When was the last time you had a great experience in a hotel as a family? How do you go about choosing a family friendly hotel?  I know how important it is to feel comfortable when you are staying in a hotel when you have children.   I am delighted to be working with Laterooms and to be able to share with your this year’s Best Family Friendly Hotel of the year.

I love exploring new places wth my family and often finding a great quality value hotel can be somewhat challenging.  This is where Laterooms steps in.   The LateRooms.com Simply the Guest Awards are the only industry accolade to be decided solely by genuine guest reviews, which means that they are a fantastic representation of the hotel.

Laterooms Best Family Friendly Hotel of the Year 2016

Are you ready for the drum roll……………..

The Spalite Hotel in Gloucester

The Spalite Hotel prides itself on being able to offer guests a welcoming experience that no other big chain can offer, with home comforts, customer service with a smile and catering for every guests needs.

Frank Marsh, owner of Spalite Hotel, said: “We always aim to provide a welcoming environment at the hotel, where customers feel like it’s their second home. Putting our guests first and listening to what they say has helped us provide first class service, which has been rewarded in the wonderful feedback we’ve always received.”

We are looking forward to giving the Spalite Hotel a visit and checking our the service ourselves.

Each room comes with a flat-screen TV as standard and  team at Spalite Hotel pride themselves on their relaxed and friendly approach.  They aim to put parents and their children are instantly at ease. Breakfast is available at a time to suit your family and makes sure you are set up for a day of family fun.

5 Tips for choosing a family friendly hotel

1. Location – I always try and pick a hotel that is central to where we are visiting.  Ideally within walking distance of the attractions we are hoping to visit and even better within walking distance of a park or green space!
2. Soundproofing – I always ask what the noise is like in the rooms.  Not just from the corridor traffic, but also so I do not have to worry about the early morning noise that my tribe might make.
3. Food – I am lucky that my boys eat pretty much everything, but it is worth checking that there are at least a few family friendly items on the menu and that they are a reasonable price.
4. Beds and rooms – Now my boys are 10 and 11, I always check that they will be full-size beds or that there is the possibility of connecting rooms.   Also do not be afraid to ask about the possibility of a larger room.   Also check if they have cot beds for younger children.
5. WiFi – Free WiFi is now top of my list of needs when we visit a hotel.  Not just for me when the boys are asleep, but also so they can use the Ipad early on a morning.  Plus if you have teens, then WiFi is definitely a must.

What do you think makes a great family friendly hotel?  Is it the rooms, the people or something else?  I would love to know how you go about choosing a family friendly hotel and what you consider essential or nice to have?

We are going to be taking a trip to Gloucester to The Spalite and it is not somewhere we have visited before.   So I need your tips for what to do there with tween boys.