Where to stay for Thanksgiving and Christmas
Eight collections built from hotels we hold member booking links for, sorted by the kind of holiday you actually want — somebody else cooking, a stadium within walking distance, a town that decorates for the season, or eighty degrees on Christmas morning.
Thanksgiving
The year nobody cooks
The strongest argument for an all-inclusive Thanksgiving is that the cooking, the dishes, and the hosting all stop being your problem. Most of these resorts run a holiday dinner service, so you still get the meal without anyone losing a day to the kitchen.
Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Runs a family zone and an adults-only zone on the same grounds with separate pools and dining, which is the trick for a multi-generation group.
See My Rate Read our los cabos guide
Garza Blanca Sanctuary All Inclusive
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Built into the Sierra Madre coastline south of town, so it feels removed without being a long transfer from the airport.
See My Rate Read our puerto vallarta guide
Royalton Negril
Negril, Jamaica
On Seven Mile Beach, with a kids' side and an adults-only side depending on which half of the family you're travelling with.
See My Rate Read our jamaica guideGrand Palladium Select Bávaro
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Punta Cana is usually the shortest flight of the Caribbean all-inclusives from the East Coast, which matters on a four-day weekend.
See My Rate Read our punta cana guideThanksgiving is a football holiday
Dallas has hosted a Thanksgiving Day game for decades, and plenty of families build the whole trip around a game rather than a table. These are hotels within reach of the stadium, which is the part that gets expensive and sells out first.
Loews Arlington Hotel
Arlington, Texas
Inside the Arlington entertainment district, so the stadium is a walk rather than a drive and a parking fee.
See My RateLive! by Loews Arlington
Arlington, Texas
The same district, generally the lower-priced of the two Loews properties there.
See My RateLodge Kohler
Green Bay, Wisconsin
In the Titletown district directly across from the stadium. Late-November Green Bay is cold enough that being able to walk back matters.
See My RateRenaissance Boston Patriot Place
Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attached to the Patriot Place complex next to the stadium, which solves the Foxborough problem of there being very little else nearby.
See My RateWhere the whole family converges
When the hosting falls to someone whose house cannot absorb twelve people, the answer is usually a hotel near them rather than a different city. These are easy-to-reach cities where the airport, the relatives, and a decent dinner are all in the same place.
Loews Kansas City Hotel
Kansas City, Missouri
Downtown and connected to the convention centre, so it holds a large block of rooms when a whole family needs them at once.
See My RateEmbassy Suites Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park
Atlanta, Georgia
All-suite, so each family unit gets a door that closes. Atlanta is also the easiest airport in the South to converge on.
See My RateHyatt Regency New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
If the family would rather eat somebody else's cooking, New Orleans is the obvious Thanksgiving city in the country.
See My Rate Read our new orleans guideWestgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Water Park
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Condo-style units with kitchens and an indoor water park, which is the version of this trip that keeps children occupied for four days.
See My RateCanyon country in its best month
Late November is arguably the best time of year in the Southwest: the summer heat is gone, the summer crowds are gone, and the parks are still open. It is a genuinely different Thanksgiving if your family would rather hike than sit down.
Canyon Casitas at Zion
Springdale, Utah
Springdale sits at the park gate, so you are inside Zion before the day-trippers have driven in.
See My Rate Read our utah guideAdobe Grand Villas
Sedona, Arizona
Small and suite-based rather than a resort, which suits a quieter holiday for a couple or one family.
See My Rate Read our sedona guideThe Grand Hotel at the Grand Canyon
Tusayan, Arizona
A few minutes from the South Rim entrance. Worth knowing the rim is genuinely cold in November and can see snow.
See My RateWolfe's Hotel Moab
Moab, Utah
Base for both Arches and Canyonlands. November is the shoulder month locals actually recommend.
See My Rate Read our utah guideChristmas & New Year
A Christmas-town Christmas
Some towns commit to December entirely. Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed village in the Cascades that lights the whole downtown for the season; Whitefish and Jackson are mountain towns that look the part without trying. These book out earliest of anything on this page.
Bavarian Lodge
Leavenworth, Washington
Walking distance to the lit downtown, which is the entire point of staying in Leavenworth rather than driving in for the evening.
See My RateIcicle Village Resort
Leavenworth, Washington
Just outside the village centre with an indoor pool, which is the more practical choice with children along.
See My RateThe Firebrand Hotel
Whitefish, Montana
In downtown Whitefish rather than up at the ski hill, so you can walk to dinner without moving the car in the snow.
