General holiday moan/rant

[Stevie77]

This may seem like a really dumb thing to ask but how do you become that person that is booking holidays 1 or 2 years in advance, as mentioned in another thread? We can't even find somewhere we like for Summer 2023, probably because it has all been booked by the organised folks 😂

The amount of time it takes to research destinations, resorts, and hotels. It's like a second job. How do you choose if you're picking somewhere new? Just find it so painful to endlessly trawl through websites, destinations and hotels that end up being unsuitable. It makes me not want to go.

There also seem to be no last-minute deals anymore, not even short breaks. Maybe it's Brexit, or a post-Covid surge still, I don't know.

Also hotels 😕. What no one tells you is that as your kids get older for all of you to cram into one double room is not relaxing or fun and certainly doesn't feel like a holiday when you've paid thousands. Yet the majority of hotels are designed for 2 adults and 2 (young?) kids sharing a sofa bed. When you have one teen and one younger of the opposite sexes, that's not really an option but searching for those that have separate bedroom/s or interconnecting rooms is an additional challenge.

So any practical advice on how to win this part of life will be gratefully received🙏

If booking a holiday abroad we first do a bit of research on different resorts and what they have to offer. Once we've decided on a resort we look at hotels by using the filters for star rating,reviews rating, board room type and facilities etc.This narrows down the search from possibly hundreds of different hotels.

We have two rooms. DH and DS in one (the smelly one) and DD and I in the other, fragrant room. 😂

Much easier to find two rooms than a family room. And one year in Crete they gave us two next to each other that shared a weeny pool between them - we didn’t pay for this but they can only allocate them to families or people that know each other.

In Mexico we got rooms next to each other as well, and we have also had villas or flats in places so they have multiple bedrooms.

So I start with the accommodation and work back from there.

I find the easiest way to start is by looking at the airline's website - Easyjet for us - then picking wherever destination takes your fancy that has the dates & prices which suit you.

Then Airbnb & use the filters and map to narrow down the perfect accommodation.

I would book a summer beach holiday typically 10-11 months as I've noticed this is a sweet spot for price and also good availability as I have a long list of requirements. I work in travel and although I book holidays in the same way as anyone else would I have good knowledge on destinations and how to get a decent deal but I still do considerable research each time too.

You can use a travel agent if it's to overwhelming though. Find a good independent one as I've found most chain/shop based ones are clueless.

I think about holidays all year round and start planning one as soon as the one I have planned is over! There are so many places I want to go!
I start by deciding where then I look at specific destinations and then Tripadvisor for all the hotels. I mostly book direct with hotels and airlines :)

We book a villa or two double rooms. We all slept in the same room until they were 10 & 8 then sizes of bodies got too big!

Villa is your best option.

@Furiously I can totally see how this works for some people. Personally, when I've paid £k I prefer to share a bed with my husband. he is not smelly at all 😁.

A villa may work when they're both a bit older. The younger one loves the company of other kids and wants to talk and play football all the time. So for everyone's enjoyment of the holiday 😂, a hotel works better for us for now.

Starting with destinations is a good idea. We obviously just need to try and be organised and planned, to book flights when the prices are low.

Decisive people who aren't overambitious about what they will be doing when they get there, I am guessing 😀People looking for five star beach holidays in hot countries every year, for example.
I could not do it because I get bogged down with trying to maximize what we will get out of every, single day of the holiday. I also need the best located hotel in order to achieve it all relatively independently which is hard to get right when you book non-refundable hotels (which I like to do as well!)

What about Eurocamp vs a hotel. Some of the new chalets have all mod-cons - DW/en suite/covered terraces etc. It's not all scabby tents. And many sites have fabulous facilities.

I've got a long list of places i want to go, i've then split that into what years i'd like to aim to do that, factoring in weather, and each yeah try and do one AI beachy pool holiday and 1 more active, more walking/sightseeing etc.
I like to know coming back from a holiday that i have the next one booked.
It does take ages researching accommodation though, especially for the multi stop trips

I think you've nailed it 😁

That's a good shout, I'll have a look.

