Here are a few things you should know about me. I like to spend time with my friends and family. I like cooking. But I don’t do it love to host the holidays.
I know some people really like to prepare a turkey dinner with all the fixings and invite loved ones over to their homes for the holidays. I’m not just one of them. I don’t like the amount of cooking, cleaning and running around it takes to make sure everyone is happy.
Related: 12 festive hotels for people who really love the holidays
I found another great way to handle the holidays: Skip it altogether and go to a hotel. I just got back from a Thanksgiving visit to Orlando, and it was the perfect way to start the holiday season.
That’s why I think you should quit hosting jobs and spend vacations in a hotel.
You don’t have to cook, clean or play host(ess)
My husband and I have three children – all boys – and as hard as we try to do otherwise, the cleanliness of our home is very questionable. The work we have to do to make it look bigger than we can handle beyond keeping the boys fed, clean and clothed.
This year, we flew to Orlando, where a clean room was waiting for us at the Gaylord Palms Resort near Walt Disney World.
Every afternoon we returned to our room to find the beds made, the trash emptied and the room tidy. I did my best to manage the kids’ messes in between cleanings, but this alone relieved a lot of my holiday stress.
I’m a big advocate of tipping hotel staff and restaurant servers, and I recommend tipping extra on holidays if you can. A small tip is a simple way to say “thank you.” Plus, it was worth the peace of mind knowing I could spend more family time instead of spending the vacation cleaning all the time.
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Although we tried to save money by packing breakfast essentials and snacks for our hotel room, we also ate out during our visit. Most of the hotels I’ve visited during the holidays offer festive meals on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas.
I enjoyed my Thanksgiving lunch pool at Gaylord Palms Cypress Springs Water Park. I’m not sure if a tuna dish is a historically accurate Thanksgiving meal, but it sure made me feel thankful that I was in sunny Florida sitting by a lake instead of a cold southern Indiana cookout.
Many hotels organize special meals and activities
Lest you think we avoided the turkey and stuffed it completely, we had a traditional turkey dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Disney’s Animal Kingdom that night. The park is less than 15 minutes from Gaylord Palms, and the animatronic animals made for lots of Thanksgiving laughs.
In most cases, you don’t even need to leave your hotel for a traditional holiday meal. Down the road at Universal Orlando, several on-site hotels offer holiday dining. Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Loews Sapphire Falls Resort all offer festive buffets on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Outside of Florida, there are several other hotels that offer special meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Big Cypress Lodge in Memphis offers a Southern-inspired meal of Thanksgiving classics, while the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, offers a turkey dinner or “Thanksgiving-to-Go” for guests who want to dine privately in the suite. theirs. . Nickelodeon hotels and resorts in Riviera Maya and Punta Cana are offering a special Christmas dinner, so you can fill up before hitting the beach or water park.
Related: Not your typical sleigh ride: 9 theme parks not to miss this holiday season
In addition to delicious food, hotels around the world mark the holiday season with special events and activities. In years past, we sang along with carolers and met Santa in the lobby of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. All Universal hotels get into the holiday spirit.
This year, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal Orlando held a tree lighting ceremony the day after Thanksgiving. It was complete with hot cocoa and cookies and surprise character greetings.
In addition to special meals, Santa stops by both Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts on Christmas, and kids can participate in special holiday-themed activities like cookie decorating.
Or, if you’re a fan of the holiday turkey trot, Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, Missouri, hosts its annual “Gobble Wobble 5K” the day after Thanksgiving.
You will create new holiday traditions and memories
The above activities are just a few examples of the fun hotels you can visit during the holidays. You can find similar offerings in locations around the world. No matter where you go on vacation, the unique experiences you can have at home help create cherished vacation memories.
Related: 13 vacation spots for family holiday fun
My family has made it a tradition to visit the Gaylord Hotel during the holidays to enjoy the annual holiday event called Ice! This is the first year we’ve been here for Thanksgiving, and the festive atmosphere actually made it feel like the perfect way to spend the holiday.
We may not have participated in the usual rituals, but we still had fun and spent quality time together. In the spirit of the holiday, we sat around the table on Thanksgiving night and shared what we were thankful for.
Getting out of our normal routine and filling the day with fun activities meant I wasn’t fighting iPads away from my kids or thinking of ways to keep us busy.
You can take advantage of last-minute status nights or use expiring certificates
I don’t know about you, but this year I’m thankful for all the ways points and miles have improved my travel. I’ve earned things like room upgrades, late check-out and free hotel nights thanks to my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card and Platinum Card® from American Express.
Amex Platinum gives me automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status (registration required), which comes with benefits such as room upgrades, late check-out and bonus points for stays. My Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card comes with an annual free night certificate (up to 35,000 points; some hotels may have resort fees) on my cardmember anniversary.
Related: Don’t let credits go to waste: Your year-end credit card checklist for 2024
I almost forgot to use it last year, which led to another interesting story. But this is not the time it took our dog to stay to avoid losing a free hotel night. This is to remind you that the holiday season is a great time to look for any free night certificates or other money saving credit card benefits that may be about to expire.
For example, my Amex Platinum comes with up to $200 in prepaid hotel statement credit each calendar year. And as the old saying goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
Related: Last-minute tips for closing a hotel deal before the end of the year
You can also justify throwing holiday traditions out the window and creating your own if you need to sneak in a few last-minute nights to upgrade to a new level of sophistication. You will get to enjoy a special vacation with your family again lock in superior hotel benefits for next year. Now that’s something to be thankful for.
Bottom line
Don’t get me wrong — I like to party. But I’m as much a food, drink and board game lover as a host.
Rather than drive myself up the wall trying to plan the perfect Thanksgiving (and pull the insides out of the turkey, which is not something I’m interested in doing), I found another way. It allows my family to celebrate all the things we love about the holidays without stress.
However you choose to celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
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