Our family is too big for hotel rooms...can I book a room and not mention all the small people?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tinyelvises
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tinyelvises

Guest
Our family needs to book a hotel room for one night and we are over firecode (there are 7 of us, but our children are all small - 7 and under). Seems you can only have 2 children in a hotel room nowadays.

Here is my question: can I morally book the room and have us stay there, even though we are over the limits?

I might add that we are not able to pay for 2 rooms to corral us all.

Hope this is not too silly a question, and thanks!
 
If they do not ask you how many people will be staying in the room (unlikely), and you do not volunteer the information, then technically you have not made a false statement.

HOWEVER, if you do sneak the whole bunch in the one room and the hotel finds out about it, they might consider that they have no other legal choice than to evict you if you do not rent the additional room(s), if that truly is the fire code. If they do evict you for violating the fire code, you may still be responsible for paying for the room.

Why don’t you be upfront with the manager before you reserve the room? Tell him you have a large family with several small children and that you can’t afford multiple rooms. Sometimes hotels will comp the extra room or give you a suite at a regular room price rather than lose your business, if they have vacancies. If one hotel won’t help you, call others.
 
My mother’s idea of fun is to rent two side by side rooms and take the grandkids swimming mid winter…which means 3 adults and 8 kids. I dont know how she goes about registering, but I know it can be done. I honestly would feel a whole lot safer having the 5 little ones in the same room. Talk to the manager and see what they can do. If I were to take my kids somewhere, as a single mom I would not be wiling to have my kids in another room!
Can you get a bigger room, the suite type with 2 doubles and a pull out couch?..I have had the management bring in a crib for us. Just some ideas.
 
Would you have children on the floor? A hotel room floor is the nastiest thing on earth, you don’t want kids on it.

Also, your children learn what they see from you - dont’ teach them dishonesty.

Talk to the hotel, talk to other hotels, look for other places (suites, state parks with cabins to rent, condos, houses to rent).
 
You can divy up bodies so there is at least one adult per room. HOWEVER, almost all hotels will limit you to the number of occupants per room that matches the bed space. ie.; two queen beds=4 people registered in the room (sometimes allowing for the addition of a roll-away bed/crib).

This is not just a hurdle erected to annoy large Catholic families. There is a safety element~in the event of fire in the middle of the night, the hotel needs to know how many people are inside and where they are to evacuate safely and completely.

There is NOTHING restful sounding about 9 people crammed in a tiny hotel room. Either save up for adjoining rooms, a suite, a rental condo/home or try camping until you can do so. It’s not merely dishonest, it could put you an your family in danger.
 
I think you should look into other options. Yes, talk to the hotel and call others to compare prices. Having that many kids in one room would be a disaster. Either get a suite, or look into getting adjoining rooms. That way you have enough space without having to worry about who’s where.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Just to clarify, we only have 5 children (7 in our family total) and we have been all in a hotel room together before and it was really fun, actually! 😃 My main concern was from a moral standpoint. I certainly don’t want to be dishonest. I will look into suites and other options. Thanks for helping me look outside of the box! 🙂
 
I would be less worried about the dishonesty, and more worried about safety. If there is in fact a fire, will your family be able to get out in a timely manner safely? Also do not forget that you are placing other lives outside of your own in this case with people risking there lives to save you and your family.

Attempt to get another room, or talk to the hotel, they can be very accommodating.
 
After traveling with small children, I also heartily recommend looking into suites. You can often get some pretty decent places with 1-2 separate bedrooms and a living room with a pullout sofa. Among other things it really helps when different ages have different bedtimes. Try looking beyond the usual hotel/motel chains to some of the extended stay places intended for business travelers - sometimes you can get pretty good rates, e.g. we got a 1-br suite for $60/night in the LA area recently at a place that supposedly caters to business travelers, but had quite a few families with young kids.

As to the moral question - I would just mention it to the hotel staff when you make your reservation, out of courtesy - sometimes they will try to keep one part of the hotel more quiet, adults-only, and another part for families with young kids.
 
Check hotels with “suites” in their name (Comfort Suites comes to mind because we’ve stayed there in the past). They have rooms with two queen size beds and a sofa-bed and you can request a rollaway or crib as well. The rooms accommodate 7 people total. And you usually get a free breakfast as well!
 
Seriously, dual hotel rooms or suites get pricey FAST!

We bought a popup camper. Now we tow our hotel room behind the minivan.
👍
 
As a telephone reservation agent for a major hotel chain I can tell you that the fire marshal is (gasp) higher than God. Hotels have no choice in the matter. Best to find a hotel with a two bedroom suite that sleeps more people if you need more room. The max occupancy is set by the fire marshal and his word is gospel.
 
I’ve never had a hotel actually ask me how many people are staying in the room. 🤷 The closest they come is asking whether I want a single or a double room (i.e. one bed or two beds).
 
My employer requires me to ask the number of people in the room of every caller seeking a reservation.
 
Joe_5859 said:
I’ve never had a hotel actually ask me how many people are staying in the room. 🤷 The closest they come is asking whether I want a single or a double room (i.e. one bed or two beds).
Click to expand...
I’ve always been asked the number of people staying in the room when making a reservation, always.

And it shouldn’t matter even if they happen not to ask you, most if not all people know there is a restriction of guests in a room and to not disclose the number in your party is deception. That’s not fair to the hotel or to the other guests who do follow the restrictions.
 
pete5668 said:
My employer requires me to ask the number of people in the room of every caller seeking a reservation.
Click to expand...
I suppose it’s probably because all my hotel visits in recent years are work-related. When I’m part of a block for a conference, they must assume I’m not bringing my family along.

I wasn’t trying to urge the OP to be deceptive or anything. Just sharing my experience. :o
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top