qsharp

Hi everyone,

I could not find any previous experience posts regarding this topic...

So we are planning a family trip and there are nice resorts which have Suites large enough for 5-6pax. I am a Platinum member and have had good experiences with Sofitels, which upgraded me from the most basic rooms to Suites, sometimes with a friendly request upfront. Apart from ethical reasoning, is it even possible for me to book a regular room for 2pax, and then if and when I get upgraded to a big Family Suite to stay with 5pax?

As I said, ethics and overly trying to maximize one's gain aside, would hotels tolerate this? Of course, I would not expect breakfast for 5 either.

starflyergold

If you book a room with a maximum occupancy of 2 you really cannot show up with 5-6 people. Legally and ethically very questionable. In most jurisdictions taxes are based on the number of guests so your problem starts there and only gets worse.

Goldorak

How can you even think about such a crazy plan ?

fransknorge

No.
Abandon your plan now and try to do something reasonable, like book 2 rooms with max occupancy of 3 or 3 rooms of max occupancy of 2.

qsharp

I also thought as much and the thought about it, the more embarrassed I felt to consider such scenario.

Thanks for the input and I will go for regular and ethically correct bookings instead.

namdas

I'm going to stick my neck out and say it depends on where you're traveling and the age of the kids.

With 3 kids all sub five years - one is a baby - we've been booking a double room as normal. If they have a room with a sofa bed or similar great, we'll pay, but if not we'll book a king and ask for an extra bed - despite Platinum we rarely get suites so I wouldn't count on that.

In Asia this is almost always fine, and we're rarely asked to pay for the extra bed. If its an issue the kids sleep on the floor with bedding. However I wouldn't push it in Europe where things like health and safety and insurance requirements are a lot higher - they often won't legally be allowed more than X people in a room, no matter how small. Not to mention the rooms generally being far smaller in Europe - we can survive as a family quite happily in a 45sqm room but would be bouncing off the walls at 25sqm - not my idea of fun.

I can also tell that we won't get away for this much longer - when infant needs his own seat on the plane our eldest will hit 7 and I expect the game will be up as I'd rather keep travelling frequently than buy two rooms and do half the nights away. Novotels are OK I guess but most likely we'll be doing a lot more Airbnb

My main complaint is that this is not standardised at all - it's very common on the Accor site for a room to be rated for 2 people but clicking on the room description it states that up to 3, sometimes 4 children may use the room too.(for example in Indonesia)

It's never been clear to me if the number of people = number of adults or just 'bodies'. How many people get their baby a connecting room? Where is the line drawn? In most Asian hotels children are children till 12 in rooms, 6 or 7 in restaurants.. Just tried booking for Italy and it seems a child is considered an adult from age 3!

I don't feel at this stage with a young family I'm doing anything unethical - but I also don't enjoy the feeling of being unsure if the check in desk will raise an issue either, who wants the stress?

Annalisa12

But this poster is different. He wants to check in as 2 guests then when he gets his upgrade all 5 of them stay there. Suddenly the hotel has the extra costs of the 3 kids staying there who need bedding, bed changed, further cleaning in the room etc and have not be declared.

M@rcoPolo

What I've done a couple of time is to book 2 rooms @ 2 people each and ask for an upgrade to a villa (if available where you are staying) with all 4 people staying in the villa.

You could do the same for 6 ppl if you the rooms you book have 3 ppl occupancy and the villa/suite 6 ppl occupancy.

Win / win situation if the hotel has availability, of course there's no guarantee that's actually going to happen!

keiko

I would book for 2 pax and then call a few days out and explain you have more people coming now and ask about their occupancy and whether you should book an extra room or if the upgrade will cover it. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. I frequently have Bri how many actual people I will have with me until just before. That’s how my family roll.