My boy's in cub scouts, so we've done our share of State Park camping the last few years. ie. load up everything but the kitchen sink and set up shop at a site with elec/water. My rules of thumb on tents for this purpose are: Get twice the advertised size you need (taking 4 people, buy an 8-man tent), and either spend a ridiculously small amount or ridiculously large amount of money on it. Kids really, really, really like to go into, and out of the tent. They like messing with all the windows, the window covers, the porch thing, the porch cover awning thing, the tie-downs, the stakes, the you-name-it-they-want-to-jack-with-it-incessantly. It either needs to be cheap enough that you don't mind it getting f'ed up, or durable enough (read: expensive as hell) to endure their constant abuse.
Sleeping-wise, I need 2 things: Cushion, and level, in that order if I can only have one. Either an air-mattress or a good foam pad makes all the difference; and if possible, a level place to sleep- which is where cots come in handy because you can level them if you work hard enough.
Anyhow, those are my thoughts.
