Congratulations to Liza, whose favorite family travel destination is Vermont for some skiing (smart lady)!
Can you believe we’re already into the second month of 2013? January was all about smarter family travel round these parts; in February I’m going to focus on sharing stories of the best family travel destinations I’ve visited recently. But today’s post is a happy intersection of both ideas with a chance to win a $250 Residence Inn gift card.
If you’re a regular reader of my site, you may have noticed the Resident Mom Club banner in the sidebar; it’s there because Marriott invited me to stay in some of their Residence Inns and report back on my experiences. Although I’m generally a fan of Marriott properties, I’d never stayed in a Residence Inn and was curious to give the brand a whirl, which we did most recently in Williamsburg, Virginia.
I reserved us a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite, which offered a bit more room than we actually needed, but was an absolute pleasure to spread out in nonetheless – you’ll certainly never hear me complaining about having my own bathroom. Chain hotels often lack in the style department, but I felt like the Williamsburg Residence Inn had some nice decorative touches (for one thing, our bedrooms were painted the same peacock shade as my office at home).
Please click on photos for full-sized versions
Even though it was a warm January weekend when we visited, I had a terrible head cold and loved being able to read by the gas fireplace in the evenings. I also loved that the wifi was free.
Having a full kitchen is always a bonus when traveling with kids, and we took full advantage of ours, bringing our own freshly ground coffee and snacks as well as lunch-making supplies. Not only did this save us money, it meant we were able to spend an uninterrupted day at the Jamestown Settlement Museum, which doesn’t have any great dining options nearby. The hotel offers a free grocery shopping service – fill out a list and they will pick up the items for you and stock your fridge.
We also loved the hotel’s breakfast buffet, which Teddy frequented in his pajamas and slippers. They offered a full hot breakfast including oatmeal, biscuits and gravy, and waffles with lots of toppings.
Another plus: When I reserved online, I was able to request a room on the top floor and the hotel delivered. That meant we had no noise of anyone walking around overhead, and the layout of the suite put two doors between us and the hallway a night. It was very quiet in our room.
Colonial Williamsburg is on my list of best family travel destinations and makes for a fantastic family getaway. The Williamsburg Residence Inn is located less than ten minutes from the Williamsburg Visitor Center and is surrounded by family-friendly dining options, including Food for Thought right across the street. It has an outdoor pool for the warmer months and in the winter guests can use the indoor swimming pool at the Springhill Suites across the parking lot.
I definitely feel like the Williamsburg Residence Inn was a good value. We rented our suite for $159 a night. The sofa in the living room was also a pullout couch, meaning that the suite offered generous space for a family of five or six. And a one-bedroom suite which is identical to the one we stayed in minus one of the bedrooms and bathrooms, goes for $99 a night; this would be perfectly comfortable for a family of four.
There are Residence Inns around the country, including in downtown areas of many major cities (I once attended a meeting at the one that’s smack dab in the middle of Time Square – you really couldn’t find a location that’s more centralized in Manhattan). That means no matter where you’re going in the U.S., you’re likely to find one nearby.
Which is why I’m happy to announce that I have a $250 gift card for use at any Residence Inn to give away this week. Although prices vary according to location and season, that should be enough for a nice weekend getaway for you and your family.
To enter, leave a comment below sharing your top family travel destination by 5 p.m. EST Friday, Febaruary 8, 2013. Good luck!
This contest is not restricted by country of residence, but you must be 21 years old to enter. Find a list of Residence Inns here.
Additional conditions applying to this drawing: Contest ends at 5 p.m. EST on Friday, February 8, 2013. One entry per person. No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law. Employees, partners, agents, vendors, or immediate family members of the Mother of all Trips are not eligible to enter. This is a random drawing from those who meet the entry requirements, so odds of winning will depend on number of entrants. The Mother of all Trips reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and or modify the promotion if any problem corrupts the administration, security or proper play of the promotion. In the event of a dispute as to the winner’s identity, entries will be deemed made by the holder of the email account associated with the entry. Entrants agree that The Mother of all Trips, or any of the other participating sites are not responsible and cannot be held liable for any unauthorized intervention, technical errors, printing errors, mail delays and any other errors in connection with the administration with this program.
