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Is a "double" room normally one double bed (i.e. a rather cramped bed for two), or two double beds? And is "twin" two narrow single beds, or two double-size beds?

Thanks...

RichardInSF

At the old Hilton national chain, in my (admittedly not statistically significant) experience, you should always assume the worst.

Jenbel

In the UK, 'double' would normally be one double bed (ie one bed for two - it can be used to describe king or super kings though, it's more related to the concept than the size, but assume a double and you'll get a pleasant surprise if it's larger) and twin would be two beds - most commonly single beds over here.

Raffles

If you don't see the word King, always assume a cramped Double. My other half prefers twin beds in these cases!

Christopher

As above. "Double" would usually mean one double bed; you might be offered a "king-size double" and so on, usually for a slightly higher cost. Sometimes, though, these rooms with larger double beds are given less transparent names ("premium", "executive", and so on).

"Twin" means two separate beds, obviously; in my experience this would more commonly be two single beds, but I have known a double and a single bed, and even two double beds, to be called a "twin".

MoreMilesPlease

I have rarely seen an American King sized bed in a UK hotel. Double means one bed for two people, usually a double or maybe queen sized bed. Twin room will almost always be two twin beds (also called single beds). A single room can be one twin bed meant for one person, you might get lucky and get a double bed or two twin beds, but there are no guarantees.

This is why you have to be careful with the Hilton Honors spouse stays free in countries outside North America. Booking a room for more than one person usually costs more than a one person price. For Hilton, you book a single room at a single person price. Then you have to make sure and contact the hotel or Hilton Honors so they know there will be two people and thus needing a bigger room per the terms of the program. Failure to get this noticed prior to showing up at the hotel could cause problems and you potentially could get a room with one twin bed.

That's also why you don't assume there will always be two double beds that will accommodate parents and kids in the same room for a lower price.

HIDDY

Not sure how big a American King is but the bed we had in the Sheraton Skyline at LHR was huge - a family of six could have slept in it and there would still have been some room left for the dog.
I'm always amazed how double beds can vary in size from one hotel brand to the other even in the same class of room.
Best to give them a phone or send a email if you want to be sure of what you'll be getting.

beardedgeologist

And it's often worth emailing the hotel direct and asking them the measurement of their beds, just in case.

We often sleep our kids in the same bed as us, so the info is essential to us!

I've found that 9 times out of 10 the hotel will email back fairly quickly with the bed size info to the closest cm, sometimes even to the mm!

David-A

The following is not hilton specific as I've limited hilton experience but, just to stress what Jenbel posted above:

These should really be viewed as descriptions of the room concept, not the actual bed(s) you will receive.

• A 'single' means you will get a room that is at least capable of sleeping 1 person, and the bed will probably be a single bed. The room you get could be a twin, double, anything, so long as it can sleep 1 person. Obviously the hotels have fewer true single rooms than other types as they are the least flexible.
  
  
• A 'twin' means your room should definitely have two *separate* beds. What beds you get could be from 2 single beds upwards. A single and a double, two doubles, three singles, ...
  
  
• A 'double' means your room will be capable of sleeping two people who can be expected to share a bed. Generally that explictly means a bed for two people, but you will find the odd hotel which will supply 2 separate beds as you are just saying you are willing to accept a bed for 2 people together.

As I said, the room you get could be anything that meets the requirements you are expressing. In the past I've booked singles and been given every type of room imaginable.

NOTE FURTHER: What a room is capable of sleeping and what you are paying for can be two separate things.

You will sometimes find if you book a twin you are told (in advance) you are getting 2 double beds, or if you book a single you are being guaranteed a double bed, etc.
That is NOT saying that you would be entitled to sleep X number of people in the room, even if it officially has room for X sleepers. You may find the rate for a room with 2 double beds varies depending on the number of people staying in it.

In conclusion, make sure your booking reflects the number of people you want to stay in the rooms. Additionally, make sure it reflects your requirements - i.e. if you need separate beds make sure it is a twin/triple/quad or make sure that you have a 'guaranteed room type'.

MoreMilesPlease

This could be why the OP asked specifically about Hilton. Hilton Honors allows a perk that the spouse stays free in the same room. In the US the cost is usually per room and not per person. In other parts of the world that may not be the case, as in the UK.

So when you book a room in the UK as a Hilton Honors member, you book the room rate for one person and that's what you pay even if it is the cheapest single person rate. You then need to make sure the hotel knows your spouse will be staying with you, per Hilton Honors, and the need to provide a double room.

stut

This always used to be the case, but is rarely so now. A couple of booking sites do still use it, as does the kind of B&B or guesthouse that caters to the kind of person who feigns ignorance of metric measurements, is constantly making jokes about "Health and Safety", and, every time they say "Happy Christmas", follow it up with "if I'm still allowed to say that!"

Different rates for single and double occupancy are common, though, particularly when breakfast is included. But you'll almost always be quoted for the room rate.

MoreMilesPlease

I guess that I should have said on the Hilton website the single person rate for the UK is almost always less than the rate for a double. This is for the basic room rate without extras. I have also booked on-line with at least one other hotel chain in the UK for this summer and the double room rate was more than the single room rate. I know this because I booked a double room and a single room at a small chain in England for a wedding.

I guess the old adage of "your mileage may vary" should have been used.

stut

Ah, I see what you mean - different prices for different occupancy, rather than actually being quoted per person (which always used to be the case here - a £100 room for double occupancy used to be quoted as '£50 per person').

MoreMilesPlease

Correct. Most often in the US the quote is for the room. You can put in one person, two or three people and the room rate will usually be the same. A king sized room will cost $100, it doesn't matter whether you have one person or two. Obviously if there are extras included then the rate may increase, ie, breakfast, dinner, spa credit.

So if you book a "double room rate only" in the US it usually means a room with two doubles beds that can accommodate 4 people. The price will probably be the same for one person or 4 people. There are exceptions but, overall, this has been how it has worked here.

Efrem

I just sampled a few UK Hiltons, thinking there might be specific information there that departs from the usual terminology. (Go to any hotel, click "Accommodations" under the pictures, then click on each room type to find out how that specific hotel defines it.) They follow the general usage as previously posted: "double" is one bed for two people, "twin" is two beds for one person each. I didn't check all the Hiltons in the UK, don't have quite that much time today, but no exceptions among those I checked.