To think hotels are very child unfriendly

Err......... and lots don't

@BitOutOfPractice I think you misread my posts. The hotels i've mentioned cater for families, that doesn't just mean they have suites. Why on earth would you think a suite equals a family hotel?

luxuryfamilyhotels.co.uk

You don't think the above is targeting families?

gleneagles.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/05/Summer-Activity-Programme_Web.pdf

The Gleneagles summer programme is for who exactly?

But I don't think this is 'normal' for most people . I've never been to such a place but I'm willing to bet that the cost is way higher than a premier inn - and out of reach for a lot of people (most people even?) .

It took her 4 nights to calm down enough in that first room

I honestly do feel for you, @WouldJustlikeaLatte, having a DS with profound SN myself - that's how I came to be wandering around Brighton at 3.30am because he had an ear infection and was screaming the place down - but surely you could spare a thought for how that would have affected everyone else?

Of course our DCs matter, but they're not the only people who do, and personally I would (and did) go home

Of course Gleneagles hasn't changed @lovewoola . That's the whole bloody point of the place! As for it being "child friendly", they might advertise as that, but they are certainly not the kind of hotel where kids are allowed everywhere at all times and certainly not one where children running round in the lobby would be welcomed with an indulgent smile by guests or staff.

Your criteria for being "family friendly" is having suites - which seems an odd criteria to me, and not one that would have helped the OP here anyway!

Not being to a Las Vegas hotel lobby then!

Lots of posters have said lobbies should be quiet though. I'm not sure how you have conflated "just running around a bit, not getting in anyone's way or anything" with acting as if you're in a playground?

Yes YABU. We stay in hotels all the time, and have done since DD was a baby, and genuinely have never had a bad experience with regard to kid stuff. Many have been very accommodating. On the other hand, private rentals have frequently been a nightmare.

You sound like my idea of entitled family from hell. Kids should let off steam outside and not in the foyer; I would complain if I could hear them that early and poor staff having to cope with your selfish attitude…

it doesnt mean its family friendly or a playgro9und just because other kids are staying there

ive been to the ritz and saw children does that mean its family frinedly

I don’t expect quiet, I do expect it not to be treated like a playground.

@WeetabixTowels and it's super quiet?

Yeah sorry OP, i’m very empthetic with other parents now as I have difficult 2 year old, but I think where you lost people is thinking it’s ok for kids to run around a hotel lobby, with no indication you tried to stop them as you think that was ok.

I’ve been to hotel receptions with massive lobbies that have sofas, newspapers, fireplaces etc and people are encouraged to use it

When we were checking in after a long drive the kids were letting off a bit of steam. I know how that sounds, but they were just running around a bit, not getting in anyone's way or anything. Two people who were sitting on couches reading newspapers got up and left, one sighing heavily and one giving us a dirty look.

No wonder they did. How did you think this was in anyway acceptable? Unless you are an entitled parent who thinks the world revolves around your children. It doesn’t!

Bet you are one of those parents who let’s their kids run around restaurants or cafe’s getting under the feet of the waiting staff

I hear/read how unfriendly UK hotels etc are, and yet I've never once experienced it. Despite having two autistic children, one of whom is hyperactive and the other pretends to be a cat and has frequent meltdowns.

We've arrived at a busy central London hotel with my 6yo DD covered in blood from a hysterical nosebleed, in full meltdown. I made it clear what the problem was and that I was trying to fix it, and kept her in the corner so we'd be out of people's way. We requested a room in a far corner, for noise reasons. The staff made a huge fuss of both kids for our whole stay. Probably because we were clearly trying, kept them from bothering others unnecessarily and remembered manners!

We arrived at a tiny boutique hotel (with very thin walls) covered in vomit (DD didn't do well with peperamis and a long car journey), but we brought Lego, DVDs and audiobooks for the morning. All quiet.

