Kids’ clubs are an important hotel amenity for traveling families, often giving parents a much-needed break while kids are engaged.
But the challenge is there are no standard industry best practices followed for kids’ clubs and quality can be unpredictable.
(From a PeterGreenberg.com posting)   A hotel with a well-run kids program can be worth its weight in gold, especially for parents looking to spend some vacation time without worrying about the kids. However, many hotel kids’ programs include swimming as a group activity. Different hotels determine their own rules, which means as a participating family, it is up to you to gauge if the program meets your criteria for safety.
In the discussion, each family travel writer outlined his or her priorities and views around swimming safety in a hotel environment. There were a few points that came up again and again.
- Child-to-instructor ratios
- 4-to-1 is the magic number for child-to-instructor ratios.
- Instructor training
Everyone agrees that instructors need to be CPR certified. Is this enough?
I’d argue that this is sufficient only in cases where 4-to-1 ratios are followed without exception. Otherwise, it’s necessary to have lifeguards present at the pool watching the water without distractions, i.e., they are not engaged in any unrelated parent and/or child communication and without any electronic devices.
http://www.petergreenberg.com/2010/04/27/are-hotel-kids%E2%80%99-club-swimming-sessions-safe/
