Do you ever sit/hang out in the lobby of your hotel?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

Loitering in the lobby is something we never, ever, e.v.e.r, did when I was growing up. Ever. Period.

 

Depending on where we were going, what kind of trip it was, we might or might not have even stayed in a place with a hang-outable lobby. Sometimes, we did, tough. And when we did, we didnt. Ever.

 

So now I'm an adult with my own family. We definitely have a favorite hotel and often stay there when we travel. Often we don't. It depends on the trip, budget, et c.

 

What I've discovered of late, say, the last few years, is that I like to sit in the lobby sometimes. Right now, for example, im sitting in the lobby with my book, my phone, and my coffee. This seems more often done by other ppl b/c it is breakfast time. However, yesterday while my husbamd and daughter were swimming, I spend a couple of hours here by the fire reading and having tea. Quite nice.

 

I wasn't alone, either. There were several little groups of ppl and a few solo folks sitting in different areas, chatting, reading, sipping, et c.

 

This is, as I said, NOT something I did growing up. I enjoy it now and almost feel spoiled. My husband and daughter are not onto it. My daughter more than my husband, though, since she is more into the hang out in a coffee shop all morning experience.

 

Im curious, is this something you do? Or do you feel awkward or just that the lobby is just for passing through?

[Carrie12345]

I've never really thought about it before, lol.

Until a few years ago, I never did anything in a hotel but sleep, shower, and leave. Now my parents stay in hotels when they come up to visit, so the hotel is a destination for us, rather than a place to pass through.

 

Thinking about the places they usually stay, there aren't really lobbies in the traditional sense. More like overflowing lounge spaces around breakfast areas and bars. We hang out in those a lot. 5 kids, 4 adults, plus random other relatives can be a bit much even in big suites!

 

The last time we stayed at a Staybridge hotel, we actually cooked dinner in our little kitchens, then brought it all down to the breakfast area and ate all together. That felt VERY weird to me at first, but then staff members started wandering over to chat, we shared food with them, and it was really pretty neat, even with other hotel guests walking by, lol.

 

My parents travel the east coast quite a bit. They're very good at making themselves feel at home!

[Laura Corin]

I used to do it when travelling with the family.  We were often sleeping on different schedules due to jet-lag, and all sharing one room.  It was useful to be able to go and read in the lobby whilst everyone else slept.

 

L

[marbel]

When I was growing up if we traveled it was to a cheap motel, no lobby to hang out in.  When I traveled for business, I used to hang out in nice lobbies sometimes.  I loved it.

 

Now I have to be honest: when I travel with my family we usually stay in place with a hang-outable lobby but it never occurred to me to slip out and go there while everyone is sleeping in the morning.  (I am always awake first.)  I just go sit in the bathroom and read.   Duh. 

 

 

[Truscifi]

I have done it in nicer hotels. One in Atlanta had beautiful architecture inside, and I sat in a cozy little reading nook and relaxed for most of an afternoon. These days we don't take a lot of trips, and the ones we do rarely involve hotels, especially not ones with nice lobbies.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

When we were in a hotel for a couple nights earlier this month, we hung out in the lobby. They had a nice reading area with gas fireplace. The books were a free lending library so we borrowed the one ds started and will return it when he is done.

[elegantlion]

Depends on the hotel and who I'm rooming with, but yes, I like lounging in the lobby if it's nice. 

[TammyinTN]

Definitely....especially when there's a roaring fire. 

[Alessandra]

Yes, when ds plays chess. For multi-day tournaments, you usually give up your room on the morning of the last day and then hang out in the hotel lobby for the rest of the day. Along with hundreds of other parents and not quite enough seating. (Now ds is older, I leave him, but when he was younger, I stayed.)

 

Not a great experience, but easier if you resign yourself.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

When I was growing up if we traveled it was to a cheap motel, no lobby to hang out in. When I traveled for business, I used to hang out in nice lobbies sometimes. I loved it.

 

Now I have to be honest: when I travel with my family we usually stay in place with a hang-outable lobby but it never occurred to me to slip out and go there while everyone is sleeping in the morning. (I am always awake first.) I just go sit in the bathroom and read. Duh.

