Sleeps 5 Hotels in Seattle, London, San Francisco - Family Rooms

Check out our new pages for hotels with a Family Room to sleep 5 in Seattle, London, and San Francisco. We scoured all kinds of travel resources for hotels, then contacted each one to confirm a room exists that can accommodate a family of 5.

The Seattle page is the newest, just in time for the Vancouver, Olympics!, and will soon include more details about all of the hotels, and will be organized by downtown area. (Photo is of our kids in front of the Olympics digital countdown in Vancouver, BC in August, 2007.)

The London and San Francisco pages each have a Google map that shows all the hotels we list in those cities. I am still working on how to number those little flags, or have the hotel name appear when scrolled over, so viewers can tell which hotel it is without clicking open a text box.

Special steps are usually required of the travel planner to reserve a Family Room. We have found:

• Some hotels have only one large room;
• Some hotels have a few large rooms;
• Most large rooms are not listed anywhere online as a quintuple room, not even on the hotel's website;
• Many of the large rooms require reservation of an extra bed or crib to sleep 5;
• Many hotels don't include their large rooms on discount hotel search engines.

To reserve a room for 5 at some hotels, a traveler must book a certain room online, then phone the hotel to request the large room, or an extra bed or crib. Or, a traveler must inquire with the hotel directly to book (reserve) a particular room with available space and an extra bed or crib. On Sleeps5.com, those special steps are all revealed in the hotel descriptions.

Email us with any questions!

-Sandy Nielsen
Sleeps5.com

London Family Dining, Restaurants, Cheap Eats

Here are 4 links to help you find places to eat in London.  As I mentioned in a previous post, next time my family travels, I plan to use Google maps to plot the restaurants that sound great and are in close proximity to the things-to-do my family plans to visit.

View London Restaurants
Sort by tube station, area, or deals. Under 'recommended' scroll down to see the Best For 'family friendly' or 'child friendly' or 'cheap' restaurants.

Going Underground's Cheap Guide to London
Lots of travel tips, and though not that recently updated, likely valid and helpful information and links. It's not particularly geared to families, but does provide many cheap eateries, and many links to other cheap restaurant lists.

London Eating - London Restaurants Guide
Filter by area or meal (lunch or dinner...) or 'kid friendly' or '15 pounds and under' or 'outdoor' and more.  Amazingly easy navigation with full site tabs on the left and above each page choice and at the top of each page.

NileGuide Kid Friendly London Restaurants
Sort by rating, cost, cuisine type, or proximity to attractions like Tower of London or British Museum.

-Sandy Nielsen
Sleeps5.com

Map Your Family Travel Dining Plans

I've completely rethought my travel planning in regards to eating out. I am a planner by nature -- I like to research multiple books and internet resources, make lists, interview my kids and hubby for opinions, then develop a daily itinerary.

For our prior trips, the process included printing out a Google street map of our destination city, and plotting the locations of the attractions we wanted to see. That way, I could bundle things-to-do that made sense by area; choosing an afternoon thing-to-do near that morning's thing-to-do.

Unfortunately, I never took as much care with the restaurant choices. My carry-along papers always included a list of family- and budget- friendly restaurants, but it was never fully utilized or helpful. We'd end up in an area, tired and hungry, too exhausted to walk around a few blocks or take yet another subway or tube or u-bahn line in search of somewhere to eat. Every meal time, we simply looked around and picked a food option in the immediate vicinity, with mixed results.

(The photo above is of my family at an Irish pub's outdoor seating in Munich, found after exiting the Residenz Museum and seeing only expensive restaurants, consulting a travel book in the hot sun, and finally sending me down an alley way to see if any restaurant fit our budget and need to sit right away.)

My new goal for our next trip is to not only research the cafes and restaurants well ahead of departure day, which I always did, but to also actually plot those eateries on my Google map of activities. Then, I can make dining selections according to distance from our chosen things-to-do and which are very close by, and which provide variety in cuisine -- thai, italian, chinese, and so on.

The plan may not always work out according to fluctuations in cravings or budget or timing, but that's alright. At least we'll have realistic starting options by location.

Sandy Nielsen
Sleeps5.com

Seattle to L.A. in the Family Mobile

Family Jacobsen has had many the quintessential road trip around and about the U.S.; our favorite has to be the Seattle to Disneyland Express. Express is probably the wrong word here since we usually take Highway 101, but with the carrot of Disneyland at the end we manage to make it there in decent humor. Mind you the return trip is always via I-5.

Our first stop is in Long Beach, Washington. Long Beach is a sleepy beach town, with excellent ice cream, a carnival-like car track, and a beach that stretches far out into the ocean; the water only gradually deepens. We head on down the coast over the Columbia River, entering Oregon through Astoria and passing through the various seaside towns. The Pacific Coast is a truly magical place and surprisingly varying in its topography. North of Coos Bay are the amazing coastal dunes (Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area). The kids love this surreal landscape. Soon thereafter, California pops up on the Hwy 101 horizon. It is time to head into the Redwood Forest, visit Paul Bunyan and Babe (corny roadside attraction), a little hiking, hug some really, really, really big trees, and we're off. We are still heading down Highway 101 but will eventually reach Highway 1.

Now to decide whether the family would be happier driving through the forest on 101 or along the seaside on Highway 1. Are the kids still getting along? If yes, you can take the slower Highway 1, if not, best to stay on 101. The two roads will come together again just north of San Francisco where you will ride into town on the Golden Gate Bridge (slowly, as the traffic is always pretty thick).

San Francisco can either be a quick stop at the waterfront, including Ghiradelli Square, or an extended stay. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited, but it is not Disneyland and so we move on down the coast. (We have hotels that can sleep 5 in San Francisco!)

Our next stop is Carmel and Monterey. The kids love the corny tourist attractions on the Monterey waterfront including the Sea Lions lounging about. The Dennis the Menace Playground is a great place to blow off some steam. The neighboring town of Carmel is an unexpected architectural wonder. Many of the homes and businesses have been seemingly built by Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It's a charming, small-scale town with good coffee, swanky stores, and lots of dogs. Many of the hotels will cater to canines. Despite the pricy nature of the town we have never had trouble finding a place to stay for a reasonable amount. We have also stayed in budget hotels in the less expensive Monterey. Carmel has a wonderful beach accessed within easy walking distance of the town. It also provides entrance to the "17 Mile Drive" through the Pebble Beach Golf Links along the seaside. Somehow the light here makes the waves turn green. I've not seen it replicated -- very special.

Further south on Highway 1 is another outdoorsy family favorite: Big Sur State Park. Big Sur Lodge right in the park will house a family of up to six in one "cottage". There are hiking trails and beaches nearby. This is a special place with incredible natural beauty.

Once we leave Big Sur, as painful as it is, we have backtracked up Highway 1 to take the connector through Gilroy to I-5 and then race our frothing children down to Disneyland -- nature completely forgotten. One can drive all the way down Highway 1 to Anaheim/Los Angeles, but we have been repeatedly warned how slow this is, especially when you have kids anticipating visiting Mickey Mouse. So this is the only part of the highway we have never experienced.

After at least three delirious days in Disneyland, we shoot back up I-5, sleep over in Dunnegan, CA, and then aim for Seattle. We often stop over to visit an Auntie in Eugene, Oregon but this drive can be done in one day if your marriage is a secure and happy one. Happy Trails!

Holly Jacobsen
Sleeps5.com