If you visit the website of the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a hotel on the French Riviera with a reputation for luxury, you’ll notice that the space in question makes a point of advertising its amenities for parents and children alike. “Family holidays on the French Riviera are synonymous with fun activities for all ages and authentic custom itineraries that best fit your interests,” the hotel’s site states — an eminently understandable thing for a hotel looking to attract a wide range of people to say.
That said, not every hotel or resort in France is looking to do that. Since earlier this year, the nation’s lawmakers and hospitality industry have been debating the morality and legality of policies banning kids from certain properties. In May, Adam Sage of The Sunday Times reported on comments made by Sarah El Haïry, the French government’s High Commissioner for Childhood, who called such policies “violence against children.”
So far, the debate has been, well, a debate. It could enter the legislative arena soon, however; The Guardian‘s Angelique Chrisafis reports that senator Laurence Rossignol is calling for governmental action to make it illegal to ban kids from hotels and similar spaces. Rossignol told The Guardian that spaces that restrict children “institutionalise and legitimise intolerance.”
As The Guardian‘s analysis points out, France doesn’t have very many child-free hotels and reports compared to some of its peers. Spain, Chrisafis notes, has a significantly larger amount of its tourism dedicated to such spaces.
What a given traveler is looking for in a vacation destination can vary dramatically. Some hotels and resorts offer a wide variety of amenities and activities for kids and adults alike; others may be geared more towards one or the other. Some travelers would prefer to avoid small children while on a trip; others are indifferent. If you’re planning a trip for a family with a wide range of ages represented, you may be looking for different things in a hotel than a solo traveler looking to unwind for a week.
What seems most interesting about the debate underway in France may not be that it exists at all, but that it could involve a legislative remedy. It’s something that might have a bearing on your next trip overseas — for good or for ill.
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