How to plan a trip using the Preferred Family website

Preferred Hotels launches a host of new features on their Preferred Family website today, all of which help families plan a vacation. Never heard of Preferred? I bet you’re more familiar with their portfolio of hotels and resorts, located in prime family vacation territory, than you think. Preferred has long been known for luxury hotels such as the Montage Laguna Beach, Beaver Creek Lodge, and Boston Harbor Hotel, but is also dedicated to making family travel a priority.

How will they do this? Preferred has begun the process of certifying qualifying hotels as family-friendly. I love that this certification is hard to obtain: hotels need to meet a high standard of family-friendly features, which means that they do the vetting for you. This is travel research made easy! Here’s how to take advantage:

1. Search Preferred properties in a personalized way.

Preferred Family is a great tool for family vacation planning. Families can use the site to quickly search and filter locations by age, activities, amenities, or vacation type to plan a trip worldwide. Using the ‘quick search’ feature to input desired criteria such as ‘beach’ or ‘ski’ will often introduce families to destinations they may not have considered.

2. Plan ahead with destination-specific itineraries.

One of two new features rolled out just today, families can now secure itineraries for the destination of their choice. Preferred Family’s “Three Days in … ” feature showcases local activities and places to eat along with top 10 things to know while in each destination. Each hotel also provides a list of events and things to do, both in the community and on the property.

Tap into the knowledge of top family bloggers.

I’m happy to say this is where Pit Stops for Kids comes in. The second new feature debuting today on the Preferred Family site, the “Family Blogs” page streams live feeds from top family blogs, keeping families up-to-date not only on specific resorts, but general travel tips, trends, and products. We’ll be on there, as well as other recognized top blogs covering a wide range of travel topics.

Many Preferred Hotels are luxury properties, but the Preferred Family website is a great travel planning tool no matter what your family travel budget. Get tips, inspiration, and destination ideas on the site, then check their “Special Offers” to see if the ideal family vacation opportunity pops up!