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.

Hotel with accommodation comprising two separate bedrooms - one for us, one for them. Two bathrooms is even better.

Breakfast buffet which can be eaten outdoors in the sunshine gives the day a perfect start.

A new (quite complicated) jigsaw each holiday can be a great way of zoning out for 5 minutes or so and can last for the majority of the holiday.

Choosing a hotel with a great selection of restaurants in walking distance is an absolute must.

This one shames me totally. Jar of marmite which I take to breakfast with me each day, much to my family’s embarrassment. I don’t do breakfast when at home, so on holiday it’s a real treat and I MUST have my marmite on toast. That looks so rubbish written down 😳

Sounds like a weird one but leaving the house in the way I'd like to come back to it (e.g. clean and tidy) always makes me relax while I'm away. It's that feeling of all the little jobs are done! As a family make sure enough snacks are packed for the journey and planning fun stuff to do alongside plenty of down time and picking the best places to eat in advance to stop the whole what shall we do today/where shall we eat... I don't mind, you pick cycle that seems to take up half a break away if you're not careful!

With a young DD - advanced planning before you go on holiday definitely key. Know what your options are so you have an element of spontaneity if needed but We try not to be to ambitious with the amount of activities we arrange per day. It's best if we can do something that will let her burn off some energy ideally outside in the fresh air as it helps ensure we all get a good night sleep.

My top tip is no rushing.
Lazy mornings are a must and the complete opposite from a usual day.

Nutella! Only kidding. Turn off your phones, pack the bikes and explore! Get yourself into nature, go wine tasting, go to that super swanky restaurant just this once and each morning treat yourself to a fresh baked goodie with.. Nutella.

Keep the kids up late so you get a lie in :)

Research, great internet/WiFi and planning. I find if we're being a bit aimless or don't have a plan, that it tends to go wrong!

I like to make sure we have everything we need and we’ve talked through plans so there’s no miscommunication about what we all want to do! The main thing I’d look for is space for our little one to run around safely so me and DH could have some time without fretting. Still hoping to win the lottery to get away before baby number 2 comes! Maybe this is our chance!

Mane sure colleagues are fully briefed so less likely to be needed. Only very select gatekeepers get my personal number!

Also make sure someone else does the cooking!

Go for at least 2 nights! The first night is ALWAYS a write-off, as the children are too excited to sleep or behave in any way that you normally expect at bedtime. So arrive, enjoy, go with the flow and let them stay up later than usual. Hopefully you can run them the next day and they will then go down much better giving you some adult time to relax too.

Take the in laws with us!

I leave my phone at home (next to my laptop). With a 2yr old, a full time job and studying an MBA, I need it!!!

Our idea of a relaxing holiday is to completely switch off from normal life and routine.

Have some loose plans but take everything as they come and just be in the moment.

Lots of activities and being outdoors here. I like the kids to have the chance to run free a little and be active. Also nice for other children to be around in case they fancy making friends!

My tip would to be to bear in mind that your children are the same children away as they are at home, with any difficulties they present being exacerbated usually. Consequently, only plan things that you know are going to be a success with/for them specifically, disregarding any ideas of what other families do.

Fresh air. No cooking. A beach if possible.
A separate bedroom for the children. ❤️

The most relaxing holiday I’ve had was scheduled to the hilt so my top tip is schedule but after my last holiday (self catering with toddler and baby) I think my number 1 tip might be ‘leave the kids at hone’

We take one big holiday each year, usually involving multiple destinations to really make the most of the area. We hate to drive so take public transport (train, bus, plane), which has the potential to be quite stressful, but actually works really well as the kids are entertained by people watching and general activity. Our top tips are to have realistic expectations, we anticipate the occasional upset from the kids in their new surroundings and respond compassionately. We use google to identify cool things for children in each city and make sure everyone gets to do one thing each day of their choice. We have late nights and lazy mornings, and daytime naps if we need to.
Im really excited for our next trip now!

I do a lucky dip for long car journeys- mainly wrap up crap from charity shops and the DC are usually entertained by the new toy novelty and forget to ask the 'are we nearly there yet..'

Leave the kids with grandma?

We let everyone choose one thing they want to do each day on holiday. We also make sure that each parent gets time to themselves and we share lie ins.

Our big rule for family breaks us to say yes to the kids a lot more. At home it’s all about routines, school, homework and things like that! I feel like I say “no” a bit and I hate it. I want the children to have a lovely life, and so holidays are a chance to redress that.

Kids will ask for ice creams or mock tails! Yes! Or can we stay up late and play games- yes! Can we go crabbing-yep! Kayaking- yes! Torch lit walk late at night- 100%

We have so much fun on our holidays and we really cherish that time spent enjoying it.

I would say plan and organise your packing carefully so that you don’t forget something important (keep a list in a word document that you can refer back to and update). Then once on holiday you have everything you need and can relax!

Never let them get hungry, comfy shoes and ear plugs. Reads a bit 'gremlin-esque'

For us, it's all about the swimming. We have a relatively big age gap between our DDs, but swimming is something we can definitely all enjoy together. That means plenty of research about the pool(s). I can't think of anything worse than finding out that the beautiful pool on holiday is too cold to swim in or my DDs' prized inflatables aren't allowed.

Getting time to just ‘be’ together, drinking coffee outside together with our baby when she wakes up in the morning, having dinner cooked for us! Ooh and breakfast in bed for the family would be a real treat. Giant baths and no phones!