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We’ve stayed in lots of hotels over the years with our kids. These days, we’ve got our routines down to a science, and our kids (mostly) understand the rules and what’s expected of them when we’re away from home. I’ll admit though, we stopped traveling for a while after Maddie was born. She just didn’t like to sleep in general, much less when we were in a hotel room. And toddler Graham was just too wild to keep calm and quiet! But now that the kids are older, we love taking trips together. I’ve got a few tips and tricks that make staying in a small hotel room easier with kids.
Check out these 10 tips for staying in a hotel with kids:
Luggage Carts Are Your Friend
Before kids, the hubs and I packed pretty light and would just carry our bags with us to our hotel room. But traveling with kids requires a TON of more stuff. We quickly learned to grab a luggage cart after we check into the hotel to make it easier to get all the luggage to the room. The kids love taking a ride too!
Unplug the Phone
The first thing we do when we get into the hotel room is to unplug the phone. TRUST ME on this one. Kids these days are fascinated by a phone that plugs into the wall. (Or basically, any phone that’s not a cell phone.) My kids always want to play with the hotel phone, which is fine with me, as long as it’s unplugged!
Unpack and Get Organized
Before kids, we never really unpacked our suitcases. Especially if we were just staying a few nights. But now we like to unpack our clothes and get organized when we get into the hotel room. I love to store the empty suitcases in the closet, set up any snacks we’ve brought, and make sure any medicine and toiletries are put up high so the kids can’t reach them. Having an organized (and somewhat tidy) room helps my state of mind and keeps me calm, even when the kids are hyper and excited about being away from home.
Shoe Basket
We always seem to travel with a ton of shoes. Even just two pairs of shoes for 4 people is a lot of shoes to keep track of in a hotel room! We like to bring a laundry basket for shoes when we travel. I set it up right by the door of the hotel room and the kids know that as soon as we get to the room, they need to take off their shoes and put them in the basket.
Laundry Hamper
I also love to bring a pop-up laundry hamper for our dirty clothes. On our last trip, I forgot one and the kids left their dirty clothes all over the room. I was constantly picking up dirty clothes. (I felt right at home. Ha!)
Snacks
Kids need snacks. It’s just a fact of life, unfortunately. As soon as we get back to the hotel room after eating a meal, one of my kids will inevitably ask for a snack. I like to keep all the snacks set up neatly on a shelf or table so the kids can grab something when they’re hungry.
Bed Rails
When the kids were younger, I always worried about them falling off the bed when we were traveling. We ended up buying a set of bed rails to bring when we traveled, but many hotels have a set you can request. Nothing is worse than comforting a shocked and bruised kid in the middle of the night after they’ve fallen off the bed!
Balcony
A hotel room with a balcony is the best when you’re traveling with kids. While we don’t usually stick to our normal bedtimes while we’re traveling, we still end up wanting to put the kids to sleep earlier than we want to go to bed. We love when the room has a balcony because it’s the perfect place for the grownups to hang out and chat after the kids go to sleep.
Suite
Another option other than a room with a balcony, it to request a suite. It’s awesome having more than one room to spread out. We also love that the kids can sleep in one room and we can sleep in another. That way we don’t have to go to bed as early. If you’re not able to book a suite or get a room with a balcony, make sure you bring some headphones or a book lamp so you’ll have something to do once the kids are asleep.
Pool
After a long day of traveling or sight-seeing, the adults are usually exhausted, but the kids seem to have endless energy. We love hotels with pools because it’s a great way to wear the kids out before bedtime! Especially now that our kids can swim and we don’t have to get in the pool with them.
What tips do you have for staying in a hotel with kids?
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My husband and I are thinking about going on a short trip soon to get out of the house, and it will be our first time staying in a motel since we’ve had kids. I like your tip to get everything unpacked, organized, and tidy to help keep you calm. I think that would also help make sure that we could find things quicker and get ready faster in the mornings, so we’ll definitely have to make sure to do that once we get a motel room.
Hope you guys have a blast!