Registration fees, uniforms, equipment, air fare, transportation and hotel rooms are just some of the costs required for travel teams. Traveling from city to city can be costly, so it’s in the best interest of travel teams to save money any way they can.
Aside from cutting costs, it is important to find a hotel that will appeal to kids as well as parents. Below are helpful tips for choosing the right hotel for everyone. This will not only help reduce the cost of traveling, but also increase the convenience factor for athlete’s families.
Extended-Stay Hotels
Extended-stay properties are a high demand among families that travel for long periods of time. Examples of these hotels are Marriott Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, and Extended Stay America. These housing options make the most sense when you are traveling for longer than a weekend.
They come equipped with kitchens that include stoves, refrigerators, and microwaves. Having a kitchen allows families the option to cook their own meals instead of dining at restaurants for every meal, every day. The refrigerator that is generally in these properties is as large as one you would find in a home. They are not like the standard hotel mini fridge. This gives your family the opportunity to store food, order larger amounts of take out, and take home leftovers. These properties also tend to have a dining and living room area that can help establish an at-home dining experience.
Another advantage to extended-stay properties is they will commonly include a grab-and-go continental breakfast option or a hot breakfast. Having breakfast at the hotel not only saves money, but can also help save time for travel teams. Instead of leaving the hotel a couple hours before a game to find a restaurant nearby that serves breakfast, you have the ease of eating right at the hotel.
For more information about how to make the most of a hotel room kitchen and other useful amenities, check out our article Inexpensive Meals for Large Groups.
All-Suite Hotels
Similar to extended-stay properties are “all-suite” hotels. Examples of these hotels include Embassy Suites, Drury Inn & Suites, and Marriott suite properties like Fairfield, Springhill, and Residence. If all these hotel brands have your head spinning, here’s an article about how to tell them apart.
Depending on the brand, these hotels can also offer breakfast and free evening cocktails. The evening cocktail hour typically includes light snacks and appetizers as well.
Another benefit to all-suite properties is that they normally have a sleeper sofa or pull-out couch in the rooms. The room types include either a king with a sleeper sofa or two beds with a sleeper sofa. These suites can fit at least two families, providing the opportunity to share a room comfortably with someone else on the team and save on the cost of booking separate rooms. King with sleeper sofa rooms can fit up to four people. Two beds and a sleeper sofa can fit up to six. The rooms tend to be larger than a standard hotel room because of the extra space needed for the pull-out sleeper sofa.
Transportation
Depending on a hotel’s proximity to the field, convention center, or courts a rental car might be necessary. However, there are ways to avoid having to rent a car in order to eliminate the expense.
Instead of renting a car, families can rely solely on public transportation, car share programs, or shuttles depending on the city. Hotels closer to the airport often offer free complimentary shuttle service to the hotel. Depending on the hotel, the shuttles can also drive up to a certain distance. So, if the venue is close enough to the hotel, you can prearrange to have the shuttle transport you to the games or matches.
Before choosing a hotel, you can also look to see what public transportation is around that can take you to the venue or close to the venue without having to rent a car. All cities have buses, but more are starting to develop rail and subway systems. It is worthwhile to check to see if your hotel is near a public transportation stop. If the hotel offers a shuttle you may be able to take it to the transportation spot, depending on the distance the shuttle can travel.
Another option that travel teams sometimes use for transportation is renting a van for the team. Vans can typically fit up to 12 people. Instead of each parent renting their own individual cars, they would pay less to share a van with the entire team.
Amenities
After a long day of watching games or if you have spare time before a later game, staying at a hotel with a pool is beneficial. In colder states the pools are typically inside and in warmer states, outside. Pools can be a low-cost way to entertain the kids instead of seeing a movie or visiting an attraction. There are also hotel options that have water parks on site, such as the ones on our top 10 list of epic hotel water parks.
Other amenities that particularly appeal to parents are free Wi-Fi, parking, and laundry. Having access to free Wi-Fi gives families the ability to use computers or tablets, ensuring that kids and parents alike have a way to stay entertained. Some hotels offer free Wi-Fi in exchange for signing up for their rewards program.
If a family does opt to rent a car, it is important to check the parking rates at hotels. Ideally you would want to try to find a hotel with no parking costs. Depending on the city, parking rates can be anywhere from five dollars to as much as 40. Downtown properties have more expensive parking prices. If you are staying downtown, it would be worthwhile to check out nearby parking garages or use a parking app such as Parking Panda to help find inexpensive parking.
Most hotels also offer guest laundry services. The ability to wash clothes at the hotel is particularly important to travel teams. On a day-to-day basis, travel teams get their uniforms dirty. Having the capability to wash uniforms at the hotel is definitely desirable for families. This eliminates having to find a laundromat or hand wash clothes.
Having a restaurant or bar onsite is another hotel amenity that appeals to travel teams. After games, parents and kids are tired. Instead of loading everyone up into the team van and going to a nearby restaurant, it is helpful when a hotel has their own. If the restaurant is full service and also has a bar on site, this will surely appeal to parents. This lets the kids hang out on their own while the parents enjoy a drink, all without having to leave the hotel. Families should inquire if the restaurant is offering any happy hour specials or any deals to help reduce dining expenses.
With all of the expenses that already go into having a child play a sport, it can start to double once they start playing on travel teams. Looking for the amenities listed above and using the tips mentioned will help save money and help eliminate anxiety. Traveling can be stressful and the last thing a family needs is additional costs on top of that stress. With these tips, your expenses will not only decrease, but the trip can also become more enjoyable too.