kfeusse Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 our whole family (my husband and I, plus 3 kids) will need to stay in a hotel for one night...as I am looking for a place online, and I type in the date and number of people, I am getting all sorts of rejections due to the size of my family. Is that because they are assuming that I want a bed for everybody (we plan to sleep one on the floor)...or is it becasue they won't allow that option? What do you do for your family of 5?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We usually find suite hotels. Or, we'll stay at a hotel that has suites and ask for one. They aren't that much more than a regular room and sometimes they'll upgrade you for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Many hotels do not allow more than 4 guests in a room. Some will allow 5 with a roll away bed. I have always been told that no one is allowed to sleep on the floor. For our family of 6 I have had to buy 2 rooms. When traveling in England we've had to book 3 rooms because they don't allow more than 2 per room. Have you checked hotwire.com or priceline.com? I have had luck with those sites in booking for 5. If you have a specific place you want, I would suggest calling rather than using online booking. That way you will know the hotel's policy and they may have a remedy for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 we are actually wanting to stay in a suite with a kitchenette....I have always called to make reservations, don't really know why I wanted to try it online...just was looking around at different sites and started doing that...guess I will go back to calling. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 You probably exceed fire code regulations. When our dc were small I would go ahead and book one room knowing that we'd fit fine. Now that they are bigger we book two rooms and try to get a connecting door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We just register for four if we plan to sleep one on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverland Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We do a lot of traveling with ds's sports. Most families just book for 4, then spread out on the floor as needed. Maybe not ethical or legal, but it is very common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 When traveling in England we've had to book 3 rooms because they don't allow more than 2 per room. Some hotels in Europe have "quad" rooms that sleep 4. We usually get those when we're in France so we can all be in one room. Not sure how common they are in England, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We also just book for four. It's only online that it's an issue. If you call the hotel direct, they will tell you 2 adults/3 kids is fine. The computer simply goes by bed space, so 5 don't fit in a room w/ two doubles. It does not compute! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 If you call, they will usually let you book a regular room and charge you an extra $10 or so for a rollaway. We also have five, and now book two separate rooms, since two of my kiddos are now adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Expedia will often let you find rooms that sleep 5, and sometimes Venere will too. Often, chain hotels like Holiday Inn, Country Inn and Suites, etc., will let you sleep 5 in the room without asking questions. More expensive or independent hotels are usually pickier. We are a family of 7 who has traveled a lot, so I've found a lot of ways to work around it. In Europe, the best bets are apartments or pensions. Pensions can turn almost anything into a bed and are a lot less strict. We've stayed at some that will flip a table around, stick a mattress on it, and call it a bed. Works for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 We just register for four if we plan to sleep one on the floor. We do a lot of traveling with ds's sports. Most families just book for 4, then spread out on the floor as needed. Maybe not ethical or legal, but it is very common. We also just book for four. It's only online that it's an issue. If you call the hotel direct, they will tell you 2 adults/3 kids is fine. The computer simply goes by bed space, so 5 don't fit in a room w/ two doubles. It does not compute! :lol: :iagree: There's no way we're getting two separate hotel rooms so we just book four, even when it's really the five of us. I know some would disapprove but that's what we do. Do with the info what you will. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Check out this travel site: http://sixsuitcasetravel.com/ It lists hotels with room for 6 or more. 5, with three young children, is probably not a problem at many hotels--but you may need to call rather than book online, or book online only listing four. Homewood Suites is our favorite when one is available, they happily accommodated 6 of us in a suite with a bedroom and a living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) Online it's always an issue, but if you book by phone they hardly ever have a problem with it, IME. Occasionally it's an issue, but most places can do it. Make a note of the price you're seeing online, and if it's cheaper than what they are offering over the phone they will usually honor the online price. Edited March 1, 2012 by AdventureMoms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I used to do hotel sales and before that I managed the front desk. With that in mind I have a question for those of you that lie about the number of people online. When checking in do then tell the desk you have 3 kids? Most often, if the kids are young enough to all fit in one bed, they are free anyway. Sometime they are not. If the five of you are standing there and the desk clerk says "Oh you have 5 people, that's an extra $20, do you fight it or say that's correct, I couldn't book it online that way, here's your extra $20." What makes me ask is that we just recently had a thread about getting rid of cd's but still have the music on your ipod, or downloading the audio book from the library but still have it after the return date and so many people feel this is stealing. Do you not feel that you are stealing from the hotel if you lie about the number of guests in the room? