non wdw big family question

[ffemtmomof4]

We are traveling cross country this summer from PA to Seattle. When we travel the children's ages will be ds- 16, dd-6, dd-3 and ds- 15 mo.

My question is, for those of you with larger families, when do you have to start getting 2 rooms when you travel. When we are in Seattle our oldest son will not be in our room. He stays with his great grandpa so he doesn't have to be alone. I am mainly worried about on the way out.

 

[mjkacmom]

It really depends upon how strict the hotel is. Most maximum occupancy is 4, but some don't care (ie - we were checking into a Country Inn and Suites, 6 of us were standing there, they thought we only had one room and sent us on our way (we then told them we reserved 2 - like the extra bathroom!).

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We usually stay at hotels that have suites like Holiday Inn and Suites where there will be two beds and a pull-out couch. Sometimes we are stretching the occupancy rules by one since we are a family of 7 and usually the rules say 6, but that wouldn't be an issue for your family.

 

[formill]

Usually the maximums are to comply with fire codes. I always found when booking online if I put in 4 kids it will come back saying no rooms available- some will say need more than one room........the only places we find that are good for the 6 of us are the suite ones- they usually allow 6 people- with 2 beds, and a sofa bed. We have driven to Florida and to Myrtle Beach when our twins were younger and we told them at each hotel that we had 4 kids and all were fine when we said their ages-at that time they were 3 and then 4. Now that they are 7 (my other two are 14 and 17) I either get a suite or go on priceline or hotwire and get two rooms then call the hotel and get adjoining rooms (learned it is good to find out if they HAVE them though first if you can- last time got a Best Western in Buffalo- and they did not have them so rooms were side by side but did not have the door right in between to keep open like I had wanted) When they were small it was no trouble to have them sleep in sleeping bags- now it is nicer for us all to be in beds and the extra bathroom with having 2 rooms is great.

 

[shaylahc1]

I try and book suites when we travel....2 doubles and a pull out sofa. Sometimes I'll book 2 adjoining rooms depending on the cost difference.

When the kids were little we could get away with 1 room. DH & I took one bed, 3 girls in a double bed and DS in a PackNPlay. Those days are long gone though