By Betsy Wade

No national law bars hotels from refusing to take children as guests.

Hotels may not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity or national origin, says Kara Peterman, a spokeswoman at the Department of Justice. But Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act makes no mention of family status or age, and hotels are not covered under the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

So travelers who want quiet in the corridors, a haven for romance without reminders of the potential consequences, or those who simply don't like children should be able to find places to accommodate their tastes.

While many hoteliers acknowledge that such tastes represent a niche market, hotels that aspire to be child-free are dodgy about saying so. None seems as bold as Las Brisas in Acapulco, Mexico, which in the late '90s had the motto, "Where children are seldom heard but are often made."

Zagat's 2001 Top U.S. Hotels, Resorts and Spas, for the first time since this volume's debut in 1987, has an index labeled "Children Not Recommended." Nina Zagat, who heads the organization with her husband, Tim, said Zagat's creates indexes when it detects new undercurrents, and this one has just emerged.

As the directories are being put together, she said, editors discuss whether a category is worth adding. On the children issue, when Zagat's did its follow-up questionnaires to the hotels, she said, "They were not so ready to say they don't welcome children as others are to describe their child programs, baby-sitting or meals." The results were confirmed by phone, she said, though Zagat's recommends that potential guests call first to get details.

Out of the new volume's total of 1,907 hotels, resorts, hotel chains and spas, 20 places are listed in the category "Children Not Recommended," in contrast with 99 under "Child/Family Friendly."

Beyond concierge or executive levels, which may have clublike rules for entry, a number of hotels otherwise segregate their no-child areas. Las Brisas, which has casitas with private or semiprivate pools as well as rooms and suites, currently accepts children in 183 of its 253 units. Children under 12 stay free in the parents' rooms.

Closer to home, the Inn at Mystic, Conn., with 68 rooms, accepts children in its motor inn section, but not in the area up the hill from the road, where the rooms, some with hot tubs, are reserved for couples. A reservationist said people who "come to spend a quiet time" would be disturbed by children next door.

The hotel is not in Zagat's no-child list, but the policy was described by an acquaintance who reserved a room up the hill for a wedding in the fall. She and her husband took their 3-year-old son along at the last minute, checking in late at night. The child slept in the bed with his parents; they were told to vacate the room the next day. The acquaintance was angry, saying she hadn't been told of the policy; the hotel denied this.

A tipoff here is the hot tub; rooms that have balconies or hot tubs or other things that might be hazardous to children are likely to be included under any adult-only rule.

No-kids policies most likely to lurk at resorts, small inns

The equation obviously includes price: Although the wealthy may have young children, couples with extra mouths to feed are more likely to select lodgings in the midprice range. Mary Mahoney, president of Howard Johnson's, a midmarket chain that's about to begin a major campaign linked with Crayola, said 55 percent of her company's business is families with children.

No-child policies are more likely to be found at resort hotels and very small inns, doubtless because there's so much contact among guests. Where a resort controls more than one property, it may try to steer guests to specific areas without banning them from the others.

On the Costa Smeralda, the resort area developed by the Aga Khan in Sardinia, the Luxury Collection of Starwood has three hotels, and Sheraton, another Starwood division, has one, the Cervo. Robert Koren, area manager, doesn't say that any of the three resorts bars children. But he says that when new visitors call for reservations — the high season in July and August is booked from year to year, he said — those who want to be in the village, near the boats and similar action, are steered to the Cervo. Those who want to "get away from it all" are offered a recommendation for the 51-room Patrizza; those favoring power lunches and the international social scene, the 123-room Cala di Volpe; and those with children the 93-room Romazzino. The rates at the three resorts, which include meals, run $1,000 a night for a double room in high season; at the Sheraton Cervo, the rate may be half that, he said.

Yes, Koren said in answer to a question as to whether old guests could continue at their favorite hotel. "They come for their honeymoon," he said, "and two years later they are back with their child, and they want to stay where they stayed, and they do, of course."

High style is not a reliable indicator of a negative attitude toward children. The Millennium Broadway, on 44th Street in New York, has a cool onyx-toned lobby with no comfy chairs and no sign of a place to stash strollers. It's mainly a business hotel that also attracts young childless couples who come for weekend packages, according to the general manager, Michael Littler.

Yet he said that his concierge reported an increase in child guests, mainly because Times Square is now an "alternative to Six Flags," with its picture-window TV shows and frequent spottings of young stars. "Of course, they are not like Eloise," Littler said. "Children dressed in black, I suppose." Littler, with a grown daughter and two sons, said he would worry if he saw no children at his hotels.

A lot of the places on Zagat's list of 20 are quite small. Many don't forbid children entirely but give a minimum age.

Canoe Bay in Chetek, Wis., a member of the Relais & Chateaux group, with 19 rooms, 10 of them cottages, has a no-children policy. One Zagat's comment spoke of "tubs for two"; another called it a hideaway ideal for romance. That's probably the best clue for those seeking a child-free environment. Ask whether the place is romantic.