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I used to do hotel sales and before that I managed the front desk. With that in mind I have a question for those of you that lie about the number of people online. When checking in do then tell the desk you have 3 kids? Most often, if the kids are young enough to all fit in one bed, they are free anyway. Sometime they are not. If the five of you are standing there and the desk clerk says "Oh you have 5 people, that's an extra $20, do you fight it or say that's correct, I couldn't book it online that way, here's your extra $20." What makes me ask is that we just recently had a thread about getting rid of cd's but still have the music on your ipod, or downloading the audio book from the library but still have it after the return date and so many people feel this is stealing. Do you not feel that you are stealing from the hotel if you lie about the number of guests in the room? We have booked online and claimed to be 4 people. I have never, ever had a check-in person question it. My kids are still little, so maybe that affects it. But we have stayed in hotels quite a few times with the 5 of us (and with my parents, DW, me, and DD). We are not sneaky when we check in, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I used to do hotel sales and before that I managed the front desk. With that in mind I have a question for those of you that lie about the number of people online. When checking in do then tell the desk you have 3 kids? Most often, if the kids are young enough to all fit in one bed, they are free anyway. Sometime they are not. If the five of you are standing there and the desk clerk says "Oh you have 5 people, that's an extra $20, do you fight it or say that's correct, I couldn't book it online that way, here's your extra $20." What makes me ask is that we just recently had a thread about getting rid of cd's but still have the music on your ipod, or downloading the audio book from the library but still have it after the return date and so many people feel this is stealing. Do you not feel that you are stealing from the hotel if you lie about the number of guests in the room? I've never stayed at a hotel with all four children, but have with the oldest 3. I wouldn't hide when checking in. I'd pay an extra fee, theoretically, it it had ever been requested, but I wouldn't stay at that hotel again. Three small children can share one bed, one bath, one towel. I can't imagine how that would be stealing from the hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) We stay at Hampton Inns. Most of them are $99 a night with a free breakfast (real breakfast, not just cereal and an apple). They have never had a problem with the five of us staying in one room. FTR: We always disclose that we have 5 people. I cannot lie about how many people we have with us. Edited March 1, 2012 by dwkilburn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 there are fire codes that determine how many can sleep in a room, and the size of the room determines the number that can sleep in it. many cheaper motels have family suites but you often have to call the motel to find out about them. We once stayed in a motel six "suite" that had a bedroom, kitchen, and two sleeper sofa's in the main room. It was quite spacious as well. Now, if it's everyone, it's usually cheaper to rent a suite at residence inn (or similar) than two regular rooms at another hotel in at a cheaper price point. (and they have a breakfast buffet.:)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puma Mom Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 If they don't allow us to book online for 5 people and we know 5 will work in the room (aka enough floor space to put one), we book online for 4 people then call and say we have 5. They have never had a problem with it. We're not sneaky when we check in, and mine are all adult-size now. We don't ask for a rollaway bed; we just bring a sleeping bag for the 3rd dc. Over Christmas in my mil's town, we got two rooms because they were small. We were very glad we did because dd ended up getting a stomach bug that day. She normally shares a bed with ds18--which wasn't happening if she was throwing up!--and the extra bathroom was a blessing as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Check out this travel site:http://sixsuitcasetravel.com/ It lists hotels with room for 6 or more. 5, with three young children, is probably not a problem at many hotels--but you may need to call rather than book online, or book online only listing four. Homewood Suites is our favorite when one is available, they happily accommodated 6 of us in a suite with a bedroom and a living room. thanks or posting the link - that can make booking so much easier when everyone travels. (we have seven.