to still book our DS (16) as a 15 year old at a Premier Inn?

[VioletOrange]

I’m probably going to get a flaming for this but here goes.

We only have DS, he can’t stay in a PI by himself until he’s 18. If we booked him in as an adult, as he’s classed as one now he’s 16, we’d have to pay for another room. So for now, while we can still just about get away with it, we book him in as a child stating he’s 15.

In one PI where we’ve stayed many times over the years, a couple of the regular staff are aware but they’re ok with this. He doesn’t get up for breakfast so doesn’t benefit from the ‘kids eat free’ deal.

AIBU to carry on doing this for as long as we can get away with it? Not that he’ll likely still want to come away with us in the next few years.

My personal opinion is that on the one hand they class 18+ as adults but want to charge a 16 year old adult prices.

Why on earth would you think it's a system designed to "help" anyone?

I think PP is referring to the breakfast that he didnt eat..

@WildUnchartedWaters you see I have no issue paying for breakfast but do have an issue needing a second room for an additional child! And you are a child until you are 18!

That's not an option though.

I get why they don't want 4 adults in a room but for a family with teens this isn't the case

Agreed -it’s a money grab. Hampton by Hilton let 3 adults bunk in one room - done it myself with mates. If you can’t book the 16 year old in a Room on his own, then he should be in with you. I’ve got a 15 year old and we’ll keep him in with us when he’s 16 - but if older DS is away with us then they share.

DD 16 was 15 for PI purposes last week and will be again in October. I'm not putting her alone in a room nor leaving disables DH alone in one. Interestingly she is classed as a child by Jet 2 for the same holiday on her current age and getts a free child place! She doesn't eat breakfast at PI as she's ceoliac and can't to reassure even one . 😀

I agree, and with op.

Oh well I'm a terrible person who thinks when I've paid for the room I can do what I like.
I'd booked two rooms ( not a pi ) for my 3 x dc and i to go away.

Our friends (mum and ds) were having a hard time so we took them along. The ds shared with my two older dc and the mum shared with my youngest and I.

They slept on the floor with blankets

No harm done and we all had fun

I dont necessarily disagree but what about in the case of a fire?

Are you new? MNers love a flame fest on a hotel thread.

If the hotel burns down, something terrible will happen on account of OP missing a few months off her child's DOB. Apparently.

MNers probably start all these hotel fires with their flaming of OPs.

It's core beliefs. Many people were praised as children for being scrupulously honest and snitching on their peers, usually alongside being taught a very black and white version of fairness. They grow up to be adults who still subconsciously try to impress their parents and teachers by being scrupulously honest and having unrealistic expectations of fairness, snitching on anyone they feel isn't playing by their own parents rules. It's fascinating.

PI put these rules in place to prevent 16-17 year olds staying alone, from paying child rates for a room - local authorities trying to house 16-17 year olds would love that 😄 It's got nothing to do with your average family on holiday.

If you are a family group of a guardian sharing with a minor then there's 'no foul' if your children remain 15 for a couple of years on the admin. I wouldn't even worry about the breakfast, there's so much wastage, you'd be doing them a favour by bringing another person to help minimise the waste.

🤣 I agreed with op. But if Pp is rendered unconscious and had 3/4 extra people unaccounted for?

Hardly the crime of the century.

True. Neither is shoplifting, graffiti or fraudulently using a blue badge for parking.

PI put these rules in place to prevent 16-17 year olds staying alone, from paying child rates for a room - local authorities trying to house 16-17 year olds would love that 😄 It's got nothing to do with your average family on holiday.

Where did you get this information from? If you've simply made it up, fine. Just curious.

You do what you want but I would not want to lie about this,terrible example to your DC

This seems like an entirely remote chance! Hotels have smoke detectors up the wazoo. DH used to work nights at a hotel and he was forever evacuating people over burnt toast. I think a fire in a hotel that is a real and urgent danger to the occupants of the rooms is extremely unlikely, and they would have staff/firefighters coming to clear out and check every single room individually, it's not like they are wasting time at a desk in Reception figuring out who is supposed to be where, they just evacuate everyone. Hotel fires normally start in the kitchens anyway.

When I have done group trips with friends we have all hung out loads of us in one person's room for most of the night. And according to DH there are constantly people in hotel rooms who aren't paying guests (often sex workers apparently!)

I wouldn't sweat it. Premier Inn have not yet been bankrupted by me paying for one breakfast and my two ravenous hell beasts darling offspring ploughing their way through the buffet, and they haven't hit the teen years yet.

Although DS1 did manage to break the law on his 10th birthday with the heinous crime of having his friend round to visit in Tier 3 conditions. So we're well on the way to submitting corrupt DoBs to circumvent illogical hotel room rules.

I have a Foster Son who last year was 16 but he has a moderate learning disabilities and can't be left alone in a room so we booked a double room and clicked on form he was 15. We just paid for his breakfast as he eats rather a lot. Honestly no one seemed bothered.

From helping 16-17 year olds trying to find somewhere to live and talking to hotel managers. The local authority bit was a joke.

Come on it's really not that hard to understand. For the purposes of admin 16-17 year olds are full paying because 16-17 year olds can book a room alone. It's legal for 16-17 year olds to book rooms without an adult but a hotel wouldn't want to be running a 2 tier system where 16-17 year olds with parents are treated differently/ on a different price tier, from those without parents. As long as the room is paid for at going rate, and where breakfast is consumed there's at least one full paying adult, the staff are not that bothered.

In April we stayed one night before an early ferry and didn't even put the youngest on the booking. 2dc shared the sofa bed and 6yo slept in-between us. Had we have added him on the price would have doubled. We didn't have breakfast so no issues.

I agree with this. It may seem harmless and I agree the rules are bonkers, but what if everybody did this?

We've done it but don’t use the kids eat free options as that would be unfair. PI is a business. It is illegal and is immoral in my opinion but, I too, would not want my 16yo sleeping alone especially as they are often not adjacent rooms.
I think the real problem would be when there was a serious problem requiring compensation/insurance payouts as the use of a “child” booking would invalidate your cover and/or PI’s liability to pay out. Is it a gamble worth the risk?

Huh the Travelodge and premiers we use have family rooms and no need to book an extra room for our teens

I have 3 dc and whenever I go to book at PI or TL, you can't do more than 2 children to 1 adult so I book 13 y/o as an adult.

@WildUnchartedWaters I don't think hotels keep a list for fire purposes
What if you book a room for 2 and 1 doesn't end up sleeping there? They wouldn't send in the fire brigade to look for them as they are not confirmed as there?
Also what if someone has a visitor in their room late into the evening and gets caught in a fire, they aren't on the list either?

It's the same in all public places. Passenger manifests are kept for flights for many reasons including disaster. Workplaces record people entering and leaving for occupational health and safety.