A Hotel room used to be an option for our family of 6.  The kids were small and I remember they could sleep 3 easy in a queen bed.  Ah, the good ole days! If we were really lucky and paid a premium we could find a suite hotel room.  This would give us adults privacy in a separate room and then there was a sofa sleeper in the front area.  We soon learned that there was absolutely no privacy, we did not want to eat microwaved food every day, we had to watch tv on mute as to not wake the kids, and continue to pay a small fortune to dine out for nearly every meal.  Too bad we did not know it then, but I am sure there was probably a 2 or 3 bedroom furnished home or vacation rental right around the corner.

We soon discovered that toddlers who will sleep just about anywhere once they finally fall asleep, really do become bigger, become teenagers, and suddenly sleeping with your sibling is taboo, next to impossible or they’re just too big!  I am pretty sure this is what inspired us to check out vacation rentals.  Have you ever tried getting a hotel room with 3 or 4 real beds, not a roll-away but a real bed?  Good Luck!

The experience of renting our first vacation home was a cabin in the Ozark Mountains and it was fantastic.  It was like moving out of a studio apartment into a 2000 plus square foot home.  I guess it felt like a home away from home instead of a place to “do time” – a small cramped room with 6 people trying to relax and be on vacation.  We were all happy to see that there was more than just a front door and a bathroom door!  Suddenly this vacation rental provided privacy, space, beds for everyone, a full size refrigerator (no mini-fridge), a real stove, oven and all the cookware to dine in for all meals.  I think we’re going to really like staying in vacation rentals.

Here is how we saved money too!  For our family of 6 to eat lunch at Subway is about $30, breakfast at the local greasy spoon about $30 and then a good dinner about $70.  That’s on the conservative side too.  So let’s say about $130 daily for our 7 day vacation would come to about $910 plus gratuities.  Of course we love to eat out on vacation but it can get old fast and to have the option to grill on the patio and just relax is a great option.  When we stay in a vacation rental home we probably dine out at least 1/2 as much as we would in a hotel stay.  We took the extra savings and went to a few shows and played a few rounds of golf!  Dining out, even without kids gets pretty old after about 4 or 5 days anyway.  Maybe this and all the activities of a vacation have many saying “I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!”

The cost for our 2 queen bed (very nice hotel by the way in California in Peak season) hotel room was about $300 nightly.  We could easily rent a vacation home in the area for the same or less and have ample room for everyone to spread out.  Plus Mom and Dad could find some privacy!  Towards the end of many of our “hotel” vacations we were ready to go home as opposed to our vacation home rentals vacations we really wanted to stay!  Hotels for singles and couples are still a great option if they give you the amenities and royal treatment that you crave….but for my money, especially if you travel as a family, don’t even think about it – find a vacation rental!  Happy Travels!

Find family vacation rentals online here and contact owners & managers direct