accomodations for family travel

Mark it is hard with 5( we had same size family too) it is two hotel rooms in most cases,, or you should look at renting apartments. I will warn you about one thing, in Paris , if you show up for a quad room with one extra person you "accidently" forgot to mention,, 99.9 times out 100 you will not be given a room. The laws are very strict on occupancy limits, alot to do with fire codes, remember Paris is old, many buildings have no external fire escapes , and most all sharing walls with other buildings. So perhaps in the countryside that may work( I personally wouldn't count on it) but don't pull that in Paris. Apartment rentals make most sense with kids anyways, a place to have snacks and breakfasts and pack picnics, saving alot of money, and a seperate sleeping room ( usually for 5 you are looking at a 1 bedroom as studios will likely not accept 5 people). Some apartments do have minimum week rentals in high season, but some will do 3 or 4 night stays.

When traveling with our family of either 4, 5, 6 (depending on who was going at the time) we would do some/all of the following: Book each accommodation before arriving - it is much easier to do this far in advance from the states with the luxury of time and unlimited internet. What you'll forgo in "spontaneity" is more than made up in cost - both actual cost and the cost of having kids wait while you find a place. Email places you are interested in with something like the following "we are a family of 5, children ages ... Do you have accommodations suitable for our dates?". I have sometimes gotten offers of a room that was not on the website, an additional bed brought in, etc. As Pat said above, I would NOT book a room for 4 and just show up with 5. Look at self-catering. We have booked for as few as 2-3 nights in rural areas, small towns (big cities often have a 1 week minimum). Even when just traveling with 2 of our kids the apartment/cottage was great - giving us all a little more space and surprisingly economical. Book some places with 2 rooms. When you've exhausted all other options, give up and go with 2 rooms. We would split up mom/daughter and son/dad or when the older kids were with us they were in charge of their younger siblings in a separate room. When I am making up my budget of estimated costs I look for an average on all the nights. So we've booked a single quad room in Paris for $350/night but balanced it by spending $75/each on two rooms in a B&B in the Languedoc. If necessary, limit the number of nights at the most expensive places.

Mark, Karen gives good advice! We did a 4 week trip throughout the continent as a family of 5. I was able to book accomodations with very little trouble. We mostly stayed at RS recommended places. I did just as Karen suggests - emailed asking if they had anything that could accomodate our family. I found that very frequently they had an apartment or large family room that may not have been listed on the website. Good luck!

Hi Mark, have you tried http://www.roomfor5.co.uk ? This was created for that very reason. There are over 6500 hotels/rest houses/apartments listed that can sleep 5 or more.

These are all very good suggestions and very helpful! Thanks to everyone.

We're a family of five who live and travel in Europe. It takes a little more patience and a bit more work, but we have always managed to find acceptable accomodations wherever we go. You've already got some great advice, and I have just a little to add: Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc. rarely - if ever - will find you reasonably priced lodging for 5. Try contacting the TI for the place you are visiting, or at least using their website to try and find accomodations. Look at hostels. Some offer rooms for 5, others will allow you to rent an entire room for 6. You can get these with private bathrooms. And contact them, because some offer a lower price for children. Some hotels have family rooms but do not advertise them. We've found this with Ibis and even a Holiday Inn Express. If you find a reasonably priced place in an area you wantn to stay in, contact them. Search for "Family Lodging" reviews on Trip Advisor for the city you are visiting in. A quick read will sometimes let you know if a place fits 5. Happy Travels!

You don't mention where you will be traveling this time. We are a group of 6 who are traveling from Rome to Paris and have found that in the larger cities such as Rome or Paris it is pretty easy to secure a large apartment. Usually you must stay at least 3 nights or more. In Paris it is harder to find 3 bedroom apartments with true 3 separate bedrooms, so be careful and read the fine print and don't be afraid to ask many questions. Good Luck.