As part of my participation in the Resident Mom Club, I received a gift card to give away and a gift card from Marriott to spend at any Residence Inn of my choosing in any manner I wanted. You can always count on me to share when I’ve been compensated along with my honest opinions.
Ooh we definitely have Williamsburg on our must-see list! We just returned from Pigeon Forge, TN and that was a lot of fun for the kids!
Our top travel destinations are ANYWHERE there’s a great beach — from Maine to Cape Cod to the Outer Banks (where we will make our first trip this summer) to Florida (where i”m dying to explore the St. petersburg area!) If there’s a beach we are HAPPY!
Thank you for providing us w/your amazing website and all of your wonderful ideas of places to visit and stay! It’s great to have this wonderful reference when planning family travel. Thank you!
We love going to Rehoboth Beach as a family…but Williamsburg is on our list for this year!
I would say that Dallas and the suburbs are our #1 travel destination. Headed there this summer to see family and show the girls the JFK history found there.
St Louis has a lot of family friendly attractions and many of them are free. It’s one of our favorite destinations.
We stayed at a Residence Inn for the first time last summer in Moncton, New Brunswick and I was very impressed. The extra space is more than welcome for families – particularly when there’s a teenager involved. We love Atlantic Canada as a family destination but are keen to start seeing some of the US east coast – Williamsburg is very high on our list!
$159 for a suite *is* a good deal. We’ve never been to Williamsburg, but I’d love to take my own boys soon, and the recommendation of a good, clean, reasonable hotel with a continental breakfast is worth its weight in gold.
I love Williamsburg! Our top destination is probably Sanibel Island, FL.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 @ gmail dot com
We lived near the Historic Triangle for 14 years and come back to visit often. I would love to move back to that area. I’m a single mom with 4 kids and we are hoping to do a cross-country trip soon. We’d love to travel west across the northern states and then back east across the southern states.
I second St Louis!! I’d love to stay at a RI!
I love family travel. Have to say Charleston was one of our best family trips ever!!! Good history, awesome food, fun for kids of all ages and adults too.
We love staying at Residence Inn’s too when we travel: I love the one in Portland. It’s pretty convenient to the city and we have so much fun driving there from Seattle.
San Antonio, Tx. Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World, the Alamo, the Riverwalk… All great!
Wow. We just need to get AWAY! If we took the our daughters (who are 2 and 4), probably someplace local like Philadelphia, Baltimore or New York. If it was Hubby and I? Maybe florida!
Just about anywhere! Love going to the Caribbean but would enjoy a weekend getaway to a Residence Inn close to home – the Gravenhurst location in Ontario looks lovely!
Love places like this for family travel!
We love the residence inn for its family-friendliness. We’d probably use it in North Conway on our way to Maine, where our fam loves playing on the beach!
Our top family destination is Colorado Springs, Colorado. In the summer, the weather is a perfect getaway from the 100+ temps in Oklahoma. So many things to do. Hike, swim, mountain bike, horseback ride, rock climb, Pikes Peak, River raft, Cheyenne Zoo, Patsy’s outdoor arcade, and the list goes on and on!! Even fine hotels with s’mores kids clubs and spas if you need that too:) There are so many great places to use that RI gift cert, it would be hard to choose!
We recently stayed at a Residence Inn in Carmel, Indiana (as part of a fam trip). Very nice and quiet, yet conveniently located to where we had to be and a roomy, home-like atmosphere. As for favorite destinations, I definitely love northern Michigan, which has a lot of great family-friendly options…and we’re working on visiting several Midwestern destinations this year with an eye towards doing more stories for Midwest Guest 🙂
Sounds like a great trip. We will definitely take our boys there when they are a little older. Williamsburg is such a neat place. The hotel sounds great and there is nothing wrong with having two bathrooms and a small kitchen. It’s little things like that make travel that much better.
