Group Hotels, Restaurants, and Attractions

Group Hotels, Restaurants, and Attractions, the other half of your group travel planning journey!

 

You’re planning a trip for a large group and you need bus transportation, that’s a given, what you may not have known is that you’ll also definitely need to feed them, in some cases house them, and you might need to entertain them.

Traveling by group presents some unique challenges that individual or family travel just doesn’t have. Let us explain.

Day Tripping with a Group

This is very straight forward and easy to handle.

  • First, if you’re only doing a day trip then feeding your group probably won’t be that difficult. Sack lunches and snacks will be the order of the day. But you will want to check with the company taking you to make sure that you can use the cargo space for coolers and extra water, and ice. Not that they won’t let you use the space but you will need to make sure you have access to them once the bus is parked.
  • Other than that, work with your bus owner operator on your itinerary and schedule and they’ll be more than happy to help take care of any special needs. If schedule permits, make sure to ask for time for a break to stretch passenger legs and possible get some refreshment while you’re stopped at a rest stop.

Overnight Trips with a Group

This is where things get a bit tricky.

  • First: food, if you’re traveling all day and not having your group bring food with them you’ll need to make sure that wherever you stop for food can handle a full-size charter bus. This is not so much an issue with smaller vehicles but you’ll also need to make sure that the establishment can handle a large influx of customers and serve them in a timely and efficient manner.

    If you’re traveling with multiple stops and layovers you’ll need to make sure that the hotels in question can handle the vehicle and is capable of also dealing with large groups. You’ll need to make sure that you find accommodations with restaurants either located within them or within walking distance.

  • Second: accommodations, in all cases make sure you check with your groups policies on outdoor facing room access. Some groups prohibit the use of these types of establishments for better group control and increased security reasons. Then once you’ve found the hotel you want to work with place a call and review your special needs or requirements for your group. Most group friendly hotels are very adept at handling anything you can throw at them. They’ll have your rooms blocked off and pass key ready for you in advance. They’ll have extra luggage carts available and they should have more bell hops ready to assist with any special needs.

Note: some of the higher end chains will do their best to discourage large groups, so don’t be surprised if your call is not returned or if you’re told there is no room at the inn.

Tips and Insights:

Here are some tips and tricks for group travel outside the bus.

  1. Group chats, either set-up a group chat before you leave or use a group chat app to be able to locate and announce changes.
  2. If possible have a URL with your groups itinerary posted to it, that way people back home can see where you are and what’s going on and members of the group can book mark it in their smart phones.
  3. Bring extra water with you and store some of it in the cargo area and a six pack under your seat if you’re the group leader.
  4. Bring a travel first aid kit, don’t depend on your vehicle or driver having items like antacids, alcohol whips, band aids, cotton swabs, or tweezers. Things like aspirin or allergy relief meds will have to be up to your groups policies.
  5. Talk with your driver, and make sure you get to know their name and if possible add him or her to your group chats.

 

Helpful Links:

Hotel planner.com https://www.hotelplanner.com/GroupForm.cfm?sc=Google_grouprates&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhba26MHf2QIVUVcNCh3nmgUrEAAYAiAAEgKaWfD_BwE

Golden Choral

https://www.goldencorral.com/

Go City Card

https://www.smartdestinations.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg7Xy48Lf2QIVSFgNCh0p8wk_EAAYASAAEgJMUPD_BwE