Family Hotel Room help!

You will not be able to put 4 people in a room for 3. Period. Do not try. Have you considered an apartment or a B&B instead of a hotel? Or give up the view of the tower. It is easy enough to go see the tower.

Nope, don’t even think of it. A hotel in the center of Paris isn’t like the Motel 6’s I used stay at in college and crammed as many of my college buds in as possible. They’ll be watching the ins and outs of guests. They’ve got a hotel to run 365 days a year and they’re well aware of guests trying to get around occupancy restrictions and don’t want any trouble with the French equivalent of the fire marshall.

In the US one typically puts kids in a room with parents with no issues. This is not true in Paris; people have been turned away from a room when they showed up with a toddler. You must book for the number of people you have. There are quad rooms; you need to book one if there are four of you or better yet get two doubles if the kids are not very small.

You need to search for quad rooms; they are not easy to find, but they exist. Whether you will get an Eiffel tower view from the room or not -- not likely this late looking for a quad.

As others have said, you must either get two doubles or find a room categorized as a quad. I have been in the situation in which four showed up for a room for 3 (an error on the part of the booking agent) and we were absolutely out of luck. What is your budget? That bit of information will help you get tailored suggestions.

We are a family of 4 planning our 2nd trip to Paris. I refuse to pay for 2 rooms. Last trips we stayed in a Holiday Inn outside the city center. I know many scoff at that idea, but we wanted 1 room and we didn’t want to break the bank. We had to travel about 25 minutes total to get to sites. No big deal for us since we travel at least 30 minutes to get to wherever from home.

This next trip we are doing Airbnb. I booked it a year in advanced. Good Luck. Travel forums are helpful but booking for a family for four can be tricky at times.

Hôtel bonking websites like booking.com let you specify for quad rooms. I'd look there.

It’s the Eiffel Tower view that is complicating things here for finding a quad.

And the fact that they are looking for a room just a few weeks from now.

Singing with the choir here: do NOT try to sneak an additional person into a room booked for 3. They WILL catch you, at the very least it would be embarrassing (and repercussions could be worse), and you'd be stuck trying to find new accommodations on the fly.

Get onto booking.com and do a search. Rooms which accommodate 4 are out there, and yes, some even have a view of the tower. Still, I'd give that condition up in exchange for desired price/quality. As someone else said, how much time are you are really going to spend in your room looking at it?

Just one option I saw on the booking.com website (yes it's expensive but you didn't indicate a per-night budget):
https://tinyurl.com/y555ttws

"even though the rooms I am looking at are suites large enough to fit our family!" - I doubt it, unless you are really going up market.
Hotels squeeze the maximum number of beds in a room. If it is a room for n people, it means there are n beds in the room, and not room for another.

Guess I should have specified a few things -

Kids are 5 and 10. The five year old is always going to sleep between us and the ten year old takes the rollaway, so yes, a room for 3 does actually fit us. But it helps to know it’s not worth trying in Paris.

It’s not my first time to Paris, but it is the first time for my kids. I like to have a view of the tower - I know that is the complicating factor here - but I actually do enjoy admiring it from my room and I think they would too!

The Pullman does not have Eiffel view in a quad room - i emailed them yesterday! Thank you for searching on my behalf!

I was more hoping someone had a tip on a place I had just overlooked. There are plenty of quad rooms available - but I’m hoping to not have to settle.

Thanks again!

See https://europeupclose.com/article/paris-hotels-with-views-of-the-eiffel-tower/?cn-reloaded=1

Also Paris Marriott Champs Elysses has a 4-person family room for 480 euro/night available for your dates. Hotel has views of Eiffel Tower.

The Pullman does not have Eiffel view in a quad room - i emailed them
yesterday! Thank you for searching on my behalf!

Darn. Sorry about that, Jacey. I only checked that the hotel HAD a view and openings on your dates. Should have dug further to see if a view of sorts was possible from all rooms.

I am sort of surprised that anyone would prefer 4 in a room rather than two inexpensive rooms which gives you two bathrooms and are easy to come by with a budget all over Paris. Just slightly out of the center in the 14th for example, you could get two decent doubles with bath for less than you are likely to have to pay for a quad with one bathroom for 4 people. Traveling with very small children of course changes the calculus but if the kids are old enough to stay across the hall, that is going to be more pleasant travel.

Can see with kids 5 and 10 you would need connecting rooms which are hard to find or a quad.

We used to travel with our daughter and had triples where you had to crawl across the beds to get to the bathroom.

When you do look at rooms be sure to note bed sizes. Most rooms will have a double bed (not king or queen). If there is a larger bed it could have a split down the middle, basically two single mattresses pushed together.
Neither of these seem ideal for fitting in a 5 year old with you.

The issue of number of people allowed in a room is a legal issue, not a hotel policy. Seems to be true all over Europe, as far as I know.

I would agree with the advice to find an apartment. With 4 you really want room to spread out, unless you are only staying 1-2 nights

We enjoy renting apartments best in our travels around Europe. We are a family of five - kids now ages 12, 9, and 7 and have found no hotels in Europe to accommodate five!

Our first trip to Paris we rented an Airbnb in the Saint Germain neighborhood and walking distance to Luxembourg Gardens - perfect for the kids.

We are returning this next June to Paris with my parents. We are staying in an apartment booked through Paris Perfect - we will have a party of seven on this trip. Have you looked in to this company? Many of their apartments are close to the Eiffel Tower and some with views or even balconies. Might be worth a look.

Love the space the apartments allow, along with kitchens and washing machines! It allows us to travel carry-on only with the kids.

An apartment might be best but those dates are considered high season because of the US holiday. And the best apartments are already booked way ahead. A one bedroom with pull out sofa would be perfect.

Take a look at the Hotel Eiffel Trocadero in the 16th. Their Suite Eiffel, which sleeps four in a king-sized bed (actually a touch wider) and a sofa bed, has views of the Eiffel Tower. It's near the Trocadero metro station.

hey hey jacey
other posters here have given you sound advice. if hotel says 3 it doesn't mean 4 (sneaking one more in). you will be looking for another place to stay, be legal about it. it's a city law, not a hotel law.
it's a busy time to be going, paris is always busy and you are waiting till last minute to book. not knowing your budget in euros, a view of eiffel tower is a long shot, stay near the area for the next best thing.
check booking.com
hotel du palais bourbon
mithouard apartments (nice to have kitchenette with fridge, buy things at bakery or store to keep things available for you and the kids)
citadines tour eiffel paris (near eiffel tower about 15 minute walk), an apartment with more room for your family. pick up food to eat and snack on while inside.
apartment invalides
aparthotel adagio paris centre tour eiffel
cross-pollinate.com
hope this helps with chosing something that will make you happy and not stress out, not worth. enjoy paris, sit at cafe, have a drink and snack, people watch and enjoy the magic. just got back after 18 days between annecy and paris. had a great time.
aloha

Hi!!

Wanted to give you all an update - we booked a room with an Eiffel Tower view with room enough for at least 4 at Hotel Maison FL! I appreciate all of your help and I’m looking forward to a great stay in Paris!

I see you've booked, but I wanted to add my recommendation for the Citadines Eiffel Tower. They have a 1 bedroom with a view that meets your needs - about 300ish euros per night.