Travel by Families and Grandparents

The "Loew's Loves Kids" program, at the hotel chain of the same name, attempts to attract families by allowing children under 18 to stay for free in their parents rooms, with a special discount on a second adjoining room, and providing the kids with a complimentary gift bag upon arrival for children under ten. All Loew's have a "Kids Kloset" filled with borrowable items such as games, books, car seats and strollers, and certain Loew's offer day camps. For parents with children under four, the chain lends cribs free of charge and will also dispense "child-proofing kits on request. For information on the amenities offered at each hotel, call its reservations line at 800/LOEWS. You can visit loewshotels.com, as well. Simply click on the destination that interests you to view children's amenities at that property.

For summer travels, consider checking into a Hilton (if you can afford it). From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, this chain offers the "Hilton Vacation Station" at participating hotels throughout the US, Canada, South America and the Caribbean. At all these hotels (there are 59 in total) children receive a welcome gift and unlimited use of a "toy-lending desk" which is filled with interactive games and toys for toddlers through tweens. At selected hotels and resorts, there are full-scale activity programs for the kids, some of which are even educational. To learn which Hilton's participate in these programs, call 800/HILTONS or visit hilton.com.

At Holiday Inns, children 19 and under not only stay free in their parent's room, kids under 12 eat free at all of the chain's properties. At 40 Holiday Inns, "kid suites" have been deliberately "themed" to appeal to the younger set, with part of the room done up to look like a pirate's den, or a jungle, or a big-top circus. At these special family Inns, kids can borrow board games, electronic games and videos free of charge. The number for more info is 800/HOLIDAY or go to holiday-inn.com.

For price conscious yet privacy-seeking families, Embassy Suites offers a good value. As the name implies, all rooms are suites, meaning that the children can bunk in the living room (either on a pool-out couch or a cot) and the parents shut the door to the bedroom. Suites come with two TV's (living room and bedroom), often have microwaves and mini-fridges and usually cost between $100 and $150 per night (children under 18 stay free in their parents room). At a number of participating properties, families receive a "Family Fun Pack" which may include swim toys, coupons for free in-room movies and pizza, even tickets to the local amusement park or zoo. A hot breakfast is included in the nightly rate. For more information, call 800/EMBASSY or visit embassysuites.com.

The swank Four Seasons chain of hotels is doing its best to appeal to wealthier families with its complimentary kids program at all resorts (it should be complimentary with the price you're going to pay for the room!). These can range from hula classes in Hawaii, to tennis lessons in California, with site-specific activities for children five to 12, and teens. Some resorts have game rooms; some ply the tots with loaner teddy bears, books and sand toys; all have extensive outdoor sports facilities (golf courses, water slides, tennis courts, etc). The Four Seasons will even pamper (spoil?) your child with "champagne milk service"---order milk and it arrives in its own ice bucket with fancy glasses. The chain also provides extensive child-proofing kits with bumpers to soften coffee table edges, baby bath seats and socket plugs. Call 800/819-5053 or go to fourseasons.com to learn more.

Family travel experts and resources

For further information, Eileen Ogintz is the family travel guru. Her column "Taking the Kids" appears in numerous print publications as well as free on the Web at a slew of different sites (including smarterliving.com, where they are archived). She is the writer we turn to at Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine when we're looking for a family-oriented article from an expert. A prolific writer, Eileen has touched on almost all facets of family travel in her long and distinguished career.

The Family Travel Network (familytravelnetwork.com is another exhaustive look at everything kiddie. It features Eileen Ogintz's column (see above) as well as articles on factory tours, multigenerational trips, family resorts and cruises. Its "current bargains" section does not usually contain anything we'd consider a real find, but despite this the site has much valuable general travel info for families. A rival, the Family Travel Forum (familytravelforum.com) has a similar breadth of information, but with more emphasis on ecologically sound travel practices.

There is just one important Web site for single parent families, singleparenttravel.net. With meticulous detail the author of the site, Brenda Elwell goes over the regulations for taking a child across the border, how and when parents can get around paying a singles supplement fee, packing, entertainment, and on and on. Her comments are supplemented by her readers' insights, which are posted at the bottom of each article.

While not extensive in its travel section, the Web site child.com has a handful of terrifically in-depth and well-researched articles on family travel. All give current prices for hotels, entrance fees and restaurants on such topics as New Orleans, the top 10 National Parks for children (you'll be surprised at the choices), Caribbean vacations and kid-friendly Florida. Child.com is the Web site for Child magazine.