Extra Magic Hours and Names on Hotel Reservation

[Pkltm]

How old are the kids??

 

[ClapYourHands]

I don't think the housekeepers are idiots either.

And I'm guessing, just like Disney, there is some clause that say if you knowingly commit fraud with your reservation they have the right to kick you out. Not something worth risking over a few dollars.

Housekeeping has no idea how many people are registered to each room, and I doubt they have the time to care.

There’s a difference between knowingly committing fraud (packing 6 into a room you know only holds 4), and having an allowed occupancy but neglecting to list all members of the party. Worst case scenario is OP’s wife is embarrassed when she is asked to put everyone on the reservation, and they go about their merry way. No one is getting kicked out

 

[Robo]

There is no extra fee. Just call and have the other people added or do it at check in. You can have two adults and two children under 18 for the same price as one adult

My fam of 4 is staying at the Dolphin in April. Currently, our reservation is under just my wife's name. We tried to add the rest of the fam but they wanted to charge us a different and much, much higher rate.

There's the conflict in this situation.

 

[maxiesmom]

Housekeeping has no idea how many people are registered to each room, and I doubt they have the time to care.

There’s a difference between knowingly committing fraud (packing 6 into a room you know only holds 4), and having an allowed occupancy but neglecting to list all members of the party. Worst case scenario is OP’s wife is embarrassed when she is asked to put everyone on the reservation, and they go about their merry way. No one is getting kicked out

You can't guarantee that they won't get kicked out. It is a possibility, even if it is a very small one. And not worth dealing with in order to save a few bucks.

By not listing the correct number of guests in the room in order to pay a lower rate, the Op's wife IS knowingly committing fraud.

 

[DisSurfer878]

Housekeeping has no idea how many people are registered to each room, and I doubt they have the time to care.

There’s a difference between knowingly committing fraud (packing 6 into a room you know only holds 4), and having an allowed occupancy but neglecting to list all members of the party. Worst case scenario is OP’s wife is embarrassed when she is asked to put everyone on the reservation, and they go about their merry way. No one is getting kicked out

Sure but OP's wife will be embarrassed AND have to pay the higher rate anyways.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Sure but OP's wife will be embarrassed AND have to pay the higher rate anyways.

There is no higher rate. Dolphin is a Sheraton, and 2 adults and 2 children are considered regular occupancy. The OP is not clear regarding who was asking for the higher rate. I know some booking sites can be glitchy, and will charge additional people as additional adults, even if the extra people are kids who don't trigger extra fees from the hotel.

DH stays at Marriott brand hotels all the time, and often books only under his name. We all show up, my name is added at check in, and they note number of kids.

When DH booked the Swan, he didn't realize the importance of having me and the boys on the reservation for Disney purposes (because I'm the Disney planner in the family). We got it sorted out over the phone, and there was no added fee.

 

[maxiesmom]

There is no higher rate. Dolphin is a Sheraton, and 2 adults and 2 children are considered regular occupancy. The OP is not clear regarding who was asking for the higher rate. I know some booking sites can be glitchy, and will charge additional people as additional adults, even if the extra people are kids who don't trigger extra fees from the hotel.

DH stays at Marriott brand hotels all the time, and often books only under his name. We all show up, my name is added at check in, and they note number of kids.

When DH booked the Swan, he didn't realize the importance of having me and the boys on the reservation for Disney purposes (because I'm the Disney planner in the family). We got it sorted out over the phone, and there was no added fee.

It does depend on who you book thru. And apparently who the OP's wife booked thru charges the additional rate. As the OP stated the rate would be higher.

And you can't compare this to other Marriott hotels, as other hotels don't have the extra theme park benefits for registered guests. Registered guests.

 

[ClapYourHands]

It does depend on who you book thru. And apparently who the OP's wife booked thru charges the additional rate.

And you can't compare this to other Marriott hotels, as other hotels don't have the extra theme park benefits for registered guests. Registered guests.

Like I said, third party websites can be glitchy. My point is that the Dolphin itself doesn't charge additional fees, so if OP and family call the hotel directly or show up and are within the room's occupancy rate, they can be added without issue.

I can compare it to other Marriott hotels in terms of additional person fees and occupancy rates. The extra theme park benefits are not charged per person by the hotel. We did the exact same thing with the Swan. DH was the only one on the reservation, we called and got the rest of us added at no cost.

 

[Dug720]

Like I said, third party websites can be glitchy. My point is that the Dolphin itself doesn't charge additional fees, so if OP and family call the hotel directly or show up and are within the room's occupancy rate, they can be added without issue.

I can compare it to other Marriott hotels in terms of additional person fees and occupancy rates. The extra theme park benefits are not charged per person by the hotel. We did the exact same thing with the Swan. DH was the only one on the reservation, we called and got the rest of us added at no cost.

As others have said, it can also depend on the type of room that was booked. If she searched for only 1 person, it's possible that the room booked would only accommodate 2 and a room to accommodate 4 would in fact be higher. I know with Hiltons a room with a King is often less than a room with 2 queens - and unless you're careful, it's easy to book the wrong one, especially if you're just focused on rates. If this is the case - however she booked it, searching using only 1 and only listing 1 resulted in a room that accommodates 1 or 2 and having to change categories to a room that will hold 4 would in fact mean a higher rate.

 

[ClapYourHands]

As others have said, it can also depend on the type of room that was booked. If she searched for only 1 person, it's possible that the room booked would only accommodate 2 and a room to accommodate 4 would in fact be higher. I know with Hiltons a room with a King is often less than a room with 2 queens - and unless you're careful, it's easy to book the wrong one, especially if you're just focused on rates. If this is the case - however she booked it, searching using only 1 and only listing 1 resulted in a room that accommodates 1 or 2 and having to change categories to a room that will hold 4 would in fact mean a higher rate.

That's possible if the rate change is from a different category. I have seen King rooms going for more than two doubles (Dolphin doesn't have queens), but I think that's probably a factor of supply and demand at the time of booking. If there are no more double-bed rooms in the basic category, it could cost extra to go up to a preferred room.

Maybe OP will update. We're all doing a lot of speculating, myself included, so it's hard to say what factors are in play here.

 

[Lynne M]

i would suggest calling and confirming the rate. I don’t know what the age cutoff is for kids staying free at Swan/Dolphin, but I assume that’s what’s going on here. Most US hotels quote their rates as double occupancy, meaning that the posted rate is for two adults. Any additional guests mean you’re no longer eligible for that rate.

it is true that anyone not on the reservation won’t be able to use EMH, wont be able to charge to the room, and may have problems accessing the pool, which is gated. The hotel is well within their rights to charge you the full rate or even kick you out if you’re sneaking additional people into the room for the purpose of getting a cheaper room rate. They (quite reasonably) want the money they’re owed for the room, and hotel staff gets very good at spotting this kind of thing.

And since we have a DISboards policy that discussions on “cheating the system” aren‘t permitted, this thread is closed.