Enjoy a Vacation For the ‘Whole Family’ This Summer
I’m extremely meticulous when it comes to planning vacations. If I wasn’t a blogger, my career choice would definitely be something related to the tourism industry. I love spending countless hours researching the best accommodations to stay during my families vacations. More so than anything else, I have learned that staying in small hotel rooms is not necessarily the best option when traveling. To be honest, this is the worst option when traveling with children. Not only are hotel rooms expensive for what you get, but they tend to be super cramped if traveling with kids. This sponsored conversation on behalf of HomeAway explains why I prefer staying in home and condo rentals when traveling with my family.
My go-to company for finding vacation rentals is HomeAway, the world’s leading online vacation rental marketplace with more than one million listings in 190 countries. I often start my travel research by going into HomeAway‘s map view to research the different destinations in the world that interest me the most. Then I move from country to country to see the general prices and rental property options offered. The map view also helps me view individual properties in the exact area I’m interesting in staying.
Properties on HomeAway are perfect for travellers with all different types of budgets as the rental properties range from low-cost to luxury. Either way the properties tend to offer twice the space at half the price of hotel rooms, making HomeAway vacation rentals perfect for families and large groups.
Traveling with “the whole family” and staying together in “the whole house” are the core benefits upon which HomeAway and the vacation rental category are built. The rental is at the heart of a whole vacation experience – it provides space and privacy to truly bond and create lasting memories. For this reason, HomeAway has been ahead of the curve sometime when it comes to what modern families want. More than ever parents let their children advise them on what type of vacation they want to take as a family. It’s a growing trend known as kidfluencing, when children’s opinions help the whole family come to a decision.
HomeAway understands when your kids are happy, you’re happy too. To help parents better understand what makes children happy on vacation, HomeAway asked Kidfluencers What Kids Want on Vacation and their Favourite Unique Properties. HomeAway found what kids wanted the most on their vacations could be easiest found at rental properties.
1. Splashing Around
Kids told HomeAway that a pool is the extra amenity they’d most love to have (37%), with a water slide their second choice (21%).
2.Playtime
The third most popular extra amenity as chosen by children in their survey was a video game arcade (16%), followed by a home theater (6%).
3. Room for the whole family
Kids overwhelmingly told HomeAway that the best part of staying in a whole house on vacation would be having plenty of space to run around (13%)—and a room of their own (39%). Kids also said they’d love to invite their friends, cousins, grandparents, and pets.
4. A unique property
Lastly, the survey found (37%) kids want to stay a unique property that makes their vacation feel truly special.
Contest – Win a $5,000 Stay with the HomeAway Kidfluencers Contest
HomeAway is empowering kidfluencers by giving them even more control over their family’s travel plans with a chance to win a $5,000 vacation rental stay to anywhere in the United States in 2015. To enter, travelers just need to create a 15 to 60-second video of their kids describing why their family should win a vacation from HomeAway.
Upload the video to Instagram, YouTube or Vimeo, using the hashtag #HomeAwayVacation and complete the entry form at http://bit.ly/1c0IN33 before May 29, 2015. HomeAway will select 10 finalists that will be voted on by the public from June 8 to 12 to determine the winner. For more details on the contest, visit http://bit.ly/1c0IN33.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of HomeAway.
We travel as a family a few times a year. It is important for us to have that special bond and make memories together.
We took our first family vacation last summer. There are so many amazing homes on HomeAway! I need to check them out.
You would not have to leave these fabulous houses. I know my kids would love it.
The odd time we do travel and have a vacation its all of us. I wouldn’t ever leave them behind, and think it’s so important to do most things together as a family!
Nice. Homeaway sounds like a great option. I will have to check it out.
Sounds like a great idea! We will check this out.
Hopefully my kids and I will have some time to get away for the summer
I also love the idea of staying in a very unique vacation home. That alone would make the vacation special.
I think this would be so much nicer than a hotel. The space would be so worth it for so many reasons.
wow those houses are decked out! They look perfect for our big family! Hotels have seem to have gotten too small.
Omg I’d have such a crazy good time staying in places like those! Look at all the vacation homes, hoo wee!!
I would love to stay in a place like that while a vacation! I especially liked the place that looks like a seashell!
I’ve heard of HomeAway, but I’ve never tried it! Interesting!
This is fantastic! I love these accommodations. My kids would flip.
This looks like an amazing property to stay on. I prefer properties to hotels as they are more comfortable
A vacation property would be way better then dealing with the customer service and over rated prices at a hotel any day. Looks like a dream vacation to me. I would love to have a family vacation we haven’t had a vacation in a long time. I was thinking of planning a camping trip this summer but who knows what is in the plans school get’s out tomorrow. My family from Toronto will be here for a bit then we will be able to have some fun with them. In July I’m going to a conference but it’s in Michigan just will be hanging out a friends place for two days so I guess you can call that a mini vacation.
That property in picture # 4 is so cool! I haven’t gone on a real family vacation in a while. We did go away for two days last year, but the last extended trip we took was a cruise when my son was 5. He’ll be ten this year!
I’ve always thought that planning vacations would be a great career choice too! Instead, I am also a blogger 🙂
Homeaway seems like a great service. If I were going on vacation with a lot of my family, I’d for sure look for a rental with them.
I totally agree with small motel rooms. We don’t travel much because we can’t afford it but when it comes to staying somewhere we have learned to pay more to get that extra space.
I am so ready for a vacation! This is a great service, gotta keep the kids happy!
Sign me up! I am ready for a vacation! I typically do cruises but this is a great alternative
This sounds like loads of fun!! I love that room. My family would love to be there.
We have looked for a HOmeaway before when we were planning our vacation, it’s a great option.
I could use a vacation right now. These homes look amazing and so comfortable
I have always loved traveling! If I wasn’t a blogger, I would be an archaeologist since they do a lot of traveling and exploring (plus, I love history). 🙂
Using something like HomeAway sounds like a fun way to plan a family vacation. I am like you, I enjoy exploring all of the possibilities, and many different ways to save money on our next adventure.
This looks like a great way to have a wonderful vacation. I would love staying in places with some of those amenities. My kids would love the arcade room.
As a family of 8, including 6 teenagers, traveling can be very frustrating for us since we like to stay together in one unit. This sounds like the answer to our prayers! Thanks for sharing, I’m gonna check it out for our summer travel.
I love that game room. I would love to have that in my own house. Can’t wait for our summer vacation!
Oh wow! That seashell house is amazing. I love traveling in style!
If you have kids, this is totally the way to go. You can save a fortune on meals, alone!