The best hotel stays in the world go above and beyond just offering a bed to lay your head on for the night. Booking a stay with the right mix of hotel amenities during your next trip can make a vacation or work trip go from satisfactory to simply sublime. And if you’re wondering what hotel amenities can cover, it’s all encompassing. Room amenities that are most important to US travelers, according to KAYAK’s extensive booking data, include a range of perks offered onsite at a hotel or resort that include everything from a pool and hot tub to a beachfront location, free cancellation, free breakfast, and amenities for your pet.
Read on for our picks for the best hotel amenities to look for–and how to find them–when booking your next hotel stay.
- What U.S. travelers look for when it comes to hotel amenities
- Most wanted hotel amenities: pools, hot tubs, a beachfront setting, and more
- The hotel freebies most universally loved
- Sleep concierges, pillow menus and other wellness amenities
- The best kids’ amenities to make a getaway a true vacation
- Conclusion
- How does KAYAK know what to put in this guide?
- FAQs
What U.S. travelers look for when it comes to hotel amenities
Travel, as we all know by now, is back–and in a major way. Travelers are investing the time and research to make the most out of the places they can’t wait to return to, as well as visit for the first time. They’re becoming savvier with their searches all the time, thanks to travel planning tools that let you focus on what you most want from a vacation. KAYAK’s data insights give an enlightening peek into the hotel amenities that matter the most to U.S. travelers–and those apply whether you’re vacationing in your own backyard or venturing forth to explore the far corners of the globe.
Most wanted hotel amenities: pools, hot tubs, a beachfront setting, and more
Although hotels offer a diversity of amenities, there are three that customers are most looking for: pools, beachfront (where better to relax?), and pet friendly.
Stays with a pool and beach: the magic mix guests are looking for
KAYAK found that when travelers are seeking out hotel stays, hotels with pools top the list of the most-wanted amenities. And hotel pools of course come in more than just your typical backyard variety–including those with ocean views, swim-up bars, indoor and outdoor versions, infinity edges and private plunge pools, to name just a few variations.
Personally, I’m an outdoor pool with an ocean view kind of woman. But I was recently wooed for a dip by the amazing indoor pool located next to the fitness center at The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee –a spectacular property in Georgia’s Lake Country, about an hour east of Atlanta.
For outdoor pools with ocean views, my home state, Florida, is a shoo-in. And I count the beachfront pool at Costa d’Este Beach Resort & Spa in Vero Beach, the rooftop pool at the JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa and the pretty splash of water at One Ocean Resort & Spa in Atlantic Beach, near Jacksonville, atop my list of the best hotel pools where I’ve enjoyed a swim to the sound of lapping waves.
And what about hot tubs?
Where there’s a hotel pool, there’s almost always a hot tub calling you in for something a little warmer and steamier, too.
If you ask me what makes a hotel hot tub memorable, as well as one of the best hotel amenities, it’s about getting to soak with a sublime view–and I’ve enjoyed a few. Memories of apres-ski soaks with my husband in a hot tub with mountain views (while the kids were still off at ski school) are among my best wintry moments while staying at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, located mid-mountain at Colorado’s legendary Beaver Creek ski mountain. And for a Swiss spin on snowy winter escapades with a stellar outdoor hot tub at the ready, I recommend warming up post-sledding in the outdoor hot tub at Hotel Kurhaus Bergün in the Swiss Alps.
Out best furry friends get perks, too
Other hotel amenities topping the list of perks American travelers are actively seeking out pertain to their pets. Pet-friendly amenities are all the rage, according to KAYAK’s insights, including everything from pet beds and doggie bowls to special pet-friendly meals–like the “puppy parfaits” and “pupcakes” offered at Huntington Beach’s Paséa Hotel & Spa. Dog-walking services are even offered at the Kimpton St Honoré Paris in the heart of the French capital. And the Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort & Spa in Japan offers grooming services for dogs as well as pet-friendly rooms with a special shower and drying area just for pooches in your room, where you can bathe and dry your dog yourself (with the provided dog-friendly shampoo and brushing spray, to boot).
