To think hotels are very child unfriendly

Someone's children were letting off steam in the baggage reclaim area at Manchester Airport the other week. That was fun for those of actually trying to get our suitcases.

My two are teens now, but they wouldn't have dreamt of running about in places where, usually people don't run about. But then, I've brought my kids up to be aware that we all share space.

These things are all fine. Children running around to ‘let of steam’ is not. That’s selfish and out of order

Keep your kids quiet or don't go at all.

Children shouldn't be running around in hotel lobbys and they must have been making a significant amount of noise in the room to elicit a complaint.

The problem here isn't the hotel OP.

Running around in the lobby is not acceptable. Other guests shouldn't be disturbed because someone can't control their children.

I thinks it's a bit odd to sit in a hotel lobby & not be disturbed by chat, people coming & going, suitcases etc it's a busy part of the hotel!

Maybe those children had been taught to behave appropriately.

We stayed in many hotels with our young children, they were never allowed to run around in public areas or make early morning noise. Hotels often have adults only time in the pool in the morning so that people can swim rather than play.

Op, I understand your frustration. Online is becoming more child unfriendly. If a hotel accepts children and their carers payments. Then it is reasonable for them to accept normal child noise. Excessive noise is not acceptable. I wasn't there to judge.

I have also seen this spill into rl. A woman on the bus asked my dc to be quiet, while a man was speaking on his phone much louder than they were. In a rude and loud tone. People see children as a soft target.

I'm a person who don't mind other people telling my dc to quite as long as it is done in a respectful manner.

And yes completely normal to have adult only swim seasons but ime in a family friendly hotel
it's no more than an hour or two.

Running around in the lobby is not acceptable. Other guests shouldn't be disturbed because someone can't control their children.

Going against the grain I've stayed in lots of family friendly hotels & seen the odd dc running/mucking about in the lobby which isn't the end of the world. The hotels i've stayed in don't have people lounging in though, they are in a separate area. I've often heard crying baby walking through corridors but again babies cry. The walls must be incredibly thin to be heard next door.

1. The people reading the newspapers were guests and therefore not a reflection of the hotel or its policies. That said I don’t think running around in the lobby is appropriate or safe.

2. I take it they had been up and playing for a while if you got a call at 7am? But either they’re ridiculously loud and you’re so used to it you’ve gone deaf to it. Or the hotel has shit soundproofing- a TV at regular volume or an enthusiastic shagging session is typically as loud as 2 kids playing normally. Possibly a combination of both.

3. Restrictions on kids in the pool is really common in spa hotels and is always the very first thing I check when booking that sort of hotel. Seems like a massive oversight on your part and asking them to bend the rules for you was unreasonable. Even if no one was in the pool someone could have arrived at any point expecting the advertised adults only time. Also, there’s a dedicated kids pool as well as the main one then it’s the no.1 sign that a hotel is not going to be particularly family friendly.

Sounds like you made a bad choice of hotel, shame you didn’t have a good break but chalk it up to experience and do more research next time. If you want recommendations the Four Season in Hampshire is hands down the best family break we’ve ever had!

Says it all.

Small children letting off steam after a long car journey is inevitable, so the best thing is to plan for it. Stop at a playground before you reach your destination. Or one of you take them to the nearest outdoor space while the other does the check-in.

I think often when you see kids behaving badly in a restaurant (particularly when it's clearly a meet-up with friends/family), it's because they've just had a long car journey, and now they're being expected to sit still again. Plan in some exercise.

Can we please not mix up ‘family friendly hotel’ with ‘a hotel that ignores children’s bad behaviour’. There’s a pool kids can go in at a very reasonable time - sounds family friendly to me

I stay at 'cheapie' Premier Inns and would be pissed off if noisy kids ruined my stay.

I think hotels are hard work with kids that age. My kids are 8 and 5 and we only stay in a travelodge or premier inn. I wouldn't let them run around a lobby. Not sure why you think they should bend the rules for the swimming pool

Maybe the other children know how to behave.

Family friendly never means they can run amok and shout so that other guests can hear them through the walls

My kids are the same ages, we wouldn't be staying a hotel unless it was marketing itself to families.

1, this isn't ok, in that situation DH would have taken them out to let off steam outside or if nowhere suitable bribed with snacks. Running around reception or the bar isn't on.

2, Maybe they were louder than you thought, easy to get immune to your own DC's noise.

3, depends on the type of hotel. If it was marketed to families I'd expect to be in. If it's a fancy spa hotel I wouldn't want kids being allowed in to play and splash while I was relaxing.

Basically, you're right in that hotels aren't easy with DC, not least because the evenings are shit unless you have a suite. Better to book a SC apartment.

We’ve taken young DC to hotels for years. They’re fine; we’ve taught them how to behave in them, and don’t expect the rules to be broken for them.

YABVU. I feel for the other guests.

If they needed to let off steam after travelling you could have let them run around outside.

It was obviously more than one little noise in the morning and again, take them outside.

In other words, parent your children and stop being so entitled.

I’ll keep it simple OP: your children are not the centre of the universe.

Be considerate of other people. Running round a hotel reception is feral, they are old enough to stand and wait until you check in, they can ‘let off steam’ where people aren’t trying to relax.

People in hotels are likely to be on holiday. I’d be furious if I was woken up on holiday by noisy kids.

As for the pool - tough shit. Thems the rules, it’s a good opportunity to tell Prince and Princess they will have to wait because some things aren’t for them.

This has to be a reverse surely?

1. 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.

Its unbelievable that you would think this is acceptable. No one else cares about your long drive; that’s your issue

Children running around a hotel lobby is unacceptable, and I’m not sure why you think the other people in this scenario are being unreasonable.

Nobody calls reception for one excited child squealing once.

You are either down playing how poor your parenting is, or you are completely deluded. Which is it?

This has got to be a reverse 😂

If not, OP, I think you should reflect on whether your kids were actually being quiet or being relatively quiet (i.e. they were being noisy but you're used to them being even noisier, so you either don't notice or just thank your lucky stars)!

I have young children and we stick to places that are explicitly family-friendly. If in doubt we look for kids' clubs, mini discos, kids' menus, high chairs. Even if we don't use the stuff, they are signs that we are welcome. There was also a period of about six months when we could only holiday in a caravan at least fifty yards from any other human being in any direction. Needs must 🤷🏻‍♀️😂