Search for a family hotel and you will find no shortage of places advertising a "kids room" or a "baby-friendly welcome". Check in, though, and it is surprisingly easy to think: this is not what we expected.
After staying at hotel after hotel with our child, one thing finally became clear — look at four things and you will get it wrong far less often. Kids Stay applies these four principles to every one of the 2001 properties we cover.
Principle 1: Can you make the memory together?
Can a child who is not yet potty trained join you in the communal bath or the pool?
Parents taking turns in the onsen is the norm, but if that is the only option, you never build up the experience of enjoying it together. Soaking in a hot spring beside your child leaves something behind, even when there is no photo of it.
Broadly, properties fall into three types:
- A: Children still in diapers may enter the communal bathtub (properties that explicitly welcome babies)
- B: No entry to the tub, but a baby bath in the washing area (the most common case)
- C: Not permitted at all (bathe in your room instead)
* If you are traveling as a solo parent, type A or a room with its own bath is realistically the only workable choice.
➡ More: 8 hotels where children still in diapers can join you in the onsen (Japanese)
➡ More: 8 hotels where children still in diapers can join you in the pool (Japanese)
Principle 2: Can you enjoy dinner without worrying about the food?
Is there baby food, a kids menu, and support for allergies?
Dinner is the highlight of a family trip. When the hotel has nothing prepared for your child, though, you end up with an elaborate kaiseki for the adults and bread from your bag for the children — which is genuinely deflating.
Even where it says "baby food available", only a handful of places let you choose by the child's age in months. And a "kids menu" is a completely different experience depending on whether it arrives as a course, a buffet or a single plate. What matters is checking the substance, property by property.
➡ More: Getting meals right — what to check by your child's age (Japanese)
Principle 3: Can the children play whatever the weather or hour?
Is there an indoor play space on site?
Fine weather or foul, sweltering or freezing, long after dark — children still want to play. With a play space inside the building, you can let them loose with almost no distance to cover and no travel time at all.
This is not about "something to do on a rainy day". It is equally about the blazing heat of summer, the deep cold of winter, and eight o'clock after dinner. A property where one ride in the elevator sets everyone free makes traveling with children dramatically easier.
➡ More: What an indoor play space is really worth (Japanese)
Principle 4: Can you escape the mountain of luggage?
Can you borrow what you need on arrival and pack less?
Half of what families carry never needed to leave home, provided the hotel lends it. Here is what we check:
- All-you-can-use diaper plans (nothing to bring)
- Dedicated diaper bins (nothing to carry home)
- Stroller rental (nothing to haul)
- Baby equipment to borrow (cribs, bath chairs, humidifiers and the like)
This principle matters most of all when the family trip involves a flight or the Shinkansen.
➡ More: Choosing a hotel that halves what you pack (Japanese)
All four come from a single idea
Running through all four is one question: can every member of the family enjoy the trip without straining? We simply want to avoid "the children put up with it" and "the parents are worn out" — and yet how well a property handles that varies far more than you would imagine.
Kids Stay organizes all 2001 properties nationwide around these four principles. To narrow down properties, start from Find Hotels; for regions, see the Area Guide; and for age-by-age picks, see By Age.