As Christmas approaches there becomes a palpable sense of anticipation in the air; not only about shopping for the family, but working out the logistics of getting around the county, where you’re going to stay on your travels and how far in advance you should be booking your Christmas accommodation.

Staying a night or two in one of the UK’s many luxury or boutique hotels isn’t something you have to just do as a matter of course however. There are occasions where a couple might want to stay in a hotel for a different kind of Christmas entirely. Rest assured – there are plenty of good reasons to, which will be explored later.

If you are planning a Christmas hotel break, then what kinds of things should you be thinking about?

1) Booking early

Needless to say, Christmas is a busy time for everyone – not just families and retailers. Hoteliers in particular though are likely to have a set of healthy books for several reasons. Firstly, Christmas is a time when many families and friends get together – even including persons travelling abroad into the UK.

If there’s no room for them to stay with the people that they’re visiting, then it’s inevitable that they’ll be looking for a third-party supplier to rest their head. Secondly, even if hotel rooms aren’t particularly busy, then their other services might be. Function rooms and dining halls for example will be popular in hotels for corporate Christmas parties.

For these reasons, make sure you secure your booking as soon as you can. It’s also the best way of making sure you get the full Christmas works too – from joyous Christmas dinners, to themed evening parties and other festive treats.

2) Read the small print

Just to make sure you’re getting exactly what you’re entitled to, make sure you read all the details about your booking. You’d hate to find out on Christmas Eve that you can’t watch the Queen’s Christmas Speech on Christmas Day because you didn’t book a room with a television. Although, if this is the case, it’s a problem normally easily solved when you arrive at your hotel.

Similarly, you need to make sure you’re signed up for the party options and know that your meals, or the use of the hotel’s other facilities, as available to you as booked.

3) Check your travel options

If one thing can be guaranteed over the Christmas period, it’s that motorists are likely to encounter some traffic at some point. The great Christmas getaway is one of the busiest times of the year on Britain’s roads, and therefore the likelihood of traffic building up – and accidents occurring – is greater.

There are some really handy tools online which can help you plan your journey; avoiding places where congestion might be at its most standstill. Keeping the radio on throughout your journey also helps if you’re driving.

4) Find out what’s going on in the local area

It’s easy to find out what events are going on in the vicinity of the hotel simply by asking staff at reception. Or perhaps by picking up some handy travel information from the front desk. Around Christmas time, even the smallest of villages tend to have some kind of special event going on to celebrate – even if that means a trip to church for a spot of singing, or Christmas mass.

Whatever you do, make sure you make the most of your accommodation and all the things they have to offer at Christmas time. Hopefully you’ll remember it for life.