Hotel room for 4 - how do you do it?

[summerlovingvibes]

We've always stayed in air bnbs. Will be first time in a hotel (had vouchers to spend).

2 parents, 2 children aged 2&4.

2 double beds.

How do you put your children to bed? Do you literally have to then sit in the dark on the bed and wait for them to fall asleep? Do you hide out in the bathroom? Wait outside the hotel door in corridor for them to fall asleep?

Undecided yet as to whether the two children will share a bed or whether we'll use a travel cot (probably for final time). 2 year old still in a cot at home, planning to take sides off this week and try her in a bed. But maybe we should wait as trip only in a month and she just about fits travel cot still?

We never did. We either booked interconnecting rooms, a suite with a sofa bed in the living room, or an apartotel which had beds in the living room. It's your holiday too so don't make yourselves suffer.

Even Premier Inns have interconnected rooms. Just ring up to book rather than go through the website I guess to guarantee it but whenever we've booked two rooms we've been given interconnecting.

Stay somewhere with a pool and leisure centre like a Radisson if your budget is higher so one parent can go and relax and then tag team with the other one. Either on the same night or alternate nights.

We did a trip to paultons park which involved drinking wine in the corridor. Never again. If we do PI the kids get in bed we watch tv and they fall asleep when they want. Now we get two room, interconnecting or an aparthotel. Holiday villages worked well for a while but they are too big for sofa beds now

I’d only do this for max 1 night and even then it would have to be quite specific circumstances e.g. airport hotel where it’s just to crash before an early flight because yes it does mean your evenings are drinking wine out of plastic cups sat on the bathroom floor! The only way I can think that this will work is if it’s a hot holiday and you’ll have a balcony to sit out on. Failing that, hotels usually have some interconnecting rooms and if they don’t there are usually suites where you can put the kids on the sofa bed in the living room and have the bedroom to yourselves. Can you not see if you can change the room type? As for the 2YO I’d keep the bed transition until you get back. They’re mote likely to get up and be a terror somewhere unfamiliar so I don’t think you’ll regret the travel cot.

This! We’ve only done the 2 double bed thing for one night at an airport hotel. Baby in cot too (we’ve got 3 kids). Interconnecting rooms seem really hard to find whenever we try. Hence we’ve always done air bnbs but self catering has got really tiresome by this point 😂

Thanks all.

We are tied with the room due to vouchers. Nice hotel with a pool but can't get the vouchers to stretch enough to buy 2 rooms.

We're going to a set location for a specific reason so no wiggle room in that.

Ok, so no obvious answers although I quite like the idea of corridor drinking! Haha!

Is it abroad? When ours were younger they’d stay up with us whilst we were out and about so we’d either end up going to bed about the same time or if we weren’t quite ready, we’d put them to bed and have a drink on the balcony. Basically all routine out the window, they stayed up late until they dropped and we just made it work. Good luck!

Just put them to bed in one bed and sit on the other bed watching tv/reading etc. or if somewhere warm sit in the balcony. Mostly mine stayed up in the evenings anyway at that age dozing in their double buggy

Mine were in the same room always, right through to teens, in fact I shared with dd as an adult, just the 2 of us. Kids are really adaptable

We've done this twice

For the odd one nighter and we've gone to bed at about the same time. Inconvenient but didn't matter for one night.

In the US. To be honest we were all so exhausted it wasn't an issue most nights! Alternatives were...we sat on the balcony chatting after they'd gone to bed. We closed the drapes and that seemed to.work. the weather was balmy at night so that worked too. The room had a little lounge area as well with a studio kitchen, for drinks! USA for you!

We do this regularly. DS are now 9 and 11. Started when the youngest becomes too big for the travel cot.
Usually go to bed a bit later, especially abroad when they often sleep in to UK wake up time.
The going to sleep is a bit of a pain. We tend to grab a beer or glass of wine and sot with lights out for 10/15 mins until they are asleep then pop a side light on and chat, watch TV etc. We've always been noisy when they are asleep so they don't wake up. Used to do DIY (not hammering, but sanding and clattering) at night when they were young. (Detached house, no neighbours annoy).
If they're used to a single against a wall have them so the middle of the bed is on the wall side as more likely to roll the way they are used to being not the floor.
We used to have a bit of silliness about kicking but they've (mostly) grown out of that.
Sometimes if I'm tired, usually at start of the hols, I might just go to sleep at the same time as them and wake up feeling great

Thanks lostsock that's helpful. Yes, used to a single with wall.
Think I'll try and keep the 2 year old in a travel cot for this time round then, and get her used to a bed with no sides before I let her go in a double with no sides.

Same as above, we've always slept in one room, still always do even though youngest is now 10. We just put them to bed a bit later, keep them up until at least 9, and more often than not they would be able sleep even with at least one of bedside lights on.

We got family rooms. Hotels usually provide a travel cot or you can bring your own travel cot.

Re bedtime - it's better if you have a suite style room if you don't want to go to bed at the same time as the little ones

We've done this a few times. Not ideal, but manageable.

Once kids were in bed, we usually dim the lights but not sit in the pitch dark. We read quietly lying on our bed and put on a yoto story (their usual routine at home, plus drowns out noise from other rooms). Most of the time, they would fall asleep ok, then we could chat quietly/watch a film with headphones.

We did it once when eldest was 3 and youngest was 1. 3 year old screamed the place down because we left a lamp on to try and read. So we all just had to go to sleep at 8pm. After that we always booked accommodation with a separate bedroom. Now they're older they're fine to share with us but I wouldn't do more than a night or two!

adternoon naps we did on the go in the buggy or we all had a rest in the room. Evenings we put the kids to sleep in their buggies and got on as usual. If they woke up then we’d just keep them up until we went to the room or one of us would go back and put them to bed and stay there. It’s doable if you let go of usual routines and be adaptable.

Put them to bed later
Double buggy and get them to sleep in there.
If you have a balcony - get drinks and sit outside
If not - bedside lamp and tablet and headphones or kindle

This is what we do. Although some times the kids have a nap during the day and I always plan to sit on the balcony and read but I always fall asleep.

Never even considered booking it except for when we went abroad, and we’d have a balcony to sit on/play cards. Would just leave a low light on in the room so we could find our way to the fridge/loo.

When my now dh and I were trying to blend our families, he booked a room for me and my kids, a room for him and his, and a third secret one none of them knew about for us to sneak into! (They were much older than yours op).