From fairytale castles to a Christmas-themed hotel, here are the top hotels for families

With summer at our doorstep, a website that aims to make family travel easier has named the best hotels for keeping the whole family happy over the holidays and curtailing the number of meltdowns -- be it kid or parent.

Family Vacation Critic, an offshoot of TripAdvisor, has released its annual list of the most family-friendly hotels in 15 regions across the globe in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

Overall, more than 750 hotels representing the top six percent of hotels on the site were named Family Vacation Critic Favorites.

For the designation, hotels had to have been vetted and visited by the site's in-house experts; receive a four or five out of five-star ranking; and snag a recommendation by at least 75 percent of families.

Properties on the list feature some of the standard family-friendly amenities like free breakfast for kids and free Wifi.

But others go further, offering children's programs, themed rooms, a kids' concierge and babysitting services.

The highest-rated family-friendly hotel in Europe, for instance, is the Dromoland Castle Hotel & Country Estate in County Clare, Ireland, a majestic property that has hosted everyone from The Beatles, Nelson Mandela and former US president George W. Bush.

The property also gives kids bragging rights to having stayed at a real-life, fairytale castle akin to Hogwarts when they return to school.

Then there's The Inn at Christmas Place in the Smoky Mountain town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the highest-ranked hotel in the US Southeast, where the magic of Christmas exists all year long.

Here are the top-rated family-friendly hotels in each region:

• California: West Inn & Suites (Carlsbad, CA)

• Florida: Premiere Hotel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

• Hawaii: Four Seasons Resort Lana'i (Lanai, HI)

• Mid-Atlantic: Casablanca Hotel by Library Hotel Collection (New York, NY)

• Midwest: Black Hawk Motel & Suites (Wisconsin Dells, WI)

• New England: The Nantucket Hotel & Resort (Nantucket, MA)

• Pacific Northwest: Hallmark Resort Cannon Beach (Cannon Beach, OR)

• Rockies: Tivoli Lodge (Vail, CO)

• Southeast: The Inn at Christmas Place (Pigeon Forge, TN)

• Southwest: The Venetian Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)

• Canada: The Ritz-Carlton Montreal (Montreal, Canada)

• Caribbean: Round Hill Hotel and Villas (Montego Bay, Jamaica)

• Central America: Arenas del Mar Beachfront and Rainforest Resort (Costa Rica)

• Europe: Dromoland Castle Hotel & Country Estate (County Clare, Ireland)

• Mexico: Grand Solmar Land's End Resort & Spa (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico)