20 Tips for Finding the Perfect Hotel or Vacation Rental for your Next Family Trip

How to Find the Best Deals on Hotels and Vacation Rentals for Your Family

Next to finding affordable flights, finding a place to stay on vacation that fits both your budget and your family’s needs can be the most challenging and frustrating part of vacation planning.

Comparing and contrasting hotels, resorts, apartments, and condos requires a lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of note-taking, and some tough decisions about what you’re willing to give up vs what’s the most important thing to you.

This all grows more complicated as your family grows in size. Once you’re beyond the 2 adults 2 kids family size, it gets a lot tougher to “just book a room” at a hotel if you’re worried about complying with the number of guests allowed per room.

BUT where you stay can really make or break your trip, so it’s important to do your due diligence.

Here are my top tips sharing the process I use to find a hotel or vacation rental that fits our family’s needs and budget while also providing a great experience.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

VACATION PLANNING SERIES

This post is STEP 4 in my vacation planning series for families. I’ll link the rest of the posts here as they are complete, so you have a step-by-step guide for planning the best possible family vacation.

In my experience, moms are often the ones doing the behind-the-scenes research, planning, calling, booking, list-making, grocery shopping, and packing, and it can take all the fun out of travel for her while the rest of the family sits back and enjoys.

This series is designed to streamline the process for busy moms who don’t have time to figure it all out on their own. I’ve also created a Family Travel Planner that will help organize your research and trip details so that you don’t constantly feel like you’re forgetting something.

STEP 1: How to Budget and Save for Your Dream Vacation

STEP 2: How to Choose the Perfect Destination for Your Family Vacation

STEP 3: Tips for Finding Affordable Flights for Traveling Families

STEP 4: How the Find the Perfect Accommodations on Your Next Trip

STEP 5: Tips for Planning your Family Travel Itinerary

FAMILY TRAVEL PLANNER

GET CLEAR ON WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR

In my opinion, the very first step to finding the vacation accommodations of your family’s dreams is to know exactly what you’re looking for.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what you want out of your stay if you haven’t traveled much as a family yet, so let me give you some examples.

Do you prefer a resort-type stay with all the amenities at your fingertips OR do you like having your own space to cook meals and put the kids to bed.
Is your hotel THE experience of the trip OR is where you stay just a place to rest your head in between adventures?
Do you want to be in the heart of the city OR do you want somewhere quiet and away from the action?
Are you prioritizing relaxation OR are you prioritizing exploring?

In essence, you need to talk with your partner and your kids (if you involve them in the decision) and figure out what type of trip you’re all hoping to experience.

I often see people asking for hotel or vacation rental accommodations in a certain area without specifying what kind of experience they want to have. What was AMAZING for one family might be a nightmare for another family.

PINPOINT THE AREA YOU WANT TO STAY IN

The next step is to figure out exactly what region or neighborhood you would like to stay in.

CONSIDER YOUR ITINERARY

If you’re like me, you don’t nail down your itinerary until after you’ve booked flights and hotels. However, I usually have done some preliminary research at this point and have a vague idea of how we want to spend our time on the trip.

If you hope to just relax on a beach, then finding a hotel or rental right on or near the beach is of paramount importance.

If you’re going to be out and about exploring, being closer to the action and public transportation will probably trump beach views or quiet surroundings.

CONSIDER TRANSPORTATION

I’m currently planning a trip to Puerto Rico and made the mistake of not doing enough research about transportation before looking at hotels.

I reserved a vacation rental less than 2 miles from the city center and thought that was close enough to the action. However, when I dug in a little deeper, I realized that public transportation didn’t extend to where we were staying. Rome2Rio is a GREAT website for helping you figure this out.

With 4 kids in tow, I would need to either (1) rent a minivan to get anywhere (which was looking like it would cost more than our accommodations) AND worry about parking or (2) get 2 taxis or Ubers every time we wanted to do some sightseeing, which was a logistical nightmare since all 4 of our kids are still in car seats.

It quickly became clear that I would need to cancel my rental and find one closer to public transportation.

I guess what I’m saying is that knowing how you’re going to get around goes hand-in-hand with where you want to stay.

If you already know you’re renting a vehicle, you will have a lot more freedom to choose the location of your choice. If you want to stick with public transportation, make sure you include the location parameters in your search for accommodations.

CONSIDER SAFETY

You also want to do a bit of research on which areas of the city are generally considered safest, so read reviews on TripAdvisor or ask around in Facebook groups about which areas felt safest.

Keep in mind that bad things can happen anywhere. Conversely, a neighborhood that feels a little grittier may also be perfectly fine.

I just know that when I’m traveling with kids, finding a location where I FEEL safe walking around is a lot more important than when my husband and I used to travel before kids.

NAIL DOWN YOUR BUDGET

Once you have an idea of where you want to stay, it’s time to have the budget conversation.

Are you shelling out for the $450/night resort hotel? Or are you scrimping and opting for the $95/night Airbnb? Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle?

