self catering. DD wasn't only an early riser, she needed food immediately. No way she would be waiting for the breakfast to open.

She also hated staying up late and never slept in her pram in the evening. Villa with her in bed and us at the terrace was a bliss. We only did breakfast ourselves, went out a lot during the day and grabbed cold cuts/cheese etc for dinner.

I never booked AirBnB but there are lots of properties who offer stair gates, fenced in pool, cots etc if you look properly around. We never had issues over 10 years ago.

Hotel was great at age 7+, she was confident to be in the kids club, happy to stay up late and slept longer than 6am.

You could look at aparthotels who are appartments but you have the facilities and often you can book AI/half-board as well.

Aparthotels are good as you have housekeeping. No sweeping up or making beds. Your towels are changed too. It's handy to have a fridge for snacks and drinks. Self catering doesn't mean you have to cook. I love choosing a different restaurant every night.

How to you self cater in a hotel? Surely the two are mutually exclusive?

Lots did them have rental homes on their grounds. You get more space, housekeeping, access to all the facilities. We did it a lot when the kids were small!!

Self-catering all the way! Much more flexible, more private etc. But then we like going to markets / cooking and only eat out occasionally.

(Would go for Clickstay over Airbnb too, just for cost reasons)

With a baby space helps a lot. Holiday won’t necessarily be relaxing but it’s a change of scenery. Mine are now 4 and 7 and I’m fed up of self catering so now am all about kids club and making things more relaxing. My ideal would actually be a 2 bed villa with private pool on a holiday complex where I don’t have to cook but also have my own space. Sadly that set up is £££.