Can I book a double hotel room for a family of 4?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

Am looking at hotel rooms for a future trip. The cost of family rooms is eye-watering - a double room is about a third of the cost.

Kids aren’t very independent sleepers and at home we often all end up snuggled in the same king-sized bed.

So is there anything stopping us just booking a large double room in a hotel, rather than paying a fortune for beds we probably wouldn’t even use?

If you mean the UK, have you looked at Premier Inns? Lovely family rooms and usually the same price as an ordinary double. The sleeping arrangements vary a bit but typically you'd get a king size plus two small singles. Fantastic value too.

Otherwise, I think what you're proposing is probably against fire regulations and won't be allowed but you might get away with it.

How old are your kids?
Different hotels have different rules. Usually they need to know how many people are staying in each room for H&S (if there was a fire, they pull the guest information and essentially do a check list so they are able to identify anyone who may still be inside/missing). They may also not be able to let a room be overcapacity for whatever reason.

Also, to be blunt, a hotel is there to make money. They will probably do whatever the can to get you into the family room as it's more expensive and therefore cash in their till.

Good point that they need to know who is occupying the room.

To be honest we’ve done it once when we were in a fix (stuck somewhere overnight unexpectedly) - DH went to reception to pay for a double room and check-in while I held back with the kids to avoid anyone asking questions. It worked out fine for us staying in the double room but I don’t know if strictly speaking it would have been permitted. We didn’t want to ask in case the answer was no and we ended up with nowhere to sleep!

The kids are 5 and 2 and I’m looking at options for a trip in Europe - a few single nights in different places.

On further inspection there’s family triples at a reasonable price - it’s only when we starting looking at quads the price rockets. I guess we’d probably have more luck asking to put 4 in a triple than a double.

Look at Novotels. Lots of them do a second room for half price, and aren’t too expensive.

Or hotels with two double beds in, American-style. We recently stayed at a Hampton by Hilton hotel that offered that, which slept four.

Have a look at ibis. A lot of them have a bunk over the top of the double and a fold out bed.

Also Hampton Hilton's, they have two small doubles in a room. There are a few options for you all in the same room.

I agree about Novotels. Have stayed in family rooms in Paris and Geneva. Have a look at BA packages - you can do multi city breaks, have had some great bargains.

Look at holiday inns - they have 2 double beds as standard and kids eat free

You really need to check that the hotel are ok with this (even 4 in a triple). I deal with the fire regulations at the hotel I work at and the whole building has a set number of people that cannot be exceeded. You could be putting them in a really difficult position if you just turn up, where as if you let them know in advance they may be able to work round it.

Meh, I'm of the opinion that you pay for a family room if you are a family. If you can't afford that then you need to look for a cheaper holiday.

If a double room is a third of the price, surely 2 double rooms would be two thirds of the price (so still cheaper than a family room) and you just do 1 adult plus 1 child in each room?

I think it would invalidate their insurance / any liability to you that the hotel would have if anything went wrong. I think you either have to be upfront - couple of times I've phoned the hotel and said we're a 5 and could we have a room for 4 with an extra bed and they've been accommodating.

I think if you ask for one or two travel cots (even if they aren't then used) then it's fine as they know who's coming. Otherwise I wouldn't.

Our kids are older than yours and we often stay in a family room. At 5 and 2 we did it without hesitation. We have been in most chains in family rooms. No need to hide away. They have also been the same peice as a double room as they just stick camp beds on the side. You cant sleep them I independently anyway. They have to have an adult with them.

Third novotel. We stayed in a family room in Amsterdam. It was lovely

Use booking.com - you have to input the number of kids and their ages, and it gives you different room options based on that. Often kids under 5 can use existing beds free of charge. We traveled a lot with two kids, staying in twin rooms and sharing with one child each

If you book a double and then try to smuggle in two extra people, you run the risk of the hotel asking you to leave. The numbers a room sleep are set by their Fire Risk Assessment. This is what used to be a Fire Certificate. Of course fires are very rare but the law on FRA is there for a reason. At some point anyway you are going to have to bite the bullet and book bigger rooms or two rooms. Might as well be now.

If you use Booking.com they have the existing beds policy in the small print for each hotel - it often says things like children under 12 can use existing bedding for free / £10 per night etc. Need to check for each hotel. I wouldn't just turn up with kids you've not booked in as they could reject booking. We used to share large beds when ours were small - some beds abroad where massive and much larger than UK beds.