Flying Lawyer

Please excuse me for being a very direct. I am really amazed about a certain attitude that everything needs to be done the same way as it is done in someone's homeplace.

In plenty places in Europe hotels are used to charge by the number of persons in a room. This might be logical or might not be logical but it is the contractual reality.

If you go to Rome you need to do as the Romans do. If you go to Europe you need to play according to the rules we have in Europe.

If I go to the United States I need to tip each and everybody, I need to pay insane taxes on my room rate imposed by federal, state and local government. In addition to such tips I am expected to pay service charges hidden in the fine print of the menu. I however do so because I am aware that it is the local rule or custom. In my world and my reality, this is absolutely insane and absolutely iillogical. I do however do not breach the local rules.

The local rule in Europe - if such common local rule exists - says that a room that is contracted for two persons is meant to be occupied by two persons. You may decide not to follow the rules and to avoid telling the hotel that you host more than two persons. You need however to be aware that you are not only playing unfair but that you are breaching your contract.

The number "two" is as clear as it can be. You might decide not to follow that rule. You might however except, that not everybody follows that approach

NYTA

Emphasis on "if such common local rule exists". Under your theory if I book a room for one and then someone else joins me in the room, am I not following the rules, or is the limitation only from two to three? As someone who clearly spends a lot of time in Germany (as do I), I'm sure you can appreciate the local German custom of privacy. If I have paid for my room, who I bring there with me should not be any of the hotel's business as long as I'm not doing anything illegal (i.e. exceeding occupancy codes for fire or other illegal activities).

mahasamatman

If someone books a room for one person, only one person should be sleeping there. Many hotels charge different rates based on occupancy, so one shouldn't try to circumvent that by lying.

NYTA

Did you even read the rest of the thread where we talked about intent?

RogerD408

I lie all the time... I will typically book a room for two (provided no significant rate difference) when travelling alone. One to help them with the numbers (although room counts is probably all they care about), and two just in case I choose to invite a friend to stay over. Sometimes my bookings are quite a ways out and I don't want to worry about what was booked should things change.

Booking a room for one vs two (or three) does not necessarily change how dirty the room is going to get. I've seen singles use "more" than doubles. I'm more than happy reusing a towel, but some take a fresh towel each and every time. And that's fine. Will we see a clean towel dispenser in the rooms? I hope not.

Having spent many stays at spring break popular properties, I have seen rooms overflowing and doubt the room was booked for 12! Seeing drunk kids sleeping poolside is not always a sight to be seen, but does appear to be tolerated (exceptions are the prerogative of the property).

BOSTransplant

I understand that this is your line of thought, but honestly, it's just not the law. Legally, hotels are allowed to add restrictions, including the number of people allowed in a room, and you are obligated to follow those restrictions or be in breach of contract. The only legal restrictions on what a hotel cannot use a basis for an extra charge in the US are race, religion, gender, and disability status. Right now the Supreme Court is hearing a case whose outcome may decide whether or not sexual orientation qualifies as a protected class. I'm sure other countries have different laws, but I would be dumbfounded if any country had a law on the books that doesn't allow companies to "discriminate" based on the number of people using the service they provide.

Anything that isn't on that list is a valid grounds for additional charges. If they want to charge people named Fred twice as much, then they can, and you're welcome to not stay there. SPG has (had?) a "Pay Your Birth Year" promotion, which personally is not that beneficial for me, as I was born in the 90s, but you don't see me up in arms about it.

BOSTransplant

Basically, this entire thread can be summed up with one acronym: WARRWNAOCBARRWNAOC (want a room/rate with no additional occupancy charges, buy a room/rate with no additional occupancy charges).

azepine00

It is impossible to book a room online (especially outside us) for 2 adults and 2 children even though i never had a problem after booking for 2 and contacting hotel. This is not about lying but about rather unusable reservation engine at least for me.

Some hotels clearly post policy of child stays free in existing bedding (even though you still can not book one on a reservation) - so occupancy limits dont seem to apply as universally as some try to portray them

As for adults - iirc ich and hilton have (or at least had on the past) spouse stay free benefit which directly contradicts single occupancy requirement claimed.

Its a mess overall so i cant blame someone for using common sense rather than trying to navigate this.

destg

I stayed like 15 times in this hotel before and got Suites all the time.
Then like 2 month ago i seen the Upgrade to 2 Bedroom Suite online some days before the stay, so i thought nice and I called the hotel and asked if there is prize change from 2-3 people. The woman checked it and sayed no change. All good.
At the day of the stay we came pretty late and surprise suprise just a regular Suite and no 2 Bedroom Suite was avail as upgrade. 1 bed was missing so i called and they moved 1 extra bed in. For no extra fee.
1 month or something later stayed again in the hotel and we got this 2 Bedroom Suite.
(visible as upgrade again days before) So common sense was for me, no extra fee. Guess i was wrong and the hotel deals random with it

Flying Lawyer

If you contract the room for one person you are entitled to have one person there. It is as easy as this. It is simply about the contract entered into. The hotel is free to draft their contracts for one or for two persons; you are free to stay at a certain hotel or not.

You put your Emphasis on your frequent stays in Germany. Given that, you should appreciate that Germany has certain laws. In particular in Germany, you are breaching public law if your host a person in a hotel room without registering such person. Under German law you are obliged to register yourself. That is the form you sign when checking in into a hotel even though you might just consider this to be a credit card authorisation. Your privacy argument, with all respect, is nothing but a BS argument to avoid payment for what you are obliged to pay.

MSPeconomist

It's common for apartment buildings and condos/coops to have rules on the maximum number off occupants living in the unit based on thee number of bedrooms or other measures of size. In fact, some jurisdictions have limits on the number of total occupants in private homes and/or (separate) limits on the number of unrelated individuals (so that a homeowner cannot run a boarding house or hostel on the property). These seem to generally be legally enforceable.

NYTA

I spend at least 30 nights a year in European hotels and have never checked into a hotel anywhere in Europe where I have been asked for more than my own passport and credit card even if other companions were standing right next to me at the checkin desk so either this registration law you reference is no longer required or it is not enforced by the hotel reception staff.

MSPeconomist

Europe is not (yet?????) a single country.

MichaelBaku

And let's hope it stays that way.

mahasamatman

I just tried it, and it worked just fine. So either your issue is property-specific, or something else is going on.

I read it, and most of it is irrelevant.

Just because you do something doesn't make it right.