I always try to book directly with the property, but if not, I've booked with Booking.com and never had a problem. They are a valuable resource.

"My suspicion is that the difference in the booking terms (the rooms will clearly hold that many people) is international market vs. UK. "

Not sure what that bit means -- but on booking.com AND on most hotels' own websites one can use three to a room as a criteria. What one cannot do is try to fit three people into a double room. Against both booking rules and fire regulations.

One thing to note - you probably will have to book a triple and not a 'family' room. Many properties and I think almost all chains count anyone 16 yo and up as an adult and family rooms are specifically for two adults and one or two children under 16. And yes, they do check ages.

"One thing to note - you probably will have to book a triple and not a 'family' room. Many properties and I think almost all chains count anyone 16 yo and up as an adult and family rooms are specifically for two adults and one or two children under 16. And yes, they do check ages."

I never knew that and would never had occurred to me - that's interesting. I just assumed that if there were beds for, say, four people, that any four people could sleep in them, providing of course that you booked for four people.

I have user booking.com many times, but through the years and chats with hotel receptionists I learn that they take a big commission. Therefore for helping local hotels, I use booking for choosing one hotel and reading reviews and then I book directly with the hotel website.

It is definitely a "family" room, and will acommodate five, just Alton Towers own website doesn't book it for adults (they're automatically kicking us into two rooms, with no triple option). I'm assuming that they have some reason for this (other than just selling more rooms), but I have noticed that there just seem to be a lot fewer options for booking three adults into a room in the UK, even in rooms that will accomodate four or five people. The extra bedding is twin, but it is in a lot of triples as well, so I'm assuming there's more reason than that (possibly concern about groups of rowdy young adults). I'm also wondering if it's less common for young adult children to holiday with their parents (at least in the same room).

Booking.com is clearly giving me the option to book three adults (so were a couple of other third party websites, such as edreams, which I'm not using), with an identifiable room type, etc, and for dates further out. Presumably Alton Towers is making this available for some reason (luring international visitors was the one that came to mind). We do prefer their own hotel, but not to the point of booking two expensive rooms that will accomodate all three of us easily. DS can occupy a room by himself, and probably will at some point during the trip (but probably in an actual single, not a room that will accomodate a small tribe).

They still haven't replied to my email either.

I did go to the Alton Towers website and found them on booking.com. I can’t explain the discrepancy but if you can get what you want on booking.com why not book it ?

It's much less common to get rooms with 2 double beds in the UK, compared to the US. Rooms that accommodate 5 are often 2 adults + 3 children.
I wouldn't want to share one room with 2 or 3 adult children anyway. I would definitely not share 1 bathroom with 4 adults.

When traveling with family, either daughter and two teenaged grandsons or son, daughter-in-law, I always book two rooms connecting if possible. Like Tulips can’t imagine sharing one bath with 4 people. Also, no matter how much you like even love your fellow travelers after being together all day, a little space or time apart is almost essential.

Although I don’t recall booking.com being specific on adults vs. children in a room that allowed 3 or more people, it may well be that those bunk beds they describe are for children not adults.

Sharing a bathroom between four or more people 365 days a year is the norm for most families in the developed world. It would not occur to us to worry about that. Additionally, if sharing a room and a bathroom meant that we could afford to extend our holiday, we wouldn't think twice. As with everything, it comes down to how you prioritise your spending.

Thanks for that. Reminders are needed sometimes.

I have had many reservations with booking.com over the years, and never had a need for Customer Service, until the pandemic came along. We had a trip planned in France, including Corsica in May. We were able to get full refunds thanks to airbnb intervention for several properties. We had two booking.com reservations: one for a hotel in Paris that was non-refundable but the hotel was providing refunds if you booked directly with them. We had to argue with booking.com to get them to request a refund, which we eventually received. A Corsica hotel reservation, through booking.com, was refundable, and we cancelled well before the cancellation deadline. The refund was not forthcoming, and booking.com promised to issue the refund to us if the hotel did not comply within five days. When the refund was not made by the hotel, we wrote to booking.com numerous times in the ensuing weeks, and never received a response to any of our inquiries. They had answered numerous other inquiries within 24 hours prior to this. We finally had to file a chargeback request with our credit card and received a quick credit that way. I think the advice to avoid third parties as much as possible might be a good idea; third party bookings have caused problems for many people with Covid cancellations. If you see a better rate, or terms on booking.com, most hotels will match the offer. I once owned a lodging property, and I was always happy to save the commissions, so price matching was never a problem.

The rooms I see on both websites have one double bed and bunk beds. Aside from hostels, bunk beds are intended for children.

Thursdays--We stayed in a couple hotels in Norway that had bunk beds for adults. Hotels, not hostels. Our son who was in college slept on those and was just fine.

Usual commission by Booking.com (and most other reservation sites) is around 15%. It may be less with a big hotel chain that does a lot of business with them.

Alton Towers finally responded to my email. Apparrently they've been very busy (not surpisingly).

They told me that they can book three adults over the phone once those dates are officially released, which is very good to know.