Families Between Homes: Staying in a Hotel During a Move

Setting up with kids

• Ask about adjoining or connecting rooms, or a suite with a real door between the sleeping area and the rest.
• Check breakfast hours against the school run, and pool hours against the evenings.
• Laundry becomes a weekly event. On-site machines or a nearby laundromat matter more than the lobby.
• A kitchenette covers snacks, milk and simple dinners, which is most of what keeps children steady.
• Ask for a quiet room away from elevators and ice machines. Bedtime survives the move that way.

The practical stuff

• Mail and packages: ask the hotel how to address deliveries and where they are kept.
• Storage: the furniture usually goes to a storage unit, not the hotel. Keep a one-box-per-person rule for the room.
• School and doctors: keep the address paperwork from the old and new home handy; a hotel address works for deliveries, less so for enrollment.
• Pets: confirm fees and rules in writing before you arrive with the dog.

Booking when your dates keep moving

Tell the hotel the truth: the end date depends on a closing or a move-in. Book the monthly rate with the clearest extension and early-checkout terms you can get, in writing. A weekly payment schedule often fits this situation better than a prepaid month, because it caps what a slipped closing date can cost. Two weeks before each decision point, decide: extend, move, or check out.

What to ask before you book

• The full monthly total with all taxes and fees, and the deposit terms.
• Extension and early-checkout terms, in writing.
• Adjoining rooms or suite options, and whether the room type is guaranteed.
• Parking for two cars, if you have them.
• Pet fees and rules, if this applies.

What next

Browse hotels that take stays of 30 nights or more on Monthly-Hotels.com and send your dates through the Request dates form. We forward your request to hotels in the area you pick, and you talk to the hotel directly.