Screaming baby at ski resort -- who's right and who's wrong?

I think the only non-asshole in the entire equation is the baby.

I'm a staunch "don't be a dick to parents because their baby is crying" person. And the parents would have had all my sympathy - until the brother decided to see if he could one-up the note-writer in who could be the bigger prick.

 

The letter writer is an astonishing douche. Call the front desk and ask for a new room or STFU.

When the blogger talked about the father being a brain surgeon, he wasn't saying the doctor was more important than anyone, he was pointing out how much time the doctor misses with his family. I get this completely. My fiancee travels probably about 180 days a year, often spending five days a week out of town for weeks on end (she'll be home for a total of seven days in March). So, yeah, when you get a chance to bring the family along and spend some extra time together, you take it.

In fact, we did something similar at the end of the summer, when she had a conference on Cape Cod. I drove with the baby out to meet her and stay a couple days at a resort. Frankly, there wasn't a lot for him to do there, but the pool was fun and there was lots of grass for him to run around on. It was his first experience in a hotel and he was great. And, for her, waking up with him an extra morning was a bright spot during a dreary three-weeks of travel.

Also, as others noted, ski resorts most definitely are encouraging family travel. I recently read that getting kids on skis as early as 18 months is acceptable (basically, if they if walk well, they can begin learning the basics of skiing). The idea that a ski resort is a place for adults only is absurd.

 

bigpern, the blogger wasn't just talking about how much time the brain surgeon spent away from his family. Look at it again. He was very clearly saying the surgeon was more important than others because of what he does for a living.

 

I would bet my last dollar that brain surgeon and lawyer wife put their kid in the
$135 per day nursery and went off skiing.

 

And to your point about when you have time with your family, you take it. Everyone's time is equally valuable. As someone mentioned earlier, maybe the person who wrote the note, maybe that was their first vacation with their kids in 20 years. Again, no problem with the person writing the letter. Not how I would have handled it (that would have been a swift kick to the wall the minute the baby fell asleep ) but it certainly got the point across that they weren't happy.

Either way, this ski resort is getting a nasty Yelp! review.

 

This is very simple --

The parents who brought the baby to the resort are assholes.

You don't bring a baby to place like that. You just don't.

It is the kind of place people go to get the fuck away from screaming babies

 

No.

I would say that my time is more important than about 80% of the people I encounter every day. Possibly more.

I need to hang out with important people on a more frequent basis.

 

If accommodation are provided for children (i.e. bunny slopes) then it's perfectly acceptable to bring a baby there. Better to live next to a little baby than a big grouch

 

Remarkably, the big grouch winds up sleeping through the night. Point, grouch.

Simple point: Young parents, just remember it's not just about you and yours. There are others in the world, too.

 

OK, fair enough, but his main point was the time he misses with the family. If I were inclined to parse it, I'd say the writer was very clearly saying the surgeon's time was more import an the letter writer's, not everyone, and the snark toward the letter writer was pretty well executed, so I'll give it a pass.

Pointless hypothetical meant to troll.

I don't really get your point. Rather than taking steps that could prevent their weekend from being "ruined," the letter writer(s) decided to suffer in silence and then leave a shitty note for the parents. Yeah, their time is equally valuable and I'm sure the hotel would have seen it that way, had the problem been brought to its attention.

I'm actually stunned at how much support there has been on this thread for the letter writers. Having been to a few ski resorts myself, they're the last place I'd go and expect a "quiet weekend away," especially if there's a convention going on.

No, it isn't. Not even remotely true.

 

If the resort advertises as 'family friendly' (especially if they offer babysitting/nursery service during the day, as some do) it is obvious that babies are expected to occasionally be on the premises.

Even so if the baby in the next room is carrying on to the point where sleep is impossible, it is not unreasonable for adjoining guests to call the front desk and (strongly) request a different room, and if not, bring up the issue of a refund to management the next day.

After that, if the baby literally does screech on every single second of the live long night, I could see slipping them a note, "please be aware your baby is keeping other guests awake. please be more considerate."

Anything beyond that crosses over into hall-of-fame douchebag territory.

The only asterisk/codicil I would add here would be is if, in addition to the baby screaming, the noise included the PARENTS screaming at the baby in an attempt to get it to shut up (this is not uncommon among trailer-trash level parents, which of course almost always makes the baby scream 10x louder and longer), in THAT case I would march right down to the front desk and DEMAND a new room.


As far as the bloggers honking on about how important they are, fuckem.

 

I don't really get your point. Rather than taking steps that could prevent their weekend from being "ruined," the letter writer(s) decided to suffer in silence and then leave a shitty note for the parents. Yeah, their time is equally valuable and I'm sure the hotel would have seen it that way, had the problem been brought to its attention.
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I agree that I would have handled it a better way, probably gone to the front desk, and we don't know for sure that they didn't do that. The place could have been book for all we know. So I have no problem with the way they handled it. To them, it got their point across, no matter how shitty it seems to other people. Maybe next time the parents will be a bit more considerate before taking their kid to a place where there are mostly adults.

And it's not that I'm supporting the letter-writer, but rather condemning the blogger. Because someone did something that he didn't like, he went and hashed it out in a public forum. I hope the blogger gets taken to task over it. I know it's the interwebs, but that's irresponsible writing and I'm glad he's being held accountable (even if it is only in the comments section).