The three filters,
before anything else.
Most European hotel rooms cap at two or three people, so a family of four is either two rooms or an apartment. We search the same way every time, and it takes about ten minutes once you know what you are looking for.
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Two bedrooms, walkable, washer.
That is the entire search. Everything else is negotiable and these three are not, because each one solves a problem that ruins a week.
The girls share and the adults sleep. One room with four people in it means everyone goes to bed at the same time, which means the adults go to bed at 8pm for a week. This is the filter that changes the trip most and the one people compromise on first.
Nobody wants to drive after a long day, and a place that requires a car for dinner turns every evening into a negotiation. We would rather a smaller apartment in a walkable street than a bigger one twenty minutes out.
You pack five outfits instead of fourteen. On a two-week trip this is the difference between two checked bags and none, which is the difference between a relaxed arrival and dragging luggage through a metro station.
The places we actually booked.
We are pulling together the rentals and hotels we have stayed in ourselves and would book again, with what each one cost and what was wrong with it. Not a list of everything available in a city, just the ones we would put our own family back into.
Named in our Algarve guide as somewhere we would go back to.
The one we use before an early Athens departure, which is a surprisingly specific and surprisingly useful recommendation.
Check the sleeps number,
not the bedroom count.
A listing that says it sleeps four often means a one-bedroom with a sofa bed in the living room. That is not two bedrooms, and you will not find out until you arrive. Read the room-by-room description rather than the headline number, and if it is ambiguous, message the host and ask them to describe the sleeping arrangement in words.
What families ask us.
Why do you look for an apartment instead of a hotel in Europe?
Because most European hotel rooms cap at two or three people, so a family of four means two rooms. An apartment is usually cheaper than two rooms, puts everyone behind one door, and adds a kitchen and a washing machine, both of which change how a two-week trip feels.
Does a listing that sleeps four mean two bedrooms?
Often not. It frequently means a one-bedroom with a sofa bed in the living room, which means the adults have nowhere to sit once the children are asleep. Read the room-by-room description rather than the headline number, and message the host if it is ambiguous.
Why does a washing machine matter so much?
It changes what you pack. Five outfits with a washer covers a two-week trip that would otherwise need fourteen, which is often the difference between two checked bags and none. With children that is the difference between an easy arrival and dragging luggage through a metro.