To think hotels are very child unfriendly

😂😂😂 What the fuck?

Your last paragraph definitely resonates with me!

I took my young children into a shopping centre today and I was on their case the entire time we were out. Stay next to me, don’t run around, don’t touch that, don’t laugh too loudly. I basically spent the entire time we were out getting them to ‘behave’ and the more I tried the more difficult it became because they are children, and those things don’t come naturally to them. They’re good children… but they were bored, there was a lot of waiting and ultimately they don’t have the ability at 3 and 5 years old to behave like mini adults.

The point of the thread though, is due to the fact that "they don't have the ability to behave like mini adults" (obviously, because they are small children), many of us choose to parent in such a way that they aren't expected to. My eldest had just turned 5 when my youngest was born, so I too had 3 under 6 for a while. I wouldn't expect them to have to spend a long time in a shopping centre. We didn't even have the option of on-line shopping when mine were little, as parents do now, but if I needed something, then - as a pp suggested - you pick your time and get in, get what you need, and get out. Preferably after the dc have had some exercise, or were on a promise of "First we need to get the school shoes, and then we are going to the park / swimming / whatever" for those occasions when you do need to take them in.

More generally, it is the same with the hotel - if you want a relaxing break and have small children - best option is not to use a hotel. As has been said, you have to be constantly engaging the children and teaching them how to behave in different situations. Yes, there is a time when you need to start doing that, but it's hardly a relaxing weekend away for anyone, so why inflict it upon yourselves? There are cottages, Air BnBs, tents, Youth hostels, caravans, statics and lodges. Plenty of choice for places where you can be on your own timetable, and where they are much more likely to have outside space for dc to play in. At different stages of life, you choose appropriate places to stay and appropriate activities for where your family is in life, not expect everyone around you to tolerate your children behaving inappropriately.

It's not about hating children at all. In fact one of the most frustrating things when out somewhere with your children who have been / are being taught how to behave appropriately for that space, is to have other children running riot and being allowed to do so. I'm very happy to see other families out and about doing stuff together, just not ruining things by disturbing other people.

I travel a lot for work and family (with kids and without) and I'm a poor sleeper.
I once spent a sleepless night in one hotel due to an insanely loud snorer (it was horrible!). A few times there have been loud wedding and parties going on. Quite a few times, woken due to guests making noise in the corridor at night and talking loudly, slamming doors etc. Another night it was due to loud sex (also horrible to hear). I actually haven't been woken by a screaming child (that's not my own of course) but I actually would have far more sympathy for that situation than most of the above.
If you know noise wakens you and sleep is that important for you, ear buds or noise cancelling sleep headphones are your friend - kids are not the problem here, you need to be prepared for staying in hotels.

Well I was more thinking about being a 'misery' because I expect parents to, well, parent (or at least try to), but you have a point too. 😂

Sorry OP, it sounds like you are the unreasonable one here. We have 3 young children and visit plenty of nice hotels every year. We’ve never had any of these things happen to us because we’ve taught them how to behave in a shared space. Clearly several other people (not just one grumpy person) found your kids’ behavior unreasonably disruptive, even if you didn’t, and yet you still felt entitled to inflict them on those people when there were rules (ie adult swim time in the morning) that prevented you from doing so for a short period of time.

I’d say this is a you problem, not a hotel problem.

I know.

Young 🤣

Totally agree.
Teach children when to be quiet and when the can run around.
Hint- in a park!
I came back from France recently and there were lots of small children.
At breakfast they ate their food, zero running around, even the tiny ones.
British parents expect their children to be in a constant theme park environment so that they don't need to parent.
At 3 and 5 they should be able to understand that it's time to be quiet, blimey at 3 my DD was at a pre school where they were firm on manners, sitting quietly to eat, No running around with food etc.
At work all I hear is " bloody kids, can't wait for the holidays to end, little shits etc
Yes they are talking about their own children!

This is a joke right?
It's got to be.

Nobody is expecting it to be silent. People are expecting it not to be a playground.

people should be able to walk through a hotel lobby without having to dodge children “letting off steam”

Maybe your children aren't as quiet & well behaved as you think. You seem to think the pool rules should be bent just for you.

Hanging out in a hotel lobby and expecting it to be all peaceful and quiet is weirdo loser behaviour, quite frankly.

And some people get a power trip complaining about kids making even the slightest noise. They're bullies and kids are easy targets. Unfortunately the hotel staff can't just tell them to sod off.

