Hotels ... waaaaaaahhhh!

[Guest guest]

Can I just go WAAAAAAAAAHHHH at you all, please?

Joyce recommended the Bedruthan Steps Hotel - thank you Joyce, it looked

and sounded perfect. Lots of activities for sprogs, nice food, lots of

recommendations. I'd even got as far as making a reservation when the

helpful woman on the phone said that I wouldn't be able to take any children

in to dinner with me! Not even a new baby! They have a kids' club/creche

for mealtimes, but even breastfed babies in slings are not allowed into the

restaurant. Waaaaaaaahhhh! I am v.v.v.v.v. disappointed - thought I had it

all sorted out. Waaaaaahhhh again. Please, Joyce - that one was 99%

perfect - can you come up with another one?! It would have been great for

babies with early bedtimes or older kids, but not for us alas.

But a general grump here - I've had this sort of thing once before. I know

some adults want a child-free meal, but why not have a 'families corner' a

bit like a smokers' corner, where those of us with 'antisocial habits', such

as wanting to be near our babies, can hang out?

Bah -

H

[Guest guest]

try the Woolacombe Bay hotel (Devon not Cornwall, ) we went there last year

in MAy so the kids stuff was not up & running much -but it was great - G was

under 2 so was TOTALLY free even though she had kids supper and her own room

which was connecting to ours -bit like a suite...

IIRC there were some kids in dinner -if you had kids with you you had to go

in to dinner earlier i think *but* i think babies were OK later

too -certainly worth checking. The couple at the table next to us had a 6

mo and she was in the dining room with them -often sleeping in her car seat.

They were always eating when we went down at 8pm, but i don't suppose

theyhad been there *that* long.

The hotel staff were generally so helpful, G was not bf having given up in

disgust when i was pg! but the staff got her warm milk at bedtime without a

murmer (or charge!)

www.woolacombe-bay-hotel.co.uk

The dinners for grown ups were yummmmm too!

Angi

!

>Can I just go WAAAAAAAAAHHHH at you all, please?

>

>Joyce recommended the Bedruthan Steps Hotel - thank you Joyce, it looked

>and sounded perfect. Lots of activities for sprogs, nice food, lots of

>recommendations. I'd even got as far as making a reservation when the

>helpful woman on the phone said that I wouldn't be able to take any

children

>in to dinner with me! Not even a new baby! They have a kids' club/creche

>for mealtimes, but even breastfed babies in slings are not allowed into the

>restaurant. Waaaaaaaahhhh! I am v.v.v.v.v. disappointed - thought I had

it

[Guest guest]

Or even an earlier meal time for those who have small children? Say between

6pm-8pm, or earlier if it suits, but have the restaurant child-free after

8pm. Perhaps you could suggest it to them, , as they are clearly

missing out on business with their current rules.

Alison

> But a general grump here - I've had this sort of thing once before. I

know

> some adults want a child-free meal, but why not have a 'families corner' a

> bit like a smokers' corner, where those of us with 'antisocial habits',

such

> as wanting to be near our babies, can hang out?

>

> Bah -

> H

>

[Guest guest]

I felt that way at first, , but since everything else seemed

great we decided to risk it.

The first time we went we took a 2.5 yo and an 8mo, and I was

worried/stressed about mealtimes. However, they have a evening

creche running from 7pm till 10pm, which is very well staffed and has

a complete baby area with cots, bouncy chairs etc. I was called out

of dinner once for the baby and once for the toddler. It was only

for a few minutes each time.

It was actually quite nice to have dinner without children,

especially since we hardly ever get to eat a leisurely, gourmet, 5-

course meal with someone else doing all the work. It really wasn't a

hassle going to the creche if there was a problem. We finished our

meals withing an hour-and-a-half the first few times, but ended up

using the full three-hours when we realised that everything would be

fine, and then went back for the adult entertainment after 10pm.

The youngest I've taken is a 4-mo, bf every two-hours or so - and I

don't think I had to go to her even once! Leaving a bottle of ebm

would have been a possibility (they have steam sterilisers in the

mother & baby room), but I didn't need this.

It might be hard to leave your own child, but at least you don't have

to deal with everyone else's ratbags. And everyone who goes to this

hotel has young children.

