Parent-friendly places, non-Europe edition
May 1, 2014, 8:26 am
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,404
Went there last month and it's definitely in "maintenance mode" already.Went around Kamakura today, Enoshima is difficult with a stroller, but Hase and Kamakura weren't too bad. Barrier free access back from on the Odakyu line to Shibuya (including the changeover at Kimo Kitazawa). Noticed Kodomo-no-kuni on the map and am looking into it as a possible destination.
May 5, 2014, 1:13 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,378
I agree with others that say HK is super kid-friendly. Just about every restaurant is very kid-friendly including restaurants at places like Peninsula (some restaurants even have a play area, like Cafe Deco), parks everywhere, people offer seats to you on metro if you've got a little one, strangers come up to you to make smiley faces at your kids.
Japan is a great destination for families with small kids, from the standpoint of all the different fun family/child-oriented attractions and businesses that are there. Tokyo just has an endless array of things to go do with kids. But I can't say that people look kindly towards families with little kids there. No one offers you a seat on trains in Tokyo, although it's different when you go to other parts of Jpn. You get stares especially from grumpy salarymen and middle-aged folks on crowded trains when you take your stroller in. In fact, they've had debates on this topic (strollers on trains) on Jpn TV... how ridiculous is that in this day and age? In any case, Jpn moms do take strollers onto trains still, and so have we, and you just can't worry about the haters. The other challenge is that many Jpn train stations are suboptimally designed for stroller use... large train platform might be served by 3 stairways and 2 pairs of escalators but only 1 small elevator that you often have to line up for. HKG's train stations are more stroller-friendly for sure. There're many types of restaurants (esp little ramen shops and such) where you can't bring in strollers and the setup is such that bringing in a 1yo won't be practical. Many restaurants in Jpn that have divided smoking/non-smoking sections have really poor air ventilation/partitioning mechanism such that you don't really even want to take your kids in.
Japan is a great destination for families with small kids, from the standpoint of all the different fun family/child-oriented attractions and businesses that are there. Tokyo just has an endless array of things to go do with kids. But I can't say that people look kindly towards families with little kids there. No one offers you a seat on trains in Tokyo, although it's different when you go to other parts of Jpn. You get stares especially from grumpy salarymen and middle-aged folks on crowded trains when you take your stroller in. In fact, they've had debates on this topic (strollers on trains) on Jpn TV... how ridiculous is that in this day and age? In any case, Jpn moms do take strollers onto trains still, and so have we, and you just can't worry about the haters. The other challenge is that many Jpn train stations are suboptimally designed for stroller use... large train platform might be served by 3 stairways and 2 pairs of escalators but only 1 small elevator that you often have to line up for. HKG's train stations are more stroller-friendly for sure. There're many types of restaurants (esp little ramen shops and such) where you can't bring in strollers and the setup is such that bringing in a 1yo won't be practical. Many restaurants in Jpn that have divided smoking/non-smoking sections have really poor air ventilation/partitioning mechanism such that you don't really even want to take your kids in.
May 12, 2014, 12:40 pm
#19
Used to be diaworld
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: DC Metro
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Dontcareist,
Posts: 183
I see this is SEA centric for the moment, but I wanted to give a shout out to Antigua, Guatemala. We did great there with a 4 and 7 year old. Good amount of expats so good healthcare, lots to do, good mix of hotels.