Hotels & Resorts

12 Family-Friendly Hotels Where Kids Stay Free

Submitted by Elaine Paoloni ... on Sat, 11/10/2018 - 12:30pm

Traveling with family can be a serious investment. After shelling out for planes tickets, you still have to book a hotel and cover the cost of meals. Package deals and all-inclusive resorts can be a great way to save, but an even better bargain is when kids stay and/or eat for free at the hotel.

While early fall seems to be the best time to book such family travel deals, it's not too late to get in on the savings. Whether your destination is the Caribbean, Mexico, or a U.S. city, hotels that offer free rooms and meals for kids are a big budget saver. Here are our picks for some of the best family vacations around.

Top 10 Christmas Towns and Villages That Absolutely Sparkle

Submitted by Elaine Paoloni ... on Sat, 11/03/2018 - 12:30pm

When it comes to the best places to visit for Christmas as a family, there are plenty of holiday travel options. You can head to Rome and Vatican City to soak in the religion of it all. Vienna, beautifully drenched in festive lights, boasts first-rate Christmas markets and concerts. Head north to Lapland, Finland, to visit Santa’s official hometown. Or, if you want to lie beneath Christmas-lit palm trees, a Caribbean vacation might do the trick.

Yet, some of the best Christmas towns and bedecked Christmas villages are actually right here in the US, offering those traveling with small kids a way to save on money and time. These local destinations go all out for Christmas with unique holiday light shows, special performances, and plenty of opportunities to meet with Santa Claus.

Read on for some of our favorite Christmas vacation ideas for those looking to get into the holiday spirit in a big way, from New York City to Williamsburg, Virginia, to Newport Beach, California. Find even more ideas in our Family Travel Guide.

Best Kid-Friendly Hotels for a San Diego Family Vacation

Submitted by Dana Zepeda on Sat, 10/13/2018 - 1:50pm

Whether you're driving down from Los Angeles or flying in from afar, a weekend in San Diego is the perfect getaway to find rest and relaxation all year long. The SoCal destination offers a wide array of family activities to keep everyone entertained, in between the requisite visits to Seaworld, Legoland, and the Safari Park. Here, we round up eight of our favorite spots to kick back and unwind in this picturesque beach town.

NYC Hotel Rooms with Views of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Submitted by Rosalind Muggeridge on Thu, 10/04/2018 - 10:00am

Chances are you're not even thinking about Thanksgiving yet. After all, we still have Halloween to get through! But as anyone in the NYC hotel industry will tell you, families looking to book a hotel where they can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Midtown Manhattan do so up to a year ahead of time. For a room with a view of Snoopy, Spidey, Hello Kitty, and their other inflatable pals, you've really got to plan in advance.

It's not just NYC tourists who splurge on hotels for the Thanksgiving parade, either. Over the past few years, we've had many New Yorkers write in asking which hotels looked out on the Macy's Parade route (it sure beats watching from the street). While most of these hotels still have availability at the time of this writing, call right away as they'll most likely sell out soon. And if you do get shut out, it's worth checking closer to Thanksgiving since there are sometimes last-minute cancelations.

For a budget-saving alternative, catch a prime viewing spot the night before the parade as the giant balloons are inflated on the Upper West Side.

Queen Mary's Dark Harbor: Are Your Kids Ready for this Scary Halloween Haunt?

Submitted by Roberta B on Sat, 09/29/2018 - 1:40pm

No parent likes to contemplate it, but the day will come for our kids when trick-or-treating is no more. If your family is as hooked on Halloween as ours is, you'll want to find a way to keep the magic going, even once your baby starts to look really big to other people (particularly people opening their doors at night). Filling this void is the main reason for the many seriously spooky big kid haunts around the Southland—haunts like Universal Horror Nights, Knott's Scary Farm, and Dark Harbor. But how to transition? You can't just hit the brakes on collecting candy with Elsa and suddenly start running from chainsaw wielding zombies.

I had a theory (having visited a few of these fright nights) that Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary might be the perfect tween transition to a different way of celebrating All Hallows' Eve, and I committed so fully to this theory that I booked our whole family (and some friends) for an overnight on the haunted, haunting ship. And guess what? It worked! Three tweens I know had the time of their lives screaming with the spooks all night at the Queen Mary. The evening was enormous fun, and I think a few things we did to prepare helped stack the deck in favor of success.

Best Kid-Friendly Hotels for a Los Angeles Family Vacation

Submitted by Arianna Menon on Sat, 09/15/2018 - 10:10am

Finding bliss and relaxation on vacation is so much easier when the kiddos are happy. Whether you're visiting Los Angeles, housing out-of-town guests, or indulging in a staycation (though we can recommend some kid-friendly hotels all around the world), why not choose a hotel that caters to the smallest guests? These LA resorts offer a little slice of paradise, family-friendly amenities, and unique experiences that might make you want to ditch that faraway destination and spend the weekend in SoCal. The best part is watching the kids have a blast, too.

11 Perfect Fall Weekend Getaways Near NYC for Families

Submitted by Allison Tibaldi on Fri, 08/17/2018 - 3:01pm

Fall in the Northeast is a lovely time of year as the trees explode in a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and gold. The crisp air and outdoor activities are hard to resist for most kids (and grown-ups). New Yorkers can experience that magic right in the city's gorgeous parks, some of which feel almost like a countryside retreat during a foliage walk. But for a weekend away, perhaps over those fall school holidays, consider a weekend trip to fully immerse the family in fall fun.

We’ve rounded up 11 options, from a luxury retreat in Connecticut to glamping in New Hampshire to an Adirondack wilderness retreat where you can really unplug.

The Best Family-Friendly Hotels on Long Island

Submitted by Rebekah Yahoves on Fri, 08/03/2018 - 4:05pm

No one grooves on the magic of a hotel stay more than kids. The swimming-pool smell, the room-service abandon, and the I-must-have-done-something-right feeling sparks through them the minute the swoosh open the lobby doors.

With that in mind, we've put together our list of the best kid-friendly hotels in Nassau and Suffolk, and even added a few on the East End. So whether you’re frequenting local attractions or hosting out-of-town guests, these destinations are sure to delight teeny travelers and discerning grown-ups alike. Happy travels.