Planning a Family Vacation: Finding Your Accommodations

You've made the decision to take a family vacation (good for you!), but where do you start?  Assuming you have already chosen your destination and set your budget, the first place to start is selecting your accommodations.  For some it may be a hotel and others it may be a less-traditional route such as a condo or vacation home rental.  Luckily, there are options for families of all sizes with a wide range of budgets.  Today I'll share a few tips for finding the perfect place to stay while you're away from home.

If you are choosing to stay in a hotel, may I first suggest finding a brand that suits your budget and sign up for their rewards program.  If you plan to do a lot of traveling, this can really work in your favor.  The points from those stays add up and a free night's stay is a wonderful perk and a way to save money over time.  Generally, hotel brand websites will guarantee the best price, so if you do find it cheaper on a website such as Hotels.com, Expedia, or Orbitz, you can send a quick email to get the rate and often a bonus discount as well.

My husband travels for his job and has chosen Hilton as his hotel brand of choice.  This works wonderfully for our family, since the majority of their hotels offer free breakfast.  We are partial to Homewood Suites, as it gives our large family the space we need for a reasonable price.  They also offer dinner Monday-Thursday, which is another way to save some money while on the road.  The Embassy Suites is also a great option, because they have a cook-to-order breakfast which gives us a full belly before hitting the road.

Once you sign up, be sure to watch for promotional emails which may offer bonus rewards such as double points.  Typically, you must take the time to sign up for the promotion on the website, but it only takes a few minutes and the return is well worth your time.  We have capitalized on the current double points promotion and will be using many free nights for our second big road trip of the summer.

If you would like to find a vacation rental, there are many great sites to check out.  We have stayed in many home rentals and love it!  My personal favorite is VRBO.  You can search your travel dates and specify how many bedrooms you need, location, pet policy, etc.  Their sister sites, Home Away and vacationrentals.com are also good options.  Searching through the housing options can get confusing after awhile, so I recommend setting up a favorites folder and adding the links for rentals you are interested in to the folder.  It will save you time in the long run.

You may also find local real estate companies who specialize in vacation rentals as well.  A quick Google search for your particular location will generally provide you with your options.  If you are interested in a North Carolina beach vacation, for example, you may want to check out RentABeach.  There are hundreds of homes to view listed by several real estate companies.

Finding accommodations can take some time, but once they are arranged the rest of the planning seems like smooth sailing.  Save yourself time by having your stops along the way to your destination planned out and creating favorites folders to keep everything in one place.  I am guilty of spending hours looking through options, but I love finding the perfect place and the time is well worth it!  If you are looking for help planning your family vacation, email me at minivanmemories@gmail.com.

Find the perfect spot