Hotel vs Airbnb With Kids
Hotel vs Airbnb with kids is the question I get asked most, and the honest answer is that we do both, sometimes on the same trip. What changes is how long we are staying, whether we are in a city or out in the countryside, and whether the trip is meant to be a restful one or an exploring one. Here is how the two compare, and how we actually choose.
Should I Stay in a Hotel or an Airbnb?
The choice between staying in an Airbnb or a hotel depends on your personal preferences and the specific trip you are planning. Here are some common differences in a hotel vs Airbnb.
Location: Airbnb rentals are often located in residential neighborhoods, while hotels tend to be in more tourist-heavy areas. Consider the location of the property in relation to the places you want to visit.
Space: Airbnbs can offer more space than hotel rooms, as well as amenities like kitchens, living rooms, and outdoor spaces. This can be a big advantage for families or groups traveling together.
Privacy: An Airbnb rental can offer more privacy than a hotel, as you’ll have the entire property to yourself.
Cost: The cost of an Airbnb rental can vary greatly depending on the location and size of the property, but it can be more cost-effective than a hotel, particularly for longer stays.
Amenities: Hotels often offer amenities such as a pool, gym, restaurant and room service, while Airbnbs usually only offer the space itself. (The kids will always vote for a pool)
Cleanliness: While most hotels and Airbnbs are cleaned regularly, hotels tend to have more strict cleaning protocols in place.
Service: Hotels offer more consistent service, such as 24/7 front desk, housekeeping and room service, while in Airbnbs you are more on your own.
Personal touch: Renting an Airbnb can be a unique experience that gives you a chance to see a place through the eyes of a local. (Which we really love!!!)
Ultimately, the decision between staying in an Airbnb vs hotel depends on your priorities for the trip and what you’re looking for in a place to stay. These are some factors we consider when making our decision…
Length of Stay
If we are staying anywhere for more than 3 nights, I will always try to stay in an AirBnb. This gives the family more space to spread out and not have to be sharing a single room which is typically the case in a hotel. It is also nice to have a full kitchen for a longer stay so we can easily give the kids a light breakfast when we wake up. Having a washer dryer is really handy and is often a perk of renting an apartment or home. Having laundry done through a hotel can be extremely expensive.
Of course there are caveats to this. Sometimes we are looking to have a relaxing beach vacation (or similar) and the amenities of a pool, room service, etc. are more desirable than extra space. This is often a more expensive stay but the convenience is sometimes worth it.
If we are staying in a location for 1 or 2 nights we almost always choose a hotel. We are less concerned with extra space and the hotels are often located in tourist areas near what we would want to see during our short stay. Access to a concierge service in case we need help arranging transportation on short notice is always super helpful when and if a language barrier is involved. Since we have a Marriott and IHG branded card, we can often cash in on the free anniversary nights for these shorter stays.
Location: City or Countryside
If we are staying in a large city we tend to lean towards AirBnb’s. It gives us a chance to experience a more local or authentic neighborhood and there are usually plenty of options. A large city typically has resources available in most areas, meaning, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get to public transportation or hail a taxi and there should be plenty of convenient stores and restaurants in close proximity.
If we are staying in a rural area, we prefer a hotel. If possible, a boutique hotel owned by a local family is ideal, but that is not always the case. The benefits of staying at a hotel in a rural area is that you should have hotel staff available to help you arrange for transportation at any time of the day. They can also help you arrange for a tour or provide you with recommendations of restaurants etc. If you are at an AirBnb in a rural area, you most likely need a rental car. We almost never rent a car, so this is usually not an option for us.
What You Want Out of the Trip
Ask yourself what you want to experience at this destination…
Are you looking to relax or explore? Most of the time we are looking to explore a local culture. We are not good at relaxing on our trips, but that’s just how we do. This is why we tend to lean towards an AirBnb in a vibrant local neighborhood, where we can explore most things on foot.
Do you want eat like a local or eat at home? If you want the easy button, definitely go with a hotel that has a restaurant onsite (practically eating at home!). If you want to eat like a local then an AirBnb in a hip neighborhood is a great option. We always want to eat at a new restaurant for every meal so we can experience as much local food as possible. Food is often the driving force behind a lot of our travel plans because food is everything to me and I am the family trip planner!
Hotel vs Airbnb With Kids: How We Actually Decide
If you want the short version, here is the decision as we run it.
How many nights? One or two nights and we book a hotel almost every time. Three or more and we start looking at apartments, because a week of everyone sharing a single room is a lot for the kids and for us.
City or countryside? In a big city an Airbnb usually wins, since we can walk or catch public transportation from a normal neighborhood. Somewhere rural we go back to a hotel, because an Airbnb out there tends to assume a rental car and we almost never rent one.
Exploring or resting? An exploring trip points to an apartment in a neighborhood we actually want to wander around. A genuine rest trip points to a hotel, where the pool and the restaurant downstairs are the whole point.
What does the room need to do? A kitchen matters more than people expect, even if it only ever makes breakfast. A washer and dryer is worth real money on a longer trip, because having laundry done through a hotel gets expensive fast.
Are there points on the table? Our Marriott and IHG cards come with free anniversary nights, and those are perfect for exactly the one and two night stops.
None of this is a rule you have to follow. It is just the order of questions that stops us going around in circles.
Planning the Rest of Your Trip
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