As a travel writer and a mother, I’ve often discovered supposedly family-friendly hotels to be not that child-friendly, and the top-of-all-Google-list family-friendly hotels to be colossal eyesores of waterslides, chicken nuggets and plastic chairs with ex-aesthete parents soothing their new reality with all-inclusive margaritas.
There is, on further inspection, a sweet spot, where stylish interiors, slick service and enjoyment for both parties are not sacrificed for the sole crime of having children. Indeed, most hotel managers I chat with have observed a spike in parents returning to their favourite pre-children spots, and using those precious weeks to bond in stylish surroundings rather than leaving their broods with a grandparent or nanny, or embarking on a Centre Parcs surrender.
