Julie Jay: A hotel break can feel more like a breakdown when you have a toddler

Anyone with small children knows a weekend away with small children is basically a hostage situation, only with nicer tea and coffee facilities

I vow not to stay in a hotel room again until one or both of the kids is booking it on his company credit card. Picture: iStock 

I’M NOT 100% sure people who design hotel rooms have ever met a child. 

As much as a hotel break sounds relaxing on paper, anyone who is in the throes of the toddler stage will tell you it is essentially a 2026 version of the iconic ’90s game show Crystal Maze where, in order to progress to the next level, you had to pass a series of mental and physical challenges.