Are B&B's the right place to take children

[Bonnieone]

I run a 3 room B&B in Scotland and after two years of trading and my latest £500 repair bill have now been forced to stop accepting children under 16 years of age. This is not a decision I feel particularly proud of, but having just recarpeted an entire room thanks to ground in crayons and chocolate, feel that if we are ever to make a living out of our B&B we have little choice.

We have never had a particulay easy time with family groups, particularly when there are other guests in the house. Complaints of noise, wandering children and loud tellys have blighted us. We have tried various methods of negociation with parents, but these are usually met with indifference or foul language. The damage has also been another expensive by product of accepting children....we have had to replace 5 divan bases in the last year alone as our beds are frequently used as tramoplines.

I am at a loss as to how to deal with this and am wondering whether a bed and breakfast, which is usually a normal domestic house, is really a suitable place to bring children for a holiday? We feel we have tried everything to limit both damage and noise, but as so many parents have different rules for their children and different thresholds of what is or isn't acceptable we are totally stumped.

It has now got to the point where we simply can't afford to have children here any more, the money we lose through repairing damage, pursuing recompense, the loss of business while the room concerned is being bought back to normal and the customers we lose who are not prepared to tolerate the noise.....all in all it just doesn't pay.

I would be interested to hear what anyone has to say on this. Have we been particularly unlucky or should we just accept that that is the way things are?

I would only take children to a B&B for a maximum of 2-3 nights as there isn't really enough space for children if you just have one room.

I am quite shocked that parents have treated your establishment in this way. Whenever we have stayed in a hotel you wouldn't even know that children had been staying there. I wouldn't allow children to crayon the walls at home and I certainly wouldn't allow them to do it elsewhere. If people feel that their children must run around being noisy they should book self catering holidays not b&b or hotels.

I would take my children if it was just for a night or two but there is no way they would make the kind of mess you have described, nor would I let them be that noisy, they aren't allowed to draw ont he walls or use the beds as trampolines at home so I certinlay wouldn't lket them do it somewhere else. I think you must be unlucky with the kind of families who are staying there, you can't really blame the children as it is the parents fault for letting them behave that way, they sound rather unpleasant anyway if they use foul language to you. Sadly, I think you have made the right decision as you have a business to run, I hope it works out better for you.

I wouldn't take my children to stay in a B&B unless there was no other option - I wouldn't be able to relax while we were there. I am not even that keen on hotels. Self-catering is far easier imo

I wouldnt take mine to a B&B unless it was for one night. As I have 3 there just isnt enough room.

I think you have been very unlucky tbh. My children would never be allowed to behave like this ANYWHERE they stayed and most parents would probably agree it is unacceptable. If they did damage anything (accidents do happen!), I would be thoroughly and offer to pay for it.

Its a shame the actions of a few have impacted your view.

If the area is good for children, maybe you could start asking for a deposit which would be returned when they leave given all is in order. I know some people who rent out their caravans do this and its not as harsh as banning children altogether.

I wouldn't take mine (2 and 3 yos) to a B&B unless there really was no alternative. I'd be terrified that they'd break something or disturb other people.
Self-catering every time for me, or big impersonal hotel otherwise.

I know only a few of you have posted replies so far, but clearly we are getting all the wrong parents!!! Perhaps if we'd had you we wouldn't be in this situation. Since we introduced our no children policy we have had to turn people away and we are even getting abuse down the phone for that.....I suppose the clue to the childrens behaviour is in the parents reaction! It seems to me B&B's just aren't suitable for children in terms of size, durability and sound proofing!

Where are you advertising? Daltons weekly? It isn't acceptable for parents to yell abuse at you down the phone. If you change your policy on children, perhaps try advertising on Mumsnet, better class of parent.

I think you must just be getting bloody awful families visiting your place!

I have a B&B in the Canadian Rockies. We get all nationalities staying with us and we have a high proportion of young families as we have a little hobby farm, too.

The only damage we ever get is on the odd occasion when we have drunken snowmobilers staying Never had any damage that was done by kids!

Yes of course B&B's are the right place for children they just aren't the right place for people who are bad mannered and don't care about your property.
My children are very well behaved and would never be allowed to treat there own or anyone else rooms like that and if we were in a B&B they would be expected to keep relatively quiet.
I understand your frustration and why you have to make that decision it is just a shame that some people spoil it for everyone.

I would think twice before taking my kids to a hotel, let alone a b&b

s/c apartments / cottages miles better

Sounds like you have been unlucky. My DSs would know how to behave in a B&B.

Friends who have one in South Wales have two horror stories both concerning adults - (muchos vomit and renting by the hour without their knowledge - yuk!). they've not had any probs with children.

I find it odd that some folks would consider a B&B prohibitive if they have children. It would never occur to me.

it's just that being trapped in one room with them brings out the worst in all of us, iyswim

I don't really like B+B's, they make me feel odd somehow. We wouldn't take our dd 8.9 to one if we could avoid it. OTOH, there is no way on earth that she would crayon on the walls, grind food into the carpet or trampoline on your beds. If she can't do it at home, she wouldn't do it outside.

Thr trouble is how can you possibly know who you are going to get before they arrive? It's not until they are here that you realise there is a problem. Stangely we have started accepting dogs since we stopped taking children. We send out a list of guidelines before they arrive saying what is and isn't acceptable, dogs are crated and not allowed to wander round and the owners seem so grateful to have found a dog friendly B&B they will do anything you ask. I am sure if we tried the same with parents we would be met with the same abuse we have had up till now. I just don;t know how you can ever weed out the good parents from the bad? By the by, we are in the middle of nowhere and miles from a pub so drunk adults are not a problem thank the lord!

I think a child crating service would actually be rather welcomed .

"By the by, we are in the middle of nowhere and miles from a pub so drunk adults are not a problem thank the lord!"

Wish it were that simple - you can't get much more remote than us (>3hrs drive to the nearest city and 15 mins drive to our nearest shop) Sledders just bring their own booze!