I’ve been going to my friend’s lake house for more than two decades. Every year, my three closest friends from high school and I meet at the lake house for a long weekend, and when we started having children, we brought them along, too. It’s really meaningful to induct the next generation into something that has become so special.
Now, our families are complete, and the weekend involves 10 adults and six children under 6 living in the same house for four days. It’s loud and chaotic, and someone is always asking for a snack.
This year’s long weekend coincided with a global tech outage that caused more than 1,000 flights to be canceled and more than 9,000 flights to be delayed. Our return flight was one of them.
Traveling with a toddler is already hard
We were initially delayed by about an hour, and we were able to leave for the airport a little later. As soon as we arrived and checked our bags, however, it was announced that our delay would be two more hours longer.
Everyone at the airport was in disarray, I was sleep-deprived, and my toddler was bouncing off the walls. After grabbing a pretzel, I called an audible: Let’s see what Minute Suites is about.
Minute Suites offer small rooms that you can book by the hour — or overnight — to nap, work, or just rest. The pristinely clean room included a daybed sofa, a desk and chair, a television, and WiFi.
For us, it critically became an enclosed space where my toddler could watch a movie without headphones and move around without running away or being in someone else’s way. There’s enough space to unpack your bag to work on a craft together, play a game, build a tower of blocks, or create a whole world for the dolls to live in.
Some locations offer a bathroom and shower, as well.
It helped us decompress
When we stepped into the room, I immediately felt the cortisol racing through my body lower. It was a quiet space where we could set our bags down, relax on the couch, and mindlessly scroll Instagram for a few minutes while we made a plan for what to do about the delays.
The soundproof room was exactly what I needed at the moment to combat the intense overstimulation I was feeling.
Standard rooms offer space for two people to sleep and up to four to relax. It was a nice size for my family of two adults and one child. There are some larger rooms at a few of the locations. The rooms lock from the inside, so they offer privacy and safety.
We paid $58.99 for one hour, and we got the last room available. Reservations are encouraged, but there’s always the possibility that there will be availability on a whim. Nursing parents can book a room for free for 30 minutes to pump or breastfeed.
Minute Suites are available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, New York, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City.
I would definitely book another room at Minute Suites, and I’m glad to have the option in my toolbox, especially when traveling with a toddler.
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