Win a two-night bed and breakfast stay at a Luxury Family Hotel

[HannahGMumsnet]

Hello folks - we've got another competition for you!

Luxury Family Hotels are famed for providing families with stress-free and relaxing UK breaks which are fully focused on spending quality time together and taking some time out to relax.

With multiple locations across the south of the UK and prices starting from £329 for two-night stays including breakfast and dinner, it's the ideal time to book your break - and you can find out more here.

This year they're celebrating their 30th birthday, and to celebrate they're giving one lucky Mumsnetter the chance to win a two-night bed and breakfast stay at a Luxury Family Hotel of their choice.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is let us know your top tips and tricks to ensure you and your family unwind properly on holiday. Whether that's making sure you turn off notifications for work emails, or getting out and exploring nature or simply remembering to pack the tablet charging cable, we want to hear it.

We will be picking a winner at random on Monday 22 July 2019 - good luck!

The prize is valid for redemption until 28 March 2020 (excluding school holidays and Bank Holiday weekends). The prize is valid for two adults and up to three children. The prize is subject to availability at time of booking.

Make sure you know where the nearest soft play is.

Some proper, professional evening entertainment suitable for the whole family.

After a day of sightseeing/whatever, I like to be safely ensconced in the hotel, settled for the evening having dined.

Plan plan and plan! For long car journeys take sticker books, colouring and small toys wrapped up. Also take padded cushion trays for the kids to lean on. We listen to audio books, david walliams is a fav.
Unpack on arrival and have a quick walk around to suss out the hotel etc. Snacks for hotel room and toys and books from home. Usually take a tub to keep all the kids things in.
Take colouring pencils out to dinner with you. Ask for kids food first!
Also we're more relaxed with bed times!

Showing the DC pictures of the room, building, surrounding area and discussing all the details together makes a huge difference in their comfort levels. My DD is autistic and needs to be prepared in advance so she can properly enjoy herself. Also bringing charging cables, definitely!

No cooking, no cleaning, and a pre dinner nap!

My top tip is to be as organised as possible before we go so that we don’t have to spend as much time on irrelevant stuff whilst we’re away. So for example, if we’re planning on a day out, I’ll pack an exact outfit per child (if it’s a soft play type place then include grippy socks) - basically so we can just grab what we need and go. If we’re self catering then I cook in advance, freeze and stick it in a cool bag for the journey so that I don’t have to waste time cooking whilst we’re there (and reduce the number of store cupboard items I need to take)

I ban my husband from taking his laptop. The kids are fine going cold turkey with electronics but he's awful. He's not a workaholic, just finds it really hard to switch off from the thought of all the undone stuff, and it's cast a pall over I don't know how many holidays over the years. He's always saying he doesn't get time to read anymore, so I go on a little bookshop trip before we go away now and pick him out a handful of interesting reading, which seems to help him break the habit more effectively than just nagging him (strangely).

Spend all the time outside. Visit local markets for food and cook beautiful local recipes with local produce to have lunches and dinners al fresco

My DS is only just 2 so we've had holidays when he was a baby. My top tip is to stick to routine where possible. I thought we needed to cram loads in, but it was always better when we stuck to his routine and did 'holiday' things when he was awake/during his downtime.

Doing the same thing but in a different location can be fun in itself!

I’ve found most of my tips for holidaying from mumsnet! Little unfamiliar or new toys to bring out periodically, try to choose somewhere you know you can all happily eat. We like to eat together on holiday and DH and I have a no TV rule in the evenings. Makes us read books, play board games, do little hobbies and basically just chat a bit more!

I have to be a planner as ds is autistic but I have to keep some freedom for dd who isn’t autistic and likes spontaneity.
For the journey:
Snacks
iPads/chargers
Everyone makes a music selection so everyone gets a turn on what they like
Audio book, Harry Potter is always a favourite

We tend to opt for holiday homes or caravans as ds can become a little overwhelmed and it’s hard to contain that in a hotel. This means I can cook on days when he is overloaded and on the days he isn’t we go out to eat. Dd loves the on-site entertainment so we take it in turns to take her to watch shows whilst the other one takes ds for a walk. For me I love sitting in the sun reading something that isn’t too taxing, because I don’t want thought provoking when I’m trying to unwind. I love it when we find a quiet corner of the world and are able to not worry about the stares from people watching a 6ft teenage ds stim and make noises uninhibited, that’s when we see a connection and love between dd and ds who mostly argue the rest of the time. For those few minutes it feels like I might be winning at something.

We look for things to do on the journey home if we are driving, such as a zoo, to break the journey up and make the holiday last longer. When we get home we always plan a pj day before getting back to the day to day rat race.

Phone off, good pair of walking boots, plenty of tasty food, and a map to the local pubs! 😅

If possible go away with friends who also have children who get on with yours! We went to Spain a few years ago with friends and all the children entertained each other all week, it was ideal!

I keep a list in my empty suitcase of clothes and items that I wore/didn’t wear/found useful so it’s less packing and less thinking the next time we go away.

My tip for a relaxing holiday is to take a friend for dd to hang out with.

Periods of the day with a total tech ban, including all meals!

Our way to survive enjoy our holidays and mini-breaks, is to not expect too much and not to overwhelm our children, as they are only 2yrs and 5yrs old.
We aim for an activity a day, and if we feel can do more, then bonus!

I think the key is to make sure you go somewhere where everyone gets to do a bit of what they love to do at least. We prefer when it's not too hot so avoiding peak temperatures is essential for us to have a good time. Mostly we just make the most of having a full week together with no distractions.

Having previously stayed at Ickworth, I think Luxury Family Hotels have covered a lot of the key things - great breakfast buffet with lots of choice so everyone gets something they like, tonnes of outdoor space to run around in and activities to keep everyone busy (so littlies get to sleep at a reasonable time and adults can enjoy some down time too), free kids activities for a couple of hours each day so the grown ups can spend some time together (we used to enjoy a coffee and a board game or book in the lounge and pretend we were country house guests 😁) and babysitting if you want a romantic evening meal.

On top of that, my top tops are to plan what you’ll do each day but be flexible, have a mix of busy and more chilled out days, let everyone have their opportunity to choose what you do (within reason!) and take a selection of wrapped inexpensive books, crafts or small toys to pull out if the inevitable British weather doesn’t go along with your plans!

Make sure to plan in some do nothing days just to relax, use kids clubs to their max and pack everything we need! Also have snacks and drinks ready that are easy to prep

For me, no driving and definitely no cooking. I also make sure there is something for everyone, and make sure the children know their turn will come for choosing where we go or what activities we do. Including me (shopping 😁)

Make sure we have sticker books and colouring in for in restaurants and also audio books for the car.

We only have DD do work extra hard to make sure she’s happy then life is much easier! This year we’re staying at home & doing 5 or 6 day trips.

Phones switched off. Definitely planning in advance and chilling out about toddlers' diet, screen time and sleep schedules! And in our family we negotiate so both adults have time 'off' from child wrangling as well as family time all together.

I changed “ do” to “so” but it’s still wrong!!