AMDG

 

Marbel, for heaven's sake! Out of the restroom and down to the lobby!

 

Let the rest sleep, I say, and feel positively guilt-free having a tiny little alone time.

[Hikin' Mama]

I never did that growing up because we never stayed in hotels. We camped and backpacked for every vacation, so we slept in tents. It was a wonderful childhood! :)

 

But my husband, kids, and I have traveled and stayed in many hotels and I've often gone to sit in the lobby while the rest of the family is sleeping or maybe watching TV. I get coffee and read. My absolute favorite lobby was in Hawaii. I wake up earlier than everyone else, so I would make my coffee and take it to the lobby, which was open air. It was lovely. It was still dark and it was January, but it was invigorating to go spend my first minutes of the day outside in the tropical air! Oh how I could get used to that.

[Wabi Sabi]

No, but we rarely (if ever) stay at a hotel other than on long road trips when we drive all day, pull into a hotel late at night, carry in the sleeping children, grab a few hours of sleep and get up in the morning ready to hit the road again. Plus, the kind of affordable hotels we tend to find off of the interstate aren't exactly the kinds of places known for their luxurious lobbies...

 

We never actually stay in hotels on vacation, just while traveling on the road. Pretty much all of the vacations we've ever taken involve us driving across the country to visit friends or family with whom we can stay, or our annual trip out east where we have a rented lake house. Or we just camp, LOL.

[Ottakee]

I figure that is WHY the lobby has nice chairs and nooks and a fire, etc. When we stay at a hotel like that I often go down to read, relax, etc. My family likes TV so they often stay in the room and watch TV. A friend and I have visited in the lobby when we traveled with the kids and got the kids to sleep (teens so fine to be in the room alone and we could see the room door from the lobby)

[TravelingChris]

Yes, I do that sometimes.  I

[HelenNotOfTroy]

We have done several trips in recent years with a large enough group that we have multiple rooms (family reunions, weddings, etc.) and we have all or some gathered in the lobbies of the hotels. I also did some while traveling with my family as a teen and needing some time to myself.

[Mom2TheTeam]

Yup, I've been known to do that.  Not for a long time now though.  I have 8 who are all little.  We very rarely stay at hotels and if we do, I have to be in the room with them. ;)

[Jeannie in NJ]

we travel often with dh's extended family.  There can be 12 to 15 of us so we often hang out in a lobby with a fireplace. 

 

On our last trip to Disney World, dd, sil and I had a quest to visit the lobbies of each of the deluxe on site resorts.  We had a great time just hanging out in the lobbies.  We went at Christmas so the lobbies were decorated ,

 

 

[Firefly]

No not usually, unless I'm waiting for someone.

[poppy]

It's not loitering if that's what the hotel wants you to do.  

 

I go to the lobby to read if everyone else is sleeping.

[KatieJ]

DH and I were on a 24 hour business trip for him.  Our truck broke down and took several days to it all sorted out.  We spent several evenings in the lobby people watching. Actually we were in the restaurant which is completely open to the lobby.  We thoroughly enjoyed trying to guess what the different people coming and going were up to. 

[TracyP]

Dh and I used to sit in the lobby (with a monitor) after the kids were sleeping. We would talk, read, or play cards. We don't fit into one room anymore, so that is no longer necessary. I still enjoy sitting in the lobby in the morning while everyone else is sleeping. I enjoy the quiet, alone time before the day starts.

[Woodhaven]

Yes, we hang out in hotel lobbies all the time!  My kids play a lot of chess, and so I find myself in the lobby (unless they have a skiddles room) waiting.

[Woodhaven]

Yes, when ds plays chess. For multi-day tournaments, you usually give up your room on the morning of the last day and then hang out in the hotel lobby for the rest of the day. Along with hundreds of other parents and not quite enough seating. (Now ds is older, I leave him, but when he was younger, I stayed.)

 

Not a great experience, but easier if you resign yourself.

 

Yep!  This is what we do! 

