How to Choose the Best Hotel for a Family Vacation

Aug 13

Booking a hotel should be one of the easier parts of planning a vacation.

Somehow, it turns into opening twelve tabs, comparing room sizes, wondering whether “sleeps four” actually means four people can comfortably exist in the room, and trying to figure out if that amazing price includes another $47 a night in fees.

A good hotel can make a family trip so much easier. A bad one can make everyone a little cranky before you’ve even made it to breakfast.

Here are the things I look at before booking.

If you’re still working through the bigger pieces of your trip, start with How to Plan a Family Vacation Without Feeling Overwhelmed →.

1. Start With Location

It’s easy to get distracted by a cheaper room and forget to look at where the hotel actually is.

Before booking, I always check how far it is from the places we plan to spend most of our time.

A hotel that costs a little more but lets you walk to restaurants, attractions, or public transportation can sometimes be a much better deal than staying farther away and paying for parking, rental cars, rideshares, or extra transportation every day.

And after a long day of sightseeing, being able to walk back to your hotel instead of figuring out another 45-minute trip is worth quite a bit.

2. Look at the Actual Room Layout

This is a big one for families.

Don’t just look at the number of people the room technically sleeps. Look at how it sleeps them.

Two queen beds? Great.

One king bed and a tiny sofa bed that requires moving half the furniture before you can open it? That may be a different story.

Look through the room photos and check:

Bed configuration
Square footage
Sofa beds or rollaway
Whether there’s actually room for luggage
Bathroom setup

Once kids get older, room layout matters even more. Four people and four suitcases can make a perfectly normal hotel room feel surprisingly small.

3. Check the Total Price, Not Just the Nightly Rate

The room that looks cheapest at first isn’t always the cheapest once everything is added.

Before booking, check for:

Parking fees
Resort fees
Destination fees
Taxes
Breakfast costs
Wi-Fi fees
Additional-person fees

I like to compare the final trip total, not just the advertised nightly rate.

A hotel that includes breakfast and parking may end up costing less than the “cheaper” hotel down the street.

If you’re trying to figure out what your whole trip might cost, How Much Does a Family Vacation Really Cost? → walks through the major expenses to plan for.

4. Decide Whether Free Breakfast Actually Matters

Free breakfast can be a great perk for families.

It means everyone can eat before heading out without finding a restaurant, waiting for a table, and spending another $60 before 9:00 a.m.

But I also wouldn’t choose a hotel I don’t love just because it serves breakfast.

If there are inexpensive bakeries or cafés nearby—or you know your family would rather go out anyway—it may not be worth paying extra for.

Think about how your family actually travels.

5. Look for a Refrigerator

A mini fridge is one of those little hotel features I’ve come to appreciate more and more.

It gives you somewhere to keep:

Drinks
Leftovers
Breakfast items
Snacks
Fruit
Anything that needs to stay cold

A microwave can be helpful too, especially on longer trips.

Neither one is glamorous, but sometimes the most useful hotel amenities aren’t.

6. Read Recent Reviews—But Know What You’re Looking For

I don’t spend hours reading every hotel review. That can quickly become its own form of vacation planning paralysis.

Instead, I look at the most recent reviews and pay attention to repeated comments about things that would actually affect our stay.

I’m usually looking for:

Cleanliness
Noise
Comfortable beds
Location
Staff
Parking
Air conditioning or heating
Elevators
Overall condition of the hotel

One random complaint doesn’t bother me much.

Twenty people mentioning the same problem gets my attention.

7. Think About How You’ll Get Around

This is especially important if you’re visiting a city.

Check:

Is there public transportation nearby?
Can you walk to restaurants?
Is there parking at the hotel?
How much does parking cost?
Will you need a rental car?
How far is the hotel from the airport or train station?

A beautiful hotel isn’t nearly as convenient if you spend half your vacation getting to and from it.

8. Look at the Amenities You’ll Actually Use

Hotels love long lists of amenities.

You probably don’t need all of them.

Think about what would actually make your trip easier.

For families, that might be:

A pool
Free breakfast
Laundry facilities
A refrigerator
A kitchenette
Connecting rooms
Cribs
Parking
An airport shuttle

If your kids are counting on the pool, I’d also check recent reviews or call the hotel to make sure it’s actually open. There are few travel disappointments quite like arriving with swimsuits in hand and discovering the pool is closed for renovations.

9. Check the Cancellation Policy

Travel plans change.

Flights move. Kids get sick. Weather happens.

Before booking, I always look at the cancellation policy and make sure I understand when the reservation becomes nonrefundable.

Sometimes I’ll pay a little more for a flexible rate, especially if the trip is still several months away.

The cheapest rate isn’t always worth it if it locks you into something you may need to change.

10. Save the Reservation Somewhere You Can Find It

Once you book the hotel, save the confirmation number, address, dates, check-in information, and cancellation details somewhere easy to access.

Because digging through 847 emails in a hotel parking lot is not how I want to start a vacation.

I keep our reservations together in my Wander With Ease Travel Planner, along with our itinerary, budget, and other trip details.

Take a look at the Wander With Ease Travel Planner →

Final Thoughts

There really isn’t one “best” hotel for every family.

The best hotel is the one that fits your trip—your budget, your plans, your transportation, and the way your family actually likes to travel.

Sometimes that means choosing the beautiful resort with the amazing pool.

Sometimes it means choosing the plain hotel two blocks from everything because you know you’ll barely be in the room.

And sometimes the best decision is simply choosing the hotel, closing the twelve browser tabs, and moving on to something more fun.

Jaime Green