Dzigavertov

I'm a SPG gold, and we have been trying to put together a family trip to Europe in May. Two adults, two kids (6 and 4). All the SPG hotels won't allow four persons to a room, does Marriott have the same rules? I have 250k+ spg points that I can transfer to Marriott.

Ideally we wanted to go to Italy with United miles, but now, honestly, we aren't sure where to go. Previously, it was recommended looking at the Marriott flight/miles packages, which look like a good deal.

Any properties in Italy or Europe that you would recommend for young kids, during that time of year? Or should we just forget spg/marriott and look at Airbnb or something else? I don't want to spend points on two rooms or an expensive suite.

Often1

Many countries & cities (or other local jurisdictions) have strict fire code rules regarding number of occupants per rooms and room size may be a good deal smaller, especially at lower rates.

That is a generalization, so you really need to research property-by-property. In addition, as with SPG, I would always call the property (front desk, not toll-free reserevations) to discuss whether there are rooms which might acommodate four people (make sure ages are known) and whether those might be booked for a cash supplement.

If you are basing yourself from the website, that is a bad idea if you are looking for what amounts to the exception.

Dzigavertov

Thanks for the tip. Anyone had success with specific properties?

CJKatl

The advice above is solid, especially about calling. In addition...

The Marriott website is actually good at this. Enter that you are looking for four guests in one room and the site will only return the larger rooms that will accommodate you. Some of these larger rooms are only available with points+cash, but you may find points only if you call the property.

Example: If you do a search for the St Denis CY outside of Paris, or the Rive Gauche FS, for two guests, then change it to four guest, you will see many options disappear. You will only see the options that will fit four guests. I did a search for Paris in mid-Feb and found eleven hotels within ten miles of Paris that had rooms for four guest. Points+cash reduced that to four, with the Ren LPT being the best bargain at +80 Euro per night. In Rome, there was one hotel that would work for you on points+cash. In Florence, there is a pointsaver option, but it requires +400 Euros per night.

Friends stayed at the St Denis, parents and two kids a little older than yours, and loved it. It was a relative bargain. While they had a single room for four, it's a Cat 5 so you could actually do two rooms for the price of one room closer into Paris.

Dzigavertov

Interesting, so point plus cash will show up, but I gotta call for points only? I’m used to Starwood, where most list point options, and if they don’t, the website will indicate you need to call. I’ll start on a list of Marriott properties and see what we can find.

CPRich

I never had any luck. We ended up reserving 2 rooms (various chains) in Iceland, Greece, France, England and Turkey over the last couple years.

CJKatl

Technically there is no points option for the larger rooms at most hotels, but sometimes an elite can get an exception. Personally, I have had one exception granted (an American RI) and at least one no.

Dzigavertov

I see, good to know. I did just find one junior suite in Rome that was asking for a small fortune.

whimsey21

as someone who travels quite frequently with my family, I’m very familiar with this situation. My general advice is to figure out where you want to go, and then contact the Marriott/SPG properties to ask if they’d have rooms that will accommodate four, or any kind of deal on a reduced rate for a kids room. Once in a while this pays off, as I’ve had some properties upgrade me in advance to a large enough room or point me to a family option I didn’t see. Spg’s are also nice in that suites are sometimes bookable with points for not that much more than s regular room, and can often accommodate 2 adults and 2 kids.

as far as specific properties go, we had a very nice time at the Sheraton Rhodes (with family rooms that easily fit 4) and stayed in a four-person suite at the Hyatt Etoile in Paris. Usually in Europe I have better luck with Hilton properties, as many offer a second room at 50% off the price of the first room. Some SPG properties do this as well, but I don’t recall which ones.

whimsey21

I also just remembered that the Marriott Grosvenor Square in London had family rooms as well.

3Cforme

That is good advice. OP should understand that an SPG award (indulge me in this forum, please) is for two persons, irrespective of available bedding in the booked room. Put explicitly - booking a suite with two queen beds and a sleep sofa, the OP might still be asked to pay a fee for guest count >2.

whimsey21

a good point. Fortunately many, if not all, SPG properties have a policy that two children under 12 are free in the room with existing bedding if allowed by the occupancy rules, so it often works out. But when you contact the property, they’ll let you know their specific policy regarding children.

CJKatl

Just to reiterate, the occupancy rules can be different outside the US than within the US, so if it's not clear in the reservation, always call/email ahead of time when you are traveling with kids. People vacationing overseas who are used to hotel managers in the US bending over backwards when they need a larger room are often astounded when a French hotel manager does nothing, not realizing his/her hands are tied by strict, enforced laws.

As I've posted before, close friends called me several years ago when they were standing at a French hotel check-in desk to see if I had any tricks up my sleeve for them. They wound up spending half a day finding and getting to a new hotel. Better to call ahead and not have to waste that time while on an expensive vacation.

piyush

I've had good luck emailing properties as well.

For example I had helped a family member book the Le Meridien, Paris using points. I had e-mailed the property in advance and asked them which rooms could accommodate 2 adults and 2 children. They gave me a few options. I then booked the cheapest one available with points and e-mailed them the details. If memory serves me correctly they did charge an extra person fee of 30 Euros over and above the points rate but it was worth it.

JBauer

We’ve done this many times, you just book the room for two adults, and show up with two small children. The key is that the children are small. And it’s not a problem. Or you don’t have all the kids with you when you check in at the front desk and you and your wife check in separately. It’s an absurd notion that you’d have to get two rooms with two small children, so there are many ways around this.