If I know they can't stay quiet, we remove ourselves. I ask for a table tucked in a far corner in restaurants, I take quiet toys EVERYWHERE, I keep a quiet conversation going with both kids pretty much the whole time we are around others so they are occupied. They're frequently reminded other people matter too. There's nowhere much I've not been able to take them, properly prepared.

Seriously, if I can do it then you can. Certainly since you've not mentioned any SEN.

@RubiRage it's the ideal place to read apparently!

Remember that post a few days ago about people not liking children....this is why .

Children are part of society so wether you like it or not you pretty much have to embrace it.

Fwiw, within reason I find the reaction from previous posters about the hotel lobby incredibly OTT. Unless they were running into people, its really not a big deal

Mine is 12 now but I would never have allowed her to run around in a hotel lobby. She'd have got the arm grab and the angry hiss of "be quiet, not everyone wants to listen to you!" Ditto yelling in the room. Hotel rooms are pretty soundproof so if someone complained then your kids were not playing very quietly and 7 am is hideous if you don't have kids. All hotels I've ever stayed at have kid-free times on the pool and it is normally the early slot so that the gym bunnies can get a work-out / swim before work.

You are BU.

I’m baffled by the comments that reception at a hotel is a relaxing place. How can this be? There are people checking in & out 24/7, rummaging through their massive suitcases, & bags in search of whatever it is they appear to have lost, then there’s the many nationalities all talking loudly, & at the same time, oh & OP’s kids dancing round everyone.

I can only imagine that whoever never heard any noise from the next room must be a very heavy sleeper, or very, very, deaf, drank far too much the night before, or has never done much traveling.

Kids do annoy, but adults are far much worse by not controlling them. Or in some cases they make far more noise than the kids.

My experience is that people in the UK are very child unfriendly in public. I remember the sighs and eye rolling and general passive aggressiveness when kids were kids. It was quite 'children should be seen and not heard' and an expect they behave as little adults.

I currently live in a country where children are indulged and valued. Of course, bad behaviour wouldn't be accepted - and children are actually generalyl well behaved - but some normal child behaviour would actually be enjoyed - people really get pleasure from seeing children. No one would dream of complaining about a child making noise and certainly if children were running around a bit in a lobby (if in the way you describe OP), people would smile at them and laugh or even tease/play with them. I love that aspect of living here - it makes parenting so much less stressful.

bluebird3
When I travel with young children it's entirely my responsibility to plan for the fact they're young. It's my job to support them appropriately with the travel arrangements.

Nobody expects children to behave perfectly all the time, but there's a world away from a child standing perfectly in a queue and charging around a hotel lobby to the point other guests leave the area.

Even if we're charitable because things can occasionally blow up, an otherwise considerate parent might have had a nightmare in the lobby as they're struggling to juggle everything, but they'd at least be trying to do something about it rather than allowing the behaviour. They'd not be ok Mumsnet having multiple issues with their children staying somewhere.

My general approach with parents is that most of us have had a situation now and then where DC have been challenging or we've struggled to juggle. That's life. If a parent seems to regularly have issues with other people commenting on their children then the chances are that their children really are inappropriately loud.

The answer is never letting them run around in a hotel lobby.

it may not be easy but there is always a way to figure these things if parents can be bothered to put some thought into it. if you know it’s a full day of travel that makes it all the more important to plan for how they can safely let of some steam.

also check in is normally a process that takes a few minutes.

I disagree it's always possible to do this. You don't know what children done the rest of the day. Maybe they've been travelling through airports, etc. It could literally be 10+ hours of travelling the kid was expected to manage good behaviour. All children need to blow off steam so where is appropriate - the airport check in? On the plane? On the airport shuttle? The hotel lobby? You can't take them outside if it's on a busy street.

And how can the parent take all this time to regulate the child when they have bags to manage that they can't abandon? And need to complete the check in process and wait in the queue?

In a perfect world yes - but realities of small children are that things won't always be great. Sometimes a parent is just doing the best they can. I'm sure all parents would love it if their small children would wait patiently next to them in queues. At least the other adults have the choice of leaving and going somewhere else 😂.