Suddenly we need to book two rooms as DS is 13?

[deltapips]

I was browsing booking.com earlier for May half term breaks. My eldest is now 13 so the options that came up defaulted to two rooms rather than one which obviously doubles the price, argh!
There's a hotel in Dorset that we've been to twice. The first time our room had a double bed and bunk bed. The second time we were allocated a two bedroom apartment with a double bed and two singles. Both perfectly adequate for my family now. But I can't book that now.
I know I call them directly but I'm not sure I'd get the "free cancellation" option that I really like.
AIBU to be annoyed or should I just suck it up?

Leave DS in the car when you check in. Go back to the car, pick up cases and sail past reception.

It's because you have 2 adults. I'm single with 2 teenagers. They don't want to share a room but I can never book anything except a family room because the requirement is that an adult needs to share with a child. I'd love to have interconnecting rooms.

When they were little it was so easy.

You made your 18 year old son and 17 year old daughter share a room?

Wow - we are away next week and I’ve booked double and two singles for the three teens 1B 2G - they are fine with it for one night - extra room is ££

Premier Inn goes up to 17 yrs old for children.

no idea why people get so uptight about older children/teens sharing. It’s a holiday so max 2 weeks often much less and it’s not like you have to get changed in front of each other, you just use the bathroom.

Just say he's 12 op
We've shared a room with dsd 14 single bed dsd 11 on a pull out chair bed and ds 2 in a travel cot in a premier inn before and it was fine, everyone changed in the bathroom and we were out all day so it wasn't cramped for long

It must be just that hotel. Booking.com allows me to book a 13yr and doesn't force me to take two rooms.

I booked a 4 person room in Cornwall a few weeks ago through booking.com. A double bed and a (tiny) sofa bed. 18yo dd and I shared the big bed, ds2 and dh shared the sofa.
We are a family of 6 and we’ve been away in many combinations of age and sex and it is mostly a hassle when there is more than 3 but definitely possible. I factor in cost and how much time we will be in the actual room and do my best. I’m not paying double the price for a room somewhere we are passing through we will occupy for less than 10 hours, but will splash out if it’s a holiday and relaxing in the room is a part of that. I’ve shared with my adult ds before and also my brother when we’ve been adults. My mum and uncle will share when they go on holiday together and they are 80 and 82. The reality for most family’s is you share, or you can’t afford to go.

Some people can be funny about sharing or not sharing hotel rooms. It's not a permanent situation, so I was perfectly happy sharing with my whole family when I was a teenager. Actually, I probably would have been nervous in an unfamiliar room overnight on my own! And since it saved so much money for us to share, it was assumed that we would. A second room was never even considered, as far as I'm aware, much less mentioned. 😂

If your family is happy sharing, I'd continue to do so.

I agree, silly system, forcing you to lie and say he's 12.

We all share a room, regularly. And DD stays with DS at Uni and sleeps in his room. And we rent small campers and all sleep in the same shared space - and camping pods. It is absolutely normal and the majority of family across the world do not separate sleeping spaces like Northern Europeans.
I don't know how many 17 and 18yo's you know but you can't really 'make' them do much. Rather they are delighted by the wonderful holidays I manage to plan on a low budget and we all have a wonderful time. Thanks for asking.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and it’s completely normal.

I think it depends on the hotel - I used booking.com with two teens one who is 16 and if if available at the hotel was offered family rooms

Same, you usually book number of ppl and number of rooms. Is it that the rooms you're looking at only have tiny beds? Just book a room with 2 kings

Call the police 🙄

I shared with my brothers at that age. Still alive.

No way I'd let my 13 year old in a room alone

Lie about his age

Ridiculous policy

Why would you need to do this? Are all hotel receptionists trained to spot a 13 year old who is pretending to be a 12 year old? Many 12/13yos could pass for anything from 10 to 16.

Definitely lie, DD now needs her own room at a budget hotel chain we use to to explore new places but I just lie about her age. For those saying just book another room - that the means double the price so half the trips away - so our only hols this year would be one two night trip because we are saving to go abroad next year.

To be fair sounds like you were really lucky the second time as you got a 2 bedroom apartment for the price of 1 room!
Why not book using booking.com for the free cancellation then ring up the hotel direct and ask if you can have one of the rooms you had before. If no then cancel.

Just ignore the age,He is still a child.Makes me really mad when attractions class over 13 as an adult and want adult price.Since when has a 13 year been an adult.Money grabbing.

This hotel has rooms that accommodate 4 people though. So book one of those?

You can’t have him in a room by himself so essentially he’s supposed to be in a twin with you/ dh with the other adult in their own room. Just knock a year off and say he’s 12.

Can't believe the dishonesty of some folk, Saying 18 year olds are 12???

I'm in a similar position (my DS is now 13) but more complicated by the fact that DS has autism and learning difficulties so there's no way he could be in a room on his own.
I have always called hotels directly. They will usually offer to match the price on 3rd party websites anyway.

The over 12s thing is sometimes related to breakfast - ie under 12s don't usually pay. I always make it clear that I'm happy to pay for an additional breakfast.
I also pay for a larger room so we have a sofa bed and a double as opposed to bunk beds as DS is too large for a bunk but that's just preference.

All the hotels I've spoken to, they have all said that there's no way they would expect - or even want - a 13 yo in a room on their own anyway. There's the issue of fire safety (would they know what to do?) and also safe guarding. I think if parents were insistent then they would accommodate with adjoining rooms but they're not always available anyway.

No way would I have shared a room with my parents at 13. I’d rather not go if I couldn’t have my own space. My and my siblings used to share.

It really does depend on the individual hotel. Premier Inns and IBIS are more generous in their age ranges. Marriotts often have rooms with 2 double beds, so they are fine with the "Waltons Family" approach of everybody in one room too.

I have been known to contact the hotel directly and double check (Knoll House in Studland Bay springs to mind) whether my teen would be okay.

These days I tend to either be travelling just me and teen (so a twin is fine), or we book an aparthotel with a sofabed or Airbnb.