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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To book a room for four when there is five of us?

136 replies

Rainer · 07/04/2018 23:12

That really. We want to be in a room together. The kids would easily fit in to a double bed all three. It's for a night before a flight, with parking for our holiday included and the cost doubles or just isn't available if I say its for five. Wwyd?

OP posts:
Maryann1975 · 08/04/2018 00:12

... posted to soon. Maybe I should man up a bit and try it, so many of you have got away with it and it would make hotels so much easier. Do any hotel chains have rooms for families of 5? We tend to go in hostels tbh, but they seem to be more basic and more expensive than the chain hotels.

Original poster
Rainer · 08/04/2018 00:21

Mary Ann, some do. We stayed in a very roomy hilton double tree a few weeks ago, three double beds for the five of us.

Think options are more limited at the airport. Price difference goes from 145 to 300, and thats with ten days parking for both. Confused

OP posts:
JaniceBattersby · 08/04/2018 00:24

Bluecube they may hand over a list of room occupancy to the brigade but firefighters will a) not enter a building that is seriously on fire unless there’s a genuine, demonstrable threat to human life and b) will fully search every room where they believe someone may be trapped. They don’t just stop searching the room when they’ve dragged out the number of people that were written down on the guest list because they know full well that there may have been other people in the room.

Having an extra person in a room will have no effect on insurance if there’s an accident. The insurance is public liability insurance so it won’t be changed by there being an extra person in there.

MiddleClassProblem · 08/04/2018 00:35

Surely it’s failry common to get the wrong amount of people in a room than that who check in?

Single person hooks up
Group go back to one room for drinks
One person in a group crashies in a different room
Only one person from that room comes back and the other(s) still out
Etc etc etc

If multiple people are in a room and they can check if a keycard has let someone in, they can’t say how many went in... And would they know if they went out again? Nope unless they see them.

I can’t see it working in a fire reg enforced way.

noenergy · 08/04/2018 00:40

We do this quite often at travelodge and premier inn. Never been questioned about it.

Bluecube1 · 08/04/2018 01:10

I take on board all comments here, but am pretty sure you will have trouble with a claim if you insure for a maximum occupancy of rooms but have no idea how many people are in the building.

Storminateapot · 08/04/2018 01:19

We've done it in Premier Inns before just to get our heads down on the night before an early ferry. Never had any bother.

Downthepubofcourse · 08/04/2018 01:44

We had someone do it last week, booked for two then brought a child. Child screamed all night. We charged for the extra guest. The father was unhappy but as we pointed out they had used extra towel, had extra showers, the child had breakfast.... and if they had been honest we could have given them a suitably large room not next door to anyone else! He paid reluctantly.

We are not a chain and do not allow lots of people to pile in a room.

Original poster
Rainer · 08/04/2018 06:24

Fair enough down the pub. This is a chain, we will be leaving at 4 am so no breakfast and I very much doubt they will all have a shower. Also my kids wouldn't be screaming. Dh snoring otoh.. The hotel we have now booked is recommended for its soundproofing so we should be fine.

OP posts:
snowagain · 08/04/2018 08:21

@unintentionathreadkiller

We checked into a travelogue yesterday for the four of us with a cousin in tow just to see the room, check in gave us five key cards and didn't even ask so I don't think they even notice!

My brother is a manager in a travelodge and I can tell you for a fact that they would NOT give out 5 keycards for one room. The policy is 3 adults (MAXIMUM) and one child, to one room. So, either, the employee was severely breaking the companies terms and conditions, and will probably be found out when the manager comes in, and sees on the computer that 5 keycards have been issued for one room, OR you are making this up..

It's one of the 2. Because they flat out don't let more than 3 adults and one child into a room.

@janicebattersby

I’ve worked in many hotels and am wife of a firefighter, so before loads of people pile on talking about it being ‘illegal’ and some vague reference to ‘fire regs’: it’s not illegal and fire regs do not stipulate how many people can be in one bedroom at any time, so don’t worry about that.

I think your 'firefighter spouse' may need some retraining. Of COURSE they need to know how many people are meant to be in each room. FFS!

They will fully search every room where they believe someone may be trapped.

And how can they do extra searches if they believe someone to be trapped, when some people are not down as being in the hotel? Seriously, you are not even making sense!

@Weezol

If the systems are showing that rooms x y z are swiped as 'in' and four people are booked into room x, the firefighters will go to room x, look for and if necessary, pull out 4 people. If you're all unconscious, who tells them that there should also be a toddler in the party to look for?

Exactly! Some common sense at last!

@middleclassproblem

What if a single person hooks up and takes someone back?

AGAIN, if they are not down as being on the booking, a decent hotel will throw them out ! (The person who booked it AND the person they sneaked in!) for breaking the hotel rules.

@sweetmoon

I've just booked a family room and left it at that.

And you can't just 'book a family room and leave it at that,' because the booking form asks how many ADULTS and how many CHILDREN there are. So you MUST be putting SOME number in there.

Are people just making shit up for the sake of it on this thread?! Confused

Re the OP, yeah I am sure some people take the odd human in who is not on the booking, (and get away with it!) but let's not pretend doing this is not a risk to life if there's a fire.

