The key to a successful holiday with kids is preparation. No sensible family of five, like mine, leaves it to the last minute. So can a late deal work for families? With no time for endless debates about where we were going, the kids were consulted on just one thing - the temperature. They unanimously decided our destination had to be hot enough to swim outdoors. We had four days to find it.

I began to trawl through the websites. At three in the morning, sitting in bed with laptop on my knees, I regretted taking on the four-day challenge. The perfect late deal was eluding me. The Association of Independent Tour Operators' website, aito.co.uk, had great reductions, but didn't sort by date, so I soon gave up. Websites dedicated to impulsive travellers only listed adult prices. Individual tour companies had the best deals, but very limited choice.

Reluctantly, I clicked on lastminute.com, because it let me refine my search. I could put in "over 25 degrees", "good for families" and ask to be shown only departures during school holidays. It would also show child and adult prices.

With the temperature and school holiday filter, our list was brief. There was Goa - but there simply wasn't time to get visas; Kenya - but we'd have needed to take anti-malaria tablets beforehand; and Egypt - but I noticed it had turned chilly in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Then I spotted 10 days in a self-catering chalet in the Seychelles. Lounging about in the Indian Ocean isn't our style nor, I presumed, our pocket. It was more than we'd hoped to pay (by this time, I was panicking), but relatively good value and, above all, available. Now, on the eve of departure - with no time to worry about what we're packing, where's waxed, or consulting a guidebook - it's exhilarating to be going somewhere so totally out of family character.

Although we booked late, was it a deal? With school age kids, you'll never get a knockdown bargain, however late you leave it. Websites are reluctant to spell out reductions, if any - lastminute .com advertised our package as "up to 6% saving". Late deals are more about state of mind than saving money. For a bargain, even lastminute.com advises booking months in advance.

But at such short notice, will we have brought all the mental and physical baggage we need? Can a family holiday be successful if so unplanned? We'll report back next month.

· Tour operators offering late deals: odysseyholidays.com, prestigeholidays.co.uk, simpsontravel.com, directholidays.co.uk.

· Late deal websites: cheapholiday deals.co.uk, latedeals.com, holidayhypermarket.co.uk, lastminute.com.

· The Birkett family booked with lastminute.com, 10 days' self-catering in a two-bedroom Blue Lagoon chalet in The Seychelles, including flights and transfers, from £809pp.