Written by:
08/01/2014 10:52 

One minute you’re into cots, high chairs, naps and puree and within just a few months your concerns are likely to have switched to swimming pool safety, play areas and whether Cbeebies is on tap…nothing in the world of parenting stays still for very long! 

None however, outweigh the benefits of being away with your children so please don’t be scared away by the sheer thought of going on family holidays.  Once you have done it, and you’ve figured out some of the tricks then you’ll want to do it again and again, particularly once you’ve seen the speed at which a toddler can devour a croissant or the sheer pleasure of endless hours spent in the pool.

Having said that, there are some common holiday pitfalls that, like so many other parents I have fallen into myself.  Having brushed myself off and taken a few deep breaths, I set up www.totstotravel.co.uk with a very strong intention to overcome those pitfalls. 

So here are the top 5 things that could ruin family holidays:

1) Your holiday accommodation is unsafe: When your child gets to the point where they are beginning to move, you “make over” your house with cupboard locks, stairgates and you hide away the bleach.  Beware!  Most holiday homes have not had this level of TLC applied and I would highly recommend that you choose a holiday villa or cottage that can promise you the same degree of safety that you have at home.

Be particularly careful about swimming pools and choose a villa that has a physical barrier of some sort.  That could be an electric, weight bearing pool cover or a fence.  Avoid villas that only have a pool alarm.   After my two year old fell into an unenclosed swimming pool whilst we were on holiday in France this is something, that for me as a parent, is non-negotiable.

Solution: Discuss your family’s needs at length and look for accommodation that goes beyond token gestures

TOTS TO TRAVEL’S Take: All of Tots To Travel’s villas and cottages have been visited and vetted for child safety, using a process of due diligence that has been developed with the help of the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT).  No other holiday company goes to such extreme lengths to safeguard your holiday.

2) Your holiday accommodation is unclean: According to numerous surveys, this is mums’ number one gripe and I have to say that I have seen plenty of properties that are just not clean.  Who wants to see the debris of somebody else’s holiday?  Not me.  Particularly as mums like us, with small children, are likely to be on our hands and knees looking under the sofa or behind the bed for lost toys.

Solution: Use a reputable agency, reviews and word of mouth to find accommodation that comes up to scratch on this front.

TOTS TO TRAVEL’S Take: All of Tots To Travel’s Hosts have been very carefully selected and vetted and then forced to jump through numerous hoops to get onto the www.TotsToTravel.co.uk website in the first place.  Once on the site, all the feedback monitored regularly and any Host that does not come up to scratch is removed.  We have worked in partnership with most of our owners for many years and there are high degrees of trust in the levels of cleanliness that they provide.

3) Your holiday accommodation is not equipped properly for families: Even now, after setting www.totstotravel.co.uk up 7 years ago, you’ll still find that most holiday accommodation is rated as child and baby friendly if it has a cot and a high chair.  You’ll know from what you have at home that you need much more than this, from a hand blender if you are making puree to black out blinds and toys.

Solution: Make a list of the equipment that you need and ask whether it can be provided for you.

TOTS TO TRAVEL’S Take: All of Tots To Travel’s Hosts have to meet our strict criteria about providing our families with our Essential Kit Guarantee.  This is a list of 20 items that, in our experience, are essential to when holidaying with children and babies.  A full copy of this list can be found here.  Anything less is a token gesture.

4) The weather was rubbish: We often hear that families wish to swim in, say early Spring in France or that finding sun and warmth is really important to them.  In this case it is really important to choose the right destination and it’s well worth travelling a little bit further afield to say, the Canaries, to guarantee the sunshine.

Solution: Think about how important the weather and swimming is to your family holidays and choose a destination that gives you what you need.

TOTS TO TRAVEL’S Take: Unfortunately I can’t do much about the weather but I can equip you with an average weather table.  Our Holiday Planner Pack contains a series of tick lists to help you plan as well as average weather table.  You can request your free planner pack here.

5) The Owners just didn’t get ‘it’: Unfortunately there is a lag in what many owners are offering compared to what families actually want.  The legacy of ‘self-catering’ and all the negative connotations (bring your own sheets and towels and mop your way out backwards) that are bound up with this word are still very much out there.

And if you’re pre-baby holidays were at anything close to luxury or in boutique hotels then the ‘bring your own sheets’ end of the self catering market is a shock.

Solution: You get what you pay for and price is a pretty good gauge of what level of accommodation you should expect.  Do ask lots of questions about what is provided or included in the price.

TOTS TO TRAVEL’S Take: We are busy consigning the term ‘self-catering’ and all its negative connotations to the rubbish heap.  Our belief is that families are choosing villa and cottage holidays for lots of other reasons than to slave over a hot stove or to mop your way out backwards so we only work with Hosts who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to the family market. 

So as you can see, there are plenty of pitfalls but at every turn, we are determined to find a way to ensure that it is as easy as possible to find the best family holidays for you.  In any case, do ask for some help, my team is incredibly knowledgeable and very happy to help. 

Call us now about this or any Tots villa

Call: 0843 515 44 88

email: [email protected]

We can answer all your questions and help you find the perfect holiday home for your family.