Europe with toddler - air bnb or hotel?

[Anonymous]

Planning our first trip to europe since having DC - he will be 19 months when we go. I can't decide between airbnb or hotel. We are thinking Lisbon, Paris, Barcelona...

Pros of airbnb:
cheaper
space for 2nd bedroom for DC so we dont have to share

Cons of airbnb:
will need to grocery shop in a country we haven't been to in a language we dont speak
no concierge for advise and help
limited to staying in the apartment after bedtime and making ourselves dinner (not interested in hiring a sitter in a place where we dont know anyone)

Pros of hotel:
could put DC to bed and have room service/go to hotel bar
sightseeing help from concierge
we can wake up and just go downstairs for breakfast - i dont need to worry about sourcing food.

cons of hotel:
more expensive
probably all in one room

[Anonymous]

Another con of airbnb is that you have to pay in advance, whereas you have the option not to do so with a hotel. This could possibly make changes or cancellations more complicated.

[Anonymous]

Having just done this (but with a 14-month-old and 4-year-old as well) -- I would recommend the airbnb route. All things being equal, a suite in a hotel is probably easier, but more expensive. I'd rather save that money to use on other things. (And sleeping all together in one room is not much fun.) We got some relatively inexpensive airbnbs so that kids could have a room, we could have a room, and there was a living room for hanging out. You do not need to grocery shop -- just treat the airbnb as if it were a hotel. Stop at a corner store and get some milk and other essentials to store in the fridge. As for breakfast, assuming you're going to any one of the cities you listed, you should be able to go somewhere pretty close to the airbnb without much effort. Can you take your child with you to dinners? I wouldn't feel limited to making yourselves dinner. As for advice -- often airbnb owners will give you some. There are also guidebooks, the internet, etc... One downside to airbnbs is coordinating with the owner when you get there. We didn't have any problems with that, as we were pretty organized in advance of the trip and had responsible and responsive airbnb owners. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having just done this (but with a 14-month-old and 4-year-old as well) -- I would recommend the airbnb route. All things being equal, a suite in a hotel is probably easier, but more expensive. I'd rather save that money to use on other things. (And sleeping all together in one room is not much fun.) We got some relatively inexpensive airbnbs so that kids could have a room, we could have a room, and there was a living room for hanging out. You do not need to grocery shop -- just treat the airbnb as if it were a hotel. Stop at a corner store and get some milk and other essentials to store in the fridge. As for breakfast, assuming you're going to any one of the cities you listed, you should be able to go somewhere pretty close to the airbnb without much effort. Can you take your child with you to dinners? I wouldn't feel limited to making yourselves dinner. As for advice -- often airbnb owners will give you some. There are also guidebooks, the internet, etc... One downside to airbnbs is coordinating with the owner when you get there. We didn't have any problems with that, as we were pretty organized in advance of the trip and had responsible and responsive airbnb owners. Good luck!

Thanks, this is helpful. You're right, we could just walk out the door in the morning and certainly find breakfast nearby. For dinner, DC really crashes around 7pm, which is waaaaay before dinner time in europe. that said, his schedule might go haywire with the time difference so it's hard to anticipate.

[Anonymous]

We did Europe at the exact same age, 3 cities and all airbnb.

2 out of 3 airbnbs had laundry which was a lifesaver. We could pack less and wash. It was a two week trip so it was nice not needing two weeks of clothing for three people.

We bought a few things for breakfast. At that age she was always eating oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I packed a bag of oats in our suitcase and we just grabbed fruit. It also would have been just as easy to go out for breakfast but at the airbnb she ate while DH showered and got ready for our day.
The airbnb hosts are generally friendly and can give you pointers to the nearest grocery store. Sometimes they already have a packet of this info for guests ready to go.
Also, unless you pack your own diapers and wipes (which we did) you will have to navigate to the store to get those things anyways.

We ate dinner out. We ate on the early side but she adjusted.
In a hotel room unless you do a suite or put the kid in a crib in the bathroom, you are lights out with them which might make room service hard anyways.

We also sometimes snuck out of the airbnb at night - just one of us to walk around after DC bedtime.

We stayed in all 1 bedroom airbnbs. It was easy to see the layout from pictures and there always ended up being a large enough closet or side room to put our travel crib.