For us we prioritize finding places with crèches or kids clubs (which it sounds like your kids might enjoy) - some sites allow you to filter hotels by this which narrows down the list! I find holidays most relaxing when I can have at least a few hours to myself!

We’ve always gone for a Eurocamp or villa as have never really understood how hotels work for family holidays? Do you all have to go to bed at the same time? In a villa/mobile home with 2 bedrooms the kids can go to bed and you sit outside enjoying alfresco drinks etc.

I have a list of countries I’d like to visit over the next 10 years but I’m definitely not a forward booker - I like flexibility to change my mind. Only booked once in advance and that was only due to it being over Christmas. In my camper I usually start looking after lunch for somewhere to stay that night

Look at a European campsite with bungalows or mobiles.

We've stayed in union lido & are returning this year. 3 bed mobile with Estivo. Bolero. Gustocamp, roan, human travel all have mobiles and union lido have their own also.

I don't book that far ahead, maybe 6-10 months on average but I don't find it a chore, I LOVE it!

Basically I should've been a travel agent typically I like to always have something booked and to look forward to. We go away next month (eurocamp Lake Garda) and we booked it last summer. We don't have next year booked yet but we are going to Canada, so we have been saving and know rough dates etc but need to wait for flights to come out before we book.

It’s my most loathed task, and dh hates it too so we talk about what we want and I literally google villa for 5 in x and pretty much just book the first thing that comes up (just checking that it fits our initial criteria). We do villas because we want the space and the freedom to do what we want when we want to.
We book flights separately, again I can’t be arsed hunting for deals and best offers, just google flights to wherever we are going and book the dates we’re looking for.
honestly I don’t spend more than about 20 minutes looking because it’s just a crappy never ending job otherwise! “Oh but what if it’s too noisy/far from x/not big enough/doesn’t have this/think the other one had this and that but this one doesn’t… I’m feeling irate just thinking about it!
I’m very impulsive and can’t stand wasting time on things I can get done in a short space of time.
And it’s always come good for us!

Nope, I’m booked for 2024, packed itinerary, need to book the flights when they release but all nailed down. We have 6 locations and various daily trips. We use a country specialist to help. So frankly, throw money at the problem

DD complained about a sofa bed when she was 11 and since then we had an appartment with two bedrooms. I found it much cheaper last year booking two rooms than a family room but obviously with just one child it's a bit easier.

The issue is the amount of family rooms/appartments. There aren't just enough for the demand. We found it a lot easier to book 2 rooms than one family room on short notice.

Last year we booked in February for August and this year we booked in January but it's a road trip to the US compared to a typical AI resort hotel. I must admit we think last year was the last we did this. DD will be 16 this year and just outgrew it. Thanks to Covid we did s/c 2020 and 2021 so the resort in 2022 was a bit of a let down.

We’ve booked Australia for February 2024. The reason why we booked a year in advance is because availability with air miles is scarce so we waited until midnight 365 days before travel to book it! Just need to book hotels now.

Where have you always wanted to visit? Write a list of places you’d like to visit and research accommodation, things to do, flights, best time to visit, etc.

I know exactly what you mean op.

We've got two dc different ages and all of us cramming into a room is my worst nightmare.

A lot of people seem to be happy to make do. Like the example above where a pp sleeps in a separate room to her husband. I hear a lot of people saying it's only a base. This is true but I prefer a home from home. I'm fussy but when I'm paying thousands I want privacy and comfort.

Having said that a lot of hotels do an apartment style room. Last place we went had a double bedroom with sliding doors through to the living area. It was two sofa beds but they were as good as single beds and my tall teenager managed fine.

People who leave it late to book really baffle me - you still have all the hassle of looking but also far less choice for far more money 🤷‍♀️.

We decide and book in September for the following summer. Use a travel agent as once I’ve chosen my location and dates I find the rest boring! Job done. Once the kids have left home then obviously we’ll be able to leave it much later as we’ll have so much more flexibility on dates but while we’re tied to school holidays early booking is the only sensible thing to do!