Originally Posted by Analise
At cocktail time, it is inappropriate. I would think that if a child isn't permitted to roam about a bar, then the same would hold true for a hotel lounge if there is a bartender.
Alcohol and children don't mix. It's a bad environment for children anyway. I'm not talking about rights and I'm sure the laws in each state vary. I'm talking about what I deem is appropriate. It's my opinion and who knows, maybe it's mine alone.
I can't imagine trying to spend 21 years keeping my children isolated from all environments in which alcohol is served to adults. Nobody's talking about suspending local liquor laws in the lounge and pouring martinis for 12-year-olds. Kids go to ballgames, restaurants, family gatherings, and many other places where alcohol is consumed.
With a normal hotel lounge (e.g., like the ones found in most Starwoods, Hiltons, and Marriotts), I would say that it's a perfectly acceptable environment for kids. You have less chance of encountering a liquor-soaked loser at the Westin lounge than you do at a baseball game.
If a hotel decides to set up a specific "cocktail party" or a wine tasting in their lounge, I could understand limiting it people of legal drinking age. I have only seen this once - a 9-11PM free-booze party at a Fairmont many years ago - and I doubt the Marriotts/Starwoods do it at all. Maybe a smidgen more common at the luxury chains, but in any case we started this off by talking about breakfast and coffee, not free-flowing raucous lounge parties.