Baby Butlers to the Rescue at Luxury Hotels

by  Jennifer Bernstein | Mar 23, 2009
Butler
Butler / urfingussi/iStock

Used to be that the words “luxury getaway” and “baby” only appeared in the same sentence when couples were discussing their baby-moons: “Oh, we just want to squeeze in one last luxury getaway before we have a baby.” Well, here's some great news for parents with newborns: There’s no need to shelve your vacation plans for the next three years! As luxury hotels continue to one-up each other in the amenity race, new moms and dads can choose from an array of resorts that cater to making stays with baby worry free – if not quite as perfectly blissful as a baby-moon! Lots of hotels offer to arrange babysitting services at an hourly fee, but some are going over and above babysitting basics.

Keswick Hall, a colonial-style luxury estate at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, offers a baby butler program designed to pamper both mom and baby. Baby butler services include warming baby bottles, preparing baby food onsite, and stocking rooms with cribs (moms can choose from blue, pink, or yellow linens) and rocking chairs. The rolling grounds at Keswick Hall beckon to be explored, and parents can comfortably take their little ones along as backpacks and cross-country strollers are provided as well. Perhaps the most luxurious aspect of the program is that baby butlers will rock your baby in the morning room, while you sneak off for a quiet soak in your luxuriously over-sized claw-foot tub.

At the Carlisle Bay Hotel in Antigua, your six-month to three-year old will love spending time at the Cool Kids Club, where age-appropriate activities like finger painting, water play, treasure hunts, and beach games are held amidst tropical gardens. While baby’s actively engaged and well looked after by professionally qualified child minders, you can take the opportunity to relax on the beach or indulge in that spa treatment.

Meanwhile, hotels like the Almyra in Cyprus, The Balmoral in Edinburgh, and the Cape Grace in Cape Town realize that the real hassle in vacationing with infants is all the rather bulky luggage they require – from stacks of diapers to wipes to bottles to high chairs to toys. Each of the hotels has a slightly different approach to easing your packing-for-baby woes, but happily, the end result is much the same.

Almyra’s Baby Go Lightly Program allows you to pre-order anything your baby may need (think car seats, baby food jars, diaper disposal, baby-friendly bath products, strollers, swimming diapers, and much more) for a nominal fee. Everything you need to make sure your baby is well looked after will be ready and waiting for you when you arrive, making packing a veritable breeze. The Balmoral’s Five-Star Babies Program stocks many of these baby essentials onsite (cribs, milk & teddy turndown, 100% natural baby toiletries), and the Cape Grace, in addition to keeping supplies on hand for emergencies, partners with Tiny Tots Away to offer a pre-ordering and delivery service akin to Almyra’s.

More and more luxury hotels are catching on to the fact that life-after-baby need not mean the end to vacationing in style, though some properties are much better than others at advertising what they have on offer. Be sure to call in advance and find out – you may be pleasantly surprised by what your favorite resort will do to accommodate your little plus one!

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