Hilton HHonors - Travelling to Europe with 2 children

Browsing the list of hotels in France, Italy and Spain, I noticed that most Hiltons seem to not "like" us being 4 in the same room.

A few exceptions were the ADT in Paris and the Hilton in Sorrento, Italy.

My question is: since my children are still pretty young, is it possible to be 4 in a King room? Or does this go against Hilton's policy?

The safest way to book a European hotel for 4 is to look for a "family room". Many hotels have a maximum occupancy and they will probably enforce it. A king room may be a smallish room with one queen or possibly one king bed. A twin room will probably a room with two twin beds.

If the website will not allow 2 adults and 2 children to be booked, try calling the hotel directly. They may have family rooms that are not put into the central booking site.

Just for grins I checked out a hotel in Germany. The Hilton Cologne King Duplex Suite, which is large, will only allow 2 adults and one child. It will not allow 4 people to be booked into it.


I would not book a king room and expect to be accommodated by the hotel with a room that has two beds and holds 4 people!

I would not book a king room and expect to be accommodated by the hotel with a room that has two beds and holds 4 people!

Exactly. The ability to override the max occupancy will depend on the age of the children. Does "pretty young" mean 3 and 5 or 13 and 15. If the former, then once you make the reservation, contact the hotel directly (either by fax of email) and explain the situation and they will likely be able to accommodate your request. If the latter, you are looking at either a family room or two rooms (that is if you want to remain w/Hilton hotels).

Exactly. The ability to override the max occupancy will depend on the age of the children. Does "pretty young" mean 3 and 5 or 13 and 15. If the former, then once you make the reservation, contact the hotel directly (either by fax of email) and explain the situation and they will likely be able to accommodate your request. If the latter, you are looking at either a family room or two rooms (that is if you want to remain w/Hilton hotels).

Thanks. "Pretty young" means 6 and 8 (or 7 and 9 at the time of the travel).

Our family of four (children ages 12 and 15) did a 2-week vacation in Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic this summer. I had hoped to use Hilton points for some of our lodging, but quickly ran into the same limitations you mention. The suggestions to call the hotel directly and ask them about accommodations for 4 is probably a good idea.

If that doesn't get the result you need, our approach was to search for lodging for 4 on venere.com, check user reviews at venere.com and tripadvisor.com, then use tripadvisor's rate search tool to see what kind of rate we could get (we found rates on venere.com to often be higher than those you could find on other websites). In many cases, you can also find the hotel or pension website directly and check rates and room layouts that way. We ended up staying at a couple of small- to mid-sized hotels (Munich, Prague) and several small hotels or pensions (Ruette, Salzburg, Czecky Krumlov). None of them were high-end places, but all were clean, comfortable, and thoroughly enjoyable. The pension apartments sometimes have a small living area in addition to the beds, which we found got a lot of use in the evenings.

Thanks. "Pretty young" means 6 and 8 (or 7 and 9 at the time of the travel).

Definitely old enough to qualify as "too old to not notice". Sometimes a baby/infant is not counted. A 7 and 9 year old certainly will be.

You'll find many threads on this all over Flyertalk. It is a perennial problem for Americans travelling overseas with their kids. Unfortunately, in most instances, the larger chain hotels don't work well for families due to the occupancy restrictions (sometimes 2, occasionally 3, rarely 4). It never hurts to call the hotel, and you can sometimes "hide a kid" at check-in if nothing else will work. It rarely makes economic sense to book two rooms, give the expense (and the value of the dollar), especially since smaller hotels usually do have "family rooms" (and even renting apartments can be cheaper).

Frankly, if the Hiltons don't work out, you won't really be missing much, as the smaller local hotels can be more "authentic" and usually cheaper. It's just an annoyance if you're trying to use points -- or priceline. It also limits where you can stay, and requires extra research time.

In my experience with this issue, I've found Priority Club (Holiday Inn) to have more options overseas for families of 4. They were pretty much the only chain option when we went to Australia couple years back (2 young children in tow). Hilton Cairns was one nice exception.

That is the only reason I stay at PC properties and collect PC points - international award redemption.

Of course shopping local/boutique is always another option too.

And I'm so thankful Hilton ADT has double-double rooms - we loved that hotel!

Try looking at the UK website, www.hilton.co.uk and check the relevant hotel policies. Most of the hotels on that site will tell you what their family policy is and how many can stay in a room.

The Hilton Prague and the Hilton Metropole in London have the best accommodations for a family of 2 adults and 2 children that I have experienced. Both have rooms with 2 queens that are more or less just like you would find in the US. We had 4 adults in a double-queen room at the Hilton Prague. I was upgraded to a double queen room at the London Metropole, but there was only one of me on that trip.

In general though, you are correct that it is very difficult for a family of 4 to book one room at most Hilton's outside the US. Good luck!!

In my experience with this issue, I've found Priority Club (Holiday Inn) to have more options overseas for families of 4.

Yeah, I think that's true, too -- at least of the US chains. Accor has an expanding "Suites" brand that can be very helpful for families.

http://www.suitehotel.com/gb/home/index.shtml

I've also stayed in basic family rooms at Travelodge in the UK.

But, most of the time, it's better to book independent hotels for families. I often google my city or town and "family room" to help find selections.

In my experience with this issue, I've found Priority Club (Holiday Inn) to have more options overseas for families of 4. They were pretty much the only chain option when we went to Australia couple years back (2 young children in tow). Hilton Cairns was one nice exception.
Australia is tough. Hilton is useless in this regard in Australia (Cairns excepted), but Marriott has very comfortable double-double rooms.