I seem to spend a lot of my life on a fruitless search for accommodation for five people. I know that as a family of five, we are not unique. There are lots of families of five out there, lots of families with more members than five, so why is it so hard to find room for five.
There are websites that can help but honestly, I was trying to find a hotel room that could accommodate us all for a short break away over the Easter holidays and I slowly drove myself insane, inputting the details into searches over and over again. There were hostels, but I didn’t really want a hostel, I wanted a hotel room with a nice breakfast in the morning. There are sites that offer apartments and there are some good deals to be had, but the apartments all looked so nice and not particularly like they were suitable for a family of rampaging children with a penchant for rugby.
So it was back to the drawing board. I could of course book two rooms but that doubles the price and makes it far too expensive for a short break. I signed up to a few companies that offer daily travel deals and when the email pings into my inbox, I hopefully scour through the deals and the majority are deals for two adults and two children and I sigh.
Not all families are two adults and two children. Not all ‘larger’ families want to book two hotel rooms when they go away. It would be lovely if there are deals out there suitable for bigger families and not just the regulation family of four.
In the end we decided against the short break away this Easter as it was far too time consuming and too expensive but if there was more rooms for five, that would be amazing.
I am right there with you!! It drives me insane! As you say even with the websites supposing to help it means trawling and searching and often not being able to book on line. I’ve had a few great successes but I’ve also had supposing interconnecting rooms that weren’t. With young kids you don’t want them in the room next door and parents end up one in each room. Doubles your cost. Grrrr I better shut up! Thanks for raising the issue.
Juliet McGrattan recently posted…Aiming high: double marathon challenge update
I feel as though I have lost many hours trying to find rooms and failed and it is so frustrating, we certainly aren’t alone in our frustration but sadly I think that hotels won’t change their policies as they will lose money.
How frustrating….You think more places would cater for larger families….
Kim Carberry recently posted…Our Weekly Meal Plan!! – #mealplanningmonday
I agree, especially as there are so many families who need the space and want to stay together
My friend always has this problem as they always look for adjoining rooms or one big room with two sleeping areas. The prices are so extortionate! Glad you found something x
That is the problem, when you are looking at more than one room, the price is just ridiculous. I think camping is the way forward.
completely agree with you. We have a nightmare looking for hotels that can accommodate 6 of us ???? it’s usually a case of two rooms and despite always requesting them in same location we end up on different floors gggrr makes time away so hard ???? plus unless you book in advance you end up paying silly prices making it unaffordable too. I really wanted to take our lot away over easter but I couldn’t on own or last minute due to hotels ????
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Last minute is impossible with bigger families, I have tried so many times and been looking at a cost of over £500 for two nights, which to me is ridiculous. It must be even worse with six of you. I know that we would be happy to squeeze everyone in with a couple of ready beds, but many hotels won’t allow that. It is really frustrating.
Amen to that! There are so many families of five around, yet it is almost impossible to find a room for five. Like you, we spend far more hours than is healthy scouring the internet for suitable rooms and never find anything. We should start a campaign!
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…School rugby tournament 2015
I agree, we should. It is so frustrating and I have lost so many hours now over the last few years, trying to find something for us all. Judging by the response to this post, we are not alone in thinking it either
I hear ya! this is exactly the reason that we tend to go for caravans, cottages or villas when we go on holiday. If we do need to stay in a hotel we take a ready bed for one of the kids – or the youngest comes in with us if it’s a kingsize bed & only for a night or two.
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Yes I can see why people do go for cottages and caravan or even camping. But if you want a couple of nights somewhere, you do just need a note sometimes. The ready bed is a good idea but many hotels are really strict about the numbers in a room; fire regulations apparently, but I’m sure it is money driven really.
I have three children and we have been looking for holidays and it is proving so expensive as like you i find there is no hotel rooms and we are expected to book two rooms which i don’t want to do as would be too expensive and i want us all to be together. There is so many families with more then two children so it is crazy there is not more rooms available x
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I agree and it is so frustrating, I can see why many bigger families camp. I am on a mission now to find hotels that have proper family rooms as there must be some that cater for five.
There has to be more 5 peopoe families surely?! I entered a weekend break for a family of 4 with the hope I can seek our youngest. Desperate measures! Xx
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There are lots of families with five and more and it seems that I am not the only one frustrated by this. It is a nightmare and makes trips away inaccessible for many as having to books two rooms is too expensive.
And here was me thinking that it was hard enough for a family of four… obviously I’ve never attempted to book for five! Here’s hoping you find something suitable for the summer holidays x
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Thank you, I’m sure we will and if not, we will camp as at least that way we are all together
My sister had s 5 kids and has this problem too..they camp a lot!
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Yes I can certainly see why bigger families do camp as it is the only cheaper way to get a holiday
Tell me about it. We ended up going to Dubai as there was hart any difference to going to Spain! Ludicrous. Butlin’s and Legoland are good but not what you need here. We tend to have 2 bed apartments when we go abroad. So many holiday companies won’t actually guarantee interconnecting. I love my kids but I don’t want to stay the opposite side of the hotel to my husband with one of them. I’ve also found you can’t do anything last minute. Need to book up ages in advance. I wouldn’t mind but 3 isn’t that unusual is it? Grrrrrr rant over from me now x
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Yes I agree that last minute is so impossible, I have given up now unless I want to pay well in excess of £500 which I don’t for a couple of nights away. It is so hard as you just want a reasonable trip all together. Legoland and Butlins are both great I’m sure but they come with a hefty price tag too. I think more hotels should cater for families of five as there is such a need for them.