'Sneaking' two extra children into hotel room booked for two adults and two children

[AlbertCamel]

AIBU in thinking this may have implications regarding insurance etc?

Friend is off on holiday later today to a large hotel abroad with her DH and four DC aged between 4 and 16. Not a package, no meals included and flights were booked separately.

The room has a small bedroom, bathroom and living area with a sofa bed. It sleeps 4. They've booked it for two adults and two children. That's the maximum number of people allowed.

She wants to check in with DH, their two youngest boys and all their luggage, and have the two oldest boys wait outside until they're 'sneaked' in a little while later.

I think that whilst this is logistically possible, it will have implications but not sure what these implications might be. Friend thinks there's no problem with this and nobody will bat an eyelid.

AIBU in saying it's not a good idea?

That’s incorrect. You get a wrist band that varies in colour depending on your package. No wrist band no access to pool.

I've never had to give my passport details to a hotel 🫤

Honestly the idea of being asked to confirm details like this sounds incredibly tacky. Hotels have always had a large open ground floor with all night concierge.
I’ve never experienced hotel locking the door.

I don't think that planning holiday accommodation with assumption of "sneaking 2 additional people against the rules" is a good idea.
There are surely options where you can officially move in without the need of playing these games.

"Friend" is it you. Although I'm sure it will be fine it just sounds a miserable holiday. I don't understand why you didn't get a 2nd room or bigger one accommodation is the cheap part of the holiday when your paying separately. For a few hundred quid I'd rather just be comfortable and relaxed

They might get away with it and they might not care, but it is theft, and as such it is taking from someone else without their say. In this case, just because a hotel is a service does not make it any less than theft. The two extra kids will contribute to wear and tear, use toileting and water, and increased footfall in the hotel and also overriding the hotel's intended plans for capacity. It's not just about insurance, it's about ensuring the place is not overcrowded for everybody's convenience, including staff. So yeah, they will cost the hotel to have them there.
I think if a friend of mine had this plan then I'd lose a lot of respect for their moral compass-it's freeloading and it's not an essential. I'd have more respect if they nicked essential stuff from a shop because they couldn't afford it. But stealing holiday accommodation for two people. Nah, icks me out. Buying most of a holiday and stealing the rest, it's cheapskate and selfish and makes her/ her family look like a chancy tightwad.

It's awful behaviour and a horrible situation to put her children in. My DH's parents used to do similar stuff when he was growing up, he is now his in early 40's and still recalls the embarrassment he felt as a child and teen in those situations! Why going on holidays abroad if they clearly can't afford to provide suitable accommodation for all their children? 6 people, including two adults and teens, in a room with a double bed and a sofa bed?

Spot on @MrMucker

You can't have travelled much !
Other than my home country (UK), every hotel I've ever been to takes a copy of my passport.

The hotel are going to make the connection very quickly when the occupants of room 200 for 4 people regularly turn up to pay for breakfast for 6.

Either way, sounds like hell to share that tightly and the 16 yo could easily have had another room with a younger sibling so that's just being tight. And dishonest.

None of your business though.

The parents will be in the bedroom. Two oldest top to tail on the sofa bed in living room with the two youngest on some type of inflatable bed also in the living room.
Slightly off in a tangent. Why do people top and tail? I do dint understand this. I don't want someone's feet near my face. And what's the big deal about sleeping next to someone anyway?

“However, her boys are pretty loud when they're at home and so it's unlikely they won't draw attention to themselves on holiday and full of energy and excitement”

Euugh 😩 The picture you are painting of them is that they are one of those nightmare families you dread being next door to in a hotel or who rock up next to you at the beach/pool/ restaurant 😱

The hotel will have no qualms about calling the police and getting them kicked out. Tolerance and fear of bad reviews or not being “woke” is not a priority in Spain. They couldn’t give a shit 🥴

Look, every hotel is going to be different. There's a massive difference between a 600 room hotel with 24/7 reception and an all-night bar, and a small family-run hotel with 40 rooms. Some will have staff on all night, others won't. Some will have a wristband system, others won't. Some will have switched on staff who know what's going on, others will have staff who don't give a shit if you have 20 extra people in the room.

In Spain recently we have been asked to show passports of all adults when checking in, and give home address, credit card to be lodged against damage/expenses. That's standard.

We stayed on Mallorca last year and yes, ALL guests were given wristbands denoting whether they were all-inclusive, b&b, half board, under 18 whatever. Mostly because the hotel was not fenced off and you could just walk out of the grounds onto the local beach. We saw the bar staff chasing your Spanish version of the grabby cheeky fuckers out of the buffet area one lunchtime when they had just wandered off the beach and thought they'd just take some food they hadn't paid for.

That’s incorrect. You get a wrist band that varies in colour depending on your package. No wrist band no access to pool.

Not all hotels use this system. Maybe ones with lots of CFs do :)

I wouldn't do this as it's dishonest but not because I'd be worried about a fire. The chances of a fire are teeny and the chances of firefighters checking guest lists and then not bothering trying to rescue two of the kids etc is ridiculously unlikely.

I think this may be the main issue which will catch them out. When they arrive at their accommodation how are they planning to get past the reception staff? Are the older children going to leg it around a corner whilst staff are collecting their bags for them? Hotels are obliged to take passport info for each occupant and will look to do this. Too stressful for me and being dishonest and worrying about being caught out/getting the kids to act dishonestly would make the whole holiday stressful.

It amazes me that so many here condone fraud and what they perceive to be low level crimes

It all sounds a bit too much effort to me, sneaking about, going for meals separately, using the pool, avoiding the staff all for the sake of paying for an extra room,. Maybe that will add to the excitement and give them something to boast about though.

And the rest of us book 7 days if we can't afford to take all, of our children away for 10 days.

I did smile as it crossed my mind that this is a great tactic to ensure that this is definitely the teens last family holiday… can you imagine cramped in one living room, on one end of a sofa with three younger siblings

…there again other than the younger siblings….sounds like many young adult holidays!😉

@Misthios 😂😂 oh the outrage! I don’t do this btw but I also think that hotels are massively ripping people off , a standard double for 750 euros for two nights is ridiculous. I wouldn’t sneak extra people in but I don’t get why the op cares. Also I’m waiting for the “ they shouldn’t have had 4 kids “ 😂 like that’s a solution.

Definitely can't state that with any authority. We use many hotel pools when away, lots are open to the public on the understanding you use their bar/restaurant etc. lots don't have wristbands at all unless an all inclusive resort (then you can often buy a day pass)

Also agree with others that 90% of people would be paying for the right occupancy that the booking system defaulted to. What makes your friend's family special? If they don't want to pay the price they should be paying, as responsible grown up adults go to a different resort or hotel, it's what everyone else has to do when booking a holiday.

We usually rent a villa in the Balearics. For quite a few years, the villa company have needed passport details, I think for the tourist tax. I’d imagine hotels are the same.

Burden their friend with this knowledge.

Fuck me, she told her she's sneaking two kids into a hotel room. She didn't bury a body in the woods.

We usually do when we check in. But it’s not the sort of hotels that would make you wear bracelets tbf. Sorry wristbands I mean.

But if you can but day passes to a pool area, wouldn’t it be always very crowded..?