The hotel post

Let me start by saying that on the whole Europe has been very welcoming to the children. Everywhere we go, even in Siena where people are typically not the warm and fuzzy type, people are kind to the children and go out of their way to tell them how beautiful they are and to make sure that they are comfortable. The hotel where we stayed in Switzerland was an entirely different experience.

Those of you who are reading this who have no children, or whose children are grown up...this will probably sound like the most awful place ever. However, those reading this who have small children, this is going to sound like heaven.

It all started with the bedroom. A bedroom that sleeps four people in Europe is hard to come by. However, the kids were thrilled to see that they not only got their own beds, they got their own little room off of the main hotel room. It had bunk beds, a ceiling fan, a crib and a door that closed. This doesn't sound all that dramatic, unless you are a parent who has spent the night reading a book in the hotel room bathtub so as not to wake the child sleeping next to you. Here is a picture of the kids in their mini hotel room.

Eating in this hotel was also a kid-friendly experience. Dinner is served outdoors in a lovely space next to the lake. Below is a picture of the main outdoor dining room. We were surprised to see that the tables were all set with regular plates, silverware, etc. as well as Ikea plastic plates and cups for the children. You can just barely see the plasticwear in the picture below.


Next to the main dining room was the play area where kids could play while they waited for their food or while they waited for the adults to finish eating. This was such a fabulous idea! Nobody had to leave the table to walk any antsy children around outside the dining room. There was a similar play area next to the breakfast room, so Wade and I were able to sip our cappuccinos for an extended time in peace while the kids read books and played games.

Another wonderful feature, that I didn't get a picture of, was the breakfast buffet that was specifically for children. Both Anna and Christopher were so excited to see that each morning they were able to choose their own breakfast at a very low table that had kid-friendly food like dry cereal, nutella, biscuits, croissants, milk, yogurt and animal crackers. They even had a formula bar for the really small children.

Below is a picture of Christopher sitting on the edge of the baby pool. It had a wonderful umbrella over it that could swing around so that it blocked the sun. I'm sure this kind of thing happens at a lot of baby pools, but it was just another thing that made this hotel so wonderful for kids.
The other feature of this hotel was the Pinocchio Club. There were two clubs that kids could visit for anywhere from 1-4 hours that provided structured activities like arts and crafts, sand tables, dress-up, gym, etc. Parents could drop their kids at the Club for an amount of time and it was covered by the cost of the hotel room. The Clubs were open until 10pm, so parents could go out to dinner, for example, and know that there was someone to entertain their kids. Fabulous! We were not there long enough to take advantage of this service, though Anna really wanted to go. Perhaps if we go back she'll get to spend some time there.

Overall, this hotel was like nothing I have ever seen in America. If such a thing exists in the US, I'd like to know where it is because I'd definitely go for a visit. Jaime and I have been talking for quite a few years about the potential that exists for kid-friendly airlines and kid-friendly hotels. It seems like here in Europe they are a bit closer to that than I knew.