We stay in a hotel when it's just my family. If it's my parents too, we stay in an airbnb. Airbnb is nice because we can put the kids to bed and go out while grandparents "watch" them while they're sleeping.

I REFUSE to do laundry on vacation. I am particular about my laundry and like it folded and hung up asap with no wrinkles. Pulling wrinkly clean clothes out of my luggage when I get home wouldn't thrill me. I prefer a bag of dirty clothes to come home that I can just wash.

We often bring a meal or two already cooked and ready to go. Like a batch of taco meat made, a lasagna, or shredded chicken. I'm not doing any sort of intensive cooking. Dinners are very hard on vacation with my kids. They're exhausted from full days, hangry, and want food super fast. Going to a restaurant for dinner is a non starter, but we like restaurants for lunch. A pizza we order in is also a good option.

Speaking of which, we have trouble traveling with family that eats differently than us. My family eats small breakfasts (I just like coffee), big lunches and small dinners. DH's family wants this massive, lumberjack breakfast, zero lunch, and then a big dinner at a restaurant. After years of grumpy kids, we just eat lunch and bow out of their dinners.

Out to eat, few dishes. Glad to be able to throw-in a load of laundry. I don't do more than my share at home. Not doing more than my share on vacation.

We usually stay in hotels if it is less than 10 days.

More than 10 days, we absolutely stay at AirBnB, and we make breakfast at home and most other meals from outside. We also explore local farmers markets, get takeouts and I have zero problems making quick sides of veggies, soups, salads, rice etc to round off the meal.

My family has no issues with dishwashing, laundry, cleaning and making our own beds. It hardly takes 10-15 minutes. Even in a hotel, we are in the habit of straightening our beds and keeping the rooms clean.

BTW - I have worked for a big hotel company (rhymes with chariot) and I will alway, always, clean my hotel room surfaces, check beds for bedbugs and body fluids, and wash all the mugs, cups, spoon and glasses in a hotel room with dish soap that I carry. The way housekeeping cleans is NASTY.

People love condos to save money and checked bag fees. They do laundry, spend time at Costco or supermarket buying food to save money and buying things they couldn't carry on like shampoo and sunscreen.
Ask yourself how much you are paying per waking hour to be there...is the time spent on chores and necessities shopping worth it?

Anonymous wrote:It’s because I don’t like most restaurant foods, OP. It’s nice to not have to cook or clean for a few days at an hotel, but anything longer than that, I prefer making my own food and cleaning up.

+1. I like to have a real coffee maker and my own creamer, fruits and yogurt, etc. That said I do avoid Air bnbs where they expect guests to clean. And for a stay under 3-4 days I pick hotels.

It’s because I don’t like most restaurant foods, OP. It’s nice to not have to cook or clean for a few days at an hotel, but anything longer than that, I prefer making my own food and cleaning up.

I like airbnbs because of having more space, but besides possibly a light breakfast, we go out for all meals. I just want the space really.

Anonymous wrote:Breakfast: simple no-cook stuff like cereal, fruit, yogurt, bagels, send DH out for donuts...

Lunch: again simple and no-cook: sandwiches, fruit, chips. Use paper plates.

Go out for dinners.

Except for the breakfast, I agree with ^. I would do eggs and toast. Not hard. Eating out also makes you overeat.

And bring enough clothing for the entire trip so you don't have to do laundry.

The reason why people do airbnbs is because eating out 3 meals/day gets really expensive. Plus, having a common area like the living room/dining room where everyone can hang out is much nicer. I hate having 4 people squeeze into a hotel room. I also hate the noise at all hours of the night in hotel rooms, like the elevator, doors slamming closed, people talking in the hallways.

We have done mostly airbnb, but occasionally do hotels. Last time we stayed at a hotel when we went to visit my parents, we went out to eat breakfast everyday, and there was just too much food. This time we got an airbnb, and we made smaller, healthier breakfasts at home. And we could eat at different times because we all get up at different times.

We've been to an all inclusive once, and it was nice for a few days. But, the hotel room issues would still grate on me after a while.

My kids are much older now, 17 and 20, so now we get two rooms, but that means we don't all hang out in one common area, and breakfast is still an issue.

Anonymous wrote:We buy much more ready-to-eat and prepared foods on vacation, and minimize the amount of actual prepping and cooking. Simpler recipes, lots of easy snacks.

Laundry? We might throw in a load halfway through the trip, but we don’t meticulously sort or fold. Everything goes in together on cold, and clean clothes are eventually dumped on peoples’ beds.

Finally, note the use of “we” in the grafs above. I’m a SAHM, and am very clear that this is my vacation too. I’m not signing up for doing the same tasks with a better view. So DH has to cook and clean, as do the kids. If everyone pitches in a little bit, no one gets stuck in constant chore mode.

This is key. I'm a "resorts only" PP and that's because my DH - who absolutely does his fair share in daily life - refuses to lift a finger on vacation. So I'm not going to either.

We buy much more ready-to-eat and prepared foods on vacation, and minimize the amount of actual prepping and cooking. Simpler recipes, lots of easy snacks.

Laundry? We might throw in a load halfway through the trip, but we don’t meticulously sort or fold. Everything goes in together on cold, and clean clothes are eventually dumped on peoples’ beds.

Finally, note the use of “we” in the grafs above. I’m a SAHM, and am very clear that this is my vacation too. I’m not signing up for doing the same tasks with a better view. So DH has to cook and clean, as do the kids. If everyone pitches in a little bit, no one gets stuck in constant chore mode.

This comes down to personal preference. Do what makes you happy when on vacation.

We do both hotels and air bnbs. Hotels tend to be for our shorter stays. We do prefer ones with free breakfasts. For longer stays, or larger group, we tend to go air BnB. We like the larger amount of space. Doing small load of laundry once a week, running dishwasher every (or every other) day and cooking isn’t a big deal for us. Sometimes having dinner in is much more enjoyable than dinner out.

Breakfast: simple no-cook stuff like cereal, fruit, yogurt, bagels, send DH out for donuts...

Lunch: again simple and no-cook: sandwiches, fruit, chips. Use paper plates.

Go out for dinners.

The obligatory Onion article:

https://theonion.com/mom-spends-beach-vacation-assuming-all-household-duties-1819575406/

Same, OP, same. I now refuse to stay anywhere but full-service resorts, even though it means beach vacations are shorter or less frequent for budget reasons.

I stay in hotels only.

I like hotels with "free" breakfast so that takes care of one meal.

We have had many great picnics in our room, so you don't need to have an air bnb or kitchen, etc. It's so easy to get fun picnic stuff at M&S and similar, wherever you are! I'd never cook. Don't even want a room microwave.

How do you manage to make it fun while doing the exact same activities you do at home?

People rave about the air bnb and I was hoping this would bring me closer to that world.

What did I do wrong? How do you balance the fun and relaxation if you do all the work you do at home?