To ask is this Hotel policy usual?

[IsThisStrangeOrNot]

Children under 12 not allowed to be alone in bedrooms. Small posh hotel recently refurbished. I can understand why they might not want toddlers running riot in the bedrooms but when DS is asleep and we're watching him on the baby monitor that's still not acceptable. Bedroom is up the stairs and we would be eating dinner in restaurant at foot of stairs, less than 5 seconds to get back to bedroom. It's in an isolated location with nothing nearby so can't imagine policy is for the security of children.
Their hotel, their rules - which we respect but first time I've heard this policy. Anyone else heard such a policy for kids under 12?

Not everyone who "doesn't want to be welded to their children" all holiday just leaves them alone in a hotel room. That's what babysitters and kids' clubs are for. It isn't a simple case of 'welded to children all holiday' vs 'leaving them alone'. There are other options, it's just some people don't choose to take them.

Their choice of course and I can't get too worked up about it. I'm sure, if parents do this in a hotel setting, there are plenty of things they do at home which I wouldn't agree with either, but I'm not in a position to judge anyone else's parenting, so hey ho.

But if I was a hotel manager, for the insurance reasons alone and for fear of being sued by a fuckwit parent, I would want to have a policy like this in place. Fire would also be a concern for me, even if it was just a corridor away from the parents.

What is the irony ComputerUserNotTrained? Are you saying I'm stupid as well? Because I wouldn't leave an 18 month on their own? How does that make me stupid?

Yes, you're stupid and unromantic and must be one of 'those people' who is welded to your dc 24/7 wombling. You silly sausage.

You must not be one of the special snowflake couples who just needs to have a romantic dinner a deux without their dc, but can't possibly be expected to arrange a babysitter to do so. And any policy which mildly inconveniences their romantic evening is "fucking stupid" or "ridiculous", so some of them just tell a "lil white lie" to get round it. Get with the program! You must be very stupid indeed womble.

I meant wombling^^

Shit phone strikes again!

😁

Surely the point of a family holiday is to spend time as a family. Just eat together?!

I wouldn't be delighted as another diner to be listening to your monitor crackle all evening

I find the vitriol directed at other posters on this type of thread so sad.

No vitriol from me MrsNucky. Please read my posts a little more carefully, if that was directed at me.

Not you necessarily decaf.

That's good nucky. I would hate to think my posts were interpreted as vitriol. I strongly disagree with others on this thread, but I never make personal attacks against them, as I don't need to, in order to make my point. I might criticise what other say, but try never to criticise the person.

Nah it was directed at me, but I'd rather be vitriolic than neglectful.

Fair dos wombling .

Seems like a sensible policy to me. There is no way I would leave a child unaccompanied in a hotel room. It is a hotel room not your own private house. Any amount of people have access that room. As others have mentioned the difficulty if there was a fire no amount of fire drills would guarantee a sleepy disoriented child would know what to do and where to go, they may not even be able to open the bedroom door some hotel doors are really heavy. When we have stayed in hotels we have either eaten with kids and put them to bed late or put them in the hotel kids club to watch a movie while we ate.

Ah there you go - just a little bit of crazy!! How about being neither vitriolic nor neglectful?? Wouldn't that be a lovely state of affairs!!

Only 18 months you are being unreasonable honestly shocking behaviour

There are no laws regarding the age a child can be left alone (at home) except for if leaving that child alone puts them at risk. So I'd imagine that's why there is no blanket hotel policy on what age a child can be left alone in a hotel room, because there's no actual law to follow regarding the age a child is considered old enough to self supervise.
So it comes down to the hotel management or owner to decide on this, and that will largely depend on their personal views, their previous experiences and possibly advice taken from professional bodies such as the NSPCC or the police on the matter.
A hotel I worked in wasn't particularly child orientated, because it was mainly attached to a sports complex that didn't naturally attract children. We did have cots/travel cots, a small children's menu and a small play area for those who did have children with them as we also ran some functions (birthday parties, weddings etc) we didn't have a policy on children being left unsupervised in rooms when I started because I don't suppose it was thought necessary - it was assumed that parents took responsibility for their own children and did what was best for them.
That was until a 3 year old vanished on site during a function. The rooms were quite a way from the function suite, and we didn't offer babysitting/listening services. I was duty manager that day and the child was tired, so a GParent had taken them to a room for a sleep and then rejoined the party. Parents went to wake the child for photos - no child. Room and corridor searched - no child. Hotel immediately put on lockdown. Kitchen, bars, reception and sporting activities stopped so staff could be posted on exits and entrances to stop anyone entering or leaving, and begin a room by room, floor by floor systematic search of everywhere. Police called. The full works. I was duty manager at the time and having worked with vulnerable people, in the past, I had experience of how to shut an area down and search it effectively. We started, fanning out from the last place the child was seen. Someone started checking CCTV on the floor where the room was.
To cut a long story short the child was found safe and well in a lift. He'd managed to open the door and get out of the room, wander along to the lift and get in when the doors were open. But either too scared or disorientated to step out (thank God, who knows where he could have ended up) he'd stayed in the lift and couldn't get out.
All good, police cancelled and party continued. But it was around 40 mins the entire place ground to a halt. I was screamed at by various family members about what was I doing to find the child, sworn at as well. Complained at by other guests who suddenly had to stop, couldn't leave and others who couldn't get in. It cost a lot in complimentary drinks to disgruntled guests that day!
A policy was written shortly afterwards. As much as those parents were happy to leave that child alone, when it went wrong, suddenly I was the one expected to take responsibility in my capacity as duty manager of the hotel. I didn't even know the child had been left alone and wasn't consulted at all regarding that.
So a policy was written, with guidance from the government website that a child under 12 is rarely mature enough to be left for long periods of time alone. So the age that a child could be left was 12. You can't start policing the times children are left, and 'long period' is going to mean different things to different people. So to prevent (a) children being at risk and (b) the hotel being liable, the policy was put in place.

Sounds perfectly reasonable. May even be for insurance purposes.

Shortly before midnight on a cruise (but same principle no?) I nipped back to our room to change my shoes. I found a six year old boy in his underwear screaming in the deserted corridor because he’d woken in a strange place, alone, and left the room to look for his parents and couldn’t get back in. He was absolutely hysterical, I took him to reception and they printed his parents photos out for security to go and search the large busy ship for them. I played noughts and crosses with him until the kids club staff arrived to collect him.

The shittiest thing was there was a free sleepover party in the kids club that night he could have been safely left at. I saw security still wandering around with his parents photos at 2 AM.

Parenting doesn’t stop just because you are on holiday...

In light of Maddie McCain I’m surprised op even considers leaving an 18month alone in a hotel room.

I wouldn’t leave a toddler alone in a hotel room. If a fire did break out, you have no chance of being allowed back upstairs. Even just a fire drill would be terrifying.

Dinners for two are a thing of the past for a long time. Take your child with you.

I have come across this before so don’t think it is particularly unusual. Some hotels will open up the restaurant at bit early specifically for families. In some states in America, I think it is illegal to leave your child at 11 and under without adult supervision.

Some posh hotels have had break ins and even muggings (you are just not aware of them) and so have very good reason not to allow kids unaccompanied.

It sounds a sensible policy though with some 11 year olds nowadays I can imagine the possible tantrum if they could not be left alone to play with their games console.

Comparison with the McCann disappearance is not helpful as they were not in a hotel.