House vs Hotel and Family Vacation Dining Tips

The house or the hotel rental was a central debate of out multigenerational family vacation in August. With four kids under the age of 5, we knew it was going to a bit of mayhem.

My children wake up early. I mean EARLY. If we are lucky, they will sleep in until 6-6:30. This means, mom and dad need to entertain (ok just dad because I go back to bed). A house means there’s more living space for the kids to entertain themselves. Most importantly, I needed a separate sleeping space for them.

Kids are also messy. My brother was strongly in favor of the hotel so that he did not have to clean up after the kids meals. He made a valid point. Sometimes I’m not sure if kids have eaten anything or just pretended to be Jackson Pollock. He must have persuaded me after cleaning a particularly messy meal because we went with the hotel. The caveat was that we got connecting rooms for the kids. That way I could close the door without having to sit in darkness myself.

After spending a week staying in the hotel, I still can’t decide which I prefer more. Too much fun during the day and my kids were not interested in eating at dinner time. They were cranky and impatient most nights. That meant that my husband or I was chasing them around and/or busting out the iPad just so we could sit and finish our food. If we were staying at a house, cooking our own meals, we could let the kids roam more freely after feeding them. In theory, we could enjoy our meal a bit more while keeping an eye on them. Of course, then you have to do the cooking and cleaning…

While I often recommend multigenerational families plan their group meals at lunch time, that did not make sense here. That suggestion is most relevant with a wider range in ages. It allows the parents with the younger children to take care of them separately. Often they plan dinner at an earlier time or a more child friendly restaurant. Our whole party was families with small kids plus grandparents.

I think the most relaxing meal was when the babysitter watched the kids while the adults went out. That works whether you stay at a house or a hotel. The bright side was that we had the hotel to help us arrange the sitter. The second best dinner was a private dining room at one of the resort restaurants. Being able to close the doors and let the kids have a little freedom made our meal infinitely more relaxing.

I can’t definitively say that one is best but we’ve discussed the pros and cons. As always, it’s up to you to decide which elements are most important to you and your vacation happiness.

admiring the view of the pool after checking into our room