Kate Atkin
07 June 2018
The key to a successful family holiday in the Cotswolds is to ensure that you feel like you’ve had a holiday. But unfortunately, one of the downsides of heading off on a week away with young children is that you don’t get to leave your responsibilities at home. Children still need feeding and entertaining. Clothes still pile up. The next chapter in your bestseller is unread and that afternoon snooze still seems a very long way away!
When you think of childcare or babysitting on holiday, you immediately think of an evening sitter, coming into your hotel room or cottage to look after the children while you head off to a local pub or restaurant. But in fact, half of the requests from Kowalah parents are for day time support.Typical requests might include:
Family Occasions
You are meeting up with your extended family at one of our large Cotswolds holiday cottages to celebrate a birthday or wedding anniversary. In your mind you’d planned a nice long lunch and time to catch up with long lost relatives. But instead you’re playing dot to dot with your youngest and mopping up the latest orange juice that’s gone flying. Happy holidays!
We see families asking for a spare pair of eyes to look after the kids during the day while the parents are around but freeing them up to chat with their family and friends. The kids really value having an older role model to support them during the day while everyone else is busy chatting.
Weddings
You are staying at a holiday let in the Cotswolds for a friend’s wedding or party that’s taking place nearby. Kids are allowed which is great, but as the afternoon draws on you’re torn between hitting the dancefloor with your friends or heading back to the cottage early to sort supper and bedtime.
We see families asking for a sitter to join them at the wedding, helping with the children, and then taking them back to the cottage when needed for food and bath time. The children love being able to attend the function, but also get to go back to their own bed at the right time without stretching things into the tantrum zone!
The Spa Day
You’ve checked in to your wonderful Cotswolds holiday home. In the welcome folder you read about the amazing facilities nearby including the amazing spa - offering a series of deep cleansing treatments that will take all your worries away. Amazing! There’s just the slight glitch that you do not have four free hours for Mr and Mrs to relax with a cucumber on the eyes. The little ones need entertaining!
Why not ask for some day time childcare support to give you those free four hours? Sitters can do more than just look after kids in your cottage - why not have the sitter take them to an amazing local activity like Rush Skate Park. The kids get to have a great day while you get to totally relax.
We also have a collection of cottages with spa facilities if you think that leaving the cottage is too much of a tricky operation!
Cottages and apartments work best for childcare
Along with these occasions, we also see many requests where families are staying in a hotel in the Cotswolds and want to head out one night to a local eatery. One of the common questions we get is:
“How will this work in our hotel? Where will the sitter be? Sat on our bed? Sat outside the hotel room?!!!”
If you are staying in a hotel with your kids, then depending on their ages you may be in adjoining rooms. If so, your sitter can spend time in the parents’ room while the children sleep next door. But this is a little awkward in that there is a door out to the corridor from the kid’s room, and as parents you probably don’t want a sitter sat in your hotel room!
Cottages and other self-catering properties are obviously ideal, as you have multiple rooms for playing, eating and sleeping, just as you would at home. But if you like the service and facilities of a hotel, combined with the privacy and flexibility of a cottage, a great compromise is an apartment attached to a hotel, such as the Watersmeet apartments at the De Vere hotel in the heart of the Cotswold Water Park.
The hotel offers both one bed and two bed apartments, with the two bed apartments being ideal for families. Mum and Dad get a lovely double all to themselves, with the kids having access to a twin room with their own en-suite bathroom! The apartment also contains a substantial living space including sofas and television area along with a fully stocked kitchen and dining area. All of this space is accessed via a single door to the apartment ensuring total security and safety.
The apartments make arranging childcare as simple as having a sitter at home - they can make food, help with bath time and play games with the kids all in the spacious living area, before putting them to bed in their own room. The sitter can then retire to the living area to get on with some university work or watch television until your return. We feel the apartments give parents the benefits of staying in a hotel, but with the facilities your children and their sitter need to have a great time. Take a look at the apartments below:
Holiday childcare gives everyone a great holiday
Holidays in the Cotswolds should be a truly enjoyable experience and tactically arranging some childcare for your stay can give you the holiday you deserve. If the kids are happy, then you’re happy and you can start to relax.
*This was a guest blog from Kowalah.
Kowalah is a mobile app delivering On Demand Childcare across the Cotswolds by connecting parents with local babysitters and providers of childcare. Parents are connected with up to five available Kowalahs in 15 minutes, giving them speed and flexibility. All Kowalahs have been interviewed and referenced providing parents with peace of mind.
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of writing,
please ensure you check carefully before making any decisions based on the contents within this article.