Can’t decide where to stay for your next family vacation? Book a hotel for your next trip with a few simple tips. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Ecolab. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book a Hotel for Your Next Family Vacation with These Simple Tips

My family loves to travel. Quite honestly, we would travel full-time if we could. However, being a mom with a chronic illness and having a toddler with certain medical needs makes that a little hard. So instead we travel as often as we can together. Typically, we plan a few vacations a year. When it comes time to book a hotel, my family leaves that completely up to me. I’m super particular when it comes to choosing where my family stays. I want to make sure that our hotel is both in a safe area and clean.

If you’re heading on your next adventure sometime soon and want to book a hotel for your family, here are a few tips to get you started.

Ask for recommendations

The best thing to do once you’ve decided on your destination is to ask your friends and family for recommendations. That has honestly always helped me to narrow down our choices especially when we’re traveling to a destination with hundreds of options. Of course, most hotels and resorts have reviews online but getting recommendations from people that I personally know and trust always make things so much easier for me when making a final decision.

Know what amenities you want

Amenities are a huge factor for me when  booking a hotel or resort. Things like room service are important for my family because sometimes we get too tired to go out to eat when we’re traveling. Room service is convenient for us. My kids also love dipping their toes in a pool wherever they go so that is another thing I look for during my search.

Stay in the heart of the city

Booking a hotel that’s in the heart of the city is perfect if you plan to do daily activities. Being in a central location makes it easier to get around especially if you plan on taking public transportation like we did while we were in New York City. If you’re not sure where the best location  is to book a hotel, you can do a quick search online. Most hotels and resorts list the attractions that they are closest to.

Room size matters

Traveling as a family of four can get quite cramped. When we’re on a quick weekend trip, we can deal with smaller accommodations. On trips that are four days or more, I try my best to book us the largest room possible within our budget. Double beds typically work. Since our kids are younger, we like to keep them in the room with us. If we’re at a resort with multi-room accommodation like a condo or conjoining room, we’ll always book that.

Cleaning practices and procedures matter

I’m a huge germaphobe. Hotels that have sanitizing stations and daily housekeeping service are something that I look for, and the Ecolab Science Certified™ program makes it easy to find those hotels that are advancing cleaner, safer practices. Designed by the experts that help keep hospitals clean, Ecolab Science Certified brings the same scientific cleaning expertise to the places you eat, stay, shop and play. When I walk into a hotel and see the seal, I know that there’s a requirement for employees to be trained on current public health and food safety cleaning and disinfecting practices to keep my family feeling safer during our stay. 

You can identify hotels and other businesses that are part of the Ecolab Science Certified program by looking for the official Ecolab Science Certified seal at the main entrances, giving you confidence to take back your social life and rediscover the things you enjoy most like traveling with your family.

Book a hotel with a rewards program

If your family travels often, joining a rewards program is highly beneficial. You can collect points for every stay and earn free nights. Most hotels and resorts these days have partnerships with airlines and ride share programs that help you earn rewards points too. Some rewards programs offer discounted rates to members. When we’re looking for a hotel to book, I check with all of the hotels where I am a member first. I want to make sure that my family is getting the best bang for our buck and earning rewards points along the way.

Planning a trip with your family soon? You can head over to the Ecolab Science Certified partner page for a list of locations that have earned the program seal.