What makes holidays with kids easier?!

[SGB7]

I’m setting up 10 self-catering holiday apartments in on the South coast of Devon, and I’m desperate make them as family friendly as possible as when my own were little it was always so hit and miss.
What would make your holiday easier with babies / pre-schoolers (and older ones)?

Are they budget,mid or high end?

Toys
outdoor play equipment if possible
kids cutlery and plates
black out blinds
cot and high chair
no sculptures or trinkets that can easily break
a guide with things for kids eg farms, playgrounds, soft plays, National Trusts etc

Blinds need to be black out! V good point pp!

They are mid-high end

Please provide plastic plates/bowls/cups and small cutlery. Blackout blinds/curtains also useful. We would take this all with us because they're so rarely provided.

Make it clear on your website what you provide so packing is easier!

Another irritation - we're a family of 5, we always book for 5 but we've stayed in tons of places that only have 4 dining chairs. Very irritating!

My youngest is 6 and she's just started to complain that she always "gets the rubbish bed" which is true! So maybe decent spare beds for third children (I'm less fussed about this, she's so spoiled anyway that a couple of nights a year on a camp bed won't hurt her 😂)

Will there be a pool on site?
Any provision for nappies or formula if not close to shops and turn up and realise left formula at home?

I second outdoor play equipment like a couple of swings and a slide.
Usual kids stuff like high chair, cot bed ect free of charge- some places charge extra for these- ridiculous! And bunk beds , mine used to love these!
Otherwise games, a couple of books and we had a box of mega blocks in one holiday let- again a winner.
A bath tub & shower... no carpets hard floors are easier to clean!

We’ve got black out blinds as standard in all the bedrooms and all the beds (inc kids) are Simba or Emma mattresses (sooo comfy!).

Do you think baby baths, steamers / sterilisers would be useful?

No pool for us, but 2 mins walk to 2 amazing beaches.

Only one shop in the village - so nappy / formula suggestion is a great idea - thank you!

Childcare.
im not sure that’s what you meant. 😂

Totally agree on charging for high chairs etc, I’m trying to make things as easy as poss without a charge, and to include the things that parents and kids will remember and feel thought of - without additional an additional cost!

location is everything to me.

parking is 2nd

🤣 We do have registered babysitters available, but don’t think I can stretch that to including that 🤣

No sharp corners on furniture. Get dining table with rounded edges, circular coffee table etc etc. We stayed in one Airbnb that had coffee tables that were trays on a folding trestle, you could be sure my toddler got his fingers caught in the trestle. Also rubbed himself black all over the (cold) wood burner, so a way of fencing off fireplaces would be useful. Stairgates at least at the top of staircases.

I don't think I'd bother with stuff like baby baths and sterilisers because they can be pretty niche in terms of what people like to use. I'd also worry about risk/insurance with a baby bath and someone having a terrible accident.

I wouldn't provide formula either, you'll just end up throwing it away when it goes out of date and not having the right brand.

Nappies is a good idea though.

Instructions for the closest late night shop useful though!

I love places that provide milk, a packet of biscuits and tea and coffee on arrival. Makes it very nice to arrive!

Not going...

Leaving them at home with the grandparents.

What you really want as a parent of small children is for your older babies/toddlers to be able to roam and expend energy safely while you look on exhaustedly with a glass of wine. Any set-up where you're constantly having to run after your children, stop them doing things or hurting themselves or you don't have them in sight is stressful.

My baby isn't on the move yet and my oldest is 5 so a bit more sensible now, but when the older one was younger, I would have loved somewhere safe, enclosed, baby-proofed, with very few ornaments or sharp edges. Stairgates over the kitchen and at the head/foot of any stairs (the Baby Dan ones are great and don't look too intrusive). A small fenced garden area with a small slide, playhouse or climbing frame in it. Baths are preferable to showers, but if you only have showers then definitely provide a large tub of some sort so children can be bathed in the bottom of the shower. Definitely a box of toys for kids to pull out and explore (boxes are better than having the toys on display as few kids can resist the lure of a box). A decent mattress in any travel cots (though I don't mind bringing our own sheets/bedding for cots). Personally I preferred travel cots to wooden cots in holiday accommodation as they have soft sides and my DC tended to sleep better in them (the Red kite ones are ace and very affordable), whereas wooden cots tended to feel a bit strange and scary to them.

Everything should be wipeable and preferable no carpet in kitchen/living-room. We once ended up in a holiday let with cream upholstered chair seats (they weren't in the pictures!) and I was so paranoid about our toddler eating on them that I ended up making them eat on the kitchen floor the entire stay, which wasn't great.

And make sure you have a list of what you're providing so families know what to bring themselves and what they can leave behind.

Being in the uk makes the whole baby bottles thing a lot easier. I steriliser would be good but you can get cold water tablets and put them in a large bowl.

Baby bath would be good if there's only a shower available.

Toys are probably the easiest, group games and stuff for the beach.

A cot, high chair with a footrest, black out blinds and stair gates. A microwave, washing machine and (ideally) dryer. Non-breakable plates & cutlery.

A safe, fenced outdoor area with some play equipment would be the dream, especially if you can arrange an outdoor table and chairs so parents can have a cup of coffee/glass of wine.

I wouldn’t worry with nappies and formula. It’s a rare parent that rocks up without them. What I do absolutely love is rocking up to an air bnb where they’ve left a loaf of bread, butter, jam, milk and teabags.

Bed guard available somewhere

Wine

😂😂😂

A fenced garden area with some proper grass (not astroturf or gravel) and something climbable. A ball to kick around because they’re large so I don’t usually pack one. And a booster cushion for dining chairs, or ideally one of those junior dining chairs or an adjustable one - both my kids are out of highchairs but need to be nearer the table.