Once you have an idea of what you want to spend, you can easily set the search parameters in whatever online tool you’re using to find your accommodation of choice.

KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

free continental breakfast and free parking are 2 things that we prioritize when looking for a hotel

So far we’ve talked about the big things like location, being close to transportation, safety, and budget.

Sometimes, though, the little things make all the difference.

Once you’ve done a bit of traveling as a family, you’ll have a better idea of which little things you prefer to have, and which you can do without. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Free breakfast | If we choose to stay in a hotel, I would much rather have a middle-of-the-road hotel with free continental breakfast than a fancy hotel where each meal costs an arm and a leg. Our kids think getting breakfast at the hotel is the biggest treat, and it helps us save money for the rest of the day because we can really fill up at breakfast. Maybe you prefer fancy hotel brunches and you’ve budgeted for that in your trip planning. Each family is different!
Kids pool | If you have babies, toddlers, or rambunctious preschoolers, you might prefer a property that has a designated kids pool and/or splash pad so you don’t have to stress about disturbing honeymooners or childless travelers.
Proximity to grocery/convenience stores | Depends on if you’re staying in a rental or at a hotel, and if you would rather make your own meals or eat out more. Also, if you’re renting a car it might not be as big of a deal to have to drive a bit to get your groceries. If you’re walking, you probably want to be closer.
Space | Do you want lots of living space where everyone can hang out, eat, talk, watch tv, or play games? Or are you cool with just a small room for sleeping?
Restaurants on-site | Would you rather stay on property to eat most of our meals, or are you looking to get out and try the local cuisine?
Parking | if you’re renting a car, does the property offer free parking? Many hotels in popular destinations or more expensive resorts charge a nightly fee for parking the car. If you’re staying in a vacation rental, read the listing description/amenities closely to see what the parking situation would be.
WiFi | You would think this would be standard by now, but there are still places that either still charge for wifi or if you read the reviews you’ll find that the wifi is really slow or doesn’t work. Not a big deal for many people or families, but if you need to get work done or just like to post/check social media, this could be a deal-breaker.

You might not get everything on your list for the price you want, but it’s good to keep your preferences in mind as you search for a property to help filter through results.

GATHER YOUR RESOURCES

Ok, now that you know WHAT kind of property you’re looking for, and WHERE you want that property to be located, and WHICH AMENITIES you hope to find there, it’s time to start the search. Here are the resources I use to find our family’s perfect hotel or vacation rental when traveling:

Airbnb | Vacation rentals! This is a wonderful alternative for families with kids - especially families with 3 or more kids that might not fit in a standard size hotel room. Be aware that you need to be your own advocate on Airbnb and read reviews diligently. Look for Superhosts for a better chance at a great experience. Use my link for $40 off your first booking with Airbnb! You can also book experiences through Airbnb, like walking tours, hikes, yoga classes, etc. (My link above will get you $10 off your first experience!)
VRBO | Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) is very similar to Airbnb. While Airbnb offers all kinds of rooms, including ones where you’re staying with the homeowner, all of VRBO’s listings ensure that you have the whole place to yourself. VRBO is another great place to search for home rentals!
Kid & Coe | Kid & Coe is yet another vacation rental site, but this one focuses on offering properties that are suitable for families with kids. Their homes offer amenities like cribs, high chairs, toys, etc. The downside? I’ve found these homes to be much more expensive than the other 2 vacation rental sites, AND they’re only available in a few cities.
Booking.com | Booking.com is one of my favorite tools to find properties because they have so many filters to find the perfect property for you. The booking process is straightforward, and it’s easy to save the properties you’re interested in while you continue your search. I love that I could find hotels, apartments, condos, and resorts all on this one website.
TripAdvisor | TripAdvisor is somewhat similar to Booking.com, but you’ll notice that its strength is in the number of user reviews for each property, experience, restaurant, and tour.
Hotel Tonight | One of my favorite tools for last-minute hotel bookings and great deals on unexpectedly great hotels. Hotel Tonight works by offering deep discounts on empty hotel rooms the property would like to fill. You can also book in advance, but I find the best deals pop up at the last minute. Use my code EKRAUSE17 for $25 off your next booking!
Groupon | I always forget about Groupon, but you can find some AMAZING hotel discounts on this website. We booked our budget weekend getaway to Fort Myers/Sanibel over Christmas by finding a hotel in the area for 45% off. Look for whole vacation packages on here, too! Don’t forget to look for restaurants, museums, and other activities in the area you’re visiting on Groupon before you go!
Direct hotel sites | It always helps to go to the actual hotel’s official website to check prices and compare it with the online travel agencies you’re searching on. It also makes sense to book through the hotel if you’re trying to build up loyalty reward points.

While I’m doing my research, I jot down notes on my Family Travel Planner so I can share everything with my husband in an organized fashion when he gets home from work. Instead of having 87 browser tabs open on my computer screen (and in my head), it’s all laid out with the amenities listed, locations, pros and cons of each property, etc. I also start a Google Doc with links to the properties so that we can look at photos of the property before booking.