When it comes to looking after children, there are always a wide range of opinions and practices. Every child is different, and every parent has an idea of what is best. Here our Travel Managers will simply give you the facts about hotel nannies, so you can decide for yourself.
Why Hotels Offer Child-Care Services
Your first holiday as a family can be a very stressful time. Everything you are used to while on vacation – accidentally discovering the best cocktail bar downtown and staying for four drinks, throwing your exploration plans in the bin and spending all day in the spa – suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.
Many luxury hotels offer support for parents on holiday with a nanny service. To a lot of young families, however, this can be a slightly uncomfortable idea. Especially if you have avoided using childcare services at home, using them on holiday may feel like a lot of change for young children.
Essentially, nannies give you the option of making your trip a family-friendly holiday, without every single moment being focussed on your children.
What Can I Expect from Hotel Nannies?
Most of the time, nannies at high-end hotels are not in-house personnel. They are often nanny agencies that hotels have a partnership with. Let’s use the Ritz as an example.
Kidz@TheRitz is the Ritz’s child-friendly service. It includes a lot of great services for children, but childcare is arranged through the concierge. The concierge will then liaise with their preferred nanny service, Rockabye Babysitters.
The reputation of the hotel rests on the nanny agency used, so the hotels do their own thorough checks. You should always check (and can expect) that the nanny will have up-to-date first aid training and a current DBS check.
To qualify for the prestigious agencies 5-star hotels use, nannies will have to have a number of years’ childcare experience, usually at least 3-5 years. Many agencies use graduates from the famous Norland College, renowned for the extensive training. The large majority of nannies out there are female.
What Are the Alternatives?
If you are uncomfortable with using a hotel’s nanny, but still want support when bringing your children on holiday, there are a range of options available.
One option many families enjoy is bringing a nanny you use at home on holiday with you. This can be a great move, especially if it is the first time going abroad, since your children will enjoy the continuity of their usual carer while in a new environment. It will also bring you all closer together as a family and be a rewarding paid holiday abroad for your nanny.
If you do not use a nanny at all, there are plenty of ways to make a holiday with young children run smoothly. Booking child-friendly hotels is a great way to make sure your accommodation will be appropriate for kids. This doesn’t simply mean putting a few Disney DVDs in the apartment anymore. There are dozens of hotels that go out of their way to attract young families.
Portugal’s Martinhal is a good example of the standard to expect. They have an extensive range of activities for young children like treasure hunts and face painting, a ‘baby concierge’ to look after infants, sports academies and five different kids groups graded by age.
When going on holiday with your children, it’s best to be able to forget about the little stressful details and simply enjoy your time away as a family. If you book your holiday with Simplexity, we will organise your whole trip according to your family’s unique needs, so you can be sure that your family friendly holiday will be one to remember forever.
Call us today on 0203 535 9290 or email info@simplexitytravel.com now.