The hotel freebies most universally loved
Hotel resort fees often cover some great room amenities, including things like boogie boards, naturalist-led shark teeth hunting trips, and more at properties like The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, where I recently was lucky enough to spend some time with my family. And the list of coolest hotel freebies is long when it comes to sweetening the pot at your next stay.
The best days start with a good breakfast (especially when it’s free)
U.S. travelers love a freebie tossed into their hotel spendings, and who can blame them? Those included perks that go above and beyond that can make a hotel even more comfortable for settling in. According to KAYAK’s insights into the freebies U.S. travelers most crave, free breakfast tops the list. But not all are created equally, of course.
I still dream of the organic Norwegian breakfasts I enjoyed–complete with waffles with fresh strawberry jam, caviar and the tasty caramel-like brown cheese called brunost–at Scandic hotels across Norway, my favorite of which is the Scandic Ishavshotel in Tromsø, where guests often enjoy setting the Northern Lights during the dark fall and winter months.
The joy of free parking
Free parking is another hotel amenity U.S. travelers can’t get enough of–and it tracks, considering how much we love a good old-fashioned road trip. You can use KAYAK’s hotel booking tool to narrow your search in a destination to include only hotels with free parking, which can amount to serious savings on a stay. One of my favorite hotels with free parking in Miami (a city notorious for parking price gouging), is the Hilton Garden Inn Miami Dolphin Mall. It’s ideally situated for retail therapy at one of Florida’s largest malls and has an outdoor pool for cooling off after a day of mad spending.
Classic but essential amenities: free Wi-Fi and free cancellation
It’s no surprise that free internet is one of the most in-demand hotel freebies, too, considering the rise of leisure travel and workcations. “Free internet” is another filter you can make use of to narrow your options when booking a hotel with KAYAK for the best room amenities.
More than ever, travelers are also looking for flexibility when making their travel plans–and this is where the right to free cancellation of a hotel stay figures as a major hotel freebie U.S. travelers love, too, according to KAYAK’s research.
Sleep concierges, pillow menus and other wellness amenities
Your desire to keep up your workout routine on the road is being answered by hotels in the form of incredible fitness and wellness amenities.
Sleep royally: concierge and pillow menus
The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel in London ensures guests get their best night of sleep with an unusual wellness amenity–the hotel’s sleep concierge provides an app you can use to access sleep-inducing meditations and you can choose your best head prop from the hotel’s pillow menu (to be spritzed, no less, with a special scented pillow mist).
Spa soaks for your soul
Hotels with spas are another popular amenity U.S. travelers are understandably into–and again, you can narrow your search for only properties with spas using KAYAK’s hotel booking tools and filters running down the left side of the web page.
I can tell you I’ve almost never met a spa I didn’t like–but the most appealing ones offer a real sense of place alongside the full wellness workup, too. Soaking in the design-forward thermal baths at the exquisite 7132 Hotel in Vals, Switzerland is one of my finest travel wellness memories ever–and access to the beautiful baths was included among the room amenities.
License to exercise
Gyms that go the extra mile with amenities like Peloton bikes ready for you to ride at no additional cost are always appreciated by fitness fiends, and you can get your ride on in hotels everywhere, from Hotel Indigo San Diego Gas Lamp Quarter to the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor in Australia.
The best kids’ amenities to make a getaway a true vacation
Holidays with children can be exhausting but, nowadays, there are so many possibilities, whether on a family road trip or in a hotel, to balance solo moments with family time.
Kids Club: a break for everyone
A happy coincidence for my jet setting family is that my husband and I enjoy sending our two kids off to a hotel kids club as much as they love going. And a hotel with an onsite kids club always rises above the rest for me when deciding where to stay. I managed to find time for a spa treatment and a long and languorous beach stroll recently while my kids were making shell necklaces and getting their hair braided at the excellent kids’ club at The Shore Club Turks & Caicos. And Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club has one of the best included kids clubs I’ve seen in Florida for children between the ages of 4 and 12. The spacious area is filled with toys (a great selection, not just old, overused ones), a separate area for arts and crafts (fully equipped) and the trained staff creates a unique schedule, full of activities that suits different age groups.
