BEWARE Campo Portofino!!!

[Redmic]

Just curious why the hotel didn't know your child's age. I have always been asked the ages of my children when booking a Universal Hotel. It seems it would have been a simple matter for them to call the front desk and confirm that the child was 4 and save you all the hassle.

 

[Planogirl]

Redmic, it appears that the childcare facility is a contractor and not directly associated with Loews other than location. It does seem like there would be an easier way to handle it though.

 

[Leafy]

Karen1,

Thank you so much for posting this. I rarely leave my 5 yo anywhere without her older siblings because she is speech delayed & has side effects from epilepsy medication. Your whole story is shocking, but yet, sadly, not surprising.

I am glad you are pursuing this with the management. Josh SHOULD NOT be working with children. He should be fired!

He reminds me of the principal of our local elementary school where my daughter is in a pre-kindergarten class this summer. Without having read her file or bothering to ask anyone, he tried to throw her out of school one day because she was having trouble "sitting on her square" and couldn't focus on coloring. Her teacher called to let me know Erica was having a bad day. I said I would come and help out. When I got there the principal (who had been out running errands while all this happened and only knew that my daughter was sitting quietly in the office reading books waiting for me) tried to throw us out as though she had brought a knife to school!

He admitted he didn't know my daughter's medical history, nor did he know the full story about what happened that morning. I sure did let him have it!!

Sorry, off topic.....it just still irks me....SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE WORKING WITH CHILDREN......

Anyway, I have been considering bringing our very trusted baby sitter with us on our trip in August. Your experience helps reinforce my decision.

 

[Aimeedyan]

How very frustrating, I am glad you have shared your experience here. Leaving your children with strangers is always scary, esp in that situation, and others should know what to look for when leaving theirs.

What is even MORE apalling to me is that Josh was the only adult there... that's irresponsible and unacceptable to me, and I would be questioning that company about adult:child ratios before leaving my child there.

As someone who works with children on a regular basis in an admistrative role, I NEVER allow an adult to be left alone with children. Period. It is simply too risky... what happens if a child gets sick? An emergency situation occurs? The adult has to use the restroom? Someone accuses them of something? Too many risks there... The two adult rule protects both children AND care givers, esp if one adult is male.

It also bothers me a bit that Loews is not in charge of their kids club, but instead an outside company that is not there to monitor things on a regular basis... that would be worrysome to me, personally.

I hope you get a proper apology from both.

 

[karen1]

My update....


I received my Fed Ex from Kids Night Out yesterday. Enclosed was a typed letter from Josh (it was typed so Im sure the owner did it herself --there was no signature on it other than the typed name Josh but at least it was something) to my daughter apologizing for not believing her and asking her to come back again to enjoy the games at the camp.

Also was a letter to me ffrom the owner apologizing for the delay in the correspondence and for everything that happened and she assured me it would never happen again. She said she hoped we would try her one of her clubs the next time we were in the Orlando area and to call her personally before we went and that it would be comped for all 3 of my children.

As for the Portofino, I have not heard one word from them since the original incident when the mgr told me he was writing an incident report and I would hear from them. It has now been one week since I emailed the General Mgr of PBH in response to his general email that they send everyone. That email said thaank you for visiting and we value your comments--so I send my comments and have not heard one response.

I will now be making a phone call to Loews to see why it is they do not respond to their guests.

Thanks toall for your concern and comments andI would be interested to hear if anyone stops in Campo Portofino if Josh is still working there.

By the way I asked my kids if they would go back again (if Josh was not there) and all 3 said yes. So if the kids can get over if I guess the mother should too?? It will be at least ayr til we go again so we will see what happens.

 

[Lewisc]

Karen--It sounds like PBH did whatever they could at the time of the incident. Your letter may very well just go in a file, too many letters and Josh gets fired and/or Kids Night Out gets the boot and a different vendors gets the business.
Really not sure what you're expecting PBH to tell you? If you think Josh's conduct consititued child abuse and you want him fired you probably should say that otherwise I think Josh got off with a warning.

It does sound like your kids are forgiving, maybe this just sounds worse than it was.

 

[karen1]

Lewisc

All again I asked for was an apology being for treated with such disrespect in a hotel in which I was a guest. Although the kids club is run by an outside source it is housed within their hotel and up until this time I assumed it was run by PBH. I am assuming that for the mgr to write an incident report there would be some sort of follow up with the guest to encourage their business again.

The Loews website is all about customer satisfaction and treatment with exceptional service and as far as I'm concernend it is a disgrace they nevered contacted me again. Especially with how upset (in tears!!) I was the night of the incident.

 

[tarmand]

Karen1,

I agree with you. You deserve and apology from the hotel. But, don't hold your breath. As you stated, they already have your money. It seems that they don't think of where your future money may be spent, however. I simple apology and you would be a continued faithful guest. However, by ingnoring your request, they are assuring that you will not again visit their resort. I am going through the same thing with RPR. Once you leave - they don't care. I will continue to visit USF, but I don't know if I will stay at their resorts again. Only time will tell for me.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by karen1
Lewisc

All again I asked for was an apology being for treated with such disrespect in a hotel in which I was a guest. Although the kids club is run by an outside source it is housed within their hotel and up until this time I assumed it was run by PBH. I am assuming that for the mgr to write an incident report there would be some sort of follow up with the guest to encourage their business again.