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Fire regulations. We register just the adults online and when we get there no one at the desk comments on the children. I've seen rooms crammed with college kids even at swanky hotels, so I don't think these rules are closely followed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I've never stayed at a hotel with all four children, but have with the oldest 3. I wouldn't hide when checking in. I'd pay an extra fee, theoretically, it it had ever been requested, but I wouldn't stay at that hotel again. Three small children can share one bed, one bath, one towel. I can't imagine how that would be stealing from the hotel. She means it's stealing because some hotels charge for extra people in the room, regardless of age. I also worked in the hospitality industry for several years. Children often create bigger messes, with crumbs and spills and so on, than business travelers do, so that means more time spent cleaning up. The hotel cleaning staff are on a strict cleaning schedule. They only get so much time to clean each room. So, multiply several dirty rooms like that, and the hotel ends up paying more money because the cleaning staff has to stay longer to finish the job. Instead of finishing at 2 pm, they might not finish until 4 pm. That's the reason for the charge. The charge is for extra people across the board, recognizing that whether it's kids or adults, more people simply means more mess, most of the time. More dirty towels, more trash, etc. Also, there are many cities and communities that have fire codes. Fort Worth is one of them. Hotels here are not permitted to have more than 4 people in a room. If the hotel was found to be in violation of that code, it could be fined. We only have three in our family, and once we stayed in a hotel that charged us an additional $20 per night for myself. Dh was there for business, with the room comp'ed by his company. Since the business rate was for him alone, we had to pay the difference. We could have not volunteered the information when making reservations and simply not paid, but I wasn't comfortable with shorting the hotel that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I never book online because I generally have questions for the hotel directly anyway. More often than not, nothing is even said that there are 5 of us. If they require an extra room booked, we do not stay at that particular place. We do like to get suites with an extra side room, just for our own comfort, if the price is reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I used to do hotel sales and before that I managed the front desk. With that in mind I have a question for those of you that lie about the number of people online. When checking in do then tell the desk you have 3 kids? Most often, if the kids are young enough to all fit in one bed, they are free anyway. Sometime they are not. If the five of you are standing there and the desk clerk says "Oh you have 5 people, that's an extra $20, do you fight it or say that's correct, I couldn't book it online that way, here's your extra $20." What makes me ask is that we just recently had a thread about getting rid of cd's but still have the music on your ipod, or downloading the audio book from the library but still have it after the return date and so many people feel this is stealing. Do you not feel that you are stealing from the hotel if you lie about the number of guests in the room? I have only once stayed at a hotel that charged for extra people in the room, that was when I accompanied dh on a business trip. We registered all of us and paid the extra fee, that doesn't bother me at all. But every other place we have stayed has not had a per person charge. I am generally a rule follower so I prefer to use hotels that list rooms with higher occupancy rates. I have found though that when I just show up at a hotel (when driving cross country we don't always know where we will stop) and ask for a room for the night they have always accommodated my whole family without questions (when we're all in the lobby checking in together). Because of this I have gotten a little more relaxed about only booking online with hotels that say they can accommodate more than 4. When I check in I tell them how many of us there are, it has never been a problem. I just figured it was something to do with the way the computer system was set up... Once baby #5 arrives our options will probably be more limited--hotels that can fit 6 in a room weren't that hard to find, but I suspect 7 will be trickier. The website I linked earlier lists a few but they're not easy to come by. And it seems connecting rooms are not common any more. Two separate rooms with a bunch of little kids is extremely inconvenient--you have to split the parents up, for starters. I think that's why my family growing up always resorted to camping on our cross-country trips... --Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 there are fire codes that determine how many can sleep in a room, and the size of the room determines the number that can sleep in it. many cheaper motels have family suites but you often have to call the motel to find out about them. We once stayed in a motel six "suite" that had a bedroom, kitchen, and two sleeper sofa's in the main room. It was quite spacious as well. Now, if it's everyone, it's usually cheaper to rent a suite at residence inn (or similar) than two regular rooms at another hotel in at a cheaper price point. (and they have a breakfast buffet.:)) I never knew this....I will