The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles

Free contemporary art museum with a scavenger hunt for kids (finish it and claim a prize), a quiet room for sensory breaks, and a kids' audio tour narrated by LeVar Burton.

A two-minute ride on the world's shortest railway, two orange 1901 funicular cars climbing Bunker Hill between Hill Street and Grand Avenue.

Kids check in to a welcome backpack with binoculars, an activity book and snacks, plus milk and cookies delivered on the first night. The heated outdoor pool is on the fourth floor.

Slide a tray down the line, watch the noodles get cut to order and let kids pick tempura at the heat-lamp station. Fast, shareable and fine with noodle spills.

A 1917 food hall with dozens of stalls from tacos to ramen to pupusas, so everyone picks their own lunch and meets back at the long communal tables.

A splash pad with inch-deep water and a playground with a soft, wavy rubber surface and climbing structures, right by City Hall. There's a Starbucks inside the park for the grown-ups.