Would it be so terrible to book into a hotel as 2 adults not mentioning the small child...

[AnyFuleKno]

Let's say that you book into a holiday inn or some such immense palace of faceless tourism...state that the room is for 2 adults and then smuggle said small child in.

It really is a tiresome arse ache finding a hotel room that I like that acommodates 3, and in reality dd will end up in the bed with us anyway.

Call them. How old is your dc? They will put a rolaway in. even if your dc cosleeps they will provide a rollaway usually comp.

I've never had a problem booking for 3 (but always declare & pay for DS). Maybe look at a different hotel? Premier Inns always accomodate families ime.

A remote possibility of a fire granted, but as stated above the fire crews would be given a list of guests, YABU to possibly create a scenario where a firefighter risked his/her life for your baby (which they would willingly do) for the sake of saving a few bloody quid?

Unlikely but it can & has happened.

Unless you are trying to book something at short notice or near a large event?

Ok I'm open to accepting that if it really is an issue in a fire then it's a bad idea.

I have booked at a premier inn for first few nights and wanted a nice boutique hotel for final night stay in London. I see St Ermin's accommodates families but v spensive

Excellent point maryz

Why would it matter if the baby is on the list of occupants? It will be in their arms in the event of any evacuation.

Meaning the head count was wrong, so the hotel believes everyone has evacuated, meanwhile Mrs Jones in room 52 is breathing her last.

We were recently in a Premier Inn when the fire alarm went off, the firebrigade had to attend (there was a fire in the kitchen), no head count was done and it was lucky that it wasn't, as part of our group was still at the wedding reception that we went for, one had copped off and wasn't coming back to the hotel until morning.

We walked straight over the MD's, with other guests.

The fire and head count thing doesn't happen, the guests names would have to be called, unless you think that single people don't book double rooms in case they get lucky and then another person is there.

There isn't fires that intense in the UK, unless it is a small rural hotel.

What you could do is phone the hotel and say that you need a double room, but if you were let down by a babysitter how would that effect the price.

Then say nothing if the price would go up.

Did you all not go through the partying stage, when you took sleeping bags and piled in one room?

I'm guessing this might actually an internet problem, not a hotel problem. Lots of online travel booking and search engines seem to be a bit glitchy about children, so hotels don't get included in searches if you list children, and/or kids don't get included in bookings. Trip Advisor is esp bad ime. I tend to phone the hotel and check, often while I'm making the online booking. They have always been fine about an extra child, esp a young one but even an older one. So I make the online booking for 2, and the person on the phone adds the child to the booking manually at no extra cost...

You could sneak them in but it's a total non issue.

I'm the event of a fire, how would they know if you're back from wherever you've been anyway? In most hotels you don't announce your arrival each time your return.

In*. Damn phone.

You don't search for 2 adults and a child. You just search for 2 adults, find the room you want and then ring the hotel and let them know that you also have a child but as you don't need any extra bedding they most probably won't charge you.

Have never been charged for DS and he is now 3.

Why would you even think of doing this ??? Most hotel chains don't charge for small children anyway and have lots of family rooms! Holiday Inn let under 14s eat for free too.......................

Common sense JellyBellies. Why go smuggling DCs in when you don't need to?

It is really easy to get a hotel room for 3. Travel lodges all have sofas which can be made up for a third, and usually have travel cots available. Holiday Inns up, unless they only have tiny rooms left, can all put in an extra bed/cot quite easily.

It only becomes really tricky when there are 5 of you, as in the UK family rooms that big can be a rarity. But we have been given special reductions on inter-connecting rooms before.

The big issue is if it is a hotel which doesn't accept children at all.

I've done it, because "children" generally specifies over 3.

And re Mrs Jones in room 52, how about if there is a fire and they do a head count, you just come clean then?

The first couple of times we went away with cosleeping DS1, it never even occurred to me to try to book for three people. He didnt need a bed or a cot, why waste a three bed room that someone might need

I wonder if it's an internet problem too or whether some hotels just don't want dc.

Sometimes if you put 2 adults in - rooms come up.
but if you put 2 adults and a child in - no rooms come up.

It's frustrating when you want a particular hotel. Ours is quite happy to sleep in our double bed so we only need the one bed.

Have often wondered if people get away with just booking a double room.

AFK St Ermine's is one of the last minute Top Secret hotels. PM me if you want the description...

How old is DC? I think it is a searching problem like others have said . Not sure where you need to be in London but the family rooms at the travellodge in Southwark are a really good size (just have sofa bed)

Yes - just mention that you have a small child and she will be sharing the bed with you.

I used to work in a hotel, and it was so bloody annoying when people turned up with a child/dog/extra person without asking, because fire lists etc had to be changed, as well as possibly seating arrangements for breakfasts and dinners.

Seriously how many fires happen in the UK?! I cannot imagine the scenario where highly trained professional firefighters would be happy with just a head count. They check each room individually because in the case of commercial buildings you cannot be sure that the guest list is accurate - what about people who've left for the day, those arranged to meet a business contact at the hotel, those who got lucky, etc etc? They are not going to just stop looking for people because they have 52 people on the manifest and 52 people outside. Mrs Jones will be rescued its okay.

Saying that I don't think the hotels are actually fussed

I agree with those saying it's an internet problem. Search for two adults, make the booking and then phone the hotel to warn them, and either say you're bringing your own cot or you cosleep and therefore won't need an extra bed. Some hotels don't like cosleeping, some hotels, especially in London don't have rooms large enough to put the cot up as well so they may give you an upgrade. We stayed at a B&B where they asked us not to as some guests had the ill-grace to not clear up when their children had accidents.

We just took our cot in with us and didn't put it up as DD is dry at night (but wears nappies just in case).

Birdsgottafly - there's been several big hotel fires in the uk in recent(ish) years where guests have died.