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…a child at the next breakfast table watches cartoon on their iPhone at full volume while their mum and dad doom scroll? Or when a toddler screams for attention throughout breakfast while mum and dad again dooms scroll? Both have spoiled recent breakfasts for me, so genuinely curious to know the best approach.
So, do you:
A. Suffer in silence like a true Brit;
B. Ask the hotel staff to sort it out;
C. Give some impromptu parenting advice to the delinquent family;
D. Ask to move to another table;
E. Have a massive row with your spouse about who had the stupid idea of risking a stay in a hotel that permits entitled parents and their spoiled offspring as guests;
F. Resort to the Dark Arts and curse the wretches; or
g. Something else I haven’t thought of.Parents: I’m not impressed by your Fendi pushchair or your daughter’s angelic white linen designer dress. I am impressed if you engage with your children and teach them how to behave like young adults.
Endemic throughout the world nowadays. Those of us who are noise sensitive just walk away whenever they can, throw dirty looks hoping those ignorant apes will spontaneously combust.
Last week, I sat in in the “quiet area” of the lounge at TUN, I was the only person there. Two guys came in talking loudly, phone started ringing and he took his call at full volume. The other started scrolling music videos. I walked out. Total time in lounge for my Dragonpass cost was 8 mins.
Now I am nearing pensio age, I am becoming the stereotypical grumpy old man.Life is too short – and expensive!
B. Yes, ask the hotel staff if they have a chldren’s area etc and could they guide the family there.
C. Yes, tell the family that their child is upset and requires attention.
D. See B.
F. My middle name is MacBeth
G. Ask the manager what time the family is having breakfast the following day/ let my wife go to their table and console the little monster.Depends what mood I’m in and the overall impact.
If I’m going to be there for a long while and the noise is loud, I will have words with the parents as the staff are usually reluctant to get involved.
In the past this has led to the occasional escalation so only do this if you’re prepared for all outcomes.To give a travel twist:
A flying instructor in Malta last month told me that when negotiations etc get tough on the island, you know you are close to a deal wehn one person says: God is watching you!
I did once say to someone in Scotland (mildly joking): My family is from Skye and I am the seventh son of a seventh son – so you don’t want to upset me!
An old woman in La Gomera said she would pick up a pair of scissors and stab the ground with them: “to keep away eveil spirits like you!”
Any others out there?
I feel your pain. I think my worst experience of this was at the allegedly high-end Kimpton Seafire when 2 little girls at the next table were watching 2 different films on their tablets without headphones. Their oblivious parents AND grandparents must have been exceptionally skilled at zoning it out!
I usually just glare and raise my eyebrows as if these folk are that shameless/ignorant it’s unlikely that a comment by a passing stranger will have any effect!
Strategies for e.g. a train journey would be to make a big deal of putting in my own ear buds to drown them out 😂
My first preference would be to speak to the staff of the hotel. Never approach the parents directly as very few could be understanding or willing to educate the kids. They are more likely either tired and frustrated or could turn their anger towards you.
That is true, however I spent some years as a tired and frustrated parent and would never have subjected other people (or myself) to this. As soon as my son got a noise-emitting entertainment device he got headphones to go with it!
I have noticed of late that more & more hotels are putting up notices telling people not to play music, and even saw them on the beaches in Lanzarote last week.
*Thinking about it, it was good training as he always carries Air Pods with him now he’s older and uses them on trains, planes, cars and anywhere else he wants to listen to anything (or zone out his parents 😂)
*Thinking about it, it was good training as he always carries Air Pods with him now he’s older and uses them on trains, planes, cars and anywhere else he wants to listen to anything (or zone out his parents 😂)
I need to get AirPods sorted soon. It’s getting horrible in London tube – people playing TikTok and YouTube loudly with zero concern for others.
I opted for D in one case and A in two others. But I am also significantly increasing the importance that I attribute to adult-only areas in resorts.
When I asked to move, the staff were very sympathetic and understanding; this was the steaming toddler incident, and the child was so distraught that any attempt at intervention by us or the staff would have been unlikely to ease things. She was liberally throwing food from her high chair in a vain attempt to engage her parents’ attention, and the smilimg serfs (sorry, staff) who repeatedly cleaned the floor around her chair were totally blanked by the doom scrolling narcissists. To help you picture the scene, it was a very glamorous Australian couple, both tall, blonde and beautiful, and the whole family was immaculately and expensively dressed in white linen. The dry cleaning bill will be enormous. As we know from the behaviour of our ruling class, money does not buy class.
