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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To stay in a hotel without booking?

262 replies

ps1991 · 01/07/2019 20:19

My husband is away with work in Manchester from yesterday to Thursday, I had planned on travelling tomorrow to stay with him and then come home together on Thursday.

I’m really worried about staying in the hotel he’s at with our baby as the hotel is only booked for him. Will the hotel say anything? I have looked for other hotels locally and can’t find anything that we can afford, especially once we say we have a baby with us 🙄.

Am I right to be worried or will the hotel staff not care?

OP posts:
RightOnTheEdge · 01/07/2019 23:11

I work in a hotel as a housekeeper.
A couple of weeks ago a man booked a double room for himself and when another housekeeper went in to clean the room she thought more people were staying there and told the manager.

They found out that he had his wife and two dc staying in the room and they all got asked to leave. The manager said the reason was insurance/fire safety etc.
All the reasons that some posters have scoffed at.

The manager did say they might have turned a blind eye for one night but it was for a few nights. They had to leave straight away.

So it does happen.

Gatoadigrado · 01/07/2019 23:11

C8H10N4O2 The OP and her DH are questioning the employer too... OP said she thought it could be a problem, hence trying to hide the fact she’s going with baby. All the more reason to check. If her DH knows his company encourage spouses then she wouldn’t be posting

riverday · 01/07/2019 23:22

@RightOnTheEdge

It's nothing to do with fire, regardless of what the manager said. Our fire service is better than that and it is really frustrating when people suggest the fire service would only do half a job checking for people.

As for insurance, the hotel is insured for guests. They don't update the insurance company daily regarding the amount of people in the hotel.

The only reason management would have an issue would be if the room was overcrowded (because they are losing out on the cost the people should be paying per room) or if the tariff is per person.

DieSchottin93 · 01/07/2019 23:22

If the price is per room it might but just be you have to pay for a cot - can't imagine this would be a lot. I work in an independent hotel and we have to keep an up to date guest list at all times for health and safety reasons. I can't believe you think it's ok to sneak yourself and a baby in Confused

WafflingDreamer · 01/07/2019 23:23

I personally think there is a huge difference between sneaking your partner in and having a baby too. If the hotel charge more for having a baby in the room i imagine it is for insurance or fire safety regulations. If you dont declare it you may well be asked to leave the hotel. FWIW i would happily have a partner to stay but taking your whole family is something else and you would probably be allocated a larger room.

I stayed in a hotel with my DH and 2 under 2 and we had to book 2 adjoining rooms as 1 room could sleep 2 adults or 1 adult and 2 kids but not all 4 of us despite the fact that we obviously could have all slept in one room

shinynewapple · 01/07/2019 23:25

What if there's a fire? You need to be registered for H&S

HeronLanyon · 01/07/2019 23:26

Imagine - heaven forbid - you or your baby needed medical help during the night ! What then?
With a baby in the mix it becomes more odd to think about sneaking in - I think this has opened my eyes to why it’s a problem (let alone employer taking a dim view of laying for a family break suddenly)

riverday · 01/07/2019 23:28

What if there's a fire? You need to be registered for H&S

If there is a fire you get out or you die. A list of who is in each room isn't going to make a blind bit of difference.

riverday · 01/07/2019 23:29

Imagine - heaven forbid - you or your baby needed medical help during the night ! What then?

You access it the same way you would if you had booked the room!

PCohle · 01/07/2019 23:34

The idea that the fire service rely on room bookings when evacuating buildings is totally laughable.

They wouldn't even rely on me telling them that we had all got out of the house when we had a small fire years ago.

ineedtostopbeingsolazy · 01/07/2019 23:41

If there was a fire just leave the hotel like everybody else would be doing what's it got to do with whether your name is on the list?

Londongirl888 · 01/07/2019 23:44

OP don't jeopardise your husbands work relationship . If you honestly think they would not be happy with it don't do it.

Cant he give them a quick breezy call to clear it. I am sure they will be fine it is quite common to do this and you just don't charge anything to the company I.e. meals and drinks.

