Luxury Childcare Association opens voting for its 2026 awards

The Luxury Childcare Association has opened voting for its second annual awards, reflecting the growing importance of childcare to families choosing where to spend their holidays.

For parents travelling with young children, the definition of a luxury hotel can change remarkably quickly. The infinity pool and marble bathroom may still matter, but so too does the question of who will be looking after the children, where they will spend their time and what, exactly, the hotel means when it advertises a kids’ club.

It is this less glamorous but increasingly important part of the luxury travel industry that the Luxury Childcare Association is attempting to formalise.

The organisation has opened voting for its second annual LCA Awards, recognising hotels and resorts for their childcare facilities, programmes and wider approach to travelling families.

More than 70 member properties are represented by the association, which was established in May 2025 by the team behind Worldwide Kids. Hotels must complete specialist training, undergo an annual audit and meet the organisation’s childcare standards before becoming members.

The awards divide the family holiday into five areas: sustainable childcare, children’s programming, family experiences, childcare facilities and care for babies and toddlers.

It is a surprisingly revealing list. The hotel kids’ club was once treated largely as an additional amenity, somewhere children could be entertained while their parents disappeared for lunch or an afternoon beside the pool. At the upper end of the market, expectations have become considerably more sophisticated.

Parents increasingly want age appropriate activities, properly trained staff and spaces designed specifically for children rather than adapted from whatever room happened to be available. Resorts, in turn, have recognised that convincing the children can be almost as important as convincing the adults.

Last year’s winners included Atlantis The Palm, Soneva Jani, Domes of Corfu, Stella Hotels Collection and Columbia Beach Resort.

The 2026 awards broaden the emphasis beyond elaborate facilities. One category considers environmental education and nature based learning, while another concentrates specifically on babies and toddlers, for whom the practical demands of travelling can be particularly significant.

There is a commercial incentive for the hotels involved. Winners receive promotion to the association’s database of more than 80,000 families, alongside the more conventional plaque and winner’s badge.

The awards also arrive shortly after the LCA introduced a family membership programme, intended to connect travellers more directly with participating hotels and provide access to selected benefits and offers.

That development points towards a larger change in family travel. For many parents, childcare is no longer something to investigate after choosing a hotel. It can determine which hotel is chosen in the first place.

The most expensive resort is not necessarily the one best equipped for a three year old, nor does an impressive children’s room say much about the people responsible for running it. In a sector built heavily around appearances, standards of care are considerably harder to judge from photographs.

Awards cannot settle that question on their own. But the attempt to place childcare alongside restaurants, spas and bedrooms as something on which luxury hotels should be judged reflects how family holidays are changing.

Voting for the 2026 Luxury Childcare Association Awards is open from September 7 until October 12, with the winners due to be announced on October 26.

View the 2026 LCA Awards and vote