The hotel industry is rapidly expanding its
spa menus to include child0frinedly treatments and parent-and-child packages.
The Conrad Maldives (www.hilton.com), for
instance, offers an Ice Cream Spa for kids aged four to 12, with treatments in
11 flavors – from apple pie to lavender lullaby.
Conrad
Maldives
The Mandarin Oriental Miami (www.madarinoriental.com) has a teen
spa for kids aged 14 and above, with manicures, pedicures, facials and
professional make-up application, while One&Only Le Saint Géran, Mauritius
has a spa for kids aged six to 16, with special treatments for boys. The spa
even offers mother-and-daughter manicures and martinis – non-alcoholic for the
young ones, of course.
Mandarin
Oriental Miami
Kid’s rooms
For those who really want to spoil the
kids, Palms Casino Resort (www.palms.com) in
Las Vegas has a Barbie Suite with hot pink furnishings. Or try The Plaza, New
York (www.theplaza.com), which has an
Eloise Suite, themed around Kay Thompson’s Eloise book series. And Loews
Portofino Bay Hotel, Orlando (www.loewshotels.com)
has a Dr-Seuss-themed Kids’ Suite that comes with two bunk beds, a Seuss
reading library and a set of themed stuffed animals.
Loews
Portofino Bay Hotel
Amenities and kids’ kits
In the fast few years, hotel amenities for
children have gone from puzzles and crayons to iPods and audio books. The Trump
Hotel Collection (www.trumphotelcollection.com),
for instance, offers cribs with blankets, playpens, strollers, stuffed toys, a
CD of lullabies, a bib with the Trump Kids logo as well as a travel kit of
exclusive Lather Baby products. Older children even get video games and MP3
players in their rooms. The Benjamin (www.thebenjamin.com)
in New York City offers kid-sized robes, an Ipod pillow programmed with
lullabies and audio bedtime stories, and a lending library of bedtime books. In
London, Claridge’s (www.claridges.co.uk)
offers The Claridge’s Kids Kit, which has a range of games and toys including a
Make Your Own Hotel sticker set and a Claridge’s Passport, which ahs a
checklist of things for kids to do around the hotel. Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris
(www.plaza-athenee-paris.com) provides kids with DVD menus, a mini classic car
to drive around, red bathrobes, a red teddy bear and red mini-umbrellas. The
hotel has also created a website (www.veryimportantchildren.com)
that includes a children’s guide to the city and activities in the hotel
Hôtel
Plaza Athénée Paris
Pets
A select group of properties has come up
with the novel idea of acquiring animals as guest attractions. Fairmont Hotel
Vancouver (www.fairmont.com) has two
Yellow Labrador Golden Retrievers to greet guests, and allows children to take
the dogs for a walk. Kimpton Hotels (www.kimptonhotels.com)
offers a service called Guppy Love, where kids can request a goldfish to stay
overnight in their room. Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort, The Oberoi Vanyavilas
Ranthambore (www.oberoihotels.com)
and Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa (www.anantara.com)
in Chiang Tail all have pet baby elephants for kids to play with, while
Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club (www.fairmont.com)
has an animal orphanage with tortoises, ostriches and monkeys. Dolphins in
hotels are common in the Americas. With many including Atlantis Paradise
Island, Bahamas and The Kahala Hotel & Resort in Hawaii (www.kahalaresort.com), housing dolphin
habitats. A newer trend is the predator pet, with hotels in Las Vegas like The
Mirage (www.themirage.com) housing
lions, tigers and leopards, and the Mandalay bay Resort & Casino (www.mandalaybay.com), having its own
shark aquarium.
Fairmont
Hotel Vancouver
Fairmont
Mount Kenya Safari Club