All in all we had a great trip. DC surprised us with naps on the go and adjusting well to the time change. We set low expectations and hoped for the best. We are so glad we did the trip!

Have fun!

[Anonymous]

You would leave a child alone in a hotel room in a foreign country while you go to the bar. You've got bigger issues than where to stay.

[Anonymous]

We just did this with an almost 2 year old, but just one city. I'd go with the air bnb. We've done a fair amount of travel with her so far, and it's always easiest to stay in a place with a separate room for her crib and at least a small kitchenette.

Grocery shopping in Europe isn't hard (it's kind of fun, actually!). You can figure out what most things are by appearance, pictures, or text (even if you don't speak the language).

My toddler needs to eat within 10 minutes of waking up, so even when we're in a regular hotel room, we have milk and cereal on hand.

She could nap in the other room while we relaxed, read, etc. in the rest of the space. We also had a good amount of space to spread out.

She half-adjusted to the time-change, which was 6 hours ahead -- her nap and bedtime were pushed back by ~ 3 hours (she napped from ~ 4-6pm European time, went to bed around 9/10pm). So we'd sightsee after breakfast, she'd sometimes nap in the stroller, then head back for an afternoon nap before dinner.

We did takeout a few times for dinner and found neighborhood restaurants -- it was actually good to eat on the early side with a toddler.

The place we stayed at didn't have laundry, but that would have been a HUGE win.

[Anonymous]

Our kids are older, but we have done AirBnb for our last two trips to Europe and will do it again for the trip in the US this summer. Love the extra space and having a washing machine and refrigerator and kitchen. We didn't cook a lot, but we kept fruit and snacks in the apt and made coffee each morning. We ate out dinner every day and our kids went to bed later than usual. No benefits to me of staying in a hotel other than the daily cleaning. We wouldn't leave the room to go to the bar if our kids were asleep so that isn't a plus for us.

[Anonymous]

All very helpful, thanks.

[Anonymous]

PP here -- agree with other PPs about washing machines. Those were key during our trip. Allowed us to bring way fewer clothes. You also need to coordinate with the airbnb hosts about whether they can get you a crib. (Some cannot, most can.) I brought a crib sheet with me just in case and needed it at one place but not the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You would leave a child alone in a hotel room in a foreign country while you go to the bar. You've got bigger issues than where to stay.

This, especially in Potugal! Hello, Madeline McCann!!!

[Anonymous]

Just got back from such a trip. Def AirBnb. Nap times are a bit unpredictable especially during jet lag adjustmnet. Glad we didnt' have maids knocking on the doors during the day. Our DDs slept 15 hours straight hte first night, after overnight flight where they didn't sleep much. They're 1 and 3.

[Anonymous]

I've done this twice recently. One time we did two air bnbs (actually homeaway, but same dif). The other time we did a hotel for half and air bnb for half.

Both times the airbnb portions were better:

- Being able to store groceries was actually a major plus. Everyone who interfaces with customers in Europe speaks English, and there were bodges adjacent to our apartments. We could grab stuff for breakfast and not need to plan three restaurant meals a day. Plus, as much as I love food travel, by the end of the trip your stomach is messed up and bread and cheese sounds better than a breakfast platter.

- Kid in separate room was excellent.

- Laundry was extremely helpful. Huge plus.

- On the hotel and airbnb trip, the airbnb we got was owned by a couple that had kids my sons' ages. They were good sports about travel, but when they got to a house that had a real crib and toddler bed and a room full of toys, they looked so unbelievably relieved. It was a real life saver in the middle of the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here -- agree with other PPs about washing machines. Those were key during our trip. Allowed us to bring way fewer clothes. You also need to coordinate with the airbnb hosts about whether they can get you a crib. (Some cannot, most can.) I brought a crib sheet with me just in case and needed it at one place but not the other.

We were in a cheaper country in Europe and just dropped a bag of clothes at the local laundromat. 4 euros per kilo of clothes, all ready and folded 1 day later. Didn't want to spend time washing clothes and especially drying on vacation (clothes dryers are uncommon = need to line dry).

[jaorquina]

I suggest the hotel route - it's nice to be able to get a glass of wine & a snack from room service after your toddler goes to sleep (even if you have to enjoy it in the dark)!