Suiteness BlogA week in a suite with a four-year-old: what to get rightWritten by The Suiteness editorial teamPublished November 3, 2026

Book a standard room with a four-year-old and you'll be sitting in the dark at 7:15 pm, whispering, for the rest of the week. A suite fixes that, but only if it's the right kind. The listing photos rarely show what matters. Here's what to check, roughly in order of how much it will affect your evenings.

A door that closes on a bed

The whole reason to book a suite with a small child is so that one of you can be asleep while the others aren't. That needs a door between a bed and a lit room.

A "one-bedroom suite" is normally a bedroom plus a living room with a sofa bed. That works if your child sleeps in the bedroom and you have the living room in the evening, then move to the bedroom once they're asleep. It works less well the other way round. If the child is on the sofa bed, the living room closes at seven and you're back to whispering in the dark.

Before you book, find out:

• Does the bedroom have a real door, or an archway, a sliding screen or a half-wall?
• Is the sofa bed in the same room as the television?
• Can you get from the living room to the bathroom without going through the bedroom?

The last one is easy to miss and matters every night. If the only bathroom is off the bedroom, you'll be tiptoeing past a sleeping child each time you need it.

Where the child actually sleeps

Most hotels can provide a cot or travel cot, but numbers are limited and they go first at family resorts in school holidays. Request one when you book, ask the hotel to confirm it, and ask again at check-in before the evening rush.

A four-year-old who has outgrown a cot but isn't used to a big bed is the harder case. Bed rails are rare in hotels. A double or queen pushed against the wall, or a sofa bed with the cushions on the floor beside it, is the usual workaround. If the room has two queens, one for the child is the simplest answer.

Light, noise and naps

Afternoon naps are where hotel rooms let people down. Check for:

• Blackout curtains in the room the child sleeps in. Many suites have them only in the main bedroom.
• Distance from the lift, the ice machine and the pool. You can ask for a quiet room when you book. It's a request, but it's one hotels can usually grant.
• How far the room is from where you'll spend the day. A nap back at the room only works if getting back takes less time than the nap. At big resorts, the walk from the far wing to the pool can take ten minutes with a tired child.

The bathroom

A bath is easier than a walk-in shower for most four-year-olds, and plenty of newer suites have only showers. If bath time is part of your bedtime routine, check the bathroom photos or ask.

If there are four or more of you, the bathroom count matters more than you'd think. A second bathroom, or even a half bath, means bedtime and someone's shower don't have to be scheduled around each other. We've written about why the second bathroom matters more than the second bedroom.

A fridge, and somewhere to use it

Milk, yoghurt, cut fruit and leftovers are what keep a week with a small child running. A suite with a full-sized fridge and a microwave lets you have breakfast in your pyjamas and dinner after bedtime without room service. A minibar fridge stocked with things for sale usually has no room for your own food, so ask whether the fridge is empty.

Balconies, windows and doors

Higher floors have the better views and the balconies. Before you book, ask whether the balcony door has a lock or latch a child can't reach. When you arrive, check the windows, the connecting doors and the balcony before you unpack. It takes two minutes and you won't have to think about it again.

A checklist before you book

1. A real door between where the child sleeps and where you'll be in the evening.
2. A bathroom you can reach without going through the child's room.
3. A cot or suitable bed, confirmed in writing.
4. Blackout curtains where the child sleeps.
5. A bath, if bath time matters.
6. An empty fridge and a microwave.
7. A quiet room, requested.
8. A sensible walk to the pool and to breakfast.

If a one-bedroom suite can't do all of that, two connecting rooms often can. You get two bathrooms, two doors and two televisions. Here's how connecting rooms work, and if you're going to Orlando, the Orlando page lists suites and connecting rooms near the parks.