As most of you realize, Paula and I had to trave 400 miles to Oklahoma when we were threatened by Hurricane Rita. Why so far? It was the closest place that we could get a hotel room that welcomed our four-legged family member, Carmie.

I wish that this place had been on our way -- our canine companion was much better behaved than the screaming, stomping kids who lived above us and who ran up-and-down the halls at irregular but frequent intervals. The Winnipeg Star's columnist, Lydia Lovric, talks about the place.

An Austrian hotel owner fed up with rowdy young patrons has made headlines for deciding to ban kids. Dogs, on the other hand, are still welcome.

This may sound odd coming from someone who currently has the proverbial "bun in the oven," but I think kid-free hotels are a fabulous idea. Hopefully, an enterprising Canadian chain will soon follow suit.

Roland Ballner, 38, says he is tired of dealing with badly behaved children and will no longer allow kids under the age of 12 to stay at his hotel.

"My guests have a right to quiet and relaxation without the noise of children," insists Ballner.

Dogs will still be permitted because Ballner claims the four-legged guests are far better trained than most children. The furry guests also don't vandalize the hotel rooms, unlike certain pint-sized patrons.

He blames bad parenting, explaining that many moms and dads turn a blind eye to their child's transgressions. The parents "seem to feel they are here to relax and wash their hands of their children's bad behaviour."

Carmie is all we have in the way of family down here. We can't have kids and love them, but really could have used a quiet spot to bug-out during the evacuation. This would have been nice.

Oh, and by the way, I love the observation at the end of the column on why a hotel that bans kids could never open in Canada.

This is, after all, Canada -- where the only things we're allowed to ban are common sense, conservative professors and politically incorrect jokes.

Zing!

Posted by: Greg at 12:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 367 words, total size 2 kb.