 | Top tips for self-catering with the kids, Lucilla | 12-21, 2009, 16:10 hr |
Holidays with the family can be a bit of a “hit or miss” experience. With a little bit of planning, it is possible to make it more of a hit. When my husband and I first had children, we tried to continue holidaying in hotels but found that it just didn’t work with the children. We even tried “child-friendly” hotels but perhaps we tried the wrong ones as it still felt like a chore rather than a holiday. So we quickly headed down the route of independent self-catering holidays so that we could accommodate the children’s needs just when they wanted them – if they were happy, then we were happy. But here is the dilemma, we (read, me) still wanted a holiday away from the daily grind of cooking, cleaning, washing up, childcare – so how did we also achieve having a holiday as well as the kids? Well we came up with a list of criteria: - Dishwasher to avoid having to wash up. - Self-catering property that provided baby equipment such as cots, highchairs, stair gates if necessary so that we didn’t have to pack that “kitchen sink” - Catering options – many properties understand that you don’t always want to cook so you can get meals brought to your cottage or homemade from the freezer to the oven. - Childcare so that my husband and I could have some time together – we even found somewhere that has a kids club as well as babysitting - If you are going somewhere hot – a pool is a massive bonus for the children as it keeps them occupied for hours, whereas in colder climates, many properties also have indoor play rooms to help keep the kids occupied. - Other people/children – for us, we like to go self-catering at a place where there is more than one property and often ask if there are other children around the same age as ours staying when we want to book – it gives them someone else to play with and someone for you to hold an “adult” conversation with. - TV/DVD for that “quiet time” when they won’t go to sleep but are happy to watch a DVD. - Washing machine – you have no idea until you have a family how much washing you can get through and it is always handy to be able to do that “emergency” wash whilst you are away. So the next problem is how to find such holidays. www.RecommendedFamilyHolidays.com this website lists over 850 properties independent self-catering properties in France, UK and Ireland and what’s more, you can search by the criteria above. The website focuses on recommendations from like-minded mums and dads as we found the best holidays were those recommended to us. So if you want a holiday as well as the children, why not give the website a try and let us know if you have any other “top tips” on finding a holiday that is a hit with all the family. Lucilla, mum to William aged 5 and Ben aged 3.   | ||
| Re: Top tips for self-catering with the kids, odiac | 1-19, 2010, 15:02 hr |
http://www.yesildus.blogspot.com holiday - culture and history in turkey... http://www.yesildus.blogspot.com see please... | ||
| Re: Top tips for self-catering with the kids, Katia | 6-11, 2010, 13:44 hr |
www.lisbonoasis.com | ||