Holiday Inn offers young travelers Kidsuites with their own check-in area

Bringing along baby

Business travelers turning company trips into family vacations

July 5, 2000
Web posted at: 2:48 p.m. EDT (1848 GMT)

From Lori Waffenschmidt
CNN Travel Now

(CNN) -- You're holed up in a hotel room halfway across the country, separated from family yet again while you tend to business.

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Next time, consider joining the 10 percent of business travelers who take something special along on their trips -- their children.

"Everyone is so busy with their dual-income households, and with all the activities that both kids and adults are involved in, (that) sometimes the only way to take a vacation together is to tie a couple of extra days onto the trip and do it as part of the business trip," said Suzanne Cook of the Travel Industry Association.

Hotels, in fact, are catering to children with everything from special programs to entertain the kids while you work, to rooms designed just for them.

Travelodge's Sleepy Bears Den is equipped with bedspreads, lamp shades and draperies featuring the chain's Sleepy Bear mascot, plus child-sized chairs and a TV and VCR with children's movies. Holiday Inn offers Kidsuites with their own check-in area. Hilton Hotels have holiday camps for children around school vacation times.

Sleepy Bear drapes and bedspreads make children staying at Travelodge feel right at home

Travelers will pay more for these special rooms -- a Sleepy Bear room in Orlando, Florida, for example, runs about $10 more than a regular room. But then, the business traveler's room is probably already paid for.

"It may be one of the most economical ways to bring the family along," Cook said. "The business traveler is already there, many of them have thousands of frequent-flier miles, and therefore they can bring their children, maybe their spouses, along."

Other ways to save on the road include coupons, Internet deals, special family rates, and in some cases, kids staying -- or eating -- for free.

Hilton Hotels organize holiday camps around school vacation times

Travelers may want to make sure their bosses are OK with the idea, but staying a couple of extra days with their kids could even save the company money.

"That extends the businessman's trip through a Saturday night," said Kathy Sudeikis of the American Society of Travel Agents, "and that allows them to have the excursion fare, and that savings is usually a tradeoff."

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