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AIBU?

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Would we get away with this at the hotel?

263 replies

HOTD7383 · 12/04/2024 14:02

We are going to Lapland UK in November, it’s 1-2 hours away and we’ve got a really early entry time so we are staying near there the night before - the Legoland hotel as it’s got more child friendly facilities (soft play, a pool, crazy golf, a sensory area) and my DD (8) struggles with a normal hotel with nothing to do.

DD has autism and needs a lot of help and support therefore there is 3 of us adults going as her carers. The family rooms have 4 beds in them, therefore enough sleeping space for everyone, however the rule limits it to 2 adults only per room (despite allowing 3 children per room so it’s not for lack of space). This would mean booking 2 rooms at nearly £150 each, and £300 just for one night is extortionate (all nearby hotels are similar priced due to taking advantage of people staying there for the same purpose as us).

Would we get away with just 2 adults checking in and then us letting the 3rd adult into the room a little while later? Surely people are walking in and out of the hotel and their rooms all of the time and they don’t check where every single one of them are going if they’ve already got their hotel card etc?

OP posts:
theeyeofdoe · 12/04/2024 16:16

Some of our friends always used to do it. They’d book a large double room and bring roll mats for the kids when they were all under 11/12.
They even managed to get a free upgrade on occasion.

it Didn’t work on occasion and they saved a fortune, until the last trip when their first hotel wouldn’t accommodate the extra kids and they were full so half the family had to stay elsewhere. They also tried it in an Air BnB in Cornwall and the host refused them entry and they had to go home!

As a PP said, the main issue you’re going to have is that two of the beds will be designed for under 12s. Rooms for 4 are usually a double and bunks - I’m a similar size to you and there’s no way I would have slept okay in them.

Hankunamatata · 12/04/2024 16:02

Only thing I'd check is if the bunk beds are full size. I remember them being pretty small but it was years ago

Stripeysocks1981 · 12/04/2024 15:58

mrsmalcolmreynolds · 12/04/2024 14:14

Well it's dishonestly obtaining foods/services (you are using the hotel for a service for more adults than you have paid for). So illegal I think.

You may get away with it because nobody notices, and if not I'd be surprised if they pressed charges, much more likely to just require you to pay the extra.

Personally the worry would spoil it all anyway so I wouldn't do it. But that's me, not you!

Press charges 😂 calm down Columbo
OP I can’t imagine anyone will give a shit enough to notice you’re doing this. I’d book it as 2 adults 2 kids. Silly rule anyway. Enjoy Lapland uk, I’ve heard it’s fabulous 😊

Ponoka7 · 12/04/2024 15:47

As said book the other adult in as a child, so you can guarantee enough bedding. However my DD is a SC manager and some of her residents need 2-1 carers, she emails ahead and gets the ok.

fieldsofbutterflies · 12/04/2024 15:39

BobbyBiscuits · 12/04/2024 14:38

People sleep in hotels with an extra 'guest' all the time. Worst that can happen is staff knocking the door and kick that person out. Unlikely, but they could hide in the bathroom, lol.

Reminds me of that episode of Fawlty Towers where Basil is convinced one of the guests has a woman in his room and ends up climbing a ladder to try and peer inside and see her Grin

Twinstudy · 12/04/2024 15:36

Watercoloursky · 12/04/2024 14:05

If there was a fire, the hotel staff wouldn't know that they had to account for your extra person...

Yes because noone ever takes someone back to their hotel room.

OP it'll be fine

RancidRuby · 12/04/2024 15:32

mrsmalcolmreynolds · 12/04/2024 14:30

@RancidRuby it is essentially no different to paying for eg a small coffee and actually picking up a large one. You have knowingly taken a good/service that is more than you've paid for. So my understanding is it is illegal.

If it's actually illegal then surely you can provide a link to the legislation then?

splashofcolour · 12/04/2024 14:47

I just stayed in a hotel this week where I was checked in but my husband not. He wasn't staying anyway but they noticed him and wouldn't even let him carry my bag upstairs.

If they somehow twig on you're in trouble - but morally I think fine 🤣

BarrelOfOtters · 12/04/2024 14:45

We've done this before when staying in aiport hotels and didn't want to book 2 rooms for arriving at midnight and leaving at 5am....it's fine.

HOTD7383 · 12/04/2024 14:43

BobbyBiscuits · 12/04/2024 14:38

People sleep in hotels with an extra 'guest' all the time. Worst that can happen is staff knocking the door and kick that person out. Unlikely, but they could hide in the bathroom, lol.

This made me chuckle, imagining my grandmother or sister hiding in the bathroom 😂

OP posts:
HOTD7383 · 12/04/2024 14:42

Twilightstarbright · 12/04/2024 14:38

Not entirely relevant but are you sure Legoland is closed? Winter weekends they do Christmas stay packages with FC, elves and rides open. We did it last November and the hotel was very busy.

