A hotel stay suits a different kind of trip. If you want your meals cooked and cleared away without any thought, and you'd rather not do any washing up on holiday at all, that's a fair trade for a smaller room. Hotels also tend to sit centrally in towns and cities, so if your break is built around walking to restaurants, shops and evening entertainment on foot, that convenience counts for a lot.

See more on this at coastal caravan holidays.

A spontaneous short break is entirely possible with a UK staycation guide holiday park, you just need to know where the flexibility usually sits.

Day to day, you'll be doing your own cooking and washing up, much as you would in a self-catering cottage, so it helps to bring a few kitchen basics like tea towels and washing-up liquid rather than assuming everything will be there. Bedding is usually provided, but it's worth checking your specific booking, since this varies park to park.

The key decision is how you split everyone across accommodation. Larger static caravans, often three-bedroom units, can comfortably sleep a wider family group under one roof, which suits families who want everyone together for meals and evenings but still want separate bedrooms for a good night's sleep. If the group is bigger still, booking two adjoining or nearby units, one for grandparents and one for the rest of the family, gives everyone their own space to retreat to while keeping you close enough to wander over for a cup of tea or to hand over the children for an hour.

Start with location. Decide whether you want to fall out of your door and onto a beach, or whether you'd rather have a quieter, greener setting with the coast a short drive away. Both suit a staycation well; it's really about what kind of days you want to have. If you like the idea of an early walk before breakfast and a paddle before lunch, a coastal park earns its keep. If you'd rather cycle quiet lanes or potter around a market town, a park a little further inland can work just as well, especially if the coast is only twenty or thirty minutes off.