With the ringing in of February came the planning for our middle child’s three year old birthday party. I would be lying if I said I was not a little bit smitten that our families passion for travel meant he wanted to spend the night in a hotel and have a pool party. So my wife and I set out on a path to make such party a reality for a three years old’s wish.

I was quite happy that my wife took the lead on finding the perfect hotel to make the hotel pool party a reality. We had first heard about this phenomena from my sister, who upon traveling to Chicago for work, found out she was staying in a hotel that was popular for the newfound trend of hotel pool parties. Reserve a hotel room, invite your kids friends over, celebrate in the room with food and cake, and have a swim party.

So my wife wanted a suite type room to be able to invite the immediate family over. We elected to go with the Staybridge Suites Akron-Stow-Cuyahoga Falls. We were also able to secure a suite for a modest 15,000 IHG reward points. A 1 bedroom suite with two queen beds went for $155.58 after taxes, making 15,000 points a reasonable redemption.

Upon checking into the hotel, the hotel staff had realized they placed us into a smoking room. So we asked if there were any upgrades available as part of our status with IHG, and the agent switched our room around for us in no time. What we did not realize was the agent unexpectedly upgrades us to a great, two-bedroom suite. Our room came complete with a bedroom with two queen size beds, it’s own desk and private bathroom. A second bedroom was on the opposite side of the suite, and came complete with a king size bed and it’s own private bathroom. Adjoining both bedrooms was the living room and kitchen suite, complete with a dishwasher, fridge, microwave, and toaster oven. The 2 bedroom suite typically goes for $190.15 after taxes, making the 15,000 points a tremendous value.

Tips for Having a Hotel Birthday Party

1) Keep in mind you are having a birthday party in a communal place, and there are guests around you staying in the same hotel for various reasons. Therefore, a hotel is not a place to have a wild and crazy party, regardless of whether it is with family, lots of kids, or friends. Our family was very aware of that having a “party” at a hotel may have been against some unwritten rules, and we did not want to draw any unnecessary attention. Therefore, we had an early evening party, before any adjacent neighbors would be going to bed.

2) Bring your own party decorations. My wife had purchased all of the decorations, cups, plates, napkins, etc. ahead of time. We arrived early and before our guests to make sure we had time to hang the decorations.

3) When your wife puts you in charge of getting the pizza, make sure you get it right. We were fortunate that the Staybridge Suites Akron-Stow-Cuyahoga Falls was adjacent to a local pizza establishment. I had no problem ordering the types of pizza that would accommodate the various palettes (cheese, vegetarian, meat lovers). However, one would think ordering 3 large pizzas to accommodate 12 people would be easy. However, when I picked up the pizzas, I realized larges were only 12″ pizzas and that 24 pieces was maybe not the best decision. Whoops. Make sure you plan accordingly ahead of time and bring enough food.

4) Traveling as a family of five, even for a single night stay at a hotel involves an entire van of stuff, and that does not include all the party supplies, presents, etc. Two cart loads into our room and managing three kids is already a lot to handle. So we had family provide their own beverages, making it one less thing for us to cart in. Fortunately, some members of our family now carry their own private, wine in a bag travel gear.

5) Following the party, make sure to clean up after yourselves. That includes if you go to the pool, make sure to clean up after your guests (dirty towels, empty cups, etc.). After opening up presents in you room, gather all of the wrapping paper and packaging. Garbage cans in hotel rooms are always small. So ensure that you bring your own garbage bags and discard of the trash in the dumpster on your own. Housekeeping already has enough on their plates cleaning countless number of rooms everyday. So help them out, and make sure there is minimal additional work required from other guest rooms.

The Staybridge Suites Akron-Stow-Cuyahoga Falls also provided a nice breakfast spread in the morning, which was suitable to fulfill the various dining tastes of our family.

We were really impressed with the Staybridge Suites Akron-Stow-Cuyahoga Falls. The staff was all delightful! The hotel was immaculate, new, and well appointed. The suite was fantastic, and the pool was a hit with the boys (but so is any bathtub). The biggest thing I took away from staying at a Staybridge Suites was how great they are, and how we will definitely consider this brand in the future.

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Source: InACents