We don't want your children....

Odd this topic came up today as I went to strip a room this morning and there was the child still in it.  Dad said she was 14 on the phone, but she was 11, in 7th grade.  They left her here til check out time, they had already checked out, both room doors were locked, so I thought that odd they locked them and took the keys, I went in with my spare keys (as I saw them drive away this morning and we said our thank you and goodbyes) .  She came right to the door as I unlocked it - she was in there on her own watching cartoons.  "Where are your parents?"  I asked.  She said they took her sister to the college and will be back at check out time at 11am.

Gee thanks for telling me, parents.  Meanwhile we do have other guests checked in here, am I supposed to mind her if anything should happen? Not even knowing she was here?

I have only had kids here a few times and each one bears a story.

We can't discriminate against children. We could lose our licence here in Canada. I say that my rooms are for two people maximum. I also explain that I am allowed only so many per room and so many guests in the house due to insurance and licencing. I can accept children if they are old enough to be in their own room because I can't have more than two in a room. I have not had a problem. I always ask at the time of booking if it is for two people? Children?

I do allow children and I have allowed the children to have a seperate room as long as they are 14 and above and that I can place them in the room next door. (other considerations are made as well on our part)  Our policy regarding children does state that they be well behaved, yada, yada and it is made bold in their confirmation and noting that these special arrangements are subject to their behavior. 

I have not been asked often and can easily count on one hand the times I have booked this.  But the times I have, they have been nothing but the best behaved, rooms may be trashed (clothes etc.) while they are here but they have been good.  And as far as the room goes, I have had adults that are worse.

For those who accept kids - would you allow the kids in their own room if parents had the next room with ADJOINING DOOR? 

We do NOT accept children of any age.

 Since we are a wine country-themed inn we can state that all guests must be 21 due to the fact that we have sparkling wine in every room for our guests. So we can use the state's drinking laws.

RIki

You could charge the addtl person charge - and make it hefty enough.

The only sneak we had was a father and son and they showed up real late one Friday night when we were full up after they have driven 8 hours.  I allowed them, and the kids voice was like nails on a chalkboard - you could hear him in the BATHTUB.  Oh yeah, remember kids and baths and their sing songs and playing with shampoos etc.  About made me nuts.  The other guests asked me about it too.  There was no extra person fee though, and other than his ultra whiny voice, he was not a bad kid.

Does your website state you are Adult only...NO children? 

You could make a nice paragraph about being ADULT only  on your website -  excape the patters of little feet, destress yada yada...  or if you already have one, maybe the message needs to be more clear.   This will still not sink in to some as Mort already stated - simply rules only apply to everyone else.

"We only offer double occupancy which we thought took care of people wanting to bring their children.
When people call we tell then that we are not condusive to children."

As we all learn, you can't assume anything is simple enough for the average Joe... With some you just have to spell it out clear in first grade terms:  "Sorry, we do not allow children of any age as we are set up as an adult getaway." 

Then make your policy be very clear that your Blue room accommodates a max. of 2 guests.   If there are 6 feet that show up on your door step, you can clearly send them away, keeping your deposit.  If they try a chargeback, your policy and your website info will be your in your behalf.

This used to happen frequently to us and I added this wording to our policies and it is also a separate item in the confirmation (it has helped, we very rarely get this anymore):

CHILDREN: Our Inn is appropriate for children ages 13 and older only. Arriving guests not adhering to this policy will not be permitted to check in and will be held responsible for full room charge.

I won't matter how it is written. We regularly get bookings where the parents think kids are free, so why bother mentioning them? Last time it was TWO kids. BTW, we do take kids and we still get that.

Clearly stated is the number of guests per room. That does not stop the callers who say the kid will sleep in the bed with them AND the OTHER kid will sleep in a chair.

Like everything else we try to plan on, the ones who don't think ANY rules, no matter how well-written, apply to them.

You could say, 'Our guest rooms accommodate only 2 adults. No children will be admitted to the inn. Please do not try to sneak them in.' (No, don't really say that, it's too weird-sounding, but you get what I mean.)