We recently stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in Wilmington North Carolina. Well, we actually ended up staying there TWICE over the course of 5 days, since we booked these flights before Club Carlson removed the Bonus Award night of their credit card. So in order to get 2 of the nights free, we booked 2 separate 2 night stays and got to wondering about hotel etiquette tips for kids.
(SEE ALSO: 4 Monday hotel options I didn’t want to book)
Both times that we were there, we had some extremely loud neighbors, which made us start wondering – what do parents tell their kids about proper behavior and hotel etiquette when staying in a hotel?
Noisy kids at hotels
Now believe me, I am no stranger to noisy kids. I have 6 kids, so I can relate to the fact that kids make noise. I am not one of the people that thinks that kids should not talk ever. The “Children should be seen and not heard” ship sailed a loonnnnng time ago 🙂
(SEE ALSO: Children aren’t the most annoying people on a plane – are you?)Â
I would say that I have a pretty high tolerance for kid noise, so if *I* was noticing the noise from my fellow guests, it was probably pretty intense. So although I have a high tolerance for kid noise, Carolyn and I are also hyper aware of the fact that we have a lot of kids and so it is always front and center in our minds to try and keep our kids from disturbing other people. Which is not to say it always happens – one time another passenger on an airplane told my wife and I that we were “the type of people that shouldn’t have children“
My top 4 hotel etiquette tips for kids
When we look at hotel etiquette tips, our general philosophy that we teach our kids is that hotels are like libraries with the basic rules that:
- You do not run up and down the halls
- You talk in a regular voice in your room (no shouting) and in a whisper in the halls, ESPECIALLY early in the morning or late at night
- No jumping up and down, banging on the walls or slamming doors.
- This is a hotel and it is not your house
Does this seem reasonable? To me it seems pretty much like common sense but unfortunately, based on our recent experiences, it seems like many other parents are not operating by these hotel etiquette rules (or, frankly, ANY rules whatsoever other than just do whatever you want)
Are there other hotel etiquette tips for kids that you use? Let me know your best hotel etiquette tips in the comments
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
We try to abide by very similar rules. We keep our voices low in the hall, try not to yell in the room, and just like we don’t jump on the bed at home, we don’t jump on the bed in a hotel.
We try to treat hotels as well as we would our own home and we try to be considerate of others.
It’s the worst when kids go running down the hall yelling and screaming and wake my kids up at night (they have a somewhat early bedtime usually). I also have a toddler who still naps in the afternoon so I try to remind my kids that even though it isn’t night time, someone could still be trying to take a nap…
We’ve had the front desk call us once about noise. The kids were being active but I didn’t feel they were being terribly loud. I have a feeling the walls were just thinner than usual. I was terribly embarrassed though and from then on, we did our best to keep it down.
1. No playing in the elevator (how many buttons can you push?).
2. The ice machine is not a toy or source of ammunition.
3. The fitness center is not a playground.
4. Tongs and other utensils are at the breakfast bar for a good reason. Nobody wants to eat bacon or sausage that has been pawed over by bare hands.
Ah good one on the no grabbing breakfast items!
Sounds like a good list for anyone, regardless of age.
Very good tips. I think they’re common sense as well, but I also see a lot of kids behaving poorly in hotels. We are probably a unique group in that our children have more experience being in hotels and can better understand why they should behave a certain way. I’m always super vigilant in the lounges. I feel like those are areas that are not always welcoming to children, especially during the work week. Agree with the tip about the elevator, especially the protocol for letting everyone OUT before you try to force your way in. I usually remind my girls that people are there to work and to sleep, they need to keep their voices down and be respectful. Doesn’t always work, but I try!
Speak to hotel employees with respect. Our kids typically do this with any adults, but last week at Round Hill in Jamaica I was astonished by how rude some of the other kids were to the kid’s club staff. No manners at all.
We travel a lot and my general opinion is that when parents are on vacation with kids, they also take breaks from parenting. Kids will be kids so I blame lazy parenting. Its not that hard to set some ground rules before a flight, hotel stay, etc. If your kid is causing a big fuss, then something is wrong. I wouldn’t go so far as to say these people shouldn’t have kids but maybe just not travel with kids if they can’t control them. People work hard for vacations Wait until the kids are old enough to travel before you travel with them. Seems common sense to me. Don’t make your problem someone else’s nightmares. Airlines should require everyone to have a ticket. None of this trying to juggle your toddler on your lap during flights…how would you like to sit next to that for 12 hours on an airplane? Hotels that advertise kids stay free I avoid. If I wanted my vacation in a daycare center I would have gone there. Nowadays my dog has better manners than most kids I see traveling with their whining, shouting and tantrums, etc. If you can’t control your car, don’t drive. If you can’t control your drinking, don’t drink. If you can’t control your kids, don’t take them with you. That two year old doesn’t need to go to las Vegas anyway.