Kid Policy

Having travelled with 2 dogs for 10 months and 10,000 miles, we’ve heard lots of interesting comments from hotel staff about pets. It’s true that there are risks with letting animals inside a hotel room: they might be noisy, they might be dirty or smelly, and they might break things. It’s easy to forget that many humans are noisy, some are rather dirty or smelly (ever been in a hotel room where someone smoked?) and I’ve personally broken a lot more housewares than my dogs ever have. Come to think of it, young kids are often a bigger disturbance to hotel peace and cleanliness than dogs… but how would people react if hotels gave travelers with kids the same kind of treatment they give to those with pets? Let’s look at a few examples:

– You are welcome to stay with us but we can’t accept kids: it’s against hotel policy.

– Are your kids well trained? Are they noisy? Where do they pee and poop?

– We do not accept kids but we know someone who can take care of them during your stay.

– Your kids are not allowed in the facility but you can leave them in your car, the parking lot is very safe and it usually doesn’t freeze at night.

– What kind of kids are they? What’s their breed? How much do they weigh?

– We would love to have you and your kids as guests but we already have 15 kids on the property so we can’t take any more right now.

– Do your kids bite?

– Your kids can’t enter the facilities for hygiene reasons but we have cages for them in the backyard.

To be fair, travelling with our dogs is a great experience: we end-up staying in hotels where the staff loves animals, and it makes all the difference. Our four-legged friends quickly become the mascots of the place, and when the time comes to say goodbye I am convinced that they will be missed a lot more than us…

Cedric, 5/11/12
PS: No, I am not the kind of person who thinks my dogs are kids!