[swellmomma]

Nope.  The only times I have stayed in a hotel with a lobby like that we had gotten a suite so there was ample room in the hotel room to be away from the kids and relax.  Once was when we went for my brother's wedding, we stayed in a hotel that had formerly been a apt building, so we had a suite that had formerly been a 2 bdrm apt.  No need to go anywhere, I had my own room, the kids shared one and we had a livingroom and kitchen.  Last year at conference we had a smaller suite in a different town.  That one had 1 bedroom plus kitchenette and livingroom.  It worked well enough to have everyone happy and no need to sit in the lobby. We were on the go lots with conference so we weren't hanging out in the room much anyway.

[Belacqua]

We once stayed in a lovely hotel in Boston that had a pretty little lobby area with hot chocolate in the afternoons. My husband and I had some free time while the kid was doing some activity or another, so we just hung out, drank chocolate, and watched the dogs come and go (it's a pet-friendly hotel). There were even some board games available, so we played Scrabble; the doorman kept taking breaks to come over and see how our game was progressing.

 

We've also been known to lobbyschool. The housekeeper (jokingly) told me I was mean for making my son do lessons on our vacation. :)

 

[KrissiK]

When we do stay in hotels, they generally don't have nice lobbies. We go cheap. However, I went with DH on a business trip once do we stayed in the Las Vegas Hilton and I would have loved to spend more time in that lobby. I should have. I love to people watch and there are so many interesting people in hotel lobbies. Instead, on that trip I stayed holed up in our room with a bucket of ice cream and the remote control. But that's another story. ;)

[Ripley]

I do. I had a job that had me staying in hotels every week.  I often relaxed in the lobby for free wireless internet, if it wasn't available in the rooms.  I also hate being alone, so if I were staying more than a few days I'd usually take coffee and read my paper in the lobby also - just to be around other voices. I like the chit chat scene. :) I met many interesting people, some I continue to correspond with still!

[PeacefulChaos]

It depends.

When we are traveling and therefore at the hotel for utilitarian purposes (on the road), no.  By the time we check in, we're tired and we just chill in our room.

When I went to NYC without the fam as a chaperone on a youth missions trip, I would hang out in the lobby some lol... as would some of the kids and others.  At night I would sit down there and talk on the phone to DH after everyone had gone to bed and tell him about our day. 

When we've gone somewhere as a family event - think extended family, where we are all staying at the same hotel, etc - we've hung out in the lobby a bit, too.

I guess it all just depends on the atmosphere of the trip and why we're there, kwim? 

[GailV]

Yes.  We started when the kids were traveling to Irish Dance competitions and we were spending a lot of time at hotels.  We'd bring along board games, books, knitting, etc. to entertain ourselves, and often just hang out in the lobby playing games and generally relaxing.

 

We've had Christmas gift exchanges with extended family in hotel lobbies when we've had to do weird travel stuff to see everyone during the holidays -- we just commandeer an area and use it for our get together.

[Jennay]

I. My absolute favorite lobby was in Hawaii. I wake up earlier than everyone else, so I would make my coffee and take it to the lobby, which was open air. It was lovely. It was still dark and it was January, but it was invigorating to go spend my first minutes of the day outside in the tropical air! Oh how I could get used to that.

This is exactly what I was going to say!  Open air lobby in Hawaii - bliss.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

It really, REALLY depends on the place. BnB with couches and books, sure, Holiday Inn off the highway, not so much.

[AmyontheFarm]

In honor of this thread, I will make sure to sit in the lobby when hubby and I go to the city for his surgery next week.  Although, I'm supposed to be making our high school plans, I might just bring a good novel and read for awhile also!

[Parrothead]

When I was growing up if we traveled it was to a cheap motel, no lobby to hang out in.  When I traveled for business, I used to hang out in nice lobbies sometimes.  I loved it.

 

Now I have to be honest: when I travel with my family we usually stay in place with a hang-outable lobby but it never occurred to me to slip out and go there while everyone is sleeping in the morning.  (I am always awake first.)  I just go sit in the bathroom and read.   Duh. 

 

Yup, sitting in the bathroom to read is the pits.  I do it when I'm the only one awake at 2am.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Not with my young children, but I have hung out there a few times. I've even done some last-minute-present embroidering in a hotel lobby! It's not my husband's cup of tea, but it can be nice. :)

[stephanier.1765]

I tend to wake earlier than everyone else so I'll grab a book and a drink and head down to the lobby to spend some quiet time until they wake up.