Strategies for reserving hotel accommodations for larger families

Booking travel using points and miles can be straightforward for one or two travelers. However, coordinating reservations for three or more individuals adds complexity to the process.

With six kids aged 9 to 21, my family's travel planning is unique. While large families can certainly travel, our approach to finding and booking rewards differs significantly from those planning solo trips or romantic getaways for two.

Making hotel reservations for families of four or less.

Booking hotel rooms for three or four guests can be a bit tricky, yet it's still quite manageable, especially for domestic travel. In most U.S. hotels, children under 18 can stay for free with their parents, and accommodations typically cater to at least two adults and two kids.

It’s a bit frustrating that some hotel chains ask for the ages of children during booking when it doesn't affect pricing and just delays the process.

Seriously, Hyatt — why is this necessary?

International travel complicates matters, as many hotels in Europe and elsewhere charge extra for additional guests. Many international establishments enforce strict occupancy limits, often capping at two or three people, including kids.

I've heard alarming tales from travelers who weren't completely accurate with their international hotel bookings. They ended up facing extra charges (sometimes quite significant) at check-in. I advise against playing with occupancy numbers when traveling abroad.

Reserving hotel accommodations for families of five

Adding a fifth person to your hotel reservation complicates things a bit, but you can still often find standard rooms in certain U.S. hotels that can accommodate your family.

One consideration is the ages of your children and their sleeping arrangements. My younger kids are fine with sleeping on the floor, and we sometimes bring sleeping bags for them to avoid sharing a bed with a sibling.

For families of five, seek out hotels that include the word "suite" in their name. Options like Candlewood Suites, Country Inn and Suites, and Embassy Suites often offer standard rooms suitable for five, typically featuring two double beds and a sofa bed.

Hotel chains have varying policies regarding the online booking of their suites. For example, with Marriott, you usually need to call to reserve a suite using points, while Hyatt, IHG, Hilton, and Radisson often list larger rooms as available for online booking.

In my experience, Hyatt frequently provides larger rooms at a reasonable points cost. I typically book standard rooms using points with other chains and then aim for a free upgrade or a cash co-pay for an upgrade. We'll discuss that shortly.

Reserving hotel rooms for families of six or more

For bigger families, the situation becomes more complicated and costly. When my kids were younger, we occasionally treated occupancy limits as mere suggestions.

Now that the kids are older, we primarily have two options for booking hotel rooms with our points. We can either find a suite that accommodates eight or book two separate rooms.

We alternate between strategies based on the hotel or destination. For our recent family trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, we spent one night at the Residence Inn Peoria in a two-bedroom suite that accommodated eight for 15,000 Marriott points.

On our return drive, we stayed two nights at the Hampton Inn Keokuk in two separate rooms for 10,000 Hilton Honors points each.

When booking two rooms, we always look for adjoining rooms—those with a connecting door. While many travelers may not prefer them due to potential noise and sharing a door with strangers, for me, it’s about avoiding the choice between sleeping next to my wife or a restless nine-year-old.

We always reach out to the hotel to request adjoining rooms. While they seldom guarantee it, they typically try to accommodate our request when possible. I find that I have about a 50% to 60% success rate in securing adjoining rooms, so while it can happen, it's not a certainty.

When we have adjoining rooms, we usually assign one room for my wife and me and another for the kids—something we wouldn't feel comfortable with if the rooms were completely separate.

Top hotel chains for larger families

My preferred hotel chains for accommodating our family of eight are those that offer ample space and comfort. I've had great experiences with the following:

• Residence Inn (Marriott)
• Homewood Suites (Hilton)
• Staybridge Suites (IHG)

These are the hotel chains I’ve found that most often provide suites with a door separating the bedroom from the rest of the room. This feature is crucial for families with young children who go to bed early, as it allows everyone else to stay up without disturbing them.

Other hotel chains featuring "suite" in their name, like Candlewood Suites, Country Inn and Suites, and Embassy Suites, typically offer a partially divided area that doesn't always qualify as a true suite.

Vacation rentals and alternative options

While this guide primarily focuses on hotels, I want to briefly highlight another option for larger families.

Vacation rentals can be a savvy choice for booking family vacations using points. For instance, Wyndham Vacation Resorts charge a flat rate of 15,000 points per night per bedroom, offering some great deals. Additionally, you can use Marriott points to book multi-bedroom units through the Marriott Vacation Club program.

While Airbnb is often recommended as a solid choice for large family accommodations, I haven't had much luck in this area—especially when compared to booking hotels using points. Finding suitable Airbnbs for my family of eight usually leaves me with very few options, and those that are available tend to be quite pricey.

Family travel expert Dan Miller manages Points With a Crew. Along with his wife, he has used miles and points to travel with their six kids to destinations like Puerto Rico, Sweden, Greece, and more.

The $20 trick

If you're familiar with tips for getting upgrades in Las Vegas, you might have heard of the "$20 trick." This involves slipping the front desk agent a $20 bill along with your ID and credit card at check-in, hoping for a suite upgrade. While I haven’t had much success with that specific method, I've developed my own variation to secure larger rooms.

Many hotel chains offer spacious enough rooms for larger families, but they aren't available for booking with points, even though the cash rates are often only slightly higher than those for standard rooms. For example, during a recent trip to California, I stayed with my family at the Staybridge Suites San Francisco, which exemplifies this situation.

The only room available for booking with points is the standard one-bedroom suite; points cannot be used for the two-bedroom suite that accommodates up to eight guests. In this situation, I typically make a refundable award reservation and then reach out to the hotel via email (even though Richard advises against it) to inquire about upgrading for a fee. I usually receive one of three replies:

• Absolutely! As a valued [whatever status I currently have through a hotel credit card], we’d be delighted to provide you with a complimentary upgrade.
• We can upgrade you if you pay the difference between the cash rates of the two rooms (which I’m generally happy to do since it still offers a significant savings over booking two separate rooms).
• No, we can’t guarantee that right now.

From my experience, about 80% of the time, I receive the first response (free upgrade), with the other two options being fairly evenly distributed. If the hotel can’t guarantee an upgrade, I typically search for another hotel in the area that can.

Key amenities to consider when booking rooms for a large family

Here are a few of my top amenities that I prioritize when booking hotel rooms for my family of eight:

Complimentary breakfast

When breakfast is included, it covers eight meals for my family.

Complimentary dinner or evening snacks

Many extended stay hotels host an "Evening Social" or "Managers Reception" a few times a week. If you're not too particular, this can translate to a free dinner.

Full or partial kitchen facilities

Having a kitchen can help your family prepare healthier meals and reduce the high food expenses usually incurred during family vacations. We've even been known to make meals in our hotel room using a rice cooker.

Laundry facilities

If you’re staying for an extended period, access to laundry facilities means you can pack less, saving space in your vehicle or reducing airline baggage fees.