5 Tips When Booking A Holiday

As soon as Christmas is over I usually start thinking about a Summer holiday. It always seems the best time to start researching and gathering some costs for the Summer ahead. Planning a holiday abroad takes a lot of time so I have gathered some top tips when booking a holiday.

Do Your Research

When we have gone abroad in the past I find it quite stressful to actually find a suitable holiday for all of us. Our first holiday with big J was when he was just 1 year old. We researched for months before we settled on a destination. It had to be suitable for families, not too hot, plenty to do, clean and with amenities for a baby. It was hard work but it's worth it because holidays cost thousands and thousands of pounds and it has to be right. 

Does It Suit ALL The Family?

When it comes to booking a holiday you have to ask yourself does it suit everyone? If you have kids a beach holiday might be just what you want but is there enough to keep the kids entertained? Having a hotel, villa or apartment with a pool is fantastic but the kids will probably get bored or tired after a few hours and will want more. A play area, kids daytime activity programme or kids club are ideal for little ones and now most resorts offer this up to the age of 16 with teen clubs to keep them busy. 

Check TripAdvisor But Don't Get Hung Up On The Negatives

Over the past few weeks we have talked ourselves out of some fantastic hotels and resorts because of TripAdvisor. I love TripAdvisor but it is very easy to focus on the negatives rather than the positives. We found an amazing hotel through Thomson and overall on TripAdvisor it scored 82% on excellent and very good, but 3% of the 3,000+ reviews were negative. We focused on the negative and decided not to go which is crazy but we couldn't focus on all the positives after that. Some negative reviews will be genuine,  but most of the time it is usually down to personal reasons for example they didn't like the food or they found the entertainment boring. Don't get hung up on the negatives.

Ask Family and Friends For Recommendations

Knowing someone has been to a hotel or resort and is happy to recommend it to you is usually a sign it's good. I wouldn't like to recommend anywhere to my family or friends unless I was 100% sure they would love it. There would be nothing worse than recommending somewhere and they hate it.

It's OK To Visit Somewhere You Have Been Before

I was determined this year to try and find somewhere that we haven't been before but as we love Cyprus and Majorca so much, I am guessing we will probably visit the same hotel we have enjoyed in the past. At first I thought if we visit the same place we are being boring and not seeing what else the world has to offer but like I said earlier holidays cost thousands of pounds so if there is a holiday, hotel or resort you love and it has everything you need, why visit somewhere else? Why risk spending all that money for it to be not as good as a place you have visited before it's not you being boring its you being sensible. 

Have you booked your holiday this year? Leave us a comment below and let us know where you are going. 

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Michelle