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Hello,
My partner and I are traveling to Dubai with 2 young kids (8 and 4) next April and looking into booking hotel redemptions with Hilton or Marriott. I seem to come across a lot of ‘cheaper’ redemptions with ‘two double beds’ with a maximum occupancy of 3.
As an example, the Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah has such ‘Two Double Beds Guest Room with Balcony’ for 60k points but I can’t book it for 4.
Whenever I set 4 guests, I am offered the bigger suites for 200k+ points. If that’s the only options I would probably look for cash rates instead and/or elsewhere.
I’d also rather avoid having 2 rooms given the age of my kids…I would expect two double beds to be suitable for 4 people – especially with small kids? Or is that specific to the UAE to call twin beds (single beds) double/queen beds? I am asking this question as this really doesn’t seem to be a one off and I see the same thing for many hotels. So I guess there is something that I am missing here 🙂
Thanks in advance for your advice.
If you look at the room information on the hotel website (or even during the booking process on the HH site), it usually says what the maximum occupancy is. If it says 4, then you are very likely safe booking such a room, however to be completely reassured, email the hotel beforehand and make sure they understand that there will be 2 adults and 2 children in your party.
If you look at the room information on the hotel website (or even during the booking process on the HH site), it usually says what the maximum occupancy is. If it says 4, then you are very likely safe booking such a room, however to be completely reassured, email the hotel beforehand and make sure they understand that there will be 2 adults and 2 children in your party.
Yes, it says 3. Hence my confusion as I would expect 4 if these really are 2 double beds. Or 2 if not. 3 seems to make no sense.
Sorry – yes that is a bit odd, 3 is usually when they will put a rollaway in a double room. Emailing the hotel should elicit a confirmation either way. I think 3 usually means 3 adults so they may well allow 2 adults and 2 kids. The system won’t let you book more than the specified number of people though.
I don’t know if you emailed the hotel. However just to let you know that I have come across this recently and a lot of hotels call it 2 doubles but it is actually 2 single beds! I had the same predicament and was told it’s 2 twins or 2 doubles but for 2 ppl only! So I assume it’s 2 singles :-/ very bizarre. Maybe the hotel you contacted was different but this was mine in 2 hotels we reached out to.
Was that in Dubai? I’ve heard of Americans referring to what we call twins as doubles but never anywhere else.
I do recall from previous hotel searches that there’s a Hilton (DT?) on Jumeirah Beach which has suite accommodation where children can be accommodated in the living room or 2nd bedroom. Points prices did vary wildly though, IIRC.
We recently stayed at the IC Ljubljana – our three kids in a room that was two doubles, sleeping three. We assumed there was a third bed somewhere but it turned out there wasn’t – and the doubles were doubles but pretty small, it’d have been cosy for two adults! But it didn’t make a lot of sense as you would have thought occupancy would have been either 2 or 4.
I’ve never tried it myself but I understand that although it isn’t quite advertised as such, in Hilton properties, you can add a second adult guest for free, even if you take kids (it’s a benefit of the Honors programme). So if the room will fit four, you might be able to avail yourself of that option. Would definitely call or e-mil the hotel first though to check if there is any reason for the occupancy restriction.
Doubletree by Hilton Dubai – Jumeirah Beach is the one I was thinking of. For a random week in January it’s 70k points per night for a 1 bedroom family suite with a sofa bed in the living room. It says “sleeps 3”, however I can’t see any reason why 2 small children couldn’t share the sofa bed or why the hotel couldn’t provide a rollaway.
Suites and apartments are the way to go with children once they no longer need to sleep in the same room as you – if you want a civilised holiday, lol!
I think there might also be a Residence Inn by Marriott (or similar), which has similar accommodations but I don’t think it’s on the beach.
We search around so much I cannot remember which hotel or chain. I feel like I can safely say it was for Jordan and Turkey as these are what we are currently looking into, but I feel like weekly we are just searching and phoning up a different destination for inspiration of how to accommodate 5 of us! Because the kids are so small, we want to avoid paying full price for 2 rooms as they end up in ours anyway.
I would advise calling hotels anyway on their standard redemption rates and explaining the kids. If they are flexible, just send them a confirmation email with the discussion including time of call and who you spoke to so that it doesn’t scupper up when you arrive. With being diamond in ihg and Hilton, they have often been flexible with us or with a small surcharge. not always but not impossible either.
@meandthekids, Homewood Suites or something similar would be perfect for you, if you want to stick to chain hotels and not use apartments/villas. I don’t know if they actually exist outside the USA, but if you’re planning a trip there, look out for them. They have 1 and 2-bedroom suites and sometimes you can get a 1-bedroom suite with 2 Queen beds plus a sofa bed as a standard redemption. The full kitchen makes them especially convenient when travelling with little ones.
For IHG, Staybridge Suites is similar but doesn’t seem to have as many rooms larger than a studio.
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