When you travel with older kids, and you have 3 of them, do you get one hotel room or two?

[Anonymous]

Obviously I could not commit to a short topic heading. We are debating having a third. One of the reasons I balk is that we aren't super super wealthy and we love to travel. I foresee a time when we will need to get two hotel rooms to accommodate our three-child family. Is that true? I sort of have this belief that even when my oldest is in high school, he will be okay sleeping on a rollaway in a double-double hotel room. Am I delusional? Will we be getting two rooms no matter what?

FWIW, the kids are 6 and 3 now, so this is a ways off

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Three kids and we always get one hotel room; my son prefers the floor.

[Anonymous]

3 kids & we always get 2 rooms or a suite. Many hotels won't even let us book one room for the 5 of us

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you're going, we rent a condo.
Otherwise, a joining hotel room.

-family of 6

[Anonymous]

We always get two adjoining rooms or a suite. I want my kids to relax on a vacation, not have a sofa bed bar in their back.

[Anonymous]

5 to a room is against the Fire Code in a normal size hotel room. Cheap motels and the like might look the other way but a typical hotel follows these rules. The other option is sneaking a third in which I'm sure some people do.

[Anonymous]

Depends on where you travel (for example Europe or Japan), many rooms are designated for a max of 3. As a family of 4, we already need to get a larger suite in a hotel or an Air BnB.

[Anonymous]

We can only stay in rooms with two queens and a pullout couch or rollaway. It does limit your options, especially as the kids get bigger.

[Anonymous]

We have four kids. Sometimes we get two rooms, other times we squeeze into one.

Trick: bring a thin eggcrate bed pad along with a sheet, pillow and blanket in a duffle bag and you have a great bed for the floor.

I can't imagine truly wanting to have a baby but opting not to because of possible travel issues. If you can't afford two hotel rooms, then you probably can't afford to add to your family. (And I say that as a working mother of four with a HHI of $165ish who loves to travel.)

[Anonymous]

Family of four with two teens..we get 1 room but I feel like we are stretching it. For a really nice experience we need adjoining rooms or a suite.

Written from a hotel room floor in the dark while teens are sleeping in

[Anonymous]

Two rooms or more likely, a suite or VRBO rental. It is rare that we are in hotels on vacation though with all 5 of us. For one thing, it means that you are eating 2/3 meals out a day and that gets old quickly. If were traveling, not only do we have a place for everyone to sleep but generally a rudimentary kitchen as well.

[Anonymous]

How do you book adjoining rooms when booking online? I never see this option.

[Anonymous]

We have three and at the moment eldest is 8 and youngest just too old for a pack and play. For the first time this summer we had issues with being allowed to book one room for 5 of us. We had to get a family room with two queens and a bunk set. We are going to London soon and have had to book two rooms as they had no family option.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 17, 14 and 8. I always get one room. I try for two queen beds and a pull out couch and a refrigerator and microwave. Honestly, it's not just the hotel room that kills you, but the cost of eating all of your meals out. If you can heat up some foods and have a way to keep milk for cereal cold, it's a bonus.

Another option that we do is that if we can find a campground near where we want to be that has cabins or tents to rent, we prefer that. There is so much for kids to do other than watch tv, you can cook and, big bonus, you can build a fire. Cabins are great because they tend to have better kitchens and showers instead of shared showers. This usually costs me less than a hotel room. Not an option everywhere obviously.

[Anonymous]

Most hotel rooms won't allow 5 unless one is an infant (under 2.) So, a suite or two rooms.