How to Survive Hotel Life

...in one room with two small kids for two months...

"Mom, does this match?"

London snapped this one of Juliet having a snack.

"Do you like the baby in my tummy?"

Alright, really, I can't complain too much because even though the quarters DEFINITELY felt cramped at times, we also had all this goodness mere steps away...

But you can't spend all day every day at the beach...so here are some tips for keeping it together when you're stuck inside.

1. Be organized about it.  I have a rule that if I am staying somewhere for more than a few days, then I unpack my suitcase and put my clothes away.  We put all our clothes in the closet and dresser.  Since it was two months worth of clothes for four people, it was a tight fit, but we made it work! And it allowed me to stow away the suitcases and not worry about people tripping all over them.

2. Without a kitchen, you are going to be eating out A LOT, so I would recommend stocking up on breakfast and lunch items (and snacks too, if you are a pregnant lady or a toddler. ;)).  We had our little mini fridge stuffed to the gills and then stowed our non-perishables wherever we could.  Behind the TV or in the nightstand, etc. We also made sure to have plenty of paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware.

We kept all our plates and things in this bag.

3. Go ahead and skip the travel size toiletry items.  Bring your normal-size shampoo and whatever else you use.  This is real life, not vacation.  It also allowed me to save the hotel's complimentary toiletry items, and now I can use them for guests that come to visit us, or take them with me on a trip.  Or you can just let the hotel keep them, if you feel weird about it. 

4. Laundry is an inevitable part of life, so to make it easier on yourself, bring a collapsible laundry basket and invest in some detergent and whatever else you like to wash your laundry wish.  I also had a mesh laundry bag to help with sorting/lugging everything to the laundry room down the hall.  And don't forget the quarters!


5. If you have small children who still use bottles or sippy cups, make sure you have the means to wash them.  We brought a bottle brush and bought a small container of dish soap to keep things clean. 

6. Make sure to get out at least once a day if you can.  It was so hard to do that sometimes with two kids and no car, but even if we just went for a walk around the resort in the stroller, it made life so much better.

These stairs were one of London's favorite things about the hotel.  And one of Juliet's biggest struggles.

They had to go through this tree at least once a day.

I am so jealous of her curls.

London calls this her "house."

And, here is a quick tour of the set up we had going.

I tried to keep everyone's bathroom stuff organized in their bags.  We also bought our own liquid hand soap. Those bars get gross fast! 

 

Please note the large amount of stuff hiding behind the TV.

Our room would remain like this for all of two minutes (tops) after the cleaning lady came.

Closet full of clothes/ bags/my shoes.  We kept the diapers and wipes up out of reach because our girls love to play with them.

All our clothes were in that dresser.  Shoes are under the desk, paper and books on top of the desk.  The chair full of stuff has all the girls books and toys concealed under that blanket.  Normally they were strewn threw the room.  But I spared you that chaos.

We kept our gargantuan stroller and all the beach gear out on our balcony, out of the way.

Rainbow view from our room.

The best view from our room.

Especially at this time of day.

Hopefully that wasn't too terribly boring for you! I'm so glad that we are out of the hotel and in our very own home.  We moved in two weeks ago and finally finished all the unpacking.  Still getting settled and organized, but there are no more boxes in my house, so that's a step in the right direction! 

When we were still in the hotel Dan turned to me one night and said, "You know, I'm going to miss this place, it's starting to feel like home."  I don't know that I share those sentiments exactly, but I do really miss having someone coming in and cleaning for me every day!! ;)