WOW! Had not checked this thread in a couple of days and clearly this blew up in a way I did not expect :)

Do, however, want to thank you for your responses. To clarify some points brought up by some of the posters -

- trying to cheat and be dishonest? Not really :) I am renting the highest category of a 5 star hotel - it is on the executive floor, and a suite. It has 2 bathrooms, a living room; and a bedroom. We are paying some significant dollars for 2 nights there. I want to stay in a hotel with extra room, and enjoy the luxury of the club floor. The boy is one year more than the limit - and I am not comfortable putting them in a separate room for themselves. Hence I asked.

I liked some of your ideas - and will send an email to the manager and clarify. As mentioned, with our budget for the hotel stays, I can go somewhere else if they can't accommodate. Hope they will though since I dont want to be cramped up in a quadruple room...but rather for a a regular suite.

St.: >>Anyone who wants to enlighten himself about fire and occupancy regulations for hotels in France is welcome to read the Code du Travail.<<

I don't think my heart could take the excitement.

>>Hotels that are not in compliance face fines and worse. <<

But that still doesn't answer the question of whether having a child one year over the age limit in a room is a code violation. (Though I prefer ignorance on this matter if it means having to read the Code du Travail.)

Woin: >>OP must think we are a bunch of crazy people. <<

And the OP would generally be right.

Welcome to our club desirees.
We are like old women gossiping over tea and dissecting neighbors' lives whilst eating some biscuits.
You gave us a bone and we are making it clean.
Glad something came out of it for you ;-)
Now tell us : do you want to sneak in a small dog ? It would keep us busy well into 2017 !
Enjoy your holiday.

WoinParis - maybe a ferret as someone suggested :)

Did want to clarify another point - since occupancy questions came up. The suite already has occupancy for 4 people. 2 in the bedroom, and a couch that would be set up for another double bed...

Ah, then you won't be drawn and quartered for violating the sanctity of the Code du Travail.

That's a disappointment to me.

In that case, I would hope that the hotel wouldn't worry about the ages of the kids who would sleep on the sofa-bed. But would your boys really be comfortable sharing something the size of a double bed? In Europe those can be small.

I had missed the ferret. Probably because the word was not known to me. I could have guessed though - furet in French is quite close.
Shame on me.
But also disappointed :-)

It was my ferret. The hotel said it was OK as long as he has a passport. (It was a real bitch getting him to sit still for the picture.)

Which 5* in Paris?

Séville is not in Paris.

I had missed the ferret. Probably because the word was not known to me. I could have guessed though - furet in French is quite close.
Shame on me. >>

I saw a ferret being walked on a lead through a nearby village when we lived in Kent. Does that count?

Update - crisis averted. I emailed them - and all they did was to change the reservation to reflect 4 adults - cost went up by about 40 euros total :)

Great to come back !
Enjoy your holiday.

Easy fix, thanks for the update :)

Great -- and now you don't have to worry about anything.

perfect

Perfect way to handle it. And thanks for letting us know.