When it comes to family travel, finding the perfect hotel room can make all the difference in creating a memorable and stress-free vacation. But not all hotels are truly kid-friendly! Some top hotel features, like high-end dining, spas, big beautiful suites only appropriate for 2, just really aren’t helpful for families with kids. But, more and more, I am seeing family-friendly features in hotels that my family and I LOVE. So lets talk about some of the standout family-friendly features that have transformed hotel stays into seamless, enjoyable experiences for families on the go. These are family friendly hotel features we hope to see in more hotels!
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1. Kid-friendly options on the In-Room dining menu
Room service can be a lifesaver after a busy day on vacation with kids. But, my kids have no interest in the $50 crab macaroni and cheese, or braised beef with a mushroom sauce. I can even look past the high prices if we can just find SOMETHING they’ll eat. And lately, we’ve been seeing less fancy, more kid-approved food on the in-room menu like burgers, tacos, veggies with hummus, etc.
The Grand Hyatt Kauai has a huge in-room dining menu with lots of options for kids and adults alike. We love that you can choose ‘fancier’ food or less fancy. I prefer a not-so-fancy in room dining experience, and would rather eat at the restaurant if I want to be fancy, but you can choose what works best for you! There are plenty of things my kids will eat from this menu, and many of them are perfectly affordable!
Heading to Kauai? Stick to your budget with this helpful Guide to Budget-Friendly Kauai
2. A place to eat
Speaking of room service- what good is ordering room service if there is no where in the room to eat (because I’m absolutely not letting my kids eat on a bed I intend to sleep in!) Finally, the hotel room desks of the 90s are disappearing and small dining tables with 2 (or more!) chairs are showing up in their place. And we are here for it! A small dining table in the room makes snacking and meals with kids so much easier!
The Hyatt Regency Lake Washington, just south of Seattle, has a nice seating area, with two love seats around a small table. Its perfect for lounging, playing games or eating a meal, and it can comfortably seat four! It’s a little thing but it makes our stays so much more comfortable.
3. TVs with Chromecast
In a world where streaming services are the norm, regular cable TV seems outdated, and even confusing to many kids. When my kids were younger, they’d get so frustrated by ‘normal’ tv with no pause button, no control over what shows they can watch, and the endless commercials. We end up watching shows on an iPad so we can watch as we normally would. But finally hotel TVs are catching up with many now offering the ability to cast to the tv. It gives us so much more control, and makes our vacation downtime so much easier!
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach has built-in casting, and multiple options for getting it set up, making it quick and easy to get our shows working from the hotel room! We love that we can watch our regular ‘comfort’ shows when we need a little break in the room rather than browsing through the available channels to find something acceptable.
4. Text-friendly Concierge and Front Desk
Sure its not REALLY a big deal to call the front desk to ask for more towels. But my kids are really good at making the maximum amount of noise whenever I have to make a call, no matter how short. And having a discussion of any kind can feel impossible with a toddler in tow, making the concierge essentially inaccessible. But texting requires no silence and can be done in between playtime with your toddler, or even from the side edge of a hotel pool! We LOVE when hotels are set up to text!
At Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington, you can text the front desk for anything, from suggestions for activities to requests for extra towels. They are super responsive and helpful any time of day. I love how easy it is to get answers or make a request!
For more on Suncadia, check out our article here!
5. Bunk Beds!
Sleeping on a queen hotel bed is a rite of passage for kids. But, I don’t think any of them would complain if they got to skip it in favor of twin bunk beds! Bunk beds are always a hit for my kids. And for me as well because the kids sleep better in their own sleeping spaces. A shared sleeping bed means siblings are constantly waking up each other, and me, and not giving us the best quality sleep. Bunk beds are a win for everyone and, though they are still pretty rare, we’re seeing them offered in hotels!
Hyatt Place Panama City Beach, Florida has a ton of options to accommodate larger families, including rooms with bunk beds! They are such a hit for the kids and make the room feel more spacious- win-win!
6. Decent Coffee
Have you ever noticed that in-room coffee is perhaps the worst coffee in the world? I am not even sure why it’s so bad but even as a coffee addict, I usually find it undrinkable. But lately I’ve stayed at a few hotels with decent coffee and coffee makers! For families with kids who might get up WAY before restaurants open, its nice to be able to have a decent cup of coffee after a pre-dawn wake up with a young child.
