What’s it like spending Christmas at a hotel?

More than anything else, the Christmas holidays symbolise being with family and friends to enjoy together the happiness and joy of this special season. But often, traditions end up becoming a tedious routine as we have to organise, cook, clean and tidy the house in preparation for the abundant feasts that take place over the festive season.

Faced with this prospect, more and more families, couples and friends are taking the opportunity to treat themselves to a holiday and enjoy a different kind of Christmas, in a hotel close to, or far from, home. Hotels are fully geared up for these new ways of celebrating, so they offer special packages for New Year’s Eve dinner or Christmas Eve dinner plus accommodation.

If you would like to do something different this year, why not celebrate Christmas at a hotel, and let the staff there take care of everything? Make Christmas 2017 an unforgettable experience.

The Christmas holiday is for celebrating as a family, so why not take your family and friends on holiday with you? There are packages to suit every budget, from a break in a country cottage to a trip to another part of the world. Going away with the people who are most precious to you is an original way to enjoy the Christmas traditions of other countries, or to go hiking or do other nature-based activities together in natural surroundings.

Choose a destination where Christmas is the undisputed star, and enjoy the traditions in a new way. Colmar in France and Freiburg and Heidelberg in Germany are three towns where Christmas invades every nook and cranny with decorations, lights and enormous Christmas trees. However, Christmas is special in every city in Europe, with street markets, festivals and impressive Christmas decorations. If you have the opportunity to travel further afield, the city of New York is a destination that will bring back your happiest childhood memories with its musical shop windows, the crowded skating rinks of Central Park and the Rockefeller Center and, of course, the huge iconic tree in Rockefeller Square.

If you have children, a trip to Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, can turn into an unforgettable adventure for the whole family, as there you can ride into Father Christmas’s town on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. For those who would like to visit historical locations directly linked with the origins of Christmas (The Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa), Jerusalem will be an unmissable destination at this time of year.

Paris, Rome, London, Berlin... A break in one of Europe’s capital cities, either on or between the main holiday dates (Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Epiphany), is perfect for breaking with the usual routine and making Christmas 2017 extra special.

If you are one of those who prefer to make a complete break with tradition while also escaping the cold weather, Christmas is a good time to enjoy temperatures above 25ºC in South East Asia or the Caribbean. During December and January, these areas enjoy wonderful temperatures and, in addition, cheap air fares are available.

Another possibility closer to home is to spend Christmas by the sea in a pleasant climate such as the Canary Islands. Fuerteventura’s extensive beaches rival those of the Caribbean, while a trip up Mount Teide in Tenerife to end the year with the achievement of new goals, or a camel ride across the lunar landscape of the Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote are great packages for those who would like to combine a new kind of Christmas with a pleasant winter dip in the sea. Furthermore, each island has its own individual customs, ranging from their cuisine to live music shows, so there is a pleasant surprise in store for everyone who opts to spend Christmas on these amazing Islas Afortunadas (Fortunate Isles).

Every part of the world has its own individual way of celebrating New Year’s Eve, so it is important to choose a country where you can see in the New Year as the locals do, and make it an experience to remember. Travel agents offer New Year’s Eve packages or end-of-year 2017 packages in hotels all over the world.

You can spend an ideal end-of-2017 break in a European city with a tradition of seeing in the New Year with fireworks or, if you’re looking for something rather more exotic, welcoming in 2018 in a temple in Japan would be sure to get your New Year off to a good start.

Is there any better gift than starting 2018 somewhere new?

 Hotels also offer special New Year’s Eve dinners, including grapes for the traditional Spanish ritual of eating a grape for every chime of the clock at midnight and a party. In case you are unable to travel far at this time, a good way to liven up the festive season is to choose a hotel, either near where you live, or near relatives, to have dinner and even spend the night.

Close to Palma de Mallorca, the Barceló Illetas Albatros Adults Only hotel offers a New Year’s Eve 2017 package which includes a luscious menu starting with aperitifs and is accompanied by the perfect selection of extras including cava and good-luck grapes. Dinner begins at 8.30 pm and is followed by a party with a DJ. The package also includes a late-night snack and two drinks, to welcome in the New Year in style with the sea as a backdrop.

And there is certainly no lack of special lunch or dinner menus for New Year’s Day, such as at the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, featuring dishes from Basque cuisine, where you will want for nothing and the preparations will be easy for the whole family.

So have you decided on your getaway package for this Christmas? Celebrate Christmas at a hotel and enjoy the festivities in style.