Who needs a theme park when you have a hotel?
Having kids who play
”
travel-ball
”
sports like baseball and basketball means occasionally staying
in hotels during tournaments throughout the state.
It is nice to get away now and then, but the expense and the
long hours on the road can take a toll on parents.
Who needs a theme park when you have a hotel?
Having kids who play “travel-ball” sports like baseball and basketball means occasionally staying in hotels during tournaments throughout the state.
It is nice to get away now and then, but the expense and the long hours on the road can take a toll on parents.
From Modesto to Manteca to Los Angeles, I’ve seen my share of hotels in this great state, and I’ve come to realize that adolescents may sometimes like the hotel part of travel ball more than the ball-playing part.
For my wife and me, sleeping a night or two at a Marriott or Hyatt or any other chain is OK, particularly when it’s clean, has a nice television and a full breakfast option. I like coming back to the room at the end of the day and finding it clean and my bed made. I like blasting the air conditioner on a hot night without worrying about how much it will impact my PG&E bill.
For the kids, it may as well be a trip to Disneyland – despite the fact the hotel is in Ripon or some such city.
Sleeping on a bed that pulls out from a couch? That’s cool to kids. Ask me to sleep on that flimsy mattress and I’ll wake up angry and in pain.
Kids don’t care about how much money their parents are paying for the room; they just know that they get to roam around hallways with their friends and ride elevators and swim in a pool and eat at a breakfast buffet. Oh yeah, and they get to play sports in-between.
During a recent weekend stay in a Los Angeles area-hotel, my 13-year-old son was excited about getting to play in a basketball tournament, but he was nearly as excited to get his own room key and be able to hang around the pool and hang out with teammates.
On the first morning of our stay, he took full advantage of the breakfast buffet, just like dear old Dad.
Unlimited bacon? Are you serious?
Pancakes AND waffles? Cool.
All the orange juice you can drink? Sign me up.
And those were just my reactions.
We learned from our stay in this same hotel last year that putting a dozen 13- and 14-year-old boys together in a hotel will test the patience of the overly-friendly hotel staff.
As a host hotel for youth sports tournament, I can only imagine what they deal with every weekend: Kids who think how cool it is to push the button to every floor in the elevator; those who like to race up and down the hallways and have cannonball contests in the pool; those who treat their bed like a trampoline; parents who visit the hotel bar to talk loudly about the day’s games.
Fortunately – at least as far as I could tell – my child and his friends didn’t cause any trouble. Or at least they didn’t cause enough trouble for me to get a call from the receptionist.
The nice people at the front desk did what they were supposed to do: they catered to guests, gave out directions, offered a smile to everyone who passed through the lobby.
Once, I went out to the parking lot to retrieve my sunglasses from the car and upon my return, about three minutes and 26 seconds later, was greeted with a hearty “Welcome back!” as if I had were a long-lost friend.
I appreciated that, though I appreciated more the fact that the hotel staff kept its cool while a bunch of kids and teens took over the place for the weekend.
It’s nice to get out and get away, have access to a swimming pool for a couple of days and chow down on an all-you-can-eat breakfast. It’s good family bonding time that’s worth the price of the stay – particularly when you count all the bacon we eat at the buffet.