See My RateHotel Jackson
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
On the town square. Christmas week in Jackson is one of the most expensive weeks of its year, so this is the collection to book first.
See My RateChristmas where it's warm
The other way to do it. Honolulu decorates hard for the season and stays in the eighties while it does, and the South Pacific barely acknowledges December at all. Flights are the expensive part here, not the room.
Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa
Waikiki, Honolulu
The oldest hotel on Waikiki Beach, and it leans into the season — the banyan courtyard at Christmas is the reason people rebook it.
See My Rate Read our honolulu guideHilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
Waikiki, Honolulu
Large enough to absorb a big family group, with its own lagoon and the Friday fireworks. The practical Christmas choice in Waikiki.
See My Rate Read our honolulu guideThe St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Overwater villas on the lagoon with Mount Otemanu across the water. This is the once-in-a-while Christmas, priced accordingly.
See My RateLe Tahiti by Pearl Resorts
Tahiti, French Polynesia
On Tahiti itself rather than an outer island, which makes it the sane first or last night around a longer South Pacific trip.
See My RateChristmas markets and winter lights
Europe in December is the market-and-lights version of the holiday, and Spain in particular stretches it past New Year to Three Kings on January 6. Tokyo does something different again: the illuminations are a winter tradition there, and late December is dry and cold rather than snowy.
Villa Marquis, Melia Collection
Paris, France
Near the Tour Eiffel, so the walk home after a December evening out is short and lit.
See My Rate Read our paris guideVP Plaza España Design
Madrid, Spain
On Plaza de España with a rooftop pool. Madrid's Christmas lights run well into the new year, so a trip here does not have to land on the 25th.
See My Rate Read our madrid guideKimpton Los Monteros Marbella
Marbella, Spain
The Costa del Sol in December is mild rather than hot — a beach-adjacent Christmas without a long-haul flight from Europe.
See My Rate Read our marbella guideHotel Grand Bach Tokyo Ginza
Ginza, Tokyo
In Ginza, where the December illuminations are concentrated. Worth knowing Japan treats New Year, not Christmas, as the family holiday.
See My Rate Read our tokyo guideNew Year's Eve on the Strip
Thursday, December 31, 2026 is the single biggest night of the year in Las Vegas. The Strip closes to traffic and the fireworks go off the casino rooftops, which means where you sleep decides what you see. Strip-facing rooms and resort fees both peak this week, and it sells out genuinely early.
Bellagio
Las Vegas, Nevada
Centre-Strip above the fountains, which is where the crowd gathers on the 31st. A fountain-view room is the whole proposition.
See My Rate Read our las vegas guideThe Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Many rooms have wrap-around terraces facing the Strip — one of the few places you can watch midnight without being in the crowd.
See My Rate Read our las vegas guideThe Venetian Resort Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
All suites, so a group can share without sharing a bedroom. Centre-Strip and walkable to the midnight closure.
See My Rate Read our las vegas guideRed Rock Casino, Resort and Spa
Summerlin, Las Vegas
Off-Strip in Summerlin. The deliberate choice if you want New Year in Vegas without New Year on the Strip, and it prices accordingly.
See My Rate Read our las vegas guideFour things that actually matter
Not urgency tactics. These are the four details that most often cost people money or a good trip over the holidays.
The room is rarely the thing that sells out
On most holiday trips the flight runs out of reasonable fares before the hotel does. If you are flying, price the flight first and then come back for the room — doing it the other way round is how people end up with a hotel they cannot get to.
Christmas week is not one price
The 23rd to the 27th and the 30th to the 1st are the two peaks. Shifting a trip by two days in either direction often changes the rate more than switching hotels does, so if your dates are flexible, check either side before you commit.
Check the cancellation terms, not just the rate
Holiday bookings are more likely than usual to carry a longer cancellation window or a non-refundable deposit, particularly at resorts and mountain towns over Christmas week. Read that part before you book — it is the detail that actually costs people money.
Ask about the holiday meal when you book
Resort holiday dinners and hotel Christmas services are often a separate, limited-capacity booking that opens weeks before the date and fills. Having a room does not guarantee you a seat, so sort it at the same time.
Not seeing your destination?
These are the properties we hold member links for. The booking platform covers thousands more worldwide — search your dates and see what comes back for the holidays.
Planning further out? See our all-inclusive resort guides, the ski resort collection, or every hotel we hold a link for.
Member rates vary by property, room type, and night, and availability changes without notice — holiday dates especially. Rates are shown once you're signed in to your free member account. Hotel details and seasonal events described here are based on how these properties and towns normally operate; confirm specifics with the property when you book.
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