In praise of interconnecting rooms!

It's great to be with the kids- but it's also nice to be able to shut the door on them!

Holidays are fabulous, but there are sometimes downsides. I know, this could come perilously close to complaining, and I do realise we are extremely lucky enough to be able to go away, exploring the UK and beyond. But although I love spending time away as a family, those kids sometimes get in the way.

Let me clarify. I mean at night. And I mean when they are sharing our room.

It can be hard enough to find a family sized room, but once you have, you then all have to sleep in it together. This can mean that the children don't fall asleep until incredibly late, or that there is no space (we stayed in one B&B in Northamptonshire where I was convinced I was going to step on my toddler and kill him if I attempted to move). It also means that, if one of you likes it very dark to go to sleep (that'll be me then) and a child likes it light, you're in trouble. And I haven't even mentioned the heavy breathing (the asthmatic child) or the waking up very early (the other one).

All of which explains why I love interconnecting rooms. They are the holy grail of the family holiday and we are fortunate enough to have stayed in some which have made our holiday even more pleasurable. Sometimes these rooms are more expensive, but they are often remarkably good value and can make a real difference to your vacation.

When we visited Newcastle, a few years ago, we stayed in the Gateshead Hilton and had two rooms next to each other. There was a door between them which could be locked (for "normal" visitors) or open so that the children could stay next door, but come freely in and out. At night time we shut the door (although we didn't lock it) and peace reined.

Robert at Mynd House in Shropshire

We also stayed in a gorgeous B&B in Shropshire, called Mynd House (you can read about this trip here). Here we had the top of the house, which included two rooms and a bathroom. That was a real pleasure, as was the Merton Hotel in Jersey, which offered a range of family rooms.

When we visited Bristol this summer, we stayed in another B&B called Winston Manor. We paid under £100 a night (including a slap up breakfast) for the four of us to stay in two rooms which had a door between them. It wasn't madly cheap, but we only stayed for a few nights and the children even had their own bathroom and TV. It was wonderful.

There sometimes don't seem to be enough rooms set aside for family travel - I mean ones which are big enough for more than a double bed and a cot, or take into account the fact that adults may want to be separated from their children (especially as those children grow up). My kids are now at an age when they don't like sharing a bed, which is understandable, but we are often given this option, offered two double beds between the four of us.

St Ermin's had two double beds and a single

When we stayed at the wonderful St Ermin's hotel recently (you can read about this here), the splendid room had two double beds and a single, so the children could happily spread out. It also had two bathrooms! Yes, we were all together, but it was so big and luxurious I didn't worry. And I could manage for one night...

More from me!

Seven reasons to stay in a B&B

Beautiful Alpine Austria

If you liked this post, please could you pop over to the Britmums website where we are absolutely thrilled to say that we have been shortlisted in two categories for the Brilliance in Blogging Awards (or Bibs). If you could vote for us, Family Travel Times, in travel and video (please click where it says "vote for them now"), we would be hugely grateful. Thank you!

In praise of interconnecting rooms!

It's great to be with the kids- but it's also nice to be able to shut the door on them!

Holidays are fabulous, but there are sometimes downsides. I know, this could come perilously close to complaining, and I do realise we are extremely lucky enough to be able to go away, exploring the UK and beyond. But although I love spending time away as a family, those kids sometimes get in the way.

Let me clarify. I mean at night. And I mean when they are sharing our room.

It can be hard enough to find a family sized room, but once you have, you then all have to sleep in it together. This can mean that the children don't fall asleep until incredibly late, or that there is no space (we stayed in one B&B in Northamptonshire where I was convinced I was going to step on my toddler and kill him if I attempted to move). It also means that, if one of you likes it very dark to go to sleep (that'll be me then) and a child likes it light, you're in trouble. And I haven't even mentioned the heavy breathing (the asthmatic child) or the waking up very early (the other one).


Read more »

A typical UK holiday - Shropshire in the rain...

Beautiful scenery, lots to do and great fun. What wasn’t there to like about our holiday in Shropshire? Oh yes, the rain.

But let’s go back to the start. Why did I pick Shropshire for a family break? Well, I had wanted to visit Ironbridge, the famous world heritage site, for several years and planned to do so at the end of our five-day break. We began instead in the middle of the Shropshire hills, near the small market town of Church Stretton. The landscape truly is gorgeous, and on our first day, the rain actually held off. This meant we were able to walk along the River Mynd and take in the magnificent scenery. I really was overwhelmed by the beauty of the area. Within the UK, only Scotland comes near it, in my (humble) opinion.

We stayed in the kind of place which parents dream of. Mynd House is a bed and breakfast with a top floor that’s absolutely perfect for families. It consists of two delightful, interconnecting rooms (I love my 10- and 7-year old, but prefer not to share a bedroom with them) and a bathroom with its own Jacuzzi.



Mynd House also provides a slap-up breakfast. We were given vegetarian sausages, and tomato and basil muffins when we explained that we didn’t eat meat. Carnivores are also well catered for.

Church Stretton is at the southern end of Shropshire, not far from Acton Scott Historic Working Farm. This might be familiar from the “Victorian Farm” television programme, and was extremely enjoyable to visit, with beautifully preserved buildings, very cute animals and demonstrations of period skills. The demonstrations at Acton Scott are regular; there tends to be something every day.

Meeting a lamb at Acton Scott

We then visited the Severn Valley Railway with its old-fashioned steam trains. We boarded at Bridgnorth and got out for a walk at Bewdley, an extremely pretty  town, with a gem of a local museum.

As I said, the entire trip was planned because of Ironbridge. It has 10 award-winning museums, spread along the valley besides the River Severn, and still spanned by the world’s first iron bridge. As you drive past the beautiful Severn Gorge, it is astonishing to think that the Industrial Revolution was forged here. Ironbridge is about an hour away from Church Stretton, so we spent one night at the Holiday Inn, Telford. We recommend it, as children eat free and there’s also a swimming pool.

We decided we would need two days to visit Ironbridge and I think that’s wise, as there is so much to see.

For the rest of this post, please visit Britmums, which published it in full...

(We stayed at Mynd House, £140 per night for the family suite, and The Holiday Inn, Telford, which cost £69 for a family room per night).

For more on Shropshire, visit www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/

A typical UK holiday - Shropshire in the rain...

Beautiful scenery, lots to do and great fun. What wasn’t there to like about our holiday in Shropshire? Oh yes, the rain.

But let’s go back to the start. Why did I pick Shropshire for a family break? Well, I had wanted to visit Ironbridge, the famous world heritage site, for several years and planned to do so at the end of our five-day break. We began instead in the middle of the Shropshire hills, near the small market town of Church Stretton. The landscape truly is gorgeous, and on our first day, the rain actually held off. This meant we were able to walk along the River Mynd and take in the magnificent scenery. I really was overwhelmed by the beauty of the area. Within the UK, only Scotland comes near it, in my (humble) opinion.

We stayed in the kind of place which parents dream of. Mynd House is a bed and breakfast with a top floor that’s absolutely perfect for families. It consists of two delightful, interconnecting rooms (I love my 10- and 7-year old, but prefer not to share a bedroom with them) and a bathroom with its own Jacuzzi.

Read more »