*Thinking about it, it was good training as he always carries Air Pods with him now he’s older and uses them on trains, planes, cars and anywhere else he wants to listen to anything (or zone out his parents 😂)
I need to get AirPods sorted soon. It’s getting horrible in London tube – people playing TikTok and YouTube loudly with zero concern for others.
OH just bought the new AirPods and he was seriously impressed by the noise cancelling on them.
I’d go through all sorts of options in my head. From getting out my own Bluetooth speaker to compete with their noise, to asking the parents if they’d like to borrow some headphones.
But in reality I’d probably complain to my husband, who would be carrying on blissfully oblivious to surrounding noise, who would then suggest we move so as to stop my complaining.
In a loud voice tell the kids to shut the fxck up
B and D.
I had a lovely stay at a great hotel at the end of August, I noted some families with very well behaved children, it was an absolute joy to see. I’m going there again some time.
@jj -it’s a very difficult question to answer and probably depends on the specific circumstances. A good restaurant manager should spot the situation and address it, but in any respectable hotel restaurants, they should also have a no devices rule as they do in private members clubs and hopefully at tables in private homes. It’s pretty tragic when travelling to see so many parents who don’t seem to bother communicating or engaging with their children but prefer to let them play on devices rather than doing anything constructive. Many of them will end up being one of those gormless, inarticulate youngsters who can’t look you in the eye and who pitch up for interviews then wonder why they didn’t get the job. Some seem only to be able to communicate online, so probably end up listening to these sickfluencers who tell them how to get signed off work and collect benefits.
@Richie – good to hear! All too often it seems to be Continental European families who behave better than those from the Anglosphere. There was quite a scary (but not entirely surprising) story/set of statistics in The Economist and a similar one in The Times about UK school attendance/truancy broken down by ethnicity.I am currently in the Platinum Lounge @ Doha which is virtually silent save for 3 children in track suits screaming their heads off playing games on their tablets. There is not an adult in sight.
I am currently in the Platinum Lounge @ Doha which is virtually silent save for 3 children in track suits screaming their heads off playing games on their tablets. There is not an adult in sight.
Empirical observations suggest that many parents consider tablets/other electronic are able to act in loco parentis. They will reap what they sow. And, as @Richie comments above, what a pleasure it is to meet or see well brought up children that can engage with adults and know how to behave.
@pbcold – I’m afraid the tracksuits were already the clue the children would likely be feral.I guess I don’t stay places where families go so I rarely experience noisy children.
I have stayed at plenty of luxury hotels and the main problem is people FaceTiming in the public areas. If they do it near me I will, one way or another, make it stop. Usually a shhh gesture or offering my EarPods will suffice. Obviously filming them works well too. If they ask what I’m doing I tell them it’s content for my Selfish C***ts YouTube channel unless the perpetrator looks like a gangster or is likely to assault, then I tend to favour asking the hotel staff to deal with it.
I guess I don’t stay places where families go so I rarely experience noisy children.
I have stayed at plenty of luxury hotels and the main problem is people FaceTiming in the public areas. If they do it near me I will, one way or another, make it stop. Usually a shhh gesture or offering my EarPods will suffice. Obviously filming them works well too. If they ask what I’m doing I tell them it’s content for my Selfish C***ts YouTube channel unless the perpetrator looks like a gangster or is likely to assault, then I tend to favour asking the hotel staff to deal with it.
It helps to get into the FaceTime picture and advise that everyone in the hotel/lounge now knows x is about to be sacked, x dept is going to be closed or the company is going to be acquired etc. The offender usually scoots rather quickly.
I prefer to stay at adults only hotels where the guests are usually either the newly wed or the nearly dead (i’m closer to the latter than the former category) so it’s not a situation I find myself in very often but if I did I would just move to another table if there were any free.
