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Does anyone know if this is still offered by hotels, and what are peoples thoughts on it? The hotel I used to work at when I was a student (many many years ago now) did, and it involved leaving the phone off the hook in the bedroom whilst parents were in the hotel restaurant/bar and the receptionist/switchboard operator listened for any noise coming from the room and alerted the parents. DH and I going away for few days for anniversary and taking DD (13months) with us, would love to have a posh meal without buggy and sleeping baby next to us.....

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think that hotels do offer that service anymore, probably for insurance reasons. Now I could be wrong and maybe someone else can confirm or deny. I worked in the hotel industry years ago and it seemed to be a fairly common practice in the 'family friendly' hotels. I remember working on reception and having to listen in to a baby's room every so often only to hear the poor child screaming it's head off and you have to wonder if the child started crying just after my last check they could have being crying solid for 30 mins before parents returned to room

Thanks Birdiegirl for your reply - its made me think again about the thought of leaving her alone in an unkown hotel room no matter who is listening etc. Have decided to take our custom to a family friendly restaurant only!

DP works in hotels and he would say don't do it. It's risky in a potential fire, if nothing else.

The other option would be to find a babysitting agency locally to where you are staying, and hire someone to come and physically sit in the room once she's asleep.

My MIL suggested this for a celebration recently... No way would I be happy with it. I'd maybe, maybe leave a child alone in a hotel room if I were literally down the corridor with my own monitor but even then I'd be worried about what happened if there was a fire / child woke up and came looking for me etc.

I worked in hotels for years and I would just say "no".

Some stressed, disinterested, minimum wage, 18 yr old isn't really up to the job. I have seen receptionists forget and hang up the phone, wander away and have a 15 minute chat with the bar staff, or turn the volume of the phone off.

If the fire alarm goes off (probably not a fire more likely the chef burning a steak) you will not be allowed to go up to your room.

Some hotel do still offer it, but the full "listening in" service is very rare (and does depend on the receptionist's duties actually giving enough time and spare attention to be listening properly. It's more likely to be a way of leaving a the phone in the room "live" so you can call up and listen yourself. I don't think I'd be happy with that.

The alternative is to take a baby monitor. You have to do a test, to see if you can actually hear the room at all from the public rooms you want to use (and exactly where you'll be sitting, all sorts of beams and other construction features can alter the signal even in a very small area).

But whether yo leave a baby upstairs at all depends very much on the sort of hotel it is and where exactly your room is within it. There is a world of difference between a small hotel with your room just upstairs (barely different from being in a house) and a bigger place where the distance could be several floors and long corridors away.

OMG I can't believe I never thought about the fire issue
what a crap mother I am, especially as I'm obsessed (according to DH) about it at home.
its definitely a family friendly restaurant now.

I know 2 high profile children friendly hotels that do this. I think there are a lot more.
But its a much more sophisticated system.

It depends on how much money you can spend! There are some very lovely hotels that offer a full listening service where they have fixed monitors in the room and 'professional' receptionists. We went to one in the Cotswolds for my dads birthday recently and it was lovely to not have to stay with DS when he was sleeping. Evening meals were fab! They also have a crèche and a spa!

We went away to another hotel nr Chichester witha Michelin starred restaurant when DS was 4 months old and they provided monitors and put families in rooms where the monitors range covered the restaurant. That worked well too, but preferred Cotswold set-up. Except for having to sleep with DS in same room!

Can provide names if you're interested.

They offer this servce at the sands resort in Cornwall and it has always worked well for us... They have a proper monitor on the wall that you turn on when going for dinner and there is a girl on duty at reception whos only job is to constantly listen in all evening. It is not a massive hotel and if your little one should wake up they come and get you from the restaurant or bar.
This has meant that we can enjoy a lovely meal without children which we rarely do, although they do have areas in the restaurant where you can bring your children if you want. We may try this option when they are a little older!

Why not have a baby sitter? A teenager sitting in the room with a mobile phone to ring you at the first peep!

Two words for you..... Maddie Mcann !!

Except for some bizarre reason the mcann's didn't use the babysitting/nursery facility that Mark Warner provided.
Regarding the hotel I would ask if they offer a proper babysitting service, many do.

So if the hotel receptionist, potentially floors away heard something, they would come and get you. 10 minutes after the receptionist hearing "something" you get to your room (after waiting for the lift etc). I couldn't leave DD in those circumstances.

I'm not normally one for everyone's a paedo child abducter hysteria, but I couldn't leave DD like that.

We did this once. The room was several rooms down from restaurant, we gave the receptionist the baby monitor. We were v close, but we were nervous and checked several times which defeated the purpose of us not taking the monitor with us! I would not do it again.

Just came to check how long it would take for someone to mention Madeline McCann. 13 posts. Not bad. Couldn't, of course, be more irrelevant if it tried.

Sorry, Madelaine. Important to get her name right.

I'd would be influenced by the size of the hotel on this. Some hotels are not much bigger than a house, and if I thought that I would be able to hear from the restaurant, then I would feel happy with that.

I wouldnt want to do it in a big hotel or with a reception listening service.

I agree that the Mccann case isnt relevant to this.

Why isn't it relevant?

I know Marriott's don't. They would advise booking a babysitter to sit in on the baby.

Because we dont know what actually happened to her, the case is still unsolved, but it there wasnt a baby listening service being used.

Children left alone in rooms while adults enjoy a grown up dinner..... Totally different.

Not sure where you are in the country but we stayed here when DD was about 6 months or

http://www.knollhouse.co.uk/

They are really well geared up for families with a kitchen avaiable 24 hours for bottles etccand their baby listening was nursery staff sitting in the corridors outside the rooms - one member of staff was covering an area but it was still the best i've seen. We actually left our monitor with here.
It is quite a traditional hotel but perfect for travelling with small people