Family rooms?

[gregjennifer]

Heading to Colifornia with my wife and three kids. Can you request a family room? Or do I need a multple room reservation. My kids are young and couldn't be in another room unless they were ajoining.

GREG

[Blueskies]

Howire allows you to choose no in party so that may suit your needs.

We have booked 2 rooms (via Priceline and Hotwire) as our kids are older and then requested adjoining rooms directly with the hotel after the win. I am hoping that they honour our request but won't know till we get there(July). It also depends on how busy the hotel is, which area you are in and whether they cater for families. I note that in some hotels in Anaheim it is easy to upgrade to family accomodation but depends on amount you are paying whether you want to risk it.

Good luck

[Guest aldo]

Five per room may be a problem with Priceline. Bedding can be requested, but it's not guaranteed. We stayed at the Doubletree Del Mar last year, and was given one queen bed and a small sofa bed. Ok for us (two adults, one child), but this wouldn't work for your family. Plus, you could be told "only one king available" or "no rollaways". It's better to get two rooms, request adjoining, and cross your fingers. The worse that could happen: you and your spouse may have to split up (one of you in each room). Besides, with three kids, it's always better to have two bathrooms! ;-)

Good luck!

P.S. I just noticed you are going to the O.C. Hyatt- is this the stay you're referring to? If you only bid for one room, then you may not be able to get another through bidding, but you can pay for an upgrade to one of the suites (upon availability) when you check in. I called and the front desk says the upgrade charge for a Priceline reservation to a family suite (with bunk beds) is $40, a one bedroom suite is $50, and a 2 bedroom suite is $100 (yikes!) more PER NIGHT. Since you are going midweek, you may have a good chance for the upgrade.

[thereuare]

I'll also add that in many areas purchasing two rooms via the opaque providers can be less expensive than purchasing one room direct (where more than double occupancy can be guaranteed).

As well, HOTWIRE allows users to select up to quad occupancy and are assured of having sleeping accomodations for the number of people requested (although this can sometimes produce prices that are more than if double occupancy was searched).

This can also be used when only two people are travling but don't want to sleep in the same bed... do a HOTWIRE search for 3 people :)

[LoneStar]

With 3 young kids myself, I often encounter this problem when I have the whole gang along. Unfortunately, hotel rooms with beds for more than 4 are quite rare in the US, and often times management officially restricts occupancy to 4 persons.

I have a couple strategies to deal with it. First, I sometimes bid for 2 rooms. I do this when prices are not expensive and we will be using the hotel as "a destination" rather than just a place to crash for a night.

Other times, I bid for one room, knowing that it probably won't be that comfortable, but that it will save me a lot of money. I did this, for example, in Hawaii, when I was unwilling to pay $135 x two for a resort. I got lucky and it worked out fine. At the Hilton Waikoloa Village, I hit the jackpot and they upgraded me to a massive suite. Normally, though, I just wind up with 2 double beds, so I bring an inflatable bed and an airline blanket and pillow for my youngest. I also don't advertise the fact that I have 5 people (I leave the kids with my wife and go the reception desk myself). So far, I've not had a problem, although I supect one time out of thirty you might.

[mcgervey]

I posted my thoughts and experiences on family travel under the 3 adults topic in this forum a little newer (Feb 06) than this post.

I have also gotten lucky and gotten a "suite" upgrade for as little as $10.

You can see my other post in the 3 adults topic for more from me, but the biggest tip is to simply call the hotel and ask them what their policies are generally, then sometimes you luck into just getting a good deal depending on the mood and what leeway or authority the person you check in with has.

We have had no significant problems travelling with kids though, and using priceline and hotwire to do so. Several Radissons have let us get adjoining rooms as well, when my brother and his girlfriend have travelled with us and her young girl.

It's very variable between hotels though, and sometimes just depends on what's available when you check in.

[myb8089]

I haven't had tonnes of experience. I have only travelled three times with children.

1) Grand Hyatt Buffallo - 3 years ago, the late night front desk upgraded us to the presidential suite when i mentioned it was our first anniversary. it was phenomenal, i won't even start describing it....

2) Wyndham Franklin Plaza, now a Sheraton 2 years ago. I paid a for 2 rooms and checked in around 7-8pm, there were no connecting rooms so we ended up all sleeping in the 1 room, pretty dumb but no choice.

3) last week we stayed at clarion, cherry hill NJ, i booked 2 rooms and now that i got smart i called up that morning to reserve connecting rooms. they were very nice and did so. we had a wonderful stay in no small part due to the connecting rooms. so i guess where you can try and call before, even before bidding when you know which hotel(s) you have a good chance of getting, if you ask nicely you never know. they even gave us a pack n play at no extra charge too.

i guess it doesnt hurt to have the cute kids themselves hang around at check in time!!! :)

good luck to all. hope this helps.