I started going for lunch in our local Wetherspoons on days off and sitting with a book and a coffee.
It was cheap, quiet with no music and there were a few other people doing similar as I live in a very popular tourist area so coffee shops are often crammed with kids running wild.
The last few times I’ve gone (on different days but similar times) there has been two separate groups of mums with toddlers and prams.
The women were drinking wine in one of the groups and had multiple empty glasses/bottles on the table and the staff had to go over twice to tell them that the kids needed to be accompanied because they were running round the pub unattended.
It isn’t safe at all with staff carrying glasses, trays of drinks, hot food is being carried, sets of steep stairs and the fact the kids were out of view and could have run out of the pub without being noticed.
They were also clearly annoying other people who had been drinking and a man ended up telling them to piss off running round his table, it made one of the kids cry but I didn’t blame the man at all!
It would be so nice just to have some adult only spaces because some people have kids and want to carry on living as though they hadn’t, they don’t want having kids to impact their lives so everybody else has to suffer.
I don’t think it’s an unreasonable thing to want a peaceful space but some people act like you are suggesting children are segregated permanently from society, they make such a big fuss that no one dares to have a childfree business because it causes such a huge backlash and negative publicity. It’s made the news when a restaurants and cafes tried it because it caused so much outrage - mostly from people who lived miles away and were never going to visit.
I think if there were childfree travel services and they would be popular (especially flights!) but no one wants to risk being boycotted, the people boycotting would likely never use the service anyway and just enjoy being being outraged and complaining.
I stay in adult only hotels when going abroad and it’s getting harder to find them in some countries because people made such a fuss about discrimination that they aren’t as common.
I went away with a group of friends and most had kids but they are older now so they stayed in an adult only resort for the first time, my friends absolutely loved it and said it was a much better and more relaxing experience.
They have been away with their kids since they got older but it’s nice not to be around other peoples kids.
I don’t think my friends who are mothers hate children just because they wanted a break from them, I’d probably expect people who have kids to want some childfree time the most.
This is one of those things that evokes such strong feelings so it’s always going to be controversial and too big a risk for people to start up and advertise. I noticed a few pp mentioned the cafes who make it adult only by stealth and not making it appealing to people with children.
It should be common sense to find somewhere unsuitable for kids and expect some adult only quiet time but unfortunately like the groups in Wetherspoons some people will bring their kids anyway because they don’t want to be around other peoples kids but are happy to let everyone put up with theirs.
It’s why a lot of parents aren’t keen on childfree areas on flights because they don’t want to be in an area surrounded by kids, it’s the same as the people who bring shouting toddlers to the theatres or expensive restaurants and want a break from parenting so don’t bother.