Organising Family Holidays

So, the family holiday is over for another year. Sun, ice cream and lots of screaming will be the outstanding memories but it was a lot of fun. We went to Cyprus with the aim of the adults getting through some books and saying goodbye to pasty skin while the kids wreaked havoc and had lots of laughs. Success on both counts I’m pleased to say, not only are we nicely bronzed but the kids are still talking about the fun they had and the friends they made.

I think it really helped that this year we organised more of the holiday before we left. None of us are big on the planned excursions or anything like that but we did a bit of research about the destination so we knew what to expect and we even put a bit more thought into how we’d get to the airport and all the niggly bits before you fly.

We ended up booking one of the hotels near Heathrow airport with parking. As a family we have to drive to the airport, what with all the bags and bodies public transport would be a nightmare and a taxi would cost more than the holiday. So having parking as part of the package helped us out a lot, it was cheaper than normal – booking it as part of a package was one less thing to think about.

As for staying in the Heathrow Park Inn it was great, not just the hotel itself, which was top-quality but the whole experience. The kids loved it because to them it was an extra day on holiday and an exciting new place. For us it was a chance to make sure we had everything and then we could relax for a bit, which was a welcome change from last year’s chaos. It was nice to have everyone together, the excitement for the holiday

really built up and we could enjoy the evening knowing that check-in was just a quick transfer away. It was bliss, especially compared with the usual frantic packing and general kid induced mayhem.

A Heathrow airport hotel with parking is definitely something I’d recommend to anyone with a family and I’ll certainly be doing it again. It didn’t cost much and gave us such a smooth and enjoyable start to our holiday.

Author: Laurence Brown