The Seabird Resort in Oceanside, Ca has Illy coffee makers, quality coffee capsules, cream, and sugar in each room. And the result is actually getting a great cup of coffee before you even leave the room!
7. A place for clothes
As much as I don’t want to unpack the whole family into dresser drawers in a hotel, it basically is a necessity. Digging through 4 suitcase every morning just isn’t feasible. But not all hotels are set up for us to easily unpack. My favorite is a dresser with 4 nice, big drawers. That way, everyone in my family of 4 gets one drawer and we aren’t digging through every drawer trying to remember where everything is.
I love the simple, well designed dresser space at the Seabird Resort in Oceanside, Ca. Just four big drawers, wide and deep, so I was able to put one person’s clothing in each drawer without having to squeeze it in too much so that everyone can quickly and easily find what they need.
8. A place for Suitcases, strollers, etc.
And speaking of suitcases, where do we put them? With 4 suitcases in a hotel room, you have to be careful to avoid tripping over them all the time. Add in a stroller and the room is FULL! We love a hotel with a nice big entry way (and maybe even a closet) for stroller parking, to get suitcases out of the way, and just to gather the troops before you head out the door.
The rooms at Fairmont Olympic in Seattle are laid out kind of sideways from most hotel rooms, with the beds against the short wall. The beds are smaller (doubles rather than queens) but the result is that the room feels a lot more spacious and open. There are plenty of places to put things, and overall you just feel less cramped in those beautiful rooms, even when you are sharing it with 3 other people!
8. Enough Towel Hooks
Nearly every hotel has cards floating around asking you to minimize water usage by skipping a day on sheet and towel changeouts. And we’d love to! We are perfectly happy to reuse a towel, as long as that towel dries! But hotels almost never have enough towel hooks to hang up our once-used towels to dry. We love when there are plenty of hooks for towels, swimwear, whatever, to dry!
The Park Hyatt Tokyo has tons of hooks and bars to hang robes, towels, or whatever. There is also a large closet area with hangers.
9. Extra Bathroom or at least Extra Bathroom Space
Sharing a bathroom with 3 other people can be tricky at times. And it can really slow down your morning routine, cutting into valuable vacation time (because no one wants to spend their vacation waiting for a bathroom). Bathrooms with a separate water closet/toilet area with a door, separate shower area, and space near the sink and mirror make sharing the space so much easier for families.
Even better, the Marriott Courtyard Disneyland has an huge bathroom with an extra shower, even in standard rooms! Getting an early start on your busy Disneyland day is SO much easier when you have enough space! And even if you don’t NEED the extra shower, it helps to have a spot to hang your swimwear to dry (because your kids are definitely going to want to check out that amazing waterpark!)
Looking for Disney tips? We’ve got you covered with Disneyland 101!
10. Play areas and/or pool
Anyone who has stayed in a hotel with kids knows it is nearly impossible to keep kids calm and quiet in the room, despite our best efforts. Having somewhere for kids to run wild and play helps immensely for helping kids get their energy out in a positive way (that won’t annoy our hotel room neighbors).
We love any space where kids are allowed to run and play. The wide open courtyard at Outrigger Ka’anapali Beach Hotel has lots of space to run and play and beautiful flowering trees. Even though there is no play equipment, it was a huge hit for my kids- probably more memorable than resorts with a big play area because they could let their imaginations go wild! It’s easy to get out of the room and let the kids free-play and parents relax in peace.
A pool is always a hit for my family. But it does take a bit of time to get ready for the pool, and get showered and dressed after the pool. So its not something we can do multiple times a day whenever my kids have the wiggles, but we’ll never say no to a good hotel pool! And the Outrigger Ka’anapali also does have a simple, but great pool in addition to its proximity to perhaps the best beach in Maui.
More Maui content here
11. Kids Activities
While traveling, it can sometimes be tough to find activities the area that really engaging for the kids. We love when a hotel or resort offers a few activities set up just for kids, like arts and crafts activities, games, or stories. It helps fill the day, set a routine, and keep kids happy and entertained.
Aulani on Oahu has a ton of amazing kids activities, both scheduled and unscheduled, to keep kids busy and happy. We especially love the Mo’olelo Fire Pit Storytelling and the lei making classes. However, many of the kids activities have an extra charge, or it’s something you’ll want to look into for those experiences ahead of time and set your budget accordingly.
