We've had a taste of sunshine and wasn't it nice. I bet there are many of you like myself now dreaming of holidays in the sun. Unfortunately for us we don't actually have one booked right now.
We were forced to cancel the one we originally had booked at the start of the year due to my husband being out of work for a few weeks (the contract came to an end) and we wisely chose to spend the money we'd saved on day to day living rather than the luxury of a holiday.
However things have been looking up in recent months and our thoughts have turned back to holidays abroad, especially with friends and family talking about their upcoming getaways. The trouble comes when trying to book holidays abroad for large families such as our own because still in this day and age many don't cater for anything larger than a family of 4, maybe 5 at a maximum.
Now large families aren't uncommon these days, I mean I don't think there is any such thing as a normal sized family so why is it that holiday companies haven't moved with the times? Surely they want to appeal to the masses and providing larger rooms/apartments would certainly do that.
As it stands if we want to book a holiday right now most places are looking to split us up into two maybe even three rooms. For example lastminute.com wouldn't allow me to put more than 2 adults and 2 children in one room in their search engine. So they are essentially expecting two of my kids to sleep in a room without an adult present, madness! The whole point of being on holiday is to spend it together as a family so to split us up seems ludicrous in my opinion.
It's a shame to see the options available to us greatly reduced due to us having what is seen as an above average size family, where is the flexibility? And in the end this also results in the holiday costing more than it should for larger families as they are having to pay to stay in more than one room.
We were forced to cancel the one we originally had booked at the start of the year due to my husband being out of work for a few weeks (the contract came to an end) and we wisely chose to spend the money we'd saved on day to day living rather than the luxury of a holiday.
However things have been looking up in recent months and our thoughts have turned back to holidays abroad, especially with friends and family talking about their upcoming getaways. The trouble comes when trying to book holidays abroad for large families such as our own because still in this day and age many don't cater for anything larger than a family of 4, maybe 5 at a maximum.
Now large families aren't uncommon these days, I mean I don't think there is any such thing as a normal sized family so why is it that holiday companies haven't moved with the times? Surely they want to appeal to the masses and providing larger rooms/apartments would certainly do that.
As it stands if we want to book a holiday right now most places are looking to split us up into two maybe even three rooms. For example lastminute.com wouldn't allow me to put more than 2 adults and 2 children in one room in their search engine. So they are essentially expecting two of my kids to sleep in a room without an adult present, madness! The whole point of being on holiday is to spend it together as a family so to split us up seems ludicrous in my opinion.
It's a shame to see the options available to us greatly reduced due to us having what is seen as an above average size family, where is the flexibility? And in the end this also results in the holiday costing more than it should for larger families as they are having to pay to stay in more than one room.
What this essentially causes is families like my own having to either admit defeat because they didn't book early enough to grab those limited spaces or compromising on what they want to be the perfect family holiday abroad ie splitting up and paying more than the original budget just so they can have their time in the sun because lets be honest last minute holidays are almost out of the question unless you opt for a villa somewhere.
With new hotels and apartments being built abroad yearly surely the time has come to start factoring in larger families. Holidays abroad should be both affordable and accessible whatever size family you have.
Do any of you have larger families, have you faced the same problems or did you manage to find any good solutions? Let me know in the comments below.
Do any of you have larger families, have you faced the same problems or did you manage to find any good solutions? Let me know in the comments below.
I don't think they make it easy cost or planning wise. Some places are better than others but there's very little common sense and a lot of "how much £ can we squeeze" I think about the holiday industry in general! Hope you do manage to get something booked! #effitfriday
ReplyDeleteWe have the same problem too, we are a family of 5. This year will actually be our very first family holiday abroad (our kids are 11, 9 and 5) and we have been lucky enough to find a resort which has a 2 bed apartment sleeping 6. Nobody could understand why we couldn't afford to go abroad before, when my husband has a fairly well paid job, as trying to explain that in most cases we had to book 2 separate rooms seemed crazy. Most people with smaller families say "surely you can book a family room" but they don't understand that the majority of these only sleep 4. So frustrating!!!
ReplyDeleteits so hard planning a holiday i really want to save for a caravan instead! xx
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I was looking at a few travel companies and all were coming up with us needing 2 separate rooms. I just needed to decide which of my sons would be sent to the other room on their own. I'm thinking the baby so then I can get some sleep ;-) No, in all honesty, it is a pain.
ReplyDeletelol the I wouldn't mind being away from the hubby's snoring ;)
Deletewe have three kids and frustratingly find the same problem! Doubles our cost as we often have to book two hotel rooms. Some hotels are fine with us all squeezing into one room but others say they don't allow it for health and safety. We did discover that all the rooms at legoland hotel cater for 3 kids and 2 adults so that felt like a breakthrough as it is somewhere that has considered the needs of families when they built it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a big family but can understand how difficult it can be! Have your tried contacting hotels to see if they have any interlocking rooms? I used to work for a budget hotel and they had rooms which connected to each other - I know its a pain to have to pay for two rooms but thought it might help :D
ReplyDeleteWe have this problem so tend to go for a Villa or a hotel with interconnecting rooms. It is very frustrating though
ReplyDeleteWe have pretty much given up on trying to stay in hotels abroad because of this exact reason. We have four children and so it means splitting Hubby and I up with two children each which was a nightmare when two of my children were on holiday once and both sleeping in my room. I didn't get any sleep and was naturally a bit crabby!! Villas are the way forward for big families but they don't come cheap.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a big family — just my boy and me and our twins but I can imagine how hard it must be! Even getting to and from an airport with all your luggage must be a headache in itself!! I hope you manage to find a solution xx
ReplyDeleteWe are still just about ok with 2 children, but even now going away gets expensive the second it goes from cots to beds you need to think about extra rooms, extra beds, more luggage!
ReplyDeleteWe are finding the same problem, we are booking up for next year soon and finding a room for 5 is proving impossible for an actual hotel. My brother works in travel & has told us to book a villa instead as it will be cheaper then booking two rooms like most hotels want us to do xx
ReplyDelete