You can also hire a nanny to stay in your room with the children, or

leave them with the electronic listening service.

said:

-I'd even got as far as making a reservation when the

> helpful woman on the phone said that I wouldn't be able to take any

children

> in to dinner with me! Not even a new baby! They have a kids'

club/creche

> for mealtimes, but even breastfed babies in slings are not allowed

into the

> restaurant

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>But a general grump here - I've had this sort of thing once before. I know

>some adults want a child-free meal, but why not have a 'families corner' a

>bit like a smokers' corner

Seen quite a bit about this recently. There's a piece on

www.b4baby.com about how luxury hotels can sometimes cater better for

people travelling with kids than so-called family hotels. When we

stayed at the London Marriott (the posh one next to the London Eye) last

year, I was pleasantly surprised that it was no problem booking a table

in their v nice restaurant at 8pm. And they cooked her sausage egg and

chips with fresh tomato (entirely her choice) whilst we ate real food!

Of course, it wasn't in the least bit funny when at 2am they seemed to

mistake DH and his boss for a couple of Kiwi hotel staff going off-duty

and concierge refused to call Grae's (female) boss a cab and said she

would have to walk over the bridge to the nearest bus stop.

It's worth having a look at b4baby's travel pages - they have features

on Devon and Cornwall listed there.

Kate Calvert, Family Travel magazine, www.family-travel.co.uk (you can't

view online, it's subscription only) also has a moan about child-

unfriendly hotels in the Spring issue (which also features our own Sam's

review of her holiday at Sands last year).

Good luck with hotel-hunting. Can't help I'm afraid as the closest I've

got to that part of the country is caravanning in Woolacombe.

--

Sue

[Guest guest]

There's a piece on

> www.b4baby.com about how luxury hotels can sometimes cater better for

> people travelling with kids than so-called family hotels.

When we were at Disneyland I got chatting to a woman with a baby the same

age as Callum - about 10 weeks. They were staying in one of the on site

hotels and she was bottle feeding. She said that it was impossible to get

hot water to heat a bottle in the middle of the night. The staff were

really " jobsworth " and said that if the restaurants were closed, they could

not heat water. Apparantly her DH eventually had to find his way into the

kitchens and do it himself. And how much do these hotels charge?!!

Lynda

SAHM to (7), (5), Fraser(2), Callum 15/5/00

Newsletter editor & general dogsbody, Mid-Northumberland branch

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=762789 & a=6674752

[Guest guest]

Dear everyone,

Thank you very much for being so understanding and coming up with so many

helpful suggestions!

>

> try the Woolacombe Bay hotel (Devon not Cornwall, )

Sounds brill - but having lived in Devon for 3 or 4 years as a kid, and

going to my family's hut there several times every summer, I thought it was

about time I ventured further west! All the time we lived in Devon, I think

we went to Cornwall just once, to meet somebody near Bodmin moor. My dad's

(open-minded...) response when I told him I wanted to to to Cornwall on

holiday was " Why bother? It's just like Devon but further away. You'll

never find anywhere as nice as Branscombe " . Yes, thank you for that, Dad.

Re no babies at dinner:

>

> I felt that way at first, , but since everything else seemed

> great we decided to risk it.

After reading your message, Joyce, when my darlings had been a bit of a

handful and I was feeling like a battered mother, the idea did sound

distinctly attractive and I thought perhaps I should try it. But hubby is

having none of it at all - he cannot imagine the idea of dinner without

children. Ho hum... and to think that we used to be gastronauts, or

whatever the word is, and for our first wedding anniversary we had a

7-course meal at Le Manoir Aux Quatr' Saisons (gorgeous, but you have to

save up all year to go there). Our pet rats had 'doggy bags' from London's

finest restaurants - and now it's come to this. Sob....

>

> Or even an earlier meal time for those who have small children? Say

between

> 6pm-8pm, or earlier if it suits, but have the restaurant child-free after

> 8pm. Perhaps you could suggest it to them, , as they are clearly

> missing out on business with their current rules.

Good point Alison, and who suggested similarly. I've emailed them

to make these suggestions. What got my goat was that their website makes no

mention of this no-children-at-dinner rule - just tells you that a kids'

club/baby listening service is available during dinner, but doesn't say that

it's compulsory. In fact, they even say that they have a separate

restaurant for couples without children...so what's the point of banning

kids from the main one, then?? Do they think that, once you've become

parents, you'll have forgotten your table manners? Bizarro.

Oh well.... I'll keep plodding on. Thank you!

H.

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>Thank you very much for being so understanding and coming up with so many

>helpful suggestions!

There's a new series started in the Travel Supplement of the Sunday

Times www.sunday-times.co.uk this week - 'Tested to Destruction'

The hotel reviewed this week doesn't seem to get over that 'No Kids At

Dinner' rule (they don't specifically say that but children can be fed

from 5pm, restaurant doesn't open until 7pm).

--

Sue