It is the sneaking around seems dodgy And dishonest. .

Also you are effectively turning a double room to a family room. I hope your child is a good sleeper and doesn't disturb other guests and they complain.

This is why you need to let the hotel know they tend to put families in more suitable rooms and maybe a larger room to give you a bit more space.

HeronLanyon · 01/07/2019 23:45

riverday exactly my point.

Gatoadigrado · 01/07/2019 23:46

Fire brigade won’t give a fuck - they’d do thorough searches in the event of a fire. Hotel unlikely to give a fuck - the OP has said its a large chain and its a flat rate per room although sometimes they charge extra for a travel cot
Company might give a fuck and OP actually says she’s worried they won’t approve. That is the relevant issue

ineedtostopbeingsolazy · 01/07/2019 23:47

Imagine - heaven forbid - you or your baby needed medical help during the night ! What then?

Call 111? Call an ambulance? Go to the hospital? Do exactly the same thing you'd do in the middle of the night if you were at home Confused

UterusUterusGhali · 02/07/2019 00:06

Considering how many businessmen have "girlfriends" stay with them during trips I don't think it'd be a problem in bigger hotels.

RebeccaWrongDaily · 02/07/2019 00:08

i spend at least one night or two in a place 200 miles from my home, I cannot begin to describe the scrutiny our expenses are put through public record
I have often, taken friends and family with me (or met them after work and they've stayed in my room) and it has never been an issue. This also includes probably ten years, as a single person, who sometimes had 'an overnight guest' that turned up with me after a night out.

Triskaidekaphilia · 02/07/2019 00:20

I accidentally booked a premier inn as 1 person instead of 2, and they said it was fine, didn't take down DH's name or anything but I guess they might have changed the occupancy on the computer. It will probably be fine but I think you should ask. Don't know how it works with the company paying though.

Snowy81 · 02/07/2019 00:21

I’ve been involved in a hotel evacuation once, and my poor colleague 4 times (the joys of living out of hotels for your job)- you soon learn not to sleep naked! But one thing they all did was knock on doors, and then checked everyone off a list when outside. This was two different hotel chains, I can’t say a) they still do this now or b) all chains do this.

cdlaivfifd · 02/07/2019 00:24

@Snowy81

A list means nothing. People book hotels and go on nights out, so they are not there to be 'checked' people bring people back so they are not on the list anyway. Hotels are fully aware that they are pissing against the wind trying to tally guests with a list.

Honeyroar · 02/07/2019 00:27

I've had staff knock it n my door a couple of times when fire alarms have gone off, but never been checked off on a list. Guests could be out or in another guest's room, they don't have to be in their rooms.

HollaHolla · 02/07/2019 01:05

We’re allowed to have friends/partners stay in our rooms, but only with permission.
A colleague was disciplined for taking her husband on what was essentially a free holiday.
PLEASE check your husband’s work policy. Is it worth losing his job over £200?
Also, is he expected to pick up work/entertain in the evenings? If so, although he can do that with a partner/friend there, I’d think a baby might cause some issues? What if he needs to take a phone/Skype meeting in the room, and it’s the baby’s bedtime?

Dandelion1993 · 02/07/2019 01:36

The problem is by not telling them you can cause insurance issues.

Firstly, they need to know how many people are in each room as they'll have a capacity number set for the hotel for H&S reasons and you being their may break it.

Secondly, if there is an emergency like a fire, they'll have a list of who's there so that if anyone is missing they can try to find them.

Thirdly, it's to protect you. If some form of accident or incident happened in the room and you needed to apply for compensation or needed to report it to the police, they could try and wavier any responsibility claiming you were there under flase pretences and/or had they been aware of your presence, could have altered things for you.

ChicCroissant · 02/07/2019 07:09

Some hotels have silly policies and I don’t want to fall victim to that.

You don't want to pay for a family room.

PurpleFlower1983 · 02/07/2019 07:14

I do this all the time when my DH is on tour, we always tell the hotel though for their evacuation register etc. Never had an issue or had to pay extra.

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