Memorable family moments
Free evening s’mores around a fire is another kid-friendly amenity my gang adores. You’ll find marshmallows being roasted around at hotel campfires at properties all over the U.S. and Canada, including Rush Creek Lodge at Yosemite and the gorgeous little Canalta Lodge in Banff.
In-room tents that made my kids feel like they were off on a camping adventure (with no mosquitoes) were an amenity they loved at LaPlaya Beach and Golf Resort–A Noble House Resort in southwest Florida. They still ask me if we can go back for another pina colada at the swim-up kid-friendly pool bar proffering virgin drinks just for them at Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina in the Florida Keys.
Fun has no age
Sometimes the best family amenities are for adults as much as kids. During my family’s recent summer lake vacation, staying in the gorgeous two-bedroom Jasmine Cottage at The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, we booked a fireside dining experience, one of the amenities you can enjoy right at the lake’s edge. As the sun set over Lake Oconee, the kids feasted on chicken fingers and cheeseburgers while warming up around the bonfire after a swim while my husband and I clinked glasses and dug into charcuterie and a seafood platter. We all lingered there, enjoying the moment, until the stars were bright in the night sky and the last s’more had been devoured.
Free hotel happy hours
Breakfast might be the most important meal of the day–but it’s hard to argue that a free hotel happy hour shouldn’t rank right up there in importance, too, when you can find one. And many hotels add these extra perks for guests–sometimes on concierge levels, but often right there in the hotel lobby and open to all guests, regardless of room category, too. Kimpton hotels are beloved by loyal guests for offering free social hours to anyone staying in house between 5 pm and 6 pm, daily. At the breezy rooftop of the Kimpton Hotel Wilshire, an IHG Hotel that plays out to the tune of wines, local beer, and seasonal snacks. And at the The James New York–NoMad, look forward to trying tasty breads alongside pours of wine during the wine hour held every afternoon in the hotel lobby. We’ll raise a glass (or two) to that!
Conclusion
Finding the best amenities for your next hotel stay is as easy as using the convenient KAYAK tool on the left side of the page when you book and filtering for amenities that include things like onsite golf, free internet, spa, kitchenettes, hot tubs and more.
And for a wider-angle view, KAYAK has also broken down the 5 steps to finding the perfect hotel, walking you through things like how to best use the site’s filters to find freebies and perks and understanding stars and scores. Reference KAYAK’s wealth of booking research, too, for information on things you need to know about traveling with your pet how to find a pet-friendly hotel.
How does KAYAK know what to put in this guide
As a travel writer and frequent traveler both for business and with my family and friends, I stay in upwards of 30 different hotels each year, at home in Florida and around the U.S. as well as all around the world. I always chat with other hotel guests to hear what amenities impress them most from resort to resort (often getting inspiration for where to travel next, too!). And I of course have my own opinions, as well, about what makes a great hotel amenity, starting with things like complimentary breakfast and free access to wellness areas decked out with my favorite sauna and steam rooms to relax. I paired my knowledge with advice from the KAYAK teams who build the features and tools you use to book your travel to bring you the most complete picture of the best hotel amenities to seek out.
FAQs
What is an infinity pool?
An infinity hotel is a popular hotel amenity both for its simplistic beauty and for the fact that it photographs well–as well as for the sheer pleasure you can enjoy soaking in one. Infinity pools are designed with a trompe-l'oeil edge that makes it look like water is cascading off the side of a pool. It’s a pleasure to swim up to the edge of an infinity pool and watch the water spilling down into a basin from which it’s then pumped back into the pool.
What is a plunge pool?
One of the favorite pool-related hotel amenities out there, a plunge pool refers to a compact version of a regular swimming pool that creates the perfect opportunity to plunge in and refresh with a dip. As hotel amenities, plunge pools can be private just for you (perhaps sitting on your private guest room terrace, thanks to their compact size) or shared with other guests. The commonality they share is that they’re smaller than regular pools while offering the same opportunity to venture into the water to bathe and refresh.