be checking this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 She means it's stealing because some hotels charge for extra people in the room, regardless of age. I also worked in the hospitality industry for several years. Children often create bigger messes, with crumbs and spills and so on, than business travelers do, so that means more time spent cleaning up. The hotel cleaning staff are on a strict cleaning schedule. They only get so much time to clean each room. So, multiply several dirty rooms like that, and the hotel ends up paying more money because the cleaning staff has to stay longer to finish the job. Instead of finishing at 2 pm, they might not finish until 4 pm. That's the reason for the charge. The charge is for extra people across the board, recognizing that whether it's kids or adults, more people simply means more mess, most of the time. More dirty towels, more trash, etc. Also, there are many cities and communities that have fire codes. Fort Worth is one of them. Hotels here are not permitted to have more than 4 people in a room. If the hotel was found to be in violation of that code, it could be fined. We only have three in our family, and once we stayed in a hotel that charged us an additional $20 per night for myself. Dh was there for business, with the room comp'ed by his company. Since the business rate was for him alone, we had to pay the difference. We could have not volunteered the information when making reservations and simply not paid, but I wasn't comfortable with shorting the hotel that way. Yes this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Some hotels in Europe have "quad" rooms that sleep 4. We usually get those when we're in France so we can all be in one room. Not sure how common they are in England, though. We have had some luck with those, but they seem to be few and far between. On our most recent trip we booked bed & breakfast housing. Still, we had to have 2 rooms because there were 5 of us on that trip. We have had some success in London with 3 person rooms which meant we only needed 2 rooms :D We've had a lot of people approach us in London, particularly, asking if the boys are all ours. Seems odd to them that anyone would have 4 and all of the same kind :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) I have only once stayed at a hotel that charged for extra people in the room, that was when I accompanied dh on a business trip. We registered all of us and paid the extra fee, that doesn't bother me at all. But every other place we have stayed has not had a per person charge. I am generally a rule follower so I prefer to use hotels that list rooms with higher occupancy rates. I have found though that when I just show up at a hotel (when driving cross country we don't always know where we will stop) and ask for a room for the night they have always accommodated my whole family without questions (when we're all in the lobby checking in together). Because of this I have gotten a little more relaxed about only booking online with hotels that say they can accommodate more than 4. When I check in I tell them how many of us there are, it has never been a problem. I just figured it was something to do with the way the computer system was set up...Once baby #5 arrives our options will probably be more limited--hotels that can fit 6 in a room weren't that hard to find, but I suspect 7 will be trickier. The website I linked earlier lists a few but they're not easy to come by. And it seems connecting rooms are not common any more. Two separate rooms with a bunch of little kids is extremely inconvenient--you have to split the parents up, for starters. I think that's why my family growing up always resorted to camping on our cross-country trips... --Sarah It's really only difficult as far as accommodating fire codes. I can pretty much guarantee that most of those hotels you checked in before probably did have an "extra person" charge, but they simply waived it for you. I know I did all the time when I was on front desk. All four hotels I worked at (different brands) had a "two adults plus two children" base rate, with anyone else costing an additional $15-30. So, when a family came in that had three kids, I wouldn't even blink an eye. I'd just check them in as four. The only times I didn't, was when I worked at properties where it would have been in violation of fire codes. Some hotels are in city limits that restrict the number of people to four to a room. There were several occasions that I had larger families who had to purchase two rooms, because they had too many people for one room. I'd first attempt to upgrade them to a suite, but if none were available, then they had no choice but to buy two rooms. It made no difference if they went to another hotel next door--they had to abide by the same codes we did. When we had teams stay, it was strictly 4 to a room, no extras. Depending on where you're going, you may find a lot more available for larger groups in some areas than in others. The condo in Florida, where we like to say when we go to Disney World for example, can sleep up to 8 people. (But no more than that--fire codes again!) Edited March 2, 2012 by Aelwydd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 It's really only difficult as far as accommodating fire codes. I can pretty much guarantee that most of those hotels you checked in before probably did have an "extra person" charge, but they simply waived it for you. I know I did all the time when I was on front desk. All four hotels I worked at (different