Games to Play in a Hotel

You are on a family vacation. The hotel does not have an indoor pool. You had planned a day at the beach or the amusement park, but suddenly there is a crack of lightning and the downpour starts. If you have ever been stuck in a small room with a restless child or children you know the scenario has the potential for disaster. If you have planned ahead, you can turn a day stuck inside a hotel into a day of fun, games and adventure.

Hotels come equipped with pens and notepads, making Pictionary an easy go-to if you do not have other games available. Have the family sit around the bed or on the floor and have each take turns drawing pictures with the other family members having to guess what the picture is of. You can make things interesting by splitting up into teams and having one team give the other team the picture to draw. Keep score or just play for fun.

Charades is another hotel game that does not require any extra items such as dice. Act out certain things, such as people or places, and have the other members of the family try to guess what it is. You can use the pens and the notepad in the hotel room and give each other ideas. Write out a bunch of ideas and place them in an empty hotel dresser drawer and have each family member pick out a random thing to act out.

Any number of card games can be played in a hotel room. From war to solitaire or poker to blackjack, a deck of playing cards can make a miserable day stuck in a hotel room that much easier to deal with. If you did not bring a deck of cards with you, ask the front desk if they have a deck you can borrow.

While you can find hotel-themed games on your smart phone, like Hotel Dash, some classic games can be played in limited space with no equipment necessary. Have the seeker wait outside the hotel room while the other members of the family hide in places around the room. There aren't too many places to hide, but the game is a surefire hit for younger children. Hide in the bathroom, in the closets, under the covers, behind the curtains.

You don't usually think to pack a board game when you're leaving on vacation, but if you have travel-sized games or a favorite family game, it's not a bad idea to plan ahead for some bad weather. Break out a board game if you have one on hand. If you don't, surprisingly some hotels and hotel restaurants have games available. Ask the hotel staff and see if any are available.

Scavenger hunts are fun to play but they take a little time to set up. If you have time, choose some object and hide it somewhere in the hotel's common areas. Then write out various clues and give them to your kids so that they can try to figure out what the object is and where it is. Just be careful not to let the kids run too freely through the hotel or to make too much noise. Scavenger hunts are fun because they get you out of the hotel room, which can be a little cramped.