A huge proportion of the population has young children currently, or recently had young children

This actually isn’t statistically true. 2020 figures show that roughly 5% of the population was between 0-4 years old. Only 5% of the UK population has a child under 4.

Obviously more people have kids than don’t but the percentage of parents with young kids is actually much smaller than people realise.

They could have been waiting for their room or waiting for transport to arrive. It doesn't really matter why they were there, the point is that it's not considerate to allow children to run around or shout in public places. It's also not especially safe - having worked in hospitality when I was younger, in a busy and child friendly pub, we were quite clear that children shouldn't be running around when staff were carrying hot food and drinks.

Why fo uou think it's OK for your children yo 'let off steam' in a hotel.lobby? Why do you think your children are more important than other guests? Tell them.to pipe down or take them outside to run around.

I don't think parents realise just how annoying their own DC are. I'm sure over the years I've learned to block out my own DC's noise without realising it, but why should other people have to ? Kids are annoying sometimes, there's no harm in admitting that.

That's shit, if a hotel accepts bookings for children then it should make them feel welcome.

Most hotels are not ideal places for children though - you have to sit in a darkened room with them after they go to sleep, for one thing.

People tutting wouldn't have bothered me, they can get to fuck. A bit of a runaround mid-journey in a playpark might have helped with the energy levels, though.

Noise in room - I doubt kids are louder than the sexy noises and TV noises you get in hotels.

If adult only time in pool was clearly stated on website, I guess that's fair enough.

This is why we mainly stay in beige airbnbs or campsites tbh.

Have a read of this thread and see how many people agree with you and OP vs everyone else on it, and that should give you an idea of what the general consensus is of who is right

If that's your reasoning, why should they care about people who wish to read in peace.
Lobby's are public, busy places, if they wanted to read in peace maybe they should have stayed in their rooms

Perhaps they were waiting for someone. Perhaps they were killing 10 minutes before their taxi turned up. Perhaps they fancied being somewhere other than their room.

Sorry OP but you sound like one of 'those' parents. So adults get 90 minutes of the pool child free and you try to negotiate your way in ? YABVU

Honestly, OP. I wouldn't bother asking on here.
I'd ask on Babycentre, where the audience is younger, I spend most of my time posting there as they are more relatable due to my age (30s).

This website is full of older people that look back at how they parented with rose tinted glasses and think they did better than anyone ever did or does nowadays.
I was brought up by someone of that generation, so I find that laughable, but that's another story.

To answer your post. No, I don't think you're being unreasonable. Some people are just miserable arseholes that object to children taking up any space or making any sounds in general, not even fighting or squealing, just any sounds at all.
I would have encouraged mine to be louder out of spite, but that's because I've reached the point where I'm done being polite and trying to please these people.

Poke someone enough and they'll bite.

I hope you are okay and enjoying your break. Don't let these miseries spoil your time.

@Ontheclifftop

can’t believe you thought your kids should be able to use the pool during the adult only time!

and as for running around the lobby 🤯

Of course hotels aren't really family friendly. The vast majority have bedrooms only, not suites, meaning parents are stuck sat in a dark family room once children go to sleep because they can't be left unattended.

Clearly apartments/self catered cottages etc are more suitable style of accommodation with young children.

Family friendly hotels do exist, it doesn't sound like you chose one.

If that's your reasoning, why should they care about people who wish to read in peace.
Lobby's are public, busy places, if they wanted to read in peace maybe they should have stayed in their rooms.

I often wonder why some people here can't just reply to the original poster in a way that gets the point across but without rude comments? Or heaping on extra judgement/accusations. Fair enough if you think the OP wrong but go easy.

I have just returned from but a very expensive shared rental in a resort where I stayed with my children and having had the place to ourselves on the last night an older couple arrived to stay above us and believe me, adults can be completely inconsiderate at times. Loud from the moment they arrived, banging doors, bashing around upstairs like elephants (they did not take their hiking boots off even when they had to know it made a lot of noise on wood floors!), they were noisier than all my kids combined, in fact I'd say they'd no idea there were four kids below them and my kids aren't majorly quiet. They were up at 7am, loud conversation on the balcony, more clattering of furniture, banging doors again while we all slept (except me, it woke me, the rest of them sleep through everything).

Obvs acoustics weren't great but I was just glad we'd only one night of them and that I brought earplugs. We take risks where ever we go when staying next to other humans adult or child. I'd have taken a few squeals or a couple of kids doing laps in a lobby any day above our last night. I've never found hotels quiet myself.