What should I find out about special rates or deals for children?
How can I find the best Hotel for my kids?
Do Hotels offer babysitting services?
Should I use the Hotel's babysitting services?
What should I do if the Hotel uses an outside supplier for its babysitting services?
How can I make our room safer for my children?
What should I do if I have to leave my child alone in the room?
Why should I take my child on a Hotel tour when we first arrive at the Hotel?
What does my child need to know about the Hotel's bill?

What should I find out about special rates or deals for children?

• If a free breakfast is included in your stay, does it have items your children will want to eat for breakfast?

• Do kids eat for free in the Hotel's restaurant?

• Do kids stay free?

• What are the conditions of the free stay program?

• Do you get an extra discount if you book more than one room?

• You might be able to get an even cheaper rate by booking two separate adults in adjoining rooms with one child each, than booking two rooms as a family of four.

Back to Top

How can I find the best Hotel for my kids?

• What type of pool does the Hotel have?

• Does the Hotel have a kiddy pool?

• Does the pool have a lifeguard on duty? When is a lifeguard on duty?

• Does the Hotel have a common play area? Is this area supervised?

• Are nonsmoking rooms available?

• Can you book adjoining rooms?

• Are rental cribs available?

• Does the Hotel have cots or rollouts available for rent?

• Does the Hotel's restaurant include a kid's menu?

Back to Top

Do Hotels offer babysitting services?

• Yes, many Hotels offer a babysitting service.

• Some will have facilities for childcare on the property.

• Other Hotels will bring babysitters that are provided by an outside agency on property.

• In some cases, the children are taken to an off-property location to provide childcare.

Back to Top

Should I use the Hotel's babysitting services?

If it's a special night out for adults, then make it special for the children. Maybe they can enjoy an in-room movie, a new game to play and pizza delivery. If you have teenagers with you, don't always use your teenagers as babysitters. It's a vacation for them too. So, what can you do? They’re your children, so you'll have to decide whether you feel comfortable enough to leave them with the Hotel. You'll certainly want the answers to some questions before you decide.

• Does the Hotel have an internal babysitting service or do they recommend any?

• What are the hours of the babysitting service?

• What is the cost of the babysitting service?

• What are the time limits on the length of stay allowed at the babysitting service?

• Are there any other restrictions on placing a child with the service, such as they must be potty trained, present certain vaccination certificates, or meet certain age parameters?

• What qualifications and training requirements must their staff meet?

• What are the ages of the caregivers?

• Are criminal and other background checks done on the service employees?

• Are caregivers trained to perform CPR on children and infants?

• Can they take your children to the Hotel's pool?

• If it is a common area provider, what is the caregiver to child ratio?

• Is the center and/or their caregivers properly insured?

• What security measures are used when a child is picked up from the center?

Back to Top

What should I do if the Hotel uses an outside supplier for its babysitting services?

If it is an outside sitting agency get their number and call them directly. You'll want to ask them the same questions you would ask if the Hotel had its own center, to satisfy your concerns about your child's safety. You'll be able to better evaluate their program if you call them directly than if you just get your information through the Hotel.

Back to Top

How can I make our room safer for my children?

• Check the safety of the rental cribs. Do they have weight restrictions? Do the widths of the bars meet federal safety requirements?

• Can the Hotel childproof the room for you? If not, can they provide the materials such a plug inserts so that you can childproof the room yourself?

• Ask the Hotel to remove any questionable movie advertising from your room and block those movies from your room.

• Be the first to look through any brochures or coupon books that are left in your hotel room since some accept adult advertising.

• Although the Hotels clean the sheets each day, even the best Hotels find it too cost prohibitive to dry-clean the bed's comforter with each guest. Since you don't know what previous guests have done on your comforter, you might want to avoid lying on top of the comforter. Pull the comforter off and if you brought your child's blanket, place it on the bed. It will help your child feel more at home.

• Make sure your windows and balconies are always locked.

• Evaluate the railing on the balconies. Would it be easy for your child to climb over, could their head get stuck between the rails? These risks are why you might consider requesting a first floor room.

• Inform your child of the Hotel's name and address. Many major chain hotels have several locations along the same street in tourist areas. Place a "I'm staying at?quot; in their pocket.

• Many hotels can provide printed cards or postcards that you could use for this purpose.

• Teach them how to stay safe if you have to leave them alone in the room.

Back to Top

What should I do if I have to leave my child alone in the room?

• If you leave your child in the room by themselves, tell them to always keep the door closed and locked.

• Tell them they shouldn't identify themselves as being alone in the room.

• They should ask the name and purpose of the person knocking on the door.

• Teach them how to call the front desk to verify the identity of anyone knocking at the door before they open it.

• If the person is not a Hotel employee and is dropping off something unexpected for someone in the party, tell your child to have them drop it off at the front desk. This could merely be a ploy to get the door open.

• If the person is trying to deliver something and says that they must have a signature, tell your child to instruct them to deliver the item to the front desk. Have them tell the person that they are calling the front desk now to authorize the delivery. Again, this could merely be a ploy to get the door open.

Back to Top

Why should I take my child on a Hotel tour when we first arrive at the Hotel?

• It will help them feel more comfortable in their new surroundings.

• It's a good opportunity to introduce them to the people at the front desk, who could help them if they have a problem. Let them know the people will change, but someone behind the desk can help them if they need it.

• To help them to not get lost and make sure they know their way back to your room.

• So you can show them the fire exits, stairs and fire extinguishers.

• You can explain the pool area safety rules to them.

Back to Top

What does my child need to know about the Hotel's bill?

• To avoid surprises at check out, explain how the room's mini-bar works, their use of in-room movies and telephone calls.

• If you don't want these services, you can ask for the items in the mini-bar to be removed and in room movies to be blocked. Make sure the front desk is aware that the Hotel's staff has removed the mini-bar's items.

• Tell your children that if they try to sneak something, the Hotel's billing system will catch them and that you'll find out about it.

• If you have older children, come to an agreement on how to use the phone, specifically long distance calls.

Back to Top

Go To Next Section:  IN THE CAR