The Residence Inn in the historic district is my favorite when we visit Savannah. I love that it’s convenient to all that Savannah has to offer, but in a nice quiet location. And the pool is beautiful. Already have reservations here for my daughter’s college graduation in June.
We would love to try somewhere new! Loved Wmsburg, but Texas is sounding awesome now! Dallas or San Antonio might be up next on our agenda!
How do you pick just one? How about four. New York City, Hilton Head Island, Williamsburg (and we are dying to get back “home” to play tourist with the kids), Seattle
My favorite family destination is Newport Rhode Island. It is a great place at all times of the year. I took my son there when he was 6months last year.
Our favorite weekend getaway as a family is Chicago… just 4 hours away! I’d love to stay at the Residence Inn there and not have to hide in the bathroom when we put our youngest to bed at 7 p.m. 😉
Your Williamsburg post got me thinking of all the cool travel opportunities open to us next year when we start homeschooling. Williamsburg is def at the top of the list!
We had an amazing time in Chicago, and we love the Outer Banks, but this year our top picks for family travel are Rehoboth Beach and Boston. We already have Rehoboth planned, and need to figure out when we’ll go to Boston. That will be part of Eli’s quest to see baseball games in as many major league stadiums as possible.
Our top family destination would be Carolina Beach. So much to do there! 🙂
We are in love with our new home as a favorite family destination. Denver has so many outdoor activities. There is a zoo, aquarium, wildlife refuge, children’s museum and just about every professional sport you can name!
My family enjoys going to Mystic/Groton Ct. My kids really enjoy the aquarium there and my mom and I always went to the casinos there before they built some nearby. And then of course there’s the pretty harbors.
Always wanted to go to Williamsburg! We had a great getaway to Erie PA. Lovely beach and an amusement park and beautiful state park. We’d love to go back soon!
I’m really looking forward to taking the girls to Colonial Williamsburg one day! I’d like to stay with family and visit DC for a couple of days and then go over to Williamsburg and stay there for two days. Perfect!
We don’t do much traveling (not nearly enough!) but we like to go to the Outer Banks and are planning to hit Orlando eventually. I’m really glad you posted about Residence Inn, I’ve never stayed in one before and those prices are better than I thought they’d be!
We’d like to go to St. Louis this year. They have some really neat museums and such for kids.
soluckyducky at gmail dot com
Our favorite summer destination is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. It’s beautiful! http://www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm
Our favorite summer destination is San Francisco where we split our time between visiting relatives and exploring the city’s great museums, etc.
My family and I love traveling to the Jersey shore – especially Wildwood NJ. It’s close enough to drive in under 2 hours and we enjoy our days trips there as much as our full week vacations!
We’d love to do Toronto – we’re thinking of a Toronto/Niagara Falls trip this summer.
Would love to do Niagra Falls and then head up to Canada. My daughters have never been there.
We have yet to make it Colonial Williamsburg but have it on the must do list! We love Washington D.C and this summer we discovered Pittsburgh is delightfully kid friendly.
For our 10-year anniversary, we are revisiting the places in Nova Scotia we saw on our honeymoon (this time with the kids). The Halifax Downtown Residence Inn would be some wonderful luxury in the middle of camping 🙂
We LOVE Lake Placid and New England, but our parents just moved out to Colorado so I have a feeling we will be spending lots more time there!
We absolutely loved Disneyland, and found plenty to do in the area as well. It’s funny, I remember going to Williamsburg with my parents as a kid, and I don’t think I had nearly as much fun as you guys seem to have!
There is a great Residence Inn at the Jersey Shore that we visit often!
We would really love to visit St. Louis
Anywhere there’s a beach! We’d love a weekend getaway on the Oregon Coast.
We love our hometown, Southern California where there are plenty of beaches, sun and snow…yes, snow in the San Bernardino Mountains (2 hrs. south of Los Angeles).
After getting back to the Twin Cities last summer and having too much to do to fit it all in, I’ll say that Minneapolis is our favorite destination. 🙂 If I won I might use the card for a place we’ve never been (together): Chicago, Colorado, or maybe even San Diego.
We love going to Vermont, especially to ski!
i love destin, florida!