Hotels Woo New Cash Cow: Kids

Families are traveling more often, and recession-battered hotels are ramping up their kid-friendly offerings, the Boston Globe reports. Rooms occupied by families with children accounted for 27% of the total in 2008, up from 25% in 2004, and lodgings are watching the trend. Whether it's free Wii, a dog to walk, or a theme guest room, the trend is picking up and is no longer relegated to just the summer months.

“Hotels are trying to maximize their business, and since they have been doing well with the family market, they’re trying to capture more of it,” an industry expert says. One Boston hotel offers a pricey package that affords its diminutive guests visits from a make-your-own-sundae cart. And the free Wii in the lobby of another coincides with a more grown-up pursuit. “This will make it easier to get back for the 5 o’clock happy hour,” a pleased father says. (More hotel stories.)