A research day at a family hotel

We borrowed a child

Author
Ines Eschbacher | © punkt & komma
Ines Eschbacher

All the things we didn’t consider that weekend …

The bell tolls at the punkt & komma office: We’re excited about a new client project. October is all about family. Or let’s specify: It’s all about the leading Tyrolean family hotels – Hotel Löwe and Hotel Bär belonging to the Heymich family. Just like we’re the experts for content marketing, the Heymich family is a pro when it comes to family holidays. As founding member of Kinderhotels Europe, they know exactly what families want and need when on holiday. 

To make sure that families feel right at home at the children’s hotels Löwe & Bär in Serfaus, there are a couple points that the owners have a strict policy on. Among them the fact that only families stay at the hotels. So that’s why we decided to borrow a child for our on-site research days. 

All’s well that starts well!

Our five-year-old nephew Tim is thrilled: He can join me and Jürgen for our location check and on-site research appointment in Serfaus! A weekend with auntie and uncle – and without his little sister. In short: He’s at the centre of attention. And he quickly figures out that he’s got the honourable task of testing everything he likes. Upon our arrival, he proudly announces to our client, “Good thing I’m such a daredevil of a boy and can test all the slides!”. 

And he’s right! Because there’s plenty to test at the two hotels. And we’re excited about the upcoming two days as well. Seems like it’ll be an easy task to keep our borrowed child entertained and happy. With the schedule that Mrs. Heymich has kindly presented us with, there’s nothing that could possibly go wrong. 

Or so we thought … 

Rookie mistakes: 5 things that only happen to non-parents

1. The sugar high
At the kids’ hotel, there’s always something to eat. From breakfast to an afternoon snack, cake buffet and dinner. Nephew Tim is particularly ecstatic about the ice cream buffet that awaits him after dinner. And about the cake in the afternoon. Thinking we’re really cool grown-ups and the parents don’t need to know about this, we allow him to have a lot of treats – and soon after we’re dearly paying for it. Tim gets the notorious sugar high, becomes super bubbly and his energy is through the roof. If you’ve ever experienced something like that, you know exactly what we’re talking about. 

At least, he’s happy. 
2. How five minutes turn into an hour
And then he fell in love. With the ball pit. Because – as a matter of fact – he wants to be a ninja when he grows up and every possible opportunity he gets while we’re on site, he wants to jump into the ball pit. To train, of course. And that’s how a few minutes quickly turn into a few hours. And if you’re not careful, uncle Jürgen might fall asleep in the ball pit … 

But Tim is happy. 
3. “I’ll never ever go on holiday with you again”
Hotel Löwe’s Water World is a paradise for kids. The speedy tyre slide and the pirate’s land, a giant indoor water playground, don’t just impress five-year-old Tim but us as well. 

There’s water splashing from all sides and there’s lots to discover. Up and down the tyre slide – Tim could do that all day long. And at the pirate’s world, there’s something new to experience wherever you look. Have we by any chance mentioned that he has consumed a lot of sugary foods at this point? And that there’s water splashing you from all sides? As responsible adults, we decide to take a break. To rest a little. Because ninjas need to recharge their batteries too. 

The result: Our nephew Tim declares that he hasn’t seen aaaall nooks and crannies of the Water World just yet and that it’s really mean of us to make him take a break. He’ll never ever go on holiday with us again. Mmmmhhhh. 

At least, he was happy up until this point. 
4. The child is hungry. Now!
It’s four o’clock in the afternoon. We take a short break to recuperate. We’re right on schedule because at six, we want to have dinner at Hotel Bär. I reflect on my planning and make a rough estimate of how long it’ll take us to get ready: The kid needs to take a bath, it’ll probably dilly-dally, it needs to be dressed, …. I’m content with the result of my pondering. Time to relax. I’ve got a book for Tim. I’ve just barely towelled him down, when he looks at me and asks: “Do you have anything to eat for me?” As if it goes without saying that I do! Me? At the pool? At four in the afternoon? No, I don’t. What a rookie! Good thing there’s always something to eat at the hotel. We grab a snack. 

And Tim is happy! 
5. Car rides and the importance of headphones
After two wonderful, informative days filled with plenty of lessons, we’re saying goodbye to Hotel Löwe and Hotel Bär and hit the road home. We’ve got just under three hours in the car ahead of us. We enjoyed a sugar-free breakfast, we stopped by at the ball pit, and everyone’s happy. Thanks to a well-known online music streaming service, we’ve even got plenty of child-friendly audiobooks to listen to. And I found Benjamin Blümchen. 

Elated that I found something from my childhood that I can show my nephew Tim, I start playing it for him – on the speakers. He likes it. After 40 minutes, it’s over. We choose another episode. After another 40 minutes, the grown-ups in the car start wondering why Tim still doesn’t have any kids’ headphones (and we put them on our Christmas list). But he’s happy. Suddenly he asks, “Auntie Ines, do we have something to eat?” 

Shit! What a rookie! 
Closing remark
Spending quality time with Tim was really exciting and we’re happy that he explored Serfaus and the two hotels with us and told us what he thinks is really cool. Now it’s much easier for us to write valuable, useful web copy for the new portal! 

And we’re also happy that he made up his mind and would indeed go on holiday with us again. Next time I’ll pack something to eat no matter where we go. 

Without sugar. 

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