And for the record, my brother (and his colleagues) have chucked people out MANY times when they have discovered 4 or 5 adults in a room (when there was only 3 on the booking,) as the people are breaking the hotel rules. So I am frankly quite amazed to see so many people claiming they 'do this all the time, and always get away with it...'

stateschool · 08/04/2018 08:27

I would do it - worked in many hotels and they don’t care 🤷‍♀️ if it’s for kids. Many a business man ( or woman) has booked a room for single occupancy but ended up bringing someone back or had a spouse join at some point... we don’t enforce the occupancy unless someone really takes the p@ss!!

MismatchedStripySocks · 08/04/2018 08:32

@weezol You think the firefighters would check the computer systems to see who ‘should’ be in the room?! Grin Wouldn’t they be better fighting fires?!!

noenergy · 08/04/2018 08:36

Even if you do not exceed maximum occupancy surely the hotel still doesn't know how many people are in the hotel at a given time as people go in and out of there room many times and not all of the occupants go out and then the issue of guests bringing back other people to their room.

Booboobooboo84 · 08/04/2018 08:48

I used to work for a residentialcentre and our policy was to disregard the rooming sheet- that was for use outside checking guests had made it to the evacuation point. Inside every room was checked under bunks and in bedding. Wardrobes were open shelving but if there were nooks kids could hide in they were checked too. You can’t predict what people will do in a fire and whether they will run or hide.

greenlavender · 08/04/2018 08:50

Yes of course do it

Bananamanfan · 08/04/2018 08:54

I did this I think with both Premier inn & Travelodge (& Legoland) arranged over the phone each time, but haven't done it since youngest was about 3.

SweetMoon · 08/04/2018 08:57

@snowagain

I'm sure that these hotels would have an issue with 5 or 6 adults sharing a 4 room. For the reason many holiday places don't allow same sex bookings.

However when it's a family I expect they just use their common sense. I would hope your brother has some and doesn't just boot out families that have squeezed their little 3 year old into the bed with their siblings.

And if there was a fire, the firefighters are not going to be checking the computer to see who is in each room. That would be pointless because there will be rooms where one person might still be out, rooms where there are visitors if it's during the day, rooms booked for 4 but only 3 have turned up and so on. They will be in there fighting the fire and checking rooms physically for people.

BendydickCuminsnatch · 08/04/2018 09:00

I wouldn't think twice about this, wouldn't even cross my mind that it could be a problem. (Obviously unless breakfast is included)

Mrsmadevans · 08/04/2018 09:14

It is done all the time , if you tell them they will give you a put up bed , up to you really.

Birdsgottafly · 08/04/2018 09:17

The fire brigade know that bookings don't reflect occupancy. As well as sneaking people in. People have drinks, take people back to shag etc in hotels.

They have a building search formula which they don't deviate from, they can adapt it, but people aren't missed.

Have you ever seen a bad fire? There isn't going to be a calm person waiting for the fire brigade to turn up with a printed out list of bookings. And the fire brigade wait to read it. Not in the UK, anyway, because of fast response times.

Extra children are usually overlooked, that doesn't put them in any danger whatsoever. We've had premier inn let us squeeze in an extra Adult, in a last minute booking, in the downstairs accessible room.

To even suggest that the Fire Brigade couldn't cope with that is an insult to them.

theSnuffster · 08/04/2018 09:17

I'm not sure I understand the issue around fire. For a start I can't imagine anybody taking time to check the computer. Plus there are lots of situations where not all occupants are in their room (either they're elsewhere in the hotel or not in building at all) or where extras are there just visiting.

EveningHare · 08/04/2018 09:20

Oh for goodness sake

They will fully search every room where they believe someone may be trapped.

And how can they do extra searches if they believe someone to be trapped, when some people are not down as being in the hotel? Seriously, you are not even making sense!
I think you're the one not making sense, you don't tell the hotel if you've hooked up with someone else and gone to their place, get real

The fire fighters will search areas where people could be they're not going to carefully check the guestlist and say oh there's Carol and she booked in alone so let's leave Steve on the bed as He is obviously not booked in....

Twiggyy · 08/04/2018 09:21

We always smuggle one in. It's costly to rent two rooms

Stopandlook · 08/04/2018 09:22

Interesting thread. We’ve done it at airport hotel without asking (flight delay so arranged last minute ourselves, should have got airline to sort but didn’t want to queue). Did it over the phone with one of the big chains and they were happy to put an extra bed in. It is so expensive booking for family of five and it’s so helpful when a hotel allows it. Take note hotels!

jaseyraex · 08/04/2018 09:26

I used to go to a lot of gigs in different cities when I was a teenager, often doing full tours. We'd generally book one double room and all stay in it, usually 5 of us. Everything from the Hilton to Travelodge. Even done it in The Mayfair in London. Can't say we ever got caught. Well aware it was the wrong thing to do, but it was just what we all did then! Even if someone did say something to you OP, I'm sure they'd be more understanding of squeezing in an extra child than squeezing in three extra adults Blush