Counting Children in Room Rates
Can my child stay for free?
Much of the time, travelling includes children. Some accommodations allow one or more children to stay without requiring a larger room type, thus a potentially "Free" stay.
To understand this, let's consider that for most accommodations, a child is considered to be under the age of 2. (Certain accommodations may view "child" differently. Please be sure to thorough read the hotel description page to make sure you are not subject to a different interpretation.)
Perhaps the best way to explain this is with an example. Consider that a Quad Room is a room that can support 4 adults comfortably and the hotel states that one child can stay for Free. This room might cost £120.00 nightly. If 4 guests (all over the age of 2) stay in this room, the average price per person is £30.00. (TravelStay displays ALL room rates on a "per person per night" basis.) If 3 people (all over the age of 2) stay, the rate would be displayed as £40.00 per person per night. If only 2 (both over the age of 2) stayed, it would be an average cost of £60.00 per person per night. One adult booking a Quad Room would pay Room Rate costs or £120.00.
If it is 2 adults and 2 children (over the age of 2) staying in a Quad Room, the occupancy is considered to be "4". The room rate is still £120.00. Add a child under the age of 2, and you can still stay in this room type. This child would not be counted. Two children under the age of 2 added to this family would require a larger room type be booked based on this example.
In essence, a free child pertains to a child (meeting age requirements) that would take you over maximum occupancy in a room. Another way of stating this is that this will be a child that will "share" a bed space with another. (A double room for 2 adults with a child also sleeping in the double bed.)
Good news! TravelStay is currently working on establishing a link for "Family Friendly" accommodations. Soon, we will be able to give you a means of searching this via a specific link!
For the time being, consider the following:
When making an online reservation, you will need to count the children in the "number of people" when searching for prices and availability. The reason for this is three-fold. One, hotel rates through TravelStay are already heavily discounted and two, most small budget hotels do not have facilities for small children or babies and three, hotels generally require each person in the room to have their own bed. (For example, when booking a Quad Room for two (2) adults and two (2) children aged six and eight, the full quad room (with room for four guests) rate would need to be paid for.)
Please also click on the room type description to choose between the various family friendly rooms we have available (e.g. double and single, double and two singles, etc).
If you have one or more children of two years of age or less then different consideration may apply. One child may often be allowed to stay for free in a baby cot, but not all accommodations offer cots and hostels typically will not accept any guests under 18.
If you have more than one child under the age of 2 or any questions related to a stay with one child, please call our Reservations Team from within the UK at +44 (0)203 696 0210 in order for us to find out whether the hotel you have chosen can accommodate your child in your room at no extra cost before we take your reservation. If enquiring from outside the UK, CLICK HERE to find alternative contact telephone numbers.