Hotels Becoming ®-Friendly™!

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Infants and toddlers - once kept at arms length at hotels not wanting to alienate their lucrative business traveler, are now be courted by hotels, resorts and specialty lodgings. A vast array of amenities and services for mobile families and their ® are becoming more commonplace and include such things as: Mothers helpers, safety kits, child-proofed rooms, baby shampoo, dedicated playroom with toys appropriate for 3 years old and under, fenced-in pools and kiddie pools, upgraded and certified-to-be-safe cribs (slats not more than 2 3/8" apart), bicycle seats, and mom and dad nights out. "What better way to endear yourself to a customer than to make things right for the customer's little travelers?" points out Maura White, CEO of , Inc.

Hotel and resort management has found a practical recipe i.e., get the ® - get the parents! Not only does catering to the youngest traveler appeal to the more than 93.0 million family vacationers each year in the U.S., but according to a study commissioned by Sheraton Hotels, 60 percent of parents say they've taken a child along on a business trip.

The 'echo boom' or 'boomlet' which started in the late 1980's has produced the largest baby boom since the 1960's. With children of the baby boomer generation starting families of their own, the birthrate is expected to remain high. According to Dr. Philip Bayliss, a leading East-coast perinatologist, "The medical advancements making it possible for more women to conceive babies and the cultural climate in the country today has produced a significant increase in the birthrate over the last 10 years." The elevated birthrate coupled with a good economy, and stressed out dual-income parents that need to get away, translates into lots of families with looking for great vacation destinations and lodgings.

But traveling with infants and toddlers is not easy and requires lots of 'stuff'. Some hotels are going the extra mile in stocking the all the gear necessary to accommodate so Mom and Dad don't have to lug everything from home. Boca Raton Resort & Club goes as far as to make their own baby food. Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, FL provides childproof rooms that include step stools to help the child reach counters and sinks. Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island, MI features a Parent & Toddler playroom. Ms. White observes, "Help families when they need the help most with these little travelers and they will repay you with repeat business, great word of mouth publicity and many rings of the cash register when they visit." T-shirts, toys and babysitting anyone?

Parents can inquire about -Friendly lodgings at www. or by calling , Inc. at .

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