Kid-Friendly Bed and Breakfast Inns: They’re Out There!

With summer here, it’s time to pack up the kids and hit the road to visit family and friends! But where can you stay? Most hotels are so impersonal and hardly kid-friendly.

Fear not! With the help of American Historic Inns (www.iloveInns.com), you can find lots of kid-friendly Bed and Breakfast inns. Here are six that prove this point:

The Wildflower Inn

Billed as “New England’s Best Family Resort” by Yankee magazine, The Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT combines a wonderful country B&B setting with all kinds of kids activities. The Wildflower Inn offers supervised activities for kids, allowing parents to truly take a break while their children are entertained. For instance, “Butterflies, Tots and Forget-Me-Nots is perfect for the parent traveling alone with young children,” says the Wildflower Inn’s website. “Our program combines time together with the kids with opportunities for relaxing while the children are enjoying their activities.” There’s even ‘Daisy’s Diner’, which prepares special themed meals for kids.

A glorious old Victorian mansion, Spring Lake’s Villa Park House is just four-and-a-half blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and Jersey Shore Boardwalk. For parents wanting to take their children to the seaside, the Villa Park House allows you to do so in style. Its elegantly-decorated eleven rooms provide lots of room for families to relax, while the Villa Park house’s hearty breakfasts will keep young tummies full until lunch time. And if all this isn’t enough along with the fresh spring air, the nearby Six Flags’ Great Adventure & Wild Safari amusement park should tire the kids out for a long, sound sleep. 

Vee Bar Guest Ranch

For an authentic western experience that the kids will love, check into the Vee Bar Guest Ranch in Laramie, WY. This unique B&B sits on 800 acres and offers horseback riding, hayrides with fiddle and guitar accompaniment, hiking, cattle herding and river tubing. Accommodations include six riverside suites and three cabins decorated in a rustic fashion. Throw in campfires, campouts, and lots of fresh air, and the Vee Bar Guest Ranch will satisfy the most demanding of children! 

For the cowboys and cowgirls in your crew, chose the western-themed the Las Palomas B&B in Sante Fe, NM. It is made of authentic adobe bricks to provide a true cowboy feel and to fit in with the nearby Historic District of the city. But don’t let Las Palomas’ charm fool you: This is a modern B&B complete with a bistro and fitness center! “Kids are welcome at Las Palomas, and we have a few special things waiting for them. We have an outdoor play area with swings and slides for small children. In our Kids Box we have: Outlet safety plugs, High Chairs, Kids chairs and tables, Games, Books, Videos, Toys, Safety Gates, Cribs, and Night lights.”

Sunrise Farm B&B

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills in South Carolina, Sunrise Farm B&B can be found inside a Victorian farmhouse on 10 acres of land. Taking it slow is the name of the game at Sunrise: “Guests may relax in wooden rockers and wicker furniture on the large wrap around porch and enjoy the beautiful mountain and lake views,” says the inn’s website. “In the winter, guests may enjoy hot cider by the crackling fireplaces.” For breakfast, look forward to homemade specialties such as banana-chocolate chip mini muffins, fruit and yogurt parfait, blueberry pancakes, garden vegetable and herb frittata, and maple sausage. Close to mountain hiking, clear lakes for fishing and boating, bird watching, sight-seeing and golfing, Sunrise Farm B&B prides itself on being kid-friendly. That’s why it has lots of ‘farm pets for them to see, including Muffin the pot-bellied pig, Lady and Sunshine the miniature horses, and barn cats Oreo and Ginger, among others. 

Finally, on the west coast in California, the Capay Valley Bed & Breakfast in Capay has its own zoo! That’s right: Your children can get up close and personal with llamas, zebras, a miniature donkey, a pygmy goat, sheep, ostrich, and – of course – a dog and cat. To get the kids excited, log onto this B&B’s website and let them take a 360 degree virtual tour of the animals! Add an outdoor pool, horseback riding, comfortable accommodations (there are even two cottages), and the Capay Valley B&B’s beautiful wide open space, and the whole family will want to stay. And yes, pets are even welcome.