brands) had a "two adults plus two children" base rate, with anyone else costing an additional $15-30. So, when a family came in that had three kids, I wouldn't even blink an eye. I'd just check them in as four. The only times I didn't, was when I worked at properties where it would have been in violation of fire codes. Some hotels are in city limits that restrict the number of people to four to a room. There were several occasions that I had larger families who had to purchase two rooms, because they had too many people for one room. I'd first attempt to upgrade them to a suite, but if none were available, then they had no choice but to buy two rooms. It made no difference if they went to another hotel next door--they had to abide by the same codes we did. When we had teams stay, it was strictly 4 to a room, no extras. Depending on where you're going, you may find a lot more available for larger groups in some areas than in others. The condo in Florida, where we like to say when we go to Disney World for example, can sleep up to 8 people. (But no more than that--fire codes again!) It's interesting to hear from someone with experience in the business, thanks for sharing. I do realize that having children in a room tends to create more work, and we try hard to clean up after ourselves as much as possible and leave a tip for the room service staff. The fire code issue does explain why we have been able to book a single room in some cities but had to get a suite at the same hotel chain (with virtually identical rooms) in others. I definitely prefer suites when they are available--less expensive than booking two rooms, and way easier to make work with a young family. --Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) She means it's stealing because some hotels charge for extra people in the room, regardless of age. I also worked in the hospitality industry for several years. Children often create bigger messes, with crumbs and spills and so on, than business travelers do, so that means more time spent cleaning up. The hotel cleaning staff are on a strict cleaning schedule. They only get so much time to clean each room. So, multiply several dirty rooms like that, and the hotel ends up paying more money because the cleaning staff has to stay longer to finish the job. Instead of finishing at 2 pm, they might not finish until 4 pm. That's the reason for the charge. The charge is for extra people across the board, recognizing that whether it's kids or adults, more people simply means more mess, most of the time. More dirty towels, more trash, etc. Also, there are many cities and communities that have fire codes. Fort Worth is one of them. Hotels here are not permitted to have more than 4 people in a room. If the hotel was found to be in violation of that code, it could be fined. We only have three in our family, and once we stayed in a hotel that charged us an additional $20 per night for myself. Dh was there for business, with the room comp'ed by his company. Since the business rate was for him alone, we had to pay the difference. We could have not volunteered the information when making reservations and simply not paid, but I wasn't comfortable with shorting the hotel that way. Ah. Never really thought about it. But then again pretty much the only time I ever stay in a hotel room meant for "4" with my 3 kids is when we're driving to and from Florida, which we do once a year, or once every other year, to go visit family. Once on the way there, and once on the way home, we stop at some cheap motel late at night when we're too tired to drive anymore, and all we do is sleep. We don't eat/snack in the room, we pull over at bedtime, get one room because there's no way I'm sleeping separate from my husband at some cheap roadside motel in a strange place with our kids with us, we crash for a few hours, we split first thing in the morning leaving no mess but beds to be made and a towel or two behind, grab breakfast on the road and we get going again. These rooms usually have outside private entrances, not the sort of fancy hotels where you walk in through a lobby, my husband is the only one who ever goes inside to check in, and no one would ever even notice how many of us are walking into our room. The rest of our vacation once we actually arrive at our destination is spent with family, not at a hotel. If we were doing any further vacationing that required more lengthy hotel stays we'd be more apt to get a family suite type thing that'd sleep more people, probably six, and it'd be a non-issue. Usually to date at those quick motel stops we've put the two girls in one bed, and my husband and I in the other with our young son (who was 5 the last time we went) either in between us or on the floor on blankets. ETA: I'm not trying to convince anyone that this is "right," I'm just answering what we do. Although for that matter I don't even know if my husband has ever just gone in and said yeah we do have three kids with us and they just didn't say anything. I never even asked or cared to be honest. Edited March 2, 2012 by NanceXToo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathymuggle Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I usually book through Expedia. I often spend a ridiculous amount of time searching for hotels that will allow five people. I have always been able to find a hotel that will take 5 people, but it often costs more or is not our first choice. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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