AllStays lists an on-site restaurant as one of its criteria for a family-friendly hotel or motel. When you are looking for a family-friendly motel, ask at the front desk about the kinds of places to eat nearby, and how far away they are. Families with small children can take advantage of on-site or adjoining restaurants or diners, but fast-food franchises and other low-priced dining rooms within a walk of the hotel are just as convenient.
When scouting for family-friendly hotels and motels on your next vacation, don't forget that you'll also spend a fair amount of time indoors, as well. An article on Best Kid Friendly Travel would have you consider on-site amenities. Does the hotel or motel you've chosen offer any activities for your whole family to enjoy? Is there an on-site swimming pool, exercise room, and/or sauna? Some motels and hotels also offer complementary board games that you can check out from the front desk, and new hotels may have video-gaming consoles that can be checked out, as well.
On family vacations, sometimes keeping your kids from bouncing around the hotel room and waking you up earlier than you planned is an activity in and of itself. Fortunately, a family-friendly motel or hotel sometimes comes complete with an arcade and gaming room, which may have old '80s-style, coin-operated arcade games, Air-Hockey tables and playgrounds. For younger kids, ask the place you are researching if it offers on-site baby-sitting services so that you can get that extra hour or two of sleep.
Best Kid Friendly Travel, Family Travel and AllStays all agree that one of the biggest criteria involved in finding a place for the whole family to stay is whether or not the room-pricing plans are family-friendly. Do children below a certain age stay free with their parents? If there is an on-site restaurant or room service at your location, do children below a certain age eat free? Questions like those may significantly help to narrow down the options for you.
