'Sneaking' two extra children into hotel room booked for two adults and two children

Why didn't they just book a three bedroom Airbnb? There were plenty of Spanish apartments in complexes that have swimming pools, near the beach, etc.

I couldn't be bothered with the stress, but then there's a reason we've limited our family to only two kids.

So they will never all walk through reception together or sit around the pool together?

It wouldn't be for me because I'd be worried we'd be kicked out, but I don't think it's the biggest deal either. Certainly not worth rowing with a friend over. Your interest seems disproportionate tbh.

So instead of just asking whether they were worried that they might get kicked out you kept on at your friend to the point that she got pissed off with you? That's odd behaviour from a friend who is just "worried" about them. But good for you if you are genuinely just concerned.

Hotels take passport details and register with the police. It’s that typical situation where they may well get away with it but if they are caught it may well cost them quite a bit and cause trouble. They are being idiots. Sleeping on pool toys for 10 days will be miserable. Also - it is theft.

How are they going to get clean towels for everyone? Will they hide the extra cases, shoes, pairs of swimming shorts drying on the balcony so the cleaners don’t cotton on to extra people in the room? What if one of the ‘smuggled’ boys has an accident in the pool and requires treatment - surely one of the first questions will be who are your parents and which room are you staying in? And then it all unravels.

I couldn’t relax and enjoy a holiday like that.

I hope they get caught. I hate this sort of devious 'the rules don't apply to me' behaviour.

I've done similar in the past, although not for a whole holiday just a night or two at a travelodge or similar when the children were little and couldn't be left. Otherwise both parents are trapped in different rooms with children who needed to sleep early. At least with all in one room an adult was still able to go out for snacks etc or explore.

I wonder why many people see this as an okay thing to do, although you are cheating the hotel out of extra income, but wouldn’t dream of shoplifting or similar

In my experience working in hotels, it’s usually the wealthier families who try to get away with this sort of thing 🤷‍♀️

Because it's usually the British who cause so much trouble in foreign places. I say this as an English woman who has been embarrassed by my fellow travellers. Shouting very loudly at the French hotelier in English demanding an extra bed be put in the bedroom - well at least she was prepared to pay for it but how difficult is it to look this up in a French English dictionary

Tell her to get each smaller child to sit on a larger child's shoulders and then wear two long trench coats.

Fairly sure hotels have to take copies of passports and register with the police within 24 hours, and depending on where they’re going tourist tax. Also fairly certain there are hefty fines for not doing so. Insurance, fire risk. So much wrong with this. But your friends problem not yours.

We have a five bed house, used to have a three bed and I have stayed in a hotel that is as comfy as my entire house.

I'd however not want to try to get two teens to sleep on the floor. I wish her luck with that

I’m thinking of DelBoy and Rodney and the holiday prize now 😁

I’ve just come back from Spain. We could easily have done this and nobody would have known. Even at breakfast etc nobody checked room numbers (it was AI so had wristbands but nobody ever looked at them!). The rooms opened on to the outside and there was a back entrance to the hotel so not through the lobby - and even when you did walk through reception paid you not a blind bit of notice. I took not notice of who was in room around me - they were all full of kids and plenty of general noise so that wouldn’t have drawn any attention.

Why do you care? It seems a silly thing to fall out with a friend over.

We frequently ‘smuggled’ an extra child into a Travelodge family room when youngest was 3 and would sleep in the bed with us.

However, trying to cram two extra children into a room over 10 days is crazy. But that’s their problem, not yours.

So what are they going to do when they're coming and going to the pool / beach / for dinner? Are the two oldest kids going to have to spend the week hiding and walking in and out separately?

Stupid idea. Couldn't be arsed personally and would rather spend the extra money and relax. Also 6 people in a room for 4 is going to be a squeeze and probably massively unenjoyable for the older kids (who by the sounds of it are all going to have to share one sofa bed).

We used to take one extra child into travel lodge, as they say 2dc only.
But that was when they were all under 10 and one night.
I assume they're not expecting feeding for free too. That would be the point it goes from being dodgy to theft.

Mmm, they could probably get away with it for a night or two or three...but 10 nights is likely pushing it.

I guess each adult would always need to enter / exit separately with two boys each time. Though if it's a huge hotel reception staff would never remember specifics of each family anyway.

Cleaners will likely notice after 10 days though.

Same, especially If the children are loud. What are they going to do about breakfast? In every hotel I have stayed at you have to check in for breakfast each day and they check the room occupancy numbers.

Will they just take stuff from the buffet for the other two?

If they couldn't afford to pay for a holiday for 6 people they should have chosen cheaper accommodation or had fewer children.

I voted YANBU but that is because I have anxiety and couldn't see something like this through for fear of being caught. It would certainly ruin the holiday for me.
I suppose the likelihood of being caught depends on the layout of the hotel but honestly, I don't fancy their chances.

I don't know how I feel about it from a moral point of view. It's hardly the crime of the century...a minor infraction really. Is it the thin end of the wedge though? Does it display a sense of entitlement that may touch upon other areas....or is it just hard to finance a holiday in the current COL crisis? We all know the prices have shot up.

I wouldn't do it.

If you're being honest OP are you secretly hoping that your friend will get kicked out?

It's not a great idea but it's absolutely nothing to do with you and it sounds as though you forgot you weren't on Mumsnet at the time and pushed it too far with your friend. I'm not surprised she's pissed off with you.