I’m not sure… when I go to book it online it pops up with a message saying the park will be closed… however when we lived in London we done a Christmas VIP package for the day there in December one year…

OP posts:
SwingTheMonkey · 12/04/2024 14:41

I doesn’t matter who is there on the check in desk. You don’t all have to be there to check in. One of you does it, the others wait in the bar. Staff have absolutely no idea which guests are in which rooms so they won’t bat an eyelid at who is milling around the hotel or making their way up to rooms.

BobbyBiscuits · 12/04/2024 14:38

People sleep in hotels with an extra 'guest' all the time. Worst that can happen is staff knocking the door and kick that person out. Unlikely, but they could hide in the bathroom, lol.

Twilightstarbright · 12/04/2024 14:38

Not entirely relevant but are you sure Legoland is closed? Winter weekends they do Christmas stay packages with FC, elves and rides open. We did it last November and the hotel was very busy.

SuncreamAndIceCream · 12/04/2024 14:38

Just do it OP. Honestly no one is going to notice or care.

Perhaps just check in you and DD with all the luggage & then get the spare adults to meet you by the lift or something.

Growlybear83 · 12/04/2024 14:36

FawnFrenchieMum · 12/04/2024 14:15

Honestly, I would just do it but booking as 2 adults & 2 children so they are expecting four people.
You get caught (which is unlikely IMO), you just say oh gosh, I never thought, little Jonny couldn't come so we brought auntie Paula. We know there was four beds so never thought about it.

That sounds like an excellent idea. You might end up with a jobsworth when you check in but hopefully if you tell them something like this they may be ok.

HOTD7383 · 12/04/2024 14:35

Tempnamechng · 12/04/2024 14:32

When we've stayed in family rooms, there's been a double or zip and link and then 2 child beds. If your adult is light enough to get away with being the size of a child and won't break a bed meant for someone much small then that's okay. What if one of your adults breaks a child's bed? £300 for 3 adults and a child in a premium area really isn't that expensive nowadays unfortunately. Pre Covid it would have been, but it seems to be standard in a busy or popular place now, even for a Premier Inn.

There’s a double bed in there, there’s also a pull down sort of bed from what I can see in the photos/layout. It’ll most likely be me as DD sleeps with me some nights, I weigh 48kg so quite a small person and I regularly sleep in DD’s bed when she’s unsettled so I hope I wouldn’t break their beds. I suppose it’s a similar risk of a wild child jumping up and down on the beds and potentially breaking them?

OP posts:
MuscariFan · 12/04/2024 14:35

Watercoloursky · 12/04/2024 14:05

If there was a fire, the hotel staff wouldn't know that they had to account for your extra person...

I imagine the fire service probably work on systematic searching and reports of party members missing, not how many people booked in.

For all they know, Doris & Ted could be off having dinner in Windsor.

BlancheSaysYes · 12/04/2024 14:33

I booked a family room in a Travelodge (2 adults, 2 children) for me, DH and our 2 adult sons. To book 2 separate rooms for 4 adults would have been prohibitively expensive. I booked us all in, asked to for 2 key cards, no-one took a blind bit of notice, and yes, maybe I did cheat the hotel out of business, but so what. We were going to a funeral the following day and money was extremely tight.

I wouldn't worry.

TheDandyLion · 12/04/2024 14:33

Watercoloursky · 12/04/2024 14:05

If there was a fire, the hotel staff wouldn't know that they had to account for your extra person...

They wouldn't know if you were in your hotel room at the time of the fire.

Tempnamechng · 12/04/2024 14:32

When we've stayed in family rooms, there's been a double or zip and link and then 2 child beds. If your adult is light enough to get away with being the size of a child and won't break a bed meant for someone much small then that's okay. What if one of your adults breaks a child's bed? £300 for 3 adults and a child in a premium area really isn't that expensive nowadays unfortunately. Pre Covid it would have been, but it seems to be standard in a busy or popular place now, even for a Premier Inn.

HOTD7383 · 12/04/2024 14:31

mrsmalcolmreynolds · 12/04/2024 14:30

@RancidRuby it is essentially no different to paying for eg a small coffee and actually picking up a large one. You have knowingly taken a good/service that is more than you've paid for. So my understanding is it is illegal.

Yeah, I’ve heard that people get arrested daily for that, sometimes even an armed unit response…

OP posts:
Bumblebeeinatree · 12/04/2024 14:31

Can you ring up and explain the situation, they may allow it as a one off special case. Some of these rules are not set in stone.

SwingTheMonkey · 12/04/2024 14:30

Is this something people worry about? How is it affecting the hotel? They’ve sold the room. Nobody is cheating them out of a meal, just using one of the beds that would have been used anyway if it were 2 adults and 3 children.

Go ahead op, they aren’t going to know who is in the room.

mrsmalcolmreynolds · 12/04/2024 14:30

@RancidRuby it is essentially no different to paying for eg a small coffee and actually picking up a large one. You have knowingly taken a good/service that is more than you've paid for. So my understanding is it is illegal.

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