We are going to France and Spain this summer and are having trouble figuring out how to book a room for a married couple who want to sleep together and one child: either 2 double beds or 1 double bed/1 twin or one double (add a bed to the room). The guidebook speaks to double and triple rooms, but the triple rooms seems to have 3 equally small sized beds. Thanks, Mom, Dad and 8yo son.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23268 posts
You have to specify three people. You cannot just book a double and slip in a kid as you would in the US. There is no standard definition of a triple. Simply check with the hotel as what their triple is and what you want. It will be either three singles or a double and a single. And they might a small roll-a-way of the child is small enough. So be very clear with what you want.
Posted by
California
745 posts
When my daughter was 8, we would contact the hotel and ask if they could put a child's size "cot" in the room. Often, they would give us the biggest room and the "cot" was a roll-a-way single bed.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you both so much. We wrote the hotel and asked specifically for a double bed for 'me and my wife' and a single bed for our son. I see now we should have specified his age -- 8yo. We'll do that on follow up emails. A cot would be fine or roll away, we just don't want to be jammed like sardines.
Posted by
Fairfax, Virginia
330 posts
I've had triple rooms that were a double and a single, and others that were three singles. It varies. Many places will let you add an extra bed to a double room. Many hotels will show/describe room the triple room arrangement on their web sites, and Booking.com usually does as well.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
2942 posts
A warning: with high real estate prices, hotel rooms in most European big cities are routinely smaller than in the US. When hotels offer a "triple" it doesn't necessarily mean three large beds, but very often a small roll-a-way single bed crammed next to the "regular" bed/s (be queen/king size or two regular individual beds). Not implying this is always like this, but more often than not, even in 4-5 star hotels (unless you're prepared to pay top dollar for suite-like rooms, if the hotel has any at all)... just sayin'.
Posted by
Portland
3597 posts
A further warning. In the UK, "cot" means baby crib. Many Europeans learn their English from Brits, and would pick up that usage. Best to specify single bed.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Sounds like any time we want to book a hotel in France or Spain for us and our son, we need to email the hotel directly and specify a "matrimonial bed for two" and a single for our 8year old son.
We're glad he gets to travel with us this time, but it was sure easier when it was just two of us. :)
Posted by
California
745 posts
Sounds like a good plan. My daughter is now 34, so when we use to book hotels, before the internet, you had to call the hotels and talk to them directly. Didn't know that "cot" was a baby crib in the UK!