Did you Love/hate Pesach in a Hotel? Tell me about it!!

amother

Mauve

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 8:39 am

We did an actual program. They have an option to order food for Yom Tov and Shabbos lunch and dinners, which we used, and we ordered food from a kosher grocery service their to fill in the gaps, like dairy products. Yes, they kashered the house before we came.

There were others who stayed near us who did not do the program (they joined on to a different minyan). They came down earlier in the week and kashered and cooked. You can order everything you need from the same grocery service, or bring it down yourself. It was cheaper than what we did.

amother

Purple

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 9:27 am

amother wrote:

how much was it, compared to an hotel option? how much was the food, and did it come fresh or frozen?

Sounds great. what about cleaning, washing up, etc? were you busy with that? was there a maid service?

amother

Orange

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 9:48 am

Dont think it is possible to hate being in a hotel for pesach!! Is it?????? Who doesnt wanna be served with room service etc???

Last edited by amother on Sun, Dec 13 2015, 7:05 am; edited 1 time in total

MamaBear

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 11:50 am

Well if you have too many people in small rooms it's not so fun. You can't put a baby down for a nap so easily during meal time. It can be very loud and crowded, you can't lounge on a couch all afternoon while your kids play around you like at home. Smile

Everyone has to find what works best for them. I like the house rental plus catered food idea.

amother

Crimson

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:24 pm

Shani88 wrote:

Dont think it is possible to hate being in a hotel for pesach!! Is it?????? Who doesnt wanna be served with room service etc???

Yeah its possile.
Seders are horrible- you cannot hear the person sitting next to you because of the noise. The kids don't get the attention they need and they can't go to sleep when they are tired unless you go up with them to the room.
All meals really are hard with little ones.
Chol Hamoed depends on where you are and if there's enough to do around there.
Where we go (with family) every year the teens get really really bored.
Not complaining just making a point- going to hotel just isn't that great with kids.

amother

Brunette

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:34 pm

Fully agree with those who say hotel isnt so easy!!
Obviously cooking and cleaning and shopping and prepping is hard but hotels are no breeze with little kids. Sharing a hotel room with little space made them wild and so hard to put to bed. It took at least an hour for them to settle and I was in a very bad mood from that. Then up at 6 AM but breakfast not served till 8. Asking for any cookies or candy first thing in morning bc so hungry. Have to get dressed to go to breakfast or any meal - because all in public dining room of course. KIds eat in 2 seconds flat and want to run wild around hotel till day camp starts at 930. You want to eat. Husband goes to shul. You need to watch kids around hotel with nothing to do. No toys to play with in a lobby.....lunch a repeat of breakfast with kids who eat quickly and want to leave dining room. And lets not forget meals are mainly all buffet and people are not very hygienic. I saw kids touch everything with their hands (like taking the pre cut fruit and then even putting it back!) and even grownups using their hands not the servers. It was soooo gross.
The positive was day camp kept kids busy in between the awful meal times!!!

Barbara

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:38 pm

MamaBear wrote:

Everyone has to find what works best for them. I like the house rental plus catered food idea.

What's the advantage of that over, say, having a cleaning service kasher your own home, and using a caterer for meals?

ra_mom

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:46 pm

amother wrote:

Was there no babysitting day camp service in between meals?

gp2.0

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:56 pm

amother wrote:

There were others who stayed near us who did not do the program (they joined on to a different minyan). They came down earlier in the week and kashered and cooked. You can order everything you need from the same grocery service, or bring it down yourself. It was cheaper than what we did.

I wonder what's the point of doing this, vs. just cleaning and cooking in your own home?

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 1:59 pm

My sedarim at the hotels I've been at were beautiful. Definitely was able to hear everyone at the table and it was a pleasure being served and cleaned up for etc and not going in to it tired and exhausted.

Maybe I went to different hotels (or my kids are a lot easier) but I've made Pesach at home (many times) and spent it at a hotel (twice) and. . . making it at home is a million, zillion, trillion times harder, for me personally.

I think maybe I have the low maintenance type of kids-and I'm laid back-and if they run around for 8 days eating crazy things and go to sleep crazy times (both of which they kind of do at home on Pesach too), I don't get bent out of shape about it.

amother

Mauve

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 2:12 pm

We actually did a hotel before doing the house program. I hated many of the things stated above- keeping kids awake or hiring babysitters, figuring out how to serve some kids breakfast when the others hadn't woken up, loud meals where you can't hear each other, spending money on a private Seder if you want to hear that. It's also very busy and hectic, which some people thrive on, but we don't.

Things we do miss from the hotel? The shiurim and some of the entertainment, though this year we watched the Miami Boys concert online. Also, the kids program during davening.

Why do the house instead of a cleaning service and catering? First, because this is our family vacation. Second, we do this with extended family, all of whom live in different places. This way we can all be together and have the work not all be on one household. Third, the cleaning is done before we get there. Even the families who clean themselves are walking into a house that was largely cleaned before they arrived, and they don't bring in chametz at all. A crew at home would have to work around us and the chametz. The cooking, I don't actually get, but it works for some people.

amother

Brunette

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 2:20 pm

above poster regarding the day camp: in a hotel typically the meals are allotted 2 hours like breakfast 8/830-930/10 and lunch 1230-2 and there is no day camp during the meal hours. it closes so the counselors can have a break and eat too.

watergirl

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 3:57 pm

amother wrote:

When I was in high school I worked as a counselor at one of the hotels in florida. We had no break, we had to serve the kids lunch so the parents could relax. No break. Also, we had to each babysit 3 nights FOR FREE as part of the job.

Mevater

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 4:30 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

I wonder what's the point of doing this, vs. just cleaning and cooking in your own home?

The HUGE advantage is avoiding the turning over, and turning over again, shlepping around every dish and pot and pan in the house, only to have to convert again after Pesach. Probably most people traveling, end up using disposables for dishes.

But its so much more expensive to do Pesach away from home, over 10 years its probably $150,000 difference for a medium size family. Thats pretty big bucks. On the average food for an average size family when making Pesach at home w Matzo meat and wine, is close to $2,000. With hotels and traveling that number becomes $20,000. Thats $15,000 difference a year. Are my figures off?