Every hotel within a mile of the coast claims a beach. The word covers everything from a private stretch of soft sand with a gradual, waveless entry a two-year-old can walk into, to a shingle strip across a road, down a hundred steps, with a shore break that will knock a small child over. The gap between those two things is the entire holiday, and it is almost never visible in the photographs. The hotels in this collection have beaches worth the claim. Think direct access without a road crossing or a punishing staircase, sand rather than sharp shingle, a gentle shelving entry and a sheltered swimming area, lifeguard cover in season, and loungers and parasols included rather than metered. The details that matter with young children: shade you can retreat to at noon, a rinse shower, a beach bar within sight of the water, and a stroller-navigable path back to the room for the nap. Greek, Turkish, Italian, Caribbean, and Maldivian properties lead here, though the quality varies enormously within every one of those. The beach is the amenity most worth verifying and least often verified honestly. Below are the top family hotels with a beach, sorted by overall score.