I recently traveled to a lovely destination and stayed at a resort comprising individual houses shared by guests. It’s the type of old-school luxury travel I wrote about previously where we’d enjoy butler service, afternoon tea, blankets by the fireplace and a menu of all things desired.
And yet I slept in the bathroom.
I’m a new mother and our little one is fantastic – bright-eyed, curious and for the most part remarkably quiet. But no infant goes without a few tears, so before we arrived I made sure the hotel was kid-friendly. To be absolutely certain, I requested a crib. I hoped that with this information some measures might be taken to minimize disruption to other guests seeking a respite, and maximize the experience for us as a family.
For example, maybe we’d score big and get a house to ourselves because it was the low season, or at the very least be in a house with other families and screaming babies. What I didn’t expect was to see other families dispersed across houses and mixed with couples rolling their eyes at us. And other houses sitting mostly empty.
So there we were in a small colonial house with eight honeymooners seeking romance. I was mortified. We could be like many families who couldn’t care less, but we aren’t.
We used our cellphones to make a makeshift baby monitor so we could dine sans infant, and baby and I slept in the cushy bathroom to muffle the occasional whimper that would otherwise echo through the corridor. All by choice. I wanted to check out the next day.
No hotel can be something for everyone. Is it too much to ask small, intimate resorts to try and compartmentalize families, go adult-only, have a minimum age for guests, or at least improve their soundproofing? Or should I be a parent who cares less?
I’ve been on both sides of the table, and we have clients who sometimes try to accommodate all of the above. What are your thoughts?
