Travelling with your parent friends sounds lovely in theory — and with the right setup, it genuinely can be. A recent write-up from a mum of two tested four different formats for group family holidays, and the trade-offs between them are worth knowing before you book anything.
The default option is an Airbnb, and it's easy to see why: most UK listings (81%, according to the platform) are family-friendly, and over half come with practical extras like gardens, high chairs, parking and washing machines. The writer's group took a three-bedroom house at Camber Sands in East Sussex, complete with a sandpit, swing, hot tub and — crucially — sleeper cots, plastic cutlery and beach toys already provided. The upside is flexibility and cost, especially if you cook for yourselves. The catch: there's no childcare and no staff, so the adults are on duty the whole time. Restful? Not really.
For something more structured, Center Parcs remains the staycation heavyweight — two million families a year pass through its six UK and Ireland sites. At Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire, the group booked two neighbouring three-bed Forest Lodges for six adults and six children under four. Booking adjacent lodges means post-bedtime wine on the terrace while watching the baby monitors. Highlights included the free Subtropical Paradise pool, 400 acres of woodland and a lakeside beach; paid extras like zip lining and a spa kept the parents happy too. A three-bed Woodland Lodge starts from £399 in 2026, though activity costs can snowball. Handy hack: you can use the site from 10am on arrival and departure days, whatever your lodge check-in times.
If you want an actual break, a family-focused hotel is the splurge that buys adults some freedom. Fowey Hall in Cornwall, part of the Luxury Family Hotels group, offers two hours of free childcare daily, a built-in baby monitor system, and rooms with a separate bunk-bed nook so you're not whispering in the bathroom after 7pm. Rates start at £180 a night with breakfast. You can't cook your own food, which is a problem for fussy eaters, but the writer reported feeling genuinely rested — rare with a one- and three-year-old in tow.
Finally, the big one: Disneyland Paris. The writer took three four-year-olds for two park days, basing the group in an Airbnb a 20-minute walk from the entrance — close enough for convenience, far enough to decompress, and ideal for packing your own lunches since park food is pricey and mediocre. Day one in Disneyland Park delivered the parade and the pink castle; day two in the new World of Frozen meant two-hour queues and a ride (Frozen Ever After) with a drop that scared some kids. Single-day two-park tickets currently run £84 for adults, and there's a February half-term package from around £138 per person per night. The writer's verdict: four is the youngest age worth taking, and make sure your group agrees on whether this is a military operation or a wing-it trip.
Whichever you pick, the pattern is clear — match the setup to how much babysitting you want done for you, and how much you're happy to pay for it.