The Loews website is all about customer satisfaction and treatment with exceptional service and as far as I'm concernend it is a disgrace they nevered contacted me again. Especially with how upset (in tears!!) I was the night of the incident.

Karen--I thought you got an apology from the manager when you were having dinner. My memory is they offered to get your child in the Camp (I agree I wouldn't have) and arranged to get some snacks for the kids in the room.

I guess a followup letter would be good but it really does sound like the manager did the best he could to apologize while you were there. The company that wronged you followed through with an apology and offer of compensation. Short of firing Josh, which may not be a bad idea, I'm not sure what else they can do for you.

Given the reaction of your kids I suspect the incident bothers you a lot more than your kids.

 

[sn00zn]

Karen,
Thanks for the update. I'm glad that the child-care director replied personally and included an apology from Josh as well as some compensation at a future visit. I still feel that Josh should not be in a position working with kids, but it is certainly possible that he's not. I don't think companies would normally give out those kind of details, even to the person who was wronged. I do agree that the hotel should send you a written apology, even though the manager did apologize in person...but he did it much too slowly and didn't actually fix the situation.

Aimeedyan,
I think the 2-person rule is a good idea, and as you point out it protects both the kids and the care-givers. I am going to ask about that and the ratios when I make my own reservations.

Lewisc,
I think you are trying to be a voice of reason and calm here, but I can understand how upset Karen is even if her kids have gotten over it. Josh was supposed to be providing a service to Karen and her kids and then was extremely disrespectful to all of them, basically calling them all liars when they had done absolutely nothing wrong. Josh was in a position which parents want only the most qualified people working in (even though childcare is of course vastly underpaid compared to how important it is.....but that's certainly a thread of its own!). I don't think anyone would be nearly as offended by a rude waiter or bellhop as they would be by a rude person they have entrusted their children with. Of course the hotel people probably aren't considering all this, so there will probably be no forthcoming apology anyway!

Thanks again Karen for keeping us up on this situation.

snoozn

 

[FOV]

Wow! Just wanted to share an experience about childrens ages as a warning that it is a good idea to have some proof of age when you travel with your children.

2 years ago we flew Southwest to Orlando when my youngest was 18 months old. Going down we had no problems. When flying home the check-in agent demanded proof that our child was under the age of 2 because we had purchased an "infant seat." We had no birth certificate with us so he said we had to pay the full fare which was very high because there were no discount fares available. We had flown several times on Southwest and other airlines when our children were babies and this was the first time this happened to us. Luckily it was a week day and our pediatrician's office was open so I told him to call and speak with our babies doctor for proof of age.

We finally received confirmation but we almost missed our flight! It is written on SW's website that you must show proof of age but I was unaware of the policy - never gave it a thought - and the reservation agent did not mention it to us!

Now I always carry passports or birth certificates in case a similar scenerio comes up (with babysitting, discounted childrens tickets, etc....)

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

I agree that Josh's antics seem inappropriate, but I wonder how many people do lie, making programs like this/airlines etc. seem overly suspicious and create situations like this. How many times on the DIS do people say my child turned 3 last month, will I have any problem getting them in for free, or 2 1/2 but looks little so will the airline question it, having a child stand on their tip toes in order to try to get on a ride they are too small for? Since Josh mentioned the insurance thing, it may be something they were audited or "caught" for before. I can't imagine that anyone whose job it was to work with kids would do this just to be a jerk. I think there has to be a reason for it. Its sad that the people who tell the truth are the ones that pay for it though. I agree that carrying a birth certificate anytime you are doing anything that has a minimum age is the way to go. Hope everything gets worked out to your satisfaction.

 

[lookingforward]

When my daughter stayed at the Royal Pacific club while we dined at Emerils there were two workers. They did, however, ask her twice, in my presence, how old she was. (she was four but small). The second time they asked her I said "Is there some sort of question regarding her age??" and the girl just smiled and said no. But I knew what they were doing.

I would not feel comfortable leaving my kids with only one worker at a kids club. First of all, there may be other kids arriving and then what would the ratio of adult to children be? Ask how many reservations they have for the evening. Statistically, it is more likely for a male to be a predator than a female (I work at a police department as a victim advocate) but either way if they work alone they have more opportunity.

Its always a good idea to leave a younger child with an older sibling too. I think it was great that your boy was protective about his sister. My boys are the same way.

Sorry this happened. The owner of the business should be personally calling you and apologizing. Josh sounds like he is a very poorly trained and petty man. By the way, my daughter is now five but she often tells people she is four...and then says "OH! I forgot! I am five now" And I tell EVERYONE I am 35....I just always forget I am really 40 something!

 

[Esmerelda]

I say kudos to the original poster and how she handled this. If that were my daughter and this were going on...I would only hope that Josh could remove my size 5.5 shoe from his a** cause thats where it would have ended up after the child was left there and interogated...she was probably quite frightened! Josh has NO business being responsible for children when he sounds as though he never even grew up.

SHAME on that hotel for leaving him unattended with children!!

My boys have stayed at the Poly's kid club for over 4 years now (youngest was 5 the first time) on vacations and lord help the workers if I ever got a story back like that one. They have always had a great time.

FYI: I always have birth certificates due to being a single mom, as I had Delta one time ask me to show them..not due to age..due to the fact it was just us 3 traveling. Always be prepared especially if you have a large child for their age (I did not just the single parent issue)!


hoping for a better vacation for the OP next time!
Esmerelda