4 people in one hotel room

[MuffinFace]

I'm trying to book a night in a hotel near Manchester airport and am baffled to find that the only way for our family of 4 (2 adults, an 8 year old and a 4 year old) to do this seems to be to get a room with 2 double beds. It's sometimes a proper double bed and a double sofa bed on offer, sometimes 2 full double beds. I don't understand how we're supposed to arrange ourselves - I get that there are technically 4 spaces in the beds but who wants it as two doubles rather than a double and two singles?! I had similar problems before booking in Edinburgh and in Germany. AIBU to think that most people booking 4 people in a room would want 1 double and 2 singles instead of 2 doubles or am I missing something?

Hotels like this are often mostly used by travelling business people, who (unfortunately) often have to share a room.

That's who the rooms with two doubles are aimed at. No adult wants to sleep in a single bed, so they offer two separate double beds.

We asked for an extra duvet. One sleeps under the first duvet and the other sleeps on top of that on their side with an extra duvet on top

Check premier inn if any in the area

I have a spare room with bunk beds for my granddaughters but they always choose to sleep in the double sofa bed in the living room.

I don't get why people think it's inappropriate for siblings of opposite sexes to share as an occasional thing.
If you seriously think there is anything to worry about there, you've got much bigger problems and shouldn't be thinking about hotels at all, but your family life.

A double, a single and a pull-out single/futon type thing

Quite often stay at one of the Premier Inns (Runger Lane North & South) if flying from Manchester. If you book a family room...
"Standard family
Our family rooms include a double or kingsize bed, plus a sofa bed and pull-out bed depending on the number of guests staying in the room"
Sorted.

My adult son has autism and when he's poorly he sleeps with me. He struggles with feeling ill and it comforts him.

If it bothers you enough, just pay the extra for two interconnecting rooms - a double and a twin.

@MuffinFace Have you tried contacting the Premier Inn you are interested in directly and asking what they have? Some of the Family rooms DO have a double, a sofa bed made into a single plus a pull out bed which given the ages of your children would be fine?

Why is there a problem with the two children sharing a bed?

Pretty standard. Usually me and dh share with a child each and 3rd child gets futon bed.

well said

And if it's such a weird moral issue about the "opposite sexes", it's not like mum could share a bed with daughter and leave other bed to son. Oh, wait...

🤣🤣🤣

Premier inn: one double and two singles.
I’ve stayed at PI at about 70 locations in the uk as a family of four.

Dd has had a double since about four. It took till then to lever her out of my bed reliably and she moves so much in her sleep I wasn’t risking a fear of falling out of bed/fights with the wall triggering a step backwards!

she’s nine now and tbh it’s mostly a place to keep the ridiculous number of stuffed toys she has. I think she’ll be fine with a single if needed and if not she’ll be too old for it to be my problem!

A bit unfair, OP has explained the 4yo moves around which wakes the 8yo.

So you put pillows etc down the middle. Or you do one adult one child.
It's not difficult. Ask the four year old, they'll manage it

Such a weird comment. I liked my holidays. Why are you telling me what holidays I should and should have?!

Eh?! How did you get that from what I wrote, I've been to both so why would I be judging lol? My point was you can't dismiss my statement that beds are generally bigger in US hotels based on 2 locations in a country with 50 states, particularly when one is a very populated city!

There is a significant gap between the age at which it would be appropriate for DC to have separate hotel rooms (even if interconnecting, because there would still be a door into the interconnected room directly from the corridor) and when it becomes inappropriate/ uncomfortable for opposite sex siblings to share a bed.

Disagree. If the kids are of an age where their sex is an issue requiring separate rooms, they are now likely now mature enough to occupy separate rooms. But I don't subscribe to the view opposite sex siblings must be kept separate like kittens.

Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport has family rooms,1 double and two single.

It is only for one night, so what is all the drama about ffs?

Those of you saying your children share, surely it would still be better if they each had a single bed rather than sharing a double?

Yes it would be better. But it's one night. Either deal with it, call the hotel asking if it's possible to split the second bed, or book two rooms.

There are things called restaurants, take away delivery, deli selling ready made food..

I do just as little in a rental than in a hotel, with added bonus of separate rooms, plenty of space for the kids, and a proper kitchen with fridges etc to store snacks and drinks

Yes, so you have to go and find shops and delis. Even if you order in takeaways you still need milk and coffee and snacks and other basics. You still have to clear up afterwards, wash dishes/ load and unload dishwasher. Or go out for every meal not have room service and it cleared up for you.

For me personally, with a full time job and so much else on my plate as a lone parent and some health problems the holiday is for my children's benefit but also because I actually need total rest as well, just for two weeks per year, because the rest of the year I have to do everything and function on 2-3 hrs of sleep per day.

Obviously, people's situations are different, and what they want from a holiday is different, and hotels will cater to whatever they think will earn them the most money... hence providing cramped rooms with sub-optimal options for flexibility of sleeping arrangements in many cases. I just find it odd when hotels market themselves specifically as family hotels and then provide "family" rooms (or "suggested" rooms for 2 children and either 1 or 2 adults) that will be the less preferred option for most families with children, most of whose children would prefer two single beds to a double bed.

The additional space/ cost to change a double bed (that is being marketed as large enough for two occupants to share) to two singles that can be converted to a double so people have a choice, would not result in a significant enough saving in the price charged to make it preferable for many people, one would think. In many smaller, boutique or family-run hotels in Europe a more traditional and practical "family room" setup is still more common. Not much of a holiday if the accommodation is impractical and uncomfortable! But I think many of the large, mass-market hotels sadly just focus on price these days rather than guest comfort and try to pack in as many people as possible, as posters have said.

I don't believe I said that.

Also, what's your issue with kittens?