Travelling with children: ages, beds and the right room
A family booking goes wrong less often on price than on beds. The right room is the one that sleeps everyone the way you expect, and that is decided before you pay.
3 min read ·
Why the age matters
When you search with children, you are asked for each child's age during the stay. That is not a formality:
- Hotels price children by age. A small child may cost little or nothing extra at one hotel and be charged as an adult at another from a certain age.
- The age decides the bed. A toddler may sleep in a cot; an older child needs a bed.
- The age is the one on the trip, not today's. A child who has a birthday before the holiday is booked at the new age.
A child under two travels as an infant. Each hotel sets its own terms for infants, so read the room's conditions rather than assuming a price.
A room that sleeps everyone
Every room has a maximum occupancy: how many adults and children may stay in it. A search for your family shows rooms that fit the number of guests you entered.
What occupancy does not tell you is how everyone sleeps. Before you book, read the room description for:
- The beds. One double and a sofa bed is not the same as two doubles.
- Space. A room for four can be one large room or two connected spaces.
- Cots and extra beds. If one is included, the description says so. If it is not, it is a request.
Family rooms, suites and two rooms
For a family, three options are worth comparing:
- A family room sleeps three or four in one room, usually with a double bed and single beds or bunk beds.
- A suite or apartment adds a separate living space, often with a sofa bed — useful when the children go to bed earlier.
- Two rooms give the most space. Ask for connecting or adjacent rooms; it is a request unless the booking says so.
Before you book
- Count everyone, including babies, when you search.
- Read the room's bed types and occupancy, not only its name.
- Put requests — a cot, rooms close together, a quiet floor — in the requests box. They reach the hotel with the booking, and remain the hotel's to grant.
- Check the board: meals for children can be included, discounted or charged in full. See meals at a hotel.
Questions that keep coming up
Why do I have to give each child's age?
Because hotels price children by age, and the age during the stay decides which price and which bed applies. Without it, the price shown may not be the price for your family.
Are babies free?
It depends on the hotel. A child under two travels as an infant, and each hotel sets its own terms for infants. Read the room's conditions rather than assuming.
Is a cot or an extra bed guaranteed?
Only when the room description includes it. Otherwise it is a request to the hotel, which it may or may not be able to meet.
Can a family of four stay in a double room?
Only if the room's occupancy allows it. Each room has a maximum number of guests, and the hotel can refuse a room with more people in it than the booking says.
On Rahlio you give each child's age during the stay before searching, so the prices you see are for your family, and requests such as a cot reach the hotel with the booking.