There are many exceptional hotels in Hawaii but there is one in particular that seems to have cult status with families, Kona Village on the Big Island. One of the few inclusive-style accommodations in Hawaii, we’ve had the family-friendly hotel review on Ciao Bambino for a while now. Even though I personally interviewed the family that wrote the review, I didn’t really understand what made the hotel so special.

I do now.

One of the few positive consequences of the travel downturn over the past year is that it has forced hotels at every quality level to become more value conscious.

Hoteliers who have been able to figure out how to manage costs while maintaining value for their guests have been able to ride out the storm while keeping occupancy rates higher than the industry average. I’ve seen this trend in action repeatedly through both our booking activity on Ciao Bambino and my own travel experiences.

We have quite a few extraordinary hotels featured on Ciao Bambino and I’ve been lucky enough to stay at a large number of them. We checked into The Breakers last night and I have to say, I’m thoroughly wowed by this historic hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

I’ll write a full report later. In the meantime, I have a few fun Photo Friday moments to share.

Skiing is a wonderful family activity. Expense aside, it is a sport that all ages and genders enjoy, and when kids are old enough, families will appreciate the time spent on vacation together—versus a pool or beach environment where everyone may be doing their own thing.

Qualifying what makes a resort great for families is important since terrain, facilities, and amenities vary widely.

Now that I have children, I’m becoming a bit of a Disney freak. Last year my family bought annual passes and visited Disneyland at least once every other month. We live in San Diego, about an hour and a half hour away, so it’s a pretty easy day trip for us. However, it’s more fun and relaxing to sleep in Anaheim so we can spend the whole day at the park.

I have stayed in all three Disneyland-owned hotels.

I’d argue that traveling with a toddler is the most challenging of all the stages. Babies take work, but they are portable and can’t venture off on their own. Meltdowns and tantrums aside, the real issue when traveling with toddlers is that they are active, mobile, and into everything and anything. Given all the time, effort, and money that we put into toddler-proofing our homes, staying in random accommodations for even just a few days can be very stressful.

Sleep is a big issue too.

Many people prefer the style, intimate atmosphere, and personalized service of a boutique hotel over a large chain-hotel with several hundred rooms.

I opt for boutique hotels too when excellent options are available; however, it’s much more difficult to identify smaller hotels that are kid-friendly since most have limited amenities and do not have the capacity for a long list of family-centric services. There are an increasing number of exceptions like Kimpton Hotels’ KimptonKids program and Affinia Hotels has My Family programs (Chicago, New York, and DC).

The title of this post is a bit misleading because it implies that every friend is a good candidate for sharing a vacation home. I’d argue this is not the case—just because you are great friends at home doesn’t mean you are a good match to share a rental.

When I organized villa rentals for families as part of our Italy trip planning service, there were several occasions when families didn’t get along on the road and it tarnished the vacation for everyone.

I’m happy to report that we had a fantastic experience at our VRBO-rented farmhouse in the Dordogne region of France last month. After a thorough and thoughtful search …

Ashford Castle is one of those magical places in Europe where you feel like you’ve literally stepped into the past. The massive, perfectly preserved exterior of this 13th century castle is …