On my last flight there were babies and toddlers in CE and the parents weren’t doing much to control them but that’s where sound cancelling headphones and a tablet work wonders. That said the 3 ladies (and I am being generous with that description, their language would make sailors blush) in the row in front of me were by far the worst of the lot – they had started the party from the moment drinks were served and this was before 10am. By the end of the flight one of them had managed to spill her red wine all over her friend, twice, and they were using the seatbacks to help them stand upright as they left the plane. Not sure where they stayed but happily it wasn’t my hotel.
I prefer to stay at adults only hotels where the guests are usually either the newly wed or the nearly dead (i’m closer to the latter than the former category) so it’s not a situation I find myself in very often but if I did I would just move to another table if there were any free.
On my last flight there were babies and toddlers in CE and the parents weren’t doing much to control them but that’s where sound cancelling headphones and a tablet work wonders. That said the 3 ladies (and I am being generous with that description, their language would make sailors blush) in the row in front of me were by far the worst of the lot – they had started the party from the moment drinks were served and this was before 10am. By the end of the flight one of them had managed to spill her red wine all over her friend, twice, and they were using the seatbacks to help them stand upright as they left the plane. Not sure where they stayed but happily it wasn’t my hotel.
The Benidorm express?
B and D.
I had a lovely stay at a great hotel at the end of August, I noted some families with very well behaved children, it was an absolute joy to see. I’m going there again some time.
To be fair, there are many children here. Almost all are well behaved and well cared for by caring, competent parents.
But it only takes a few to spoil things.
As someone with a now 2 year old, but spent quite a few breakfast times with my infant in some decent hotels from aged 6 months, I thought I’d comment.
I remember my child wasn’t great at breakfast after around one hour and half in one hotel, and I made a comment to my wife in sheer frustration that whilst our child wasn’t terrible, other kids were much better behaved. She then made a valid point that all of them are were IPads, and if they were to take them away, it would be a different story. I took that on board and I noticed at my local toby carvery the other day, a child didn’t look at there parents for 20 minutes, and when he did, he started talking American. His grandma said “get him off that technology, he’s talking bludy American.
Back on topic (in fact, I never was on topic), I really am that paranoid parent in certain surroundings that is scared of my child annoying other people. I used to be that paranoid, the second she made a loud noise or cry, I’d take her bib off and take her out of the breakfast hall. My child then started realising this was what she needed to do to get her out of her high chair, so she would do it on purpose. We have thankfully got out of that stage quite quickly.
I’m slowly realising though that over time and how we have brought her up, she’s actually not bad at all. I am also slowly realising, the people on FaceTime who think the whole lounge deserves to know you are flying back to the states in first class before going to the office to seal some fantastic business deal is way more annoying than some little innocent child who is learning the world. Yes, I’m looking at that person who was in the lounge in Prague.
Ive not come on here to defend noisey children and ignorant parents btw. I massively sympathise with the OP, but to be honest, this thread is making me realise that I don’t think I like people anymore.
As someone with a now 2 year old, but spent quite a few breakfast times with my infant in some decent hotels from aged 6 months, I thought I’d comment.
I remember my child wasn’t great at breakfast after around one hour and half in one hotel, and I made a comment to my wife in sheer frustration that whilst our child wasn’t terrible, other kids were much better behaved. She then made a valid point that all of them are were IPads, and if they were to take them away, it would be a different story. I took that on board and I noticed at my local toby carvery the other day, a child didn’t look at there parents for 20 minutes, and when he did, he started talking American. His grandma said “get him off that technology, he’s talking bludy American.
Back on topic (in fact, I never was on topic), I really am that paranoid parent in certain surroundings that is scared of my child annoying other people. I used to be that paranoid, the second she made a loud noise or cry, I’d take her bib off and take her out of the breakfast hall. My child then started realising this was what she needed to do to get her out of her high chair, so she would do it on purpose. We have thankfully got out of that stage quite quickly.
I’m slowly realising though that over time and how we have brought her up, she’s actually not bad at all. I am also slowly realising, the people on FaceTime who think the whole lounge deserves to know you are flying back to the states in first class before going to the office to seal some fantastic business deal is way more annoying than some little innocent child who is learning the world. Yes, I’m looking at that person who was in the lounge in Prague.
Ive not come on here to defend noisey children and ignorant parents btw. I massively sympathise with the OP, but to be honest, this thread is making me realise that I don’t think I like people anymore.
Toby Carvery?…
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