Thread: A night in a hotel?

Now the removals are booked my thoughts have started turning to the actual move day.

It is a 3 hour drive from here to the new address and when Mr tree and I initially spoke about it I said I don't fancy staying in a hotel overnight and that we'd just sleep on airbeds and leave early o'clock the next day. I am now questioning if this is the best choice.

Our stuff is being collected at 9.30am the day before we move. Big tree will be off school (both we and the teachers didnt think there was anything to be gained from sending him back after half term only to move him out a day later) and Mr tree will be in work (relocation leave doesn't start until the Monday after we march in). I'm not sure how well I'm going to be able to entertain two young kids without even a chair to sit on. I'll probably be able to spend the day round at a mates house but I wouldn't want to impose for the best part of the evening.

So I'm now thinking that maybe the hotel stay the night before might be a better idea and it would also mean that we wouldn't have to leave the house at 5.30am to be on time to march out.

Has anyone ever been in this situation before? Does spending the night in the hotel disrupt kids even more than they are being already and is staying in the house without any furniture for a whole day as difficult as i think it will be?

All opinions will be gratefully received.

I don't actually know the ages of your kids, but a hotel has a tv, towels you don't have to wash and beds you don't have to make and take apart.

So for me, I'd say it would be less disruptive as you can follow more normal things than a house that has been emptied of everything bar airbeds.

There's no 5.30 am time to be up, it's going to be a tiring few days for everyone, so a good nights sleep makes the little problems easier to bear.

Hotel everytime!

Deffo hotel. Can not help thinking that the whole bedtime, bathtime and breakfast routine will be a nightmare for you otherwise.

Also, in the morning you can just have a hot shower, breakfast, make tea etc., and then just walk away from the tidying up.

Keep your sanity, a move with little ones is stressful enough.

TLC x

Hotel ST fgs Hotel

Mrs Tree, get that hotel booked, you'll need his new unit code and assignment order number, simples! You'll pay upfront and claim back via JPA.

We move with the dog in tow and he gets bed space aswell as the rest of the family. I've known friends who got posted to Brecon they stayed in a 5star country hotel, very plush! We tend to get Holiday Inn.

Having only ever moved by myself minus a family, I wanted a night in a hotel the last night when everything had gone and I was waiting to handover keys.

Definitely go for the hotel. We always get put up in lovely ones and it's nice to have a bit of luxury amongst the stress. Saying that, last time we moved was with a 2 year old and a 4 day old and I couldn't have cared where we slept as I was bloody knackered!

Thanks ladies, you are as always fabulous.

Just a query. If you book your own, how does it work that you end up in a nice one or a Holiday Inn?

You have to book it through his clerk type person (I think, the other half has always dealt with it), and it goes through HRG who allocate you somewhere. As far as I'm aware, if you book it yourself, you can't claim it back. I think where you stay depends on where is closest and in budget. Luck of the draw!

We don't have a clerk so have always booked via CHBS, or whatever its called this week.

As said previous you claim back via JPA so keep all receipts.

Ahh I will ask the man that can in my welfare office who it goes through tomorrow. Need to speak to him about relocation leave anyway, he told me it was 10 working days last month but the regiment have said it's five. And Mr Tree wonders why the whole thing makes my head ache! (not that he's here to worry about it he's safely tucked away on his course)

I think it is 10 working days for overseas moves and 5 for moves within the same country. That is what we were told on our last move anyway as before that it was 10 working days no matter where you moved to/from.

Ah that would make sense. I will still let the welfare dude know, that way when someone else comes in for advice he can give them the more up to date version. Thanks

Yup, hotel all the way! Means you get to be proper slobs and not have to tidy up after yourself

oh defo hotel - the kids will be unsettled but it will be all the more unsettling sleeping in their house without the furniture in it!
And its 5 days relocation leave within the UK, 10 days if moving overseas. Its supposed to be the receiving unit that soaks up the 5 days which may be why he's not getting it til you arrive.

We booked our own hotel last time and claimed back on JPA. Including food etc for the time we were moving so keep any of those too.

Agree with everyone else - you'll find the only one who is disrupted is you, because you're the only one worrying and organising and doing... the kids will just see it as a buckshee day off school. With the hotel stay they'll probably see it as a treat, too! And you get to sleep well, wake up at a decent time and relaxed, and have someone bring you breakfast that you didn't have to make, on plates that you don't have to wash. The first few days at the new place will be chaos, so give yourself this breather at least.

And whatever you do, have your 'essentials box' ready for the other side - that's the one containing the kettle, a mug + glass + sideplate for everyone, teaspoons, coffee/tea/hot chocolate, sugar, an unopened carton or two of longlife milk, biscuits (sweet and savoury), cheese wedges, crisps, orange squash or whatever your kids like drinking (or similar snacks/drinks - you get the idea), some dishwashing liquid, a dishcloth/sponge, a tea towel or two, a hand towel and/or wet wipes, a bath towel for everyone, liquid soap and shower gel, toothbrushes, toothpaste, colouring books or other activities/toys/whatever will keep the kids amused, a few cushions if you can fit them in and a good book for you to read during coffee breaks to take your mind off it all!

I wasnt so much worried about upsetting big tree's routine. He's excited and when I suggested a hotel to him he was all up for convincing Mr tree as soon as he got through the door from work! (i convinced him it was better to let me handle that one lol) It's little tree that's awkward. He doesn't like to sleep anywhere but in his own bed so he could be hard work in a hotel but we're now considering leaving him at his nanny and grandads because its only an hour away and getting him back the next day after all the fuss is over. Big tree will of course come with us because he is one of these very strange children who loves moving and he also has a visit to what will hopefully be his new school booked for later on in the day.

The essentials box aaahhhhh, already had a row with mr tree over this. Neither of us drink brews so i said I wouldn't have to worry about that so much, he told me i was a tight cow and the removal men would probably like a brew. My argument that i'd give them a can of coke was met with derison hahaha so I will actually have to go out and buy tea coffee and milk because any that is in my house probably isn't fit to make a brew with anymore!!

So today's task is to go and find out if we are entitled to the hotel. I like today's task, it's so much simpler than any of the others so far.

Hotel - everytime (not that I have had to do this kind of move with kids in tow!) but you get a proper bed, towels, tv and no living like a student! (not to mention breakfast, room service and a bottle of wine downstairs - just in case!) x

Definately hotel. I think if you get a decent sleep the next day is always easier and although you might be able to get a decent sleep on an airbed, I don't think they beat a proper bed really do they?

I'm not sure if you can put in a request, but the Three Counties is a quite a nice hotel that isn't too far from the quarters.