Family travel: Ranking the top family-friendly hotels in the U.S.
Time to start thinking about summer vacations, but where to go? Family travel is the hot topic right now - I just posted about LXR Hotels' summer escapes for families, and now TripAdvisor has announced its 2012 Travelers' Choice Hotels for Families winners giving parents a plethora of options to consider for school break and summer vacation.
Exterior of the Trapp Family Lodge, one of my picks for the top family-friendly hotels
Before we get to their list, though, here are my top 10 hotel favorites for ultimate family fun, based on my own travel experience and recommendations from travelers:
- Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vermont
- Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, South Carolina
- Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek, Colorado
- The Harbor View Hotel & Resort, Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
- Grand Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
- Four Seasons Hotel Boston, Boston, Mass.
- Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
- Hammock Beach Resort, Palm Coast, Florida
- The Sagamore Resort, Adirondacks, New York
- Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Marco Island, Florida
According to TripAdvisor, 504 top family-friendly properties were recognized in U.S., Europe, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. The winners were determined based on the hotels most highly rated by those who traveled with family. TripAdvisor, as you likely know, is the largest online site for customer reviews. Since anyone can comment, I caution you to use these picks wisely, check with your own sources and also ask for recommendations from travel professionals before booking anything. That said, the hotels chosen as the best-of-the-best for family travel are diverse and span the globe, and might stir some unique ideas on where to take your family this year.
TripAdvisor organized the winnings into family-friendly "Large Hotels and Resorts" and "Small Hotels and Motels" in the U.S. and world. Large properties feature 100 rooms or more.
Guest room at the Woodloch Pines Resort, one of TripAdvisor's top family resorts in the U.S.
Here are the top 10 winners in the U.S. Large Hotels and Resorts category:
- KeyLime Cove Resort and Water Park, Gurnee, Illinois
- Rocking Horse Ranch Resort, Highland, New York
- Hope Lake Lodge & Conference Center, Cortland, New York
- Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Orlando, Florida
- WorldQuest Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida
- Woodloch Pines Resort, Hawley, Pennsylvania
- Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa, Orlando, Florida
- Marriott's Harbour Lake, Orlando, Florida
- Floridays Resort Orlando, Orlando, Florida
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Anaheim-Main Gate Area, Garden Grove, California
For the entire list of winners in the 2012 Travelers' Choice Hotels for Families, click here.
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About the author
Melanie Nayer is a travel writer who spent many years in the newsroom before jetting off to see the world. Her goal is to bring readers the best insider information More »Recent blog posts
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