To think hotels are very child unfriendly

A reception area is not a place for anyone to be letting off steam. When in a hotel noise carries'whether frim an adult or child.i would think air bnb would be your best bet.

Staying in a hotel involves having some consideration for others. That includes not letting kids run riot in shared spaces and not making a noise at 7am. You are deluded if you think someone phoned reception to complain over a single squeal from your child - their noise was obviously carrying a lot more than you thought.

Have to say I agree with this. Look - whatever the rights or wrongs of it, you have to accept that you disturbed other people to the point that they felt moved to complain. That’s worth bearing in mind even if you decide they were unreasonable people, or too easily upset or whatever. It’s helpful to know that when thinking about things to do in future.

This is why Center Parcs and similar places exist. Some places are very obviously family friendly - ie Crieff Hydro in Scotland and others are just tolerant of families. Personally I would pick genuinely family friendly so I wasn't stressing about noise all the time.

It’s unlikely the other guests made a noise complaint on the basis of one squeal

Exactly - the folk next door might well have said "Oh god I hope we've not got shriekers" to each other, but it would take an unusual personality to call the desk on the back of a single one-off noise

*the room

I think you’d be better booking different accommodation while they are little eg holiday caravan or air b & b.
Any running in lobby isn’t appropriate - if they need to let off steam one parent outside while other checks in. You don’t all need to be there.
One shriek at 7am was probably enough to wake them. It’s very early to be woken.
Pool hours would be advertised, I know it’s frustrating but they try and ensure everyone has time.

We got complained about so much recently. 2 y o dd is autistic and a bad sleeper plus we were in an unfamiliar place and she was screaming at night 😵‍💫 the hotel wanted to move us after 2 nights but she was just getting used to the too. So we couldn’t switch so they had to move the people both sides of us one of whom was very vocal about how we shouldn’t be taking ‘THAT sort of child!’ To hotels etc etc 😭

1- They can run around outside, people don’t move for no reason. They could have just had surgery and been terrified of being knocked/made to jump even if not run into and caused them pain.

2- people don’t call reception for one excites squeal.

3- if I was an adult getting up early to use the pool with no kids I would have made more trouble for the hotel than you using it. Also your language that you would “try” and keep them in the shallow end makes you sound like you don’t give a shit and are entitled.

@Allsweep - well yes, but you can’t book a double room if you have 4 people can you. The hotel amply won’t let you unless baby in cot. So generally people with 3 and 6 year olds are booking a suite to accommodate everyone.

There are lots that don't or if they do they have one or two suites that might be booked for when you're going.

It cannot be news to you that most hotel rooms are doubles

Dito

This is why we book adult only hotels 😂

You probably need to develop a slightly thicker skin as a parent. My own children are older but even I found them annoying at times and would feel exasperated by them. I imagine if you were on a childfree break you might chose to get up and move somewhere quieter. If you know your kids weren't out of control or misbehaving then I would just ignore that sort of thing.

I think when you have children you need to develop a thick skin, some people are so impatient and hotels and public transport are where you'll find them! They don't think 'there is a frazzled mum who's been sat in a car for 4 hours and just needs to check in'. They think 'why can't they control their kids/mine were perfect'. It's why I go to caravan parks now!

The pool is perfectly normal a large proportion of hotels make money out of gym and pool membership for locals - those hours are therefore kept for those who want to use the pool for swimming as it is before office hours. I suspect the two who were in there were not guests but gym members.

Other children doesn’t mean family friendly it just means that it is not an adult only hotel.

that said recently went to Disneyland Paris and my god the walls were thin. Was just me and my daughter in our room so we could be quieter and we were with a large group and knew the people next door but it was embarrassing to be able to here the entire argument between mother and daughter!

Premier Inn walls were much better

Me too. Surely nobody is this stupid?

I’m very much of the “family friendly spaces are families welcome, not for families” mindset but who in their goddamn right mind would go to Wacky Warehouse without kids? It’s like going to soft play!

depends on the hotel I guess. I have always found Premier Inn, Hilton, Marriot & Sheraton family friendly. Travelodge and Ibis can be hit and miss sometimes admittedly

I've also had negative reactions about my eldest laughing/giggling while sitting at a table... in a Wacky Warehouse pub, at 4:30pm. That's fair game for giggling children in my book!

I don't think it was the hotel that was the problem here.

Really?! I’ve never come across a half decent hotel that didn’t have suites. Whether or not you want to pay the money for them is another matter though, because they’re usually very expensive.

1. Hotel reception areas aren’t for kids to let off steam. Distract them with a phone / iPad if there’s not another adult to wrangle them while you check in.
2. It’s unlikely the other guests made a noise complaint on the basis of one squeal. 7am is too early to disturb other guests.
3. Sounds like kids have from 9am onwards to use the pool, it’s not unreasonable for some time to be set aside for adults only.

I agree with @Mothership4two I've had negative reactions towards DDs being well-behaved in pubs eating a meal when tables of adults are definitely more than capable of making a nuisance of themselves. I used to be a waitress in a dining pub. Drunk lairy men were far more of a problem.

What are you on about? Bitter how? You asked what a post meant and I explained it, what's the problem?

In a hotel room you cannot go into a different room. The clue's kind of in the name. In a hotel suite you can, yes. Again I don't really care, I was just trying to help you out since you asked.

There aren't loads - there are some but if you need to be in a particular location, it's not always possible to find one