With the summer vacation round the corner, can holiday planning be far behind? For parents, planning a holiday is no longer the simple task it used to be when we were children. Kids today have their own destination bucket lists and their own requirements from a holiday and they are actively involved with the holiday planning. The stressed out parents have different needs from a holiday – they might just want to laze by the pool or indulge in spa therapies or simply have afternoon siestas. None of which might appeal to the kids (besides the pool, perhaps). The highly active children don’t just want to laze around and afternoon naps are nightmares for them. The only option they have then is to watch TV or play with the iPads while the parents go to the spa or nap. Marriott realised that the kids’ requirements need to be addressed and so launched the MAX by Marriott Rewards….
About the Max by Marriott Rewards Program
“MAX! is our commitment to making every kid’s stay as rewarding as yours. The Marriott Rewards Kids Program – MAX! – provides activities and opportunities* for young guests to be active with sports and dance, stay curious by learning about local cultures, go explore their surroundings, or just chill and enjoy the hotel experience. You can relax – and enjoy a little ‘me’ time – knowing that everyone in your family will receive the very best that Marriott offers. The specific activities will be curated by each property, making the experience authentic to the location and culture.”
Created for children aged 5-12 years (exactly the age group that both my boys fit into), MAX features for categories of activities:
- Be Active – offers action packed sessions ranging from pool activities to dance lessons.
- Stay Curious – encourages intellectual curiosity with cooking and art and craft activities.
- Go Explore – appeals to the children’s sense of adventure.
- Just Relax – offers tranquil pursuits.
Kids have an innate sense of curiosity and in today’s unsafe world, no parent would like their children to “go and explore” on their own, they way the characters in Famous Five or Secret Seven used to do. The other alternative is iPads and PSPs. Thankfully, with the MAX program, parents can rest assured that their kids are in safe hands, under competant adult supervision while having fun, enriching experiences. The Marriott properties all have wonderful kids’ play areas with where kids from toddlers to teens can be entertained but the MAX program goes beyond that. (Read more about the Goa Marriott here and the wonderful Quan Spa here).
Because of the variety of activities offered, the children can try out new things every day – from Zumba in the morning to pottery in the afternoon one day to perhaps gardening the next morning and cooking lessons in the afternoon – parents will, hopefully, not get to hear the dreaded words “Mom….I’m bored”.
The MAX Rewards program is offered to all the children whose parents are members of Marriott Rewards. While the four categories of activities are consistent across all participating Marriott hotels, the specific activities will be curated by each property, making the experience authentic to the location and culture. So the activities offered at the J.W.Marriott Mussoorie would be very different from those offered at the J.W.Marriott Phuket thus ensuring that the kids have different experiences at each holiday.
Time for me to start planning my summer holidays….once my home renovation is complete and my bedroom is done! (Follow me on snapchat – handle indianshringar – for updates on the renovation as well as sneak peeks.) What are your plans for the summer holidays? What do your kids enjoy doing on a holiday? Do let me know in the comments below.