Aibu Unapproiate places to take your DC with friends

[Stardust160]

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boutique-hotel-tells-mum-gave-8015817?ICID=FB_mirror_main

Mum and her friends ( 6 prams ) complain about being denied access to this boutique hotel lobby and post their annoyance on the hotels social media page. Hotel responses rarely abruptly. What are people's thoughts? Personally I have 3DC and would never think this is an approiate place to take my children to.

The entitlement generation has spoken (again). I decide who does and does not enter my home in the same way the owner of a hotel can decide. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense and better to put a stop to it because before long it'll be weaned babies eating snacks out of plastic pots from home and organic tubs, making a mess and still the mummies will swill their one and a half hour old cold drink around in the cup.

Dh and I once took DD for a drink in a nice hotel mid afternoon when she was about 2/3. Not by choice, I needed to sit down and rest before I collapsed from exhaustion. I'm sure they were glad to be rid of us. She ran up and down and around a disabled access ramp for ages, it was infront if a conference room and not being used - the alternative was for dh to forcibly stop her and she would have screamed the place down. Luckily it was off peak season. The poshest place we mummies met up was John Lewis cafe.

I'm almost sympathetic to the hotel as it can't be in there "client vision" to have a squad of mums turning up for NCT coffees. Plus it's Surbiton; there will be bloomin' heaps of them.

I agree with CrazyCat above; as an olive branch maybe the hotel should provide a buggy shed/dedicated coffee morning but it's obvious the hotel basically doesn't want the mum crew in three.

IMHO there are bazillions of other places the mums can go and her FB post whiffs of "mumtitlement".

But the hotel sounds like it's staffed by stuck up dicks as well.

Fails all round.

AndTake

I think groups of parents with babies and toddlers are lovely, but I won't pretend they aren't noisy, messy and in some cases, smelly

When I was in the middle of that stage I didn't notice it, but now I really do.

Oh and if you have a look on TripAdvisor one of the group complains that they weren't allowed in but should have been because they told the staff they were 'loaded'. Nice.

The TripAdvisor reviews also seem to indicate that they start seating for brunch at 10:30 and it's very hard to get a table. So even if it was empty then, it would probably have meant turning away higher paying customers very shortly after.

There are plenty of cafes in Surbiton.
Well done hotel .

babies arent always crying no but out of the 6 one would cry,what if some were toddlers or had toddlers with the babies? I have a toddler I took her to a friendly family cafe. Normally she is excellent when out recently due to having a newborn she was hard work annoying and just wouldn't behave I couldn't wait to leave . I will not be taking her out again in a hurry. I wouldn't even entertain a high end boutique hotel lobby. I have witnessed people chatting and leaving there children to their own devices it does happen.

'Myself and three other mums (and six prams)'

So two women had two prams each?

I think it's fair enough to be honest. The other hotel mentioned further down the article that also did this said they were struggling to deal with the frequency with which large groups of 12 or more NCT mums and toddlers were visiting for lunch. If your core business is business people then not only is it going to put them off coming, but your takings are going to be down because half your covers are going to be children so won't eat/spend as much.

If they had any sense they'd have one day a week (on a day when they traditionally have little custom from business people) and make it Child Friendly Day or something, do a special menu suitable for that and have a minimum spend policy to stop groups of mums and babies clogging up the place for two and a half hours and only buying a cappuccino while they get their tupperware of carrot sticks out for the children.

That was a typo by the Mirror. The woman's actual comment said 5 women plus her.

Me too derxa

I think the hotels response and policy arw both very reasonable. It is a boutique hotel, not Pizza Express, it is not an environment designed for, or suitable for children. Guests entering or leaving through the lobby would be unimpressed at a noisy gaggle of mums and babies.

I frequently have meetings in hotel lobbies and restaurants. I tend to stick to the ones which have a business type reputation in order to not annoy other people, but also to avoid situations where I can hardly hear what's being said above the noise of large NCT type groups - which do seem to be taking over lots of places.

It's not unreasonable to have some places as adult only and sometimes it is really inappropriate to have children in a particular place, at a particular time. A hotel which markets itself as a business type of hotel is absolutely one of those places. It is not like there is a lack of child friendly venues around.

My NCT group ruled out loads of places due to the fact that the 7 of us would cause chaos with all our prams - summer did make things a lot easier as Pub gardens were much more suitable, or we booked an area in the pub and went for lunch not just coffee.

If they were all going for lunch/brunch etc. and spending a significant amount I am sure they would have been welcomed I guess they weren't making the inconvenience worth their while.

We now head to Softplay hell instead!!!!

I think it is fair.
Why anyone would would take baby to a boutique hotel even for lunch/coffee I don't know if I was going I'd leave baby with DH! I'd much rather take ds somewhere child friendly.

If I was there child free and it became a baby centre I wouldn't be impressed, as when I booked I wouldn't of expected children to be there.

Once you've had a baby there are some places you just shouldn't take them, You can't take them everywhere you went pre baby.

Exactly Noodle and why do you find softplay hell? Because it's noisy and full of marauding small children! But you and your child are part of that chaos, contributing to it, so you don't mind because it's part of the deal.

That's why business people don't go for lunch and hold meetings in soft play centres! It must be pretty galling for them to find that restaurants and city or edge of town hotels are being turned into creches.

"And a review on Trip Adviser from last year reads: "A bunch of us mums used to visit here frequently with our babies.""

History here, isn't there? Used to be filled with prams, and new mother gatherings are notoriously poor return for a cafe (huge amount of space taken up, low level of purchasing, significant deterrent to other customers)

They've changed their minds, and I think that's absolutely fine.

Indeed I prefer places which are not colonised by baby/toddler groups now I'm past that stage.

And think it is totally right that proprietors decide for themselves what market sector they pitch for.

I loved my NCT group they saved my sanity but we generally met in each other's houses because going out in a big group takes up lots of space.

With the best will in the world groups of parents with babies usually leave a mess too.

and someone will change a baby on the floor of the lounge

And NCT groups tend to have a lot of baby led weaners. Which often means food not purchased in the cafe thrown around and left for the staff to clean up.

God. She's annoying and entitled
Why would you pick a place like that?
Clearly high end
Go to a bloody cafe and that thing on your head made me laugh

It's absolutely fair for the hotel to refuse them. Bloody cheek of yer one, complaining when they say they don't want her back - and she said she doesn't want to go back in the first place!

Good on the hotel - if I was staying at a boutique hotel I would not be happy to be surrounded by prams and potentially screaming babies. She looks a bit bonkers anyway.

Rorty

They probably taken some pic off her FB account where she's dressing up. So as to make her look as bonkers as possible

'Mumtitlement'

I have never heard this phrase before. I like it lots.

Are these mothers "crunchy"? Are doughnuts involved?

I'd book this hotel, just fir doing that

I LOVE the term 'mumtitlement'