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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?
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What should I find out about
special rates or deals for children?
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If a free breakfast is included in your
stay, does it have items your children will want to eat for
breakfast?
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Do kids eat for free in the Hotel’s restaurant?
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Do kids stay free?
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What are the conditions of the free stay
program?
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Do you get an extra discount if you book
more than one room?
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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.
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How can I find the best Hotel
for my kids?
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What type of pool does the Hotel have?
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Does the Hotel have a kiddy pool?
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Does the pool have a lifeguard on duty?
When is a lifeguard on duty?
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Does the Hotel have a common play area?
Is this area supervised?
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Are nonsmoking rooms available?
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Can you book adjoining rooms?
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Are rental cribs available?
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Does the Hotel have cots or rollouts available
for rent?
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Does the Hotel’s restaurant include a kid’s
menu?
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Do Hotels offer babysitting
services?
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Yes, many Hotels offer a babysitting service.
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Some will have facilities for childcare
on the property.
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Other Hotels will bring babysitters that
are provided by an outside agency on property.
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In some cases, the children are taken to
an off-property location to provide childcare.
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Should I use the Hotel’s babysitting
services?
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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.
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Does the Hotel have an internal babysitting
service or do they recommend any?
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What are the hours of the babysitting
service?
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What is the cost of the babysitting service?
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What are the time limits on the length
of stay allowed at the babysitting service?
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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?
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What qualifications and training requirements
must their staff meet?
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What are the ages of the caregivers?
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Are criminal and other background checks
done on the service employees?
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Are caregivers trained to perform CPR
on children and infants?
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Can they take your children to the Hotel’s
pool?
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If it is a common area provider, what
is the caregiver to child ratio?
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Is the center and/or their caregivers
properly insured?
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What security measures are used when a
child is picked up from the center?
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What should I do if the Hotel
uses an outside supplier for its babysitting services?
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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.
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How can I make our room safer
for my children?
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Check the safety of the rental cribs. Do
they have weight restrictions? Do the widths of the bars meet
federal safety requirements?
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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?
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Ask the Hotel to remove any questionable
movie advertising from your room and block those movies from
your room.
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Be the first to look through any brochures
or coupon books that are left in your hotel room since some
accept adult advertising.
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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.
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Make sure your windows and balconies are
always locked.
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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.
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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…" in their pocket.
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Many hotels can provide printed cards or
postcards that you could use for this purpose.
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Teach them how to stay safe if you have
to leave them alone in the room.
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What should I do if I have to
leave my child alone in the room?
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If you leave your child in the room by themselves,
tell them to always keep the door closed and locked.
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Tell them they shouldn’t identify themselves
as being alone in the room.
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They should ask the name and purpose of
the person knocking on the door.
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Teach them how to call the front desk to
verify the identity of anyone knocking at the door before they
open it.
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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.
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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.
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Why should I take my child on
a Hotel tour when we first arrive at the Hotel?
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It will help them feel more comfortable
in their new surroundings.
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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.
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To help them to not get lost and make sure
they know their way back to your room.
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So you can show them the fire exits, stairs
and fire extinguishers.
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You can explain the pool area safety rules
to them.
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What does my child need to know
about the Hotel’s bill?
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To avoid surprises at check out, explain
how the room’s mini-bar works, their use of in-room movies and
telephone calls.
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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.
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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.
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If you have older children, come to an agreement
on how to use the phone, specifically long distance calls.
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Section: IN THE CAR
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