Winter Family Travel Guide
Where to Stay
By Melanie Monroe Rosen
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If you’re looking to get away as a family for a weekend, you’ll want to find a kid-friendly place to call home base.
Bed and Breakfasts: If homey is what you’re looking for, B&Bs often offer the comfort and coziness of an actual home. Because some are less child-friendly than others, it’s wise to confirm that kids are welcome before booking. Check out BedandBreakfast.com for over 6500 B&Bs. You can easily search for hot deals, packages, family-friendly spots, or seasonal promotions like their “Family Fun,” “Holiday Specials,” or “December Dead Week” deals.
Lodges: During the summer season, it’s almost impossible to find an available room at a state or national park. Fortunately, notes Ogintz of Takingthekids.com, a number of parks host visitors virtually year-round, offering some truly great deals during the low season. Winter activities in the parks include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and snow coach touring. For more information about winter deals at national parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Zion, check out the website of the parks’ concessioner, Xanterra Parks & Resorts. On the East Coast, the Appalachian Mountain Club has some great winter weekend offerings for families, including fun outdoor activities like snowshoeing, animal tracking, and cross-country skiing. For more information, check out Outdoors.org.
Hotels: If your kids insist that a pool is a must-have amenity, you may be better off staying at a family-friendly hotel chain. Some of the best of these include Holiday Inn (free meals for kids under 12), Residence Inn by Marriott (suites are 50 percent larger than regular hotel rooms and come with fully equipped kitchens and separate living, dining, and sleeping areas), Embassy Suites (two-room suites come with separate living and sleeping quarters and cooked-to-order breakfasts; their “Kids Eye View” program was created for kids by kids, and highlights local “kid-approved” attractions in 34 U.S. cities), and Loews Hotels (the “Loews Loves Kids” program includes a lending library of games, special kids’ menus, and supervised recreational programs; the hotels also lend guests car seats, play yards, infant swings, and potty seats).
Kelleher of WeJustGotBack.com strongly recommends staying at an all-suite hotel like a Residence Inn or Embassy Suites because “you’ll give yourself some space separate from the kids (so you don’t have to turn the lights out when the kids go to sleep at 8 pm) and a kitchenette to help you save on food costs and control the ratio of healthy to non-healthy foods.”
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