Hotels giving children the VIP treatment

The Boston Globe reports:

Occupancy is down at hotels across the country, and business travel in particular has taken a beating, but hotels are finding a new group of customers to cater to: children. According to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel and tourism research company, the percentage of hotel rooms with children has been slowly but steadily increasing nationwide, from 25 percent in 2006 to 27 percent in 2008. And some local hotels have been rolling out the red carpet to attract these young guests, putting magicians in the lobby on Saturday mornings and stocking child-size bathrobes and slippers. Gone are the days when hotel extras were limited to adult-oriented features such as whirlpool bathtubs and froufrou cocktail lounges.