To book a family room for 4 when there are 5 of us?

[CollectingCoins]

Planning a one night city trip in UK. Finding it impossible to get a family room for 2 adults and 3 kids. Seems we will need an extra room no matter where we stay. Is it totally unreasonable to book one for 2 adults and 2 kids and sneak the extra kid in?

Yes I think this is fairly normal- I have friends who do it all the time for a one night stop over. 3 kids in a premier inn king size (depending on age), parents on the singles.

We've had 4 in a triple room fairly often. We just rang up and it was mostly no problem at all. They might say the room is very small for 4 but that it was our choice. My youngest likes to sleep on or around my head so there's never any point paying for a bed for her!

If you do this and you are 'caught,' you could get thrown out and lose the booking AND the money. When you book, you will be agreeing to adhere to the terms and conditions, and they will have every right to ask you to leave if you lie about how many of you there are. You are basically planning on lying and deceiving, but would kick off and expect recompense if one of your kids was not searched for in a fire, because you had said there were only 2.

You could ask them to accommodate your 3rd child, but alternatively, get a travelodge or something equally cheap and book a 2nd room. Many people I know who have 3 kids almost ALWAYS have 2 hotel rooms - except in Spain where they sometimes have rooms for families of 5.

Alternatively, look for accommodation for 5.

Don't lie and say there are only 4 of you.

Ask if they have two interconnecting rooms? I.e with an extra internal door that you can leave open all night.

Which city are you staying in? Maybe someone knows of a hotel with a room for for 5. We've stayed in a few around London, and they've all been fab!
How old are the kids?
We've found most success when actually speaking to hotels directly.

Good luck!

I've done it loads, usually we get a premier inn family room which are quite big and have 3 of us in the main bed and 2 on the sofa bed or singles. It's never been a problem.

2 hotel rooms with a connecting door.

Easy peasy!

Genuine question how can a fire service ever have an accurate count of who is sleeping in a hotel at any one time?

They can't, but they do keep a list of who is where so they can tell the fire brigade the empty rooms, they will also do a 'roll call' when people are at their assembly point.

how old is your youngest child? many hotels have sofa beds or extra beds they can add to a room if you ask.

ive worked in hotels for about 7 years and sneaking someone in never goes unnoticed. they might not care or say anything, but all reception and housekeeping staff are aware of how many are in each room.

we had a guy recently book a single room and turned up with his wife. they had travelled from india and this was a small 12 room guest house, so the single room had a single bed, not double. our manager charged for the extra person and they had to share a single bed in a small room with their huge suitcases. it worked out more expensive than just booking a double room!

We have 4 kids and I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve all Squeezed in one room for the odd night. A whole holiday, God no! But one night, ask for a roll in bed or take an air bed. No problem at all.

Just do it.

Premier Inn big family room lovely receptionist told us to do it but suggested we don't tell her manager. Totally her suggestion but we didn't argue

Marriott 2 huge doubles in rooms is easy. Hotel too big to notice especially if all 3 of your DDs look identical.

And a good book to read out load as they all drift off is your friend. Works every time!

We have often done it in a travelodge or premier inn but I'm sure they are aware how many of us there are as we all check in together, no sneaking in.

Have done it on family holidays but only after checking directly with the hotel or the likes of booking.com check with the hotel. You can't sneak in as passports are checked abroad and for dining purposes.

Some hotels have policies where it's max 4 per room others have a bigger limit. But I would def check.

If you do this and you are 'caught,' you could get thrown out and lose the booking AND the money.

I do know of someone that happened to.

Have you used booking.com? They’re pretty good at finding reasonable rooms that actually do accommodate 5 .

Youth hostels are much nicer than they used to be and many have 5 and 6 bed family rooms, some ensuite. We realised several years ago how much better a youth hostel with the right number of beds is than a slightly shinier hotel with kids bed sharing.

I've done it loads, put 3 children in the big bed then we take the singles.

Look at independent hotels rather than chains.

A city break with 5 in one room for 1 night sounds awful. Why not stay at home or get a relative to look after the sprogs?

Maybe they want to take the DC (mine are 6 and 9 and love city breaks)?

Maybe there is no one else to look after the dc? (we have no relatives for 180 miles, and they would be reluctant).

Done it loads of times.

Interconnecting rooms are as rare as hens teeth and always booked up so far from "easy peasy".

If we had to book two rooms every time we went away when the dc were small we would never have gone anywhere as simply couldn't afford it.

A list of firms that accommodate 3 children in one room would be useful. I'm sure an awful lot of families would use such firms by preference.

Interesting re Hilton,will try them in future as opposed to Premier Inn.

Premier inn do interconnecting rooms. So you and your DH can be together and you can split the kids between the rooms or have them all in one room? I'd think you would have to phone and book though to make sure you got one.

But you pay double for one child,have never come across them and we have used Premier Inn a lot.

My parents did this all the time! I wouldn’t hesitate as long as it was physically possible ie they weren’t sleeping on the floor