The Guest Journey: Arrival Experience

In my first post in this series, I mentioned my narrowed focus when traveling with my children: Safety, Cleanliness, and Fun. I’d like to look, step by step, at how our arrival experience panned out in these three areas.

Safety: Upon arrival at the hotel, we found the lobby to be quite beautiful while still maintaining a kid-friendly atmosphere. Our motto was: We’re here to have fun and not break anything, and the lobby decor was perfect for a family with small children in tow. There was nothing the kids would shatter, swallow, or climb. I appreciate that.

We had some issues at the front desk that I will discuss in detail next week, but one stood out in the area of safety for me. While handing me my keys and accompanying paperwork, the agent announced our room numbers quite loudly to a lobby full of waiting guests. As most of the other guests were wrangling children, nobody was paying a lot of attention, but still not the best practice when it comes to safety.

Otherwise, we felt quite secure during our stay, with well-lit parking and hallways, old-fashioned heavy locks on our doors, and the only incidence of note being noisy neighbors.

Cleanliness: Our rooms were immaculate – to the point that I was actually surprised by it. There was not a smudge or speck of dust in sight, and nothing out of place. They remained so during our stay, and it’s worth mentioning that the housekeeping staff was so friendly and courteous that I am tempted to email the manager and suggest he have housekeeping train the front desk. Also, traveling as we were with lots of children, I was very happy with the abundance of towels in our room.

Fun: This was a family-centered resort, and it was a lot of fun. They offered so many activities on-sight that we didn’t even leave the property until the last day, when we stopped on our way out of town to visit some local attractions. We had children ranging from two months to 12 years, and with the possible exception of the baby (who didn’t mind in the slightest), there was something for everybody.

The weather was pretty awful during our stay, which necessitated a variety of indoor activities. There was an indoor pool and splash park that the entire family enjoyed, as well as mini golf, laser tag, and even an arcade. My older boys have decided that the arcade was the most vital part of the trip, while my younger children were happy to be in the water at all times.

For a property that doesn’t offer this many in-house amenities, I would highly recommend keeping a store of board games and video game consoles around if you want to attract families, as well as a list of indoor family attractions in your area. These come in handy when it is too cold or rainy for the pool.

All in all, we enjoyed our little trip very much, and are looking forward to our next trip in the fall. Where is your favorite family-friendly destination?