Website for Luxury Family Travel Recommendations
Ciao Bambino Describes Hotels and Resorts in Vacation Destinations
Oct 8, 2008
An excellent luxury family travel website, Ciao Bambino, is expanding its reach. The focus used to be Italy, then Europe as a whole. Now, the best high-end hotels for children and teens in popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, Hawaii, South America and more are being reviewed on the site. Properties are can be searched for by vacation destination, broken down by the age of the kids in the family: Baby Ready, Toddler Fun, School Age Action, and Cool for Teens. More than recommendations and suggestions of family friendly hotels for the luxury travel market, the website has travel tips for surviving air travel, and some basic trip planning. Ciao Bambino also has an active community review function. Reviewers include customers and the users of the site; this keeps Ciao Bambino current and accurate.
How Ciao Bambino Works
- Ciao Bambino generates revenue from hotel commissions but - unlike a traditional travel agency - once properties receive requests from the website, they respond directly to the potential guests, and the clients go on to book directly with the the luxury properties. Ciao Bambino does provide customer support if clients have questions regarding, say, which property is the best fit for them (and other specific hotel/resort questions). The website does not, however, provide comprehensive trip planning.
- When Ciao Bambino was founded, it targeted primarily European hotels and resorts, but now the portfolio is expanding. The goal is to be global, with participating luxury hotels, resorts, and rental apartments and villas on every well-traveled continent. In other words, South America will be covered, but not Antarctica!
- At this point, most of Ciao Bambino's customers come from the US, but the site does get around 20% of its business form the UK as well. with a smaller amount from Australia and Canada.
- Most hotel reviewers are prior clients that loved both the service and the site, and who stay at the high-end properties that fit the Ciao Bambino profile. Not all reviews are published, and if a hotel or resort doesn't fit with the website's acceptable profile, it does not go up on the website.
- In determining a hotel or resort's appropriateness for the website, child-friendly attitudes are taken into account (not just the expected amenities). If, for example, a property supplies cribs and high chairs to guests, but someone would have to hush their children whenever they make noise, then that luxury hotel is not the right fit. The hotel, villa, apartment or resort must be child-friendly overall.
- Ciao Bambino tries to list as much as possible about specifics that are not family-friendly, even if the hotel generally is so. For example, if there are steep stairs, or if the pool is unfenced (which is not uncommon in Italy!), that important detail would be found under the the description of the property in the section "Families Should Know."
The luxury and ultra-luxury travel market has been becoming more family-friendly, recognizing that happy children usually equal happy parents on vacation. Ciao Bambino helps ensure that a luxury family vacation will be great for everyone.
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