Why does Booking.com want to put my 10 month old in a separate room (and charge us for it!)

[vallaloop]

Surely I am doing something wrong!

We would like to go away for a few nights and all we need is a king size bed as we co-sleep.

If I select ‘2 adults and 0 children’ then guesthouses with king size beds show up in the search results.

If I select ‘2 adults and 1 child, <1 year old,’ the previous availabilities disappear and the only properties shown are those which have two rooms available, and consequently are double the price.

Is the only option to contact places directly and explain we are 2+1 but we don’t need any additional beds or rooms?

Main reason I'd suggest you book directly is to be sure they will allow this option. Guesthouse/hotel bedding might not be suitable for co sleeping with a your child/baby/toddler. Also booking.com must not be understanding what a one year old is if it thinks that age of child sleeps in a different room from a parent anywhere other than it's own home.

I avoid booking.com. One gets much better rooms and service by booking direct with the hotel.

you know that "king size bed" tend to be 2 singles stuck together dont' you?

They don't allow babies/children in those properties, that's why they don't show up when you add that on.

I honestly don't know why anyone uses Airbnb or Booking.com. They are only advertising platforms for individual owners or agents. Its much easier and cheaper to book direct. Put the property name into Google and it will direct you to non algorithm/AI to book what you need.

Just contact the property and ask to book a room for the three of you and say you’ll be bringing a travel cot.

Can you explain how you book accommodation you find on Airbnb directly with the owner?

Have you tried Expedia - they are often cheaper and might give you what you need?

Loads of reasons.
I get a genius discount of 10% quite often
I can pay extra to have the right to cancel
I can have more options on how I pay
It's less hassle than phoning up the provider directly

Booking.com used to book 2 adults and an 8 year old in one double bed for us. Insane.

I booked a hotel with Vrbo and it was cheaper than booking it directly (I did check). I think they were selling off Tui slots as we were in the Tui 'wing' with lots of French people. I got a great deal!

Copy and paste the text
add the area and the heading of bookings
99 times out of hundred it will bring up the other places that the property is advertised on including the website

@limescale put the property name and area into Google and it will come up.

OP, when this used to happen to us, I just did the search for 2 adults then phoned the hotel directly before booking to explain the situation. They never had a problem with this. In fact, I think we used to take our travel cot and co-sleep half the night so they didn't have to provide any extras.

Don't use booking dot com (edited to remove mumsnet stupid advertising links) at all! I have had multiple bad experiences with them and will never book with them again, though I'll use their website to identify an appropriate hotel and will then book direct. The non-hotel properties they have that aren't also on airbnb have that status because they don't meet airbnb criteria for reliability, cleanliness etc and booking dot com have much lower standards for who can advertise with them.

Agree with pp a room advertised as with a king size bed may not be suitable for family co-sleeping as it will often be 2 singles pushed together, so you would need to speak to/email the property in any case. Find a hotel with a kingsize bedroom for 2 adults solo that you like, and send them an email to check whether the room is suitable for there to be a baby too and book direct.

If there is no room for a travel cot it’ll force a bigger or additional room at an extra cost. Best to contact them. And obviously they need numbers in case of fire etc.

Had this with Mariott Bonvoy last week. I get a free room a year and most places wouldn't let us stay in a king bed with our four year old. Honestly, I booked two adults, checked in without them, got two keys and called it a day. If I want to holiday crammed in with a sweaty, wiggly boy that's on me.

I would never ever do this again with Airbnb.
I’ve had numerous positive experiences via Airbnb and the one time I booked direct, it didn’t end well and you have no comeback.

Booking.com. I always check both and it’s often cheaper. I can also book and cancel at the click of a button which is so much easier.

You don't know the exact address of an airbnb until a few days before your booking starts, so I don't know how I could google it. What am I missing?

As @ChrisMartinsKisskam (great name btw) says:

"Copy and paste the text
add the area and the heading of bookings
99 times out of hundred it will bring up the other places that the property is advertised on including the website"

Many owners advertise on more than one platform and also have their own website - which they aren't allowed to link to in their advert - , but they will tend to use the same photos/text so a google search should find their website/contact details.

Owners pay commission to airbnb/booking dot com etc so you will often get a better rate by booking direct, plus you have the advantage of being in direct contact with the owners.

@limescale you don't need the property address. Just the name and area of the property. For example "Sea View Cottage in Devon" then the property will come up and 9 times out of 10 the property will be on every advertising platform and have a direct booking website. The property will be cheaper as the owner/agents pay commission per booking to use advertising platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com. You will still be able to pay with card/cancel your booking if need be and get a contract.

Thanks @50kHobbyJob & @Justanotherdramalama
I'll test it out later. I'd be quite surprised if the owners of the 2 bed town house in Liverpool or the room I had in Southampton had their own websites, they both seemed like people just getting a bit of extra money.

Yes, doesn’t work for me either, I also get two rooms although these are family-friendly properties and it explicitly states that children/babies are allowed and cots provided. Still it would add a second double room for 2x adults and 1 baby. I used to love booking.com but had to stop using it for this reason.

You can override the selection usually. They suggest x2 rooms (no idea why and it drives me crazy) but you can usually override it if you scroll down to the “make your own selection” bit.

I book the room I want for two adults.
Then I contact the hotel & tell them about the child.

If there’s a problem, you can cancel.
Make sure to book the full refund option.