Hotel won't allow us to bring a travel cot because of their insurance policy?

[annatha]

I wonder if anyone can shed a little light on this- We've booked a few nights in a hotel on the Isle of Man in a standard double room. Husband booked online and told them we'd be bringing our 15wk old. According to the website under 16s go free.

He got in touch this week as the payment still hasn't been taken (we booked a month ago) and the hotel had apparently emailed a few weeks ago to see if we wanted to upgrade to the family room with cot, baby bath, extra bed etc. We declined (too expensive!) explaining that we would just bring our travel cot. They then replied saying that we would be unable to use our travel cot as there wouldn't be enough room, and also that it's against their insurance policy. We are welcome to co-sleep, but not bring the travel cot. Husband hasn't replied yet but we're thinking of bringing the moses basket and if they question us saying that we co-sleep by putting it in the middle of the bed.

They also mentioned that they only supply semi skimmed milk for breakfast but could get whole in if we needed it. WTF? She's 15 weeks old!!

Not sure if it's a ploy to make us upgrade, or genuinely an insurance issue? And also how small is this room going to be if we can't fit a travel cot in? Bit peeved as we bought it just for this hol and I've spent a week trying to get her to sleep in the sodding thing.

they might be concerned about fire safety in materials, although unless the travel cot is 30 years old this isn't an issue.

normally hotels provide the travel cot. And semi-skimmed is standard but they said they can get whole milk, so that's not a problem.

however if you've booked too small a room to fit any travel cot in, that can't be changed. Cancel and go elsewhere.

Take the cot anyway, and tell them you are co-sleeping.

archery I was going to, but DH was worried that we would get chucked out if they saw it in our room.

specialist The milk thing confused me as they were offering to get whole milk in for a 15 week old baby, who obviously can't drink cow's milk. As for the room size, we are a little worried as the travel cot is only sort of a metre squared (DH told them exact measurements, I think) so with price of a room we'd expect a metre square of floor space anywhere, with or without baby.

If their rooms cannot accommodate a travel cot without adequate room around it to escape in the event of a fire they may be in breach of fire safety regs. However, if there is only one family room how do they cope if other families want to stay?

I remember Center Parcs pulling a similar stunt when friends wanted to have their twins in two travel cots in their room. CP said they would have to have one cot in their double room and the other cot in another double room, arguing that it was fire safety regs. The fact that they could have climbed out of the window was not mentioned, in the event of fire! They were adamant that the rules stated there must be enough room to walk out around the furniture without having to climb over anything.

Not sure the milk is for the baby, it is probably for those who prefer whole milk.

If you aren't entirely confident with this hotel, cancel. Just a thought, are they reviewed on trip advisor, has anyone else mentioned any problems with cots in rooms?

Ahh I'd not thought of fire regs girlywhirly, that makes the most sense. Thanks everyone. I think I'm just being overly anxious as it's our first time overnight anywhere with DD.