why more and more hotels and restaurants ban children

In the Toulouse sky, a plane takes off for an eight-hour flight towards Guadeloupe. On one of the benches, an 8-month-old baby fusses and cries in his mother’s arms. “Go somewhere else!” the neighbors are getting impatient. “Yes, but where?” respond the distraught parents. Everyone has already experienced a similar scene, in the shoes of one or other of the protagonists. To address this friction, some foreign airlines have reserved flights for adults. No children, no noise, the problem is solved.

Tourism without children

Coming from South Korea, the “no kids” trend arrived in France around ten years ago. Hotels, restaurants and campsites are now closed to children. “Guests are looking for calm, tranquility and privacy,” argues Roland Dominici, whose hotel has been reserved for adults since 2019. “They are the ones who encouraged us to do it,” says the Corsican, who is delighted with an increase in attendance.

The expression “adults only”, less offensive than “no kids”, is used on hoteliers’ websites. Often, the exclusion is implicit: the price to add a crib, for example, is deliberately dissuasive. If the trend remains in the minority, it is progressing. Questioned by Agence France-Presse in 2024, the Travel Companies union estimated that the establishments which joined it represented 3% of the offer. So much so that in June 2025, the government launched the “Family Choice” label, to identify establishments welcoming all generations.

Education question

The phenomenon reflects a change in mentalities. According to a recent survey*, 54% of French people are in favor of the development of places reserved for adults. Thus, in the summer of 2023, Félicité and Robert, parents of two young children, are invited to a wedding reserved for adults. “We were very hesitant about going,” admits Félicité, worried about the idea of ​​leaving her toddlers behind. This organization, however, seems reasonable in the eyes of some.

Marie-Sophie, who made the same choice for her wedding in 2019, does not regret it: “At our reception venue, there was little space, and a body of water which could prove dangerous. In the end, the guests were happy to have come without their children. This allowed them to be fully present to meet others.” To justify what appears to be discrimination, the evolution of the way of educating children is easily invoked.

“Differences in vision on education create friction,” analyzes Zoé Moody, researcher in educational sciences and children’s rights. In these situations, some people think: ‘Me in his place, I would have received a slap!’” “Our relationships with friends are weakening,” confides Amaïa, 32, mother of two little girls. They don’t understand that children eat dinner with us and interrupt our conversations. When I was little, I didn’t interrupt conversations, I felt more fear in front of my parents,” she believes. Today, so-called positive education, which encourages the child’s expression, would make him unbearable.

A spontaneity that stands out

How did we come to the point where the presence of children in structuring moments of family life is no longer obvious? With urbanization, the car and the fear of attacks, public space initially became hostile to them. “I decided to no longer frequent collective places with my children,” says Typhaine, mother of eight children. Transport, stairs or heavy doors are not suitable for strollers. At the museum, the library or in a waiting room, insistent looks or unpleasant remarks are all repellents. The spontaneity of the children is striking. Typhaine even fears the street, where children are caught by strangers who accuse them of running too fast or riding a scooter.

Contemporary individualism does the rest, and imagining a society without children will soon no longer be a dystopia. “We associate childlessness with liberation,” points out Zoé Moody, while “collective responsibility towards future adults is crumbling,” observes Éric Alary, historian of childhood. But “be careful of the trend of exclusion,” worries Sylvain Wagnon, professor of educational sciences. Because after children, who will be the next “troublemakers”: the elderly or disabled? Stressed by the fear of disturbing, Félicité praises the creation of separate spaces, like the SNCF family wagons.

But these divisions crack “living together”. They exacerbate the temptation to retreat into the sphere of one’s peers. Solutions exist to live together better: mothers appreciate, for example, restaurants where a small play area is provided for children. In an ideal world, public spaces would be welcoming to all generations. Shops where children can take refuge, pedestrian streets around schools or ramps at their height on stairs: this is the project of “cities at child height”, such as Montpellier or Lille. One thing is certain: a city that adapts to the little ones is more welcoming for everyone.

* Odoxa survey for “Lou” social media, May 2025.