When the Classroom Comes With Room Service and Poolside Cabanas
'With the pandemic ongoing and millions of school-age children learning remotely, the travel industry is beckoning families with lures of “schoolcation.”
This summer, Michelle Carucci’s family canceled its annual Jersey Shore vacation because of the pandemic. So when Ms. Carucci, who lives in White Township, N.J., learned that The Great Wolf Lodge, a family-favorite indoor water park in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, was setting up a “schoolhouse” and socially distanced activities this fall, she jumped at the chance to take her youngest child.
Gianna Carucci, 11, has all her classes online, and during the mornings of her and her mother’s two-day stay (in the middle of the week, when rates were lower and crowds were smaller), she headed to “Wiley’s Schoolhouse”: a large conference room repurposed to be a socially distanced learning space for children ages 5 and up.
Named after the brand’s wolf mascot, each space is equipped with desks that are placed eight to ten feet apart and fitted with plexiglass partitions. Open Monday through Thursday, the room is staffed to help children connect with their schools, provide snacks and lead break-time activities. Reservations are required for the program, which costs $85 per day. All participants must wear masks.
It would be “nice to have a few hours to myself while Gianna is in school,” Ms. Carucci, 45, a health and fitness coach, said in an interview before their trip. After classes wrapped up, she and her daughter played at the lodge’s water park together.
The coronavirus has left hotels and resorts scrambling for guests as occupancy rates plummeted in the spring. Some properties have tried to drum up business by touting new cleaning regimens, rethinking amenities and offering free nights. Others closed entirely, waiting or unable to wait for the public health situation to improve. Now, with the pandemic ongoing and millions of school-age children juggling remote learning, some hotels are beckoning families with offers of “schoolcation,” including new staffed learning spaces, technology and tutors — even partnerships with museums and other educational experts.
The assorted packages, available at a variety of hotel types, aim to provide parents some help and peace of mind. Prices range from free to hefty.
‘Chief virtual learning officer’
Usually, families with schoolchildren are tied to their school’s calendar, with vacations often limited to during the holidays, spring break and summer.
But now, for those with the flexibility and desire to travel, “there’s an opportunity for a change in scenery,” said Kathleen Reidenbach, chief commercial officer with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a line of boutique hotels owned by IHG.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/travel/coronavirus-hotels-remote-schooling.html?
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Smart; I'm glad to see it, even tho I and my family probably won't use such.
= new reply since forum marked as read
