pauing extra for over 12 year olds, it stinks!!!!!
 

I just made reservations for a hotel in Ocean City Md. and had to pay and xtra $120.00 for my 2 older children, because they are over 12 years old. Like they would even rent to a 12 year old, man this is a RACKET(BS). Does anyone else agree? OC Md. prices are out of control, we have not been there for a few years, but this is crazy. We spent less for a resort type place right on the beach @ Myrtle Beach, but alas it is too far a drive from Pa.. and we do like OC MD..
Need feedback......... Rose and Paul

Kids use bed sheets and towels, use the pool, create wear and tear on the hotel and the pool and common area. Why shouldn't you have to pay for them?

I agree with MikeT. I'm sure it's not the only hotel in town, vote with your wallet and stay elsewhere.

Most chain hotels allow up to 18 free when staying with parents and using the standard facilities.

I work pt at a hotel with continental breakfast (yes, yours probably doesn't offer one) but those 12-20s go thru a buffet like locusts.

I read that most hotels will require an extra charge for additional adults starting with the third adult. Some hotels consider children over 12 as adults, but most do not charge extra for children aged 16 or under.

Utahtea

It's Friday and maybe I'm a little slow today...forgive me.

They ARE your children. If not you, then who should foot the bill?

bergers4...Which hotel? Most charge like a $10 - 15 per child "extra person" charge.But $60 each kid??

BeachBoi - I'm assuming that $120 is for the whole stay, likely more than one night.

And I agree with the others - if you don't like the charge, find someplace else to stay. If they all charge it, pay it or don't go. Someone has to pay for their use of the hotel, and hotels are certainly under no obligation to cover it (though some do to entice parents with kids to stay there).

Sorry, I disagree with you. You pay for as many people as will stay in the room, and if the hotel wants to through in extras: like kids stay free, this is wonderful! what a nice surprise!

Or you can take your business elsewhere, the choice is yours. I am a budget person, and plan accordingly.

(by the way, I agree, the prices are out of control, but not because you have to pay for your children, just out of control, period :) )

I agree. Children over 12 years old often use the most services at a hotel (breakfast, computer room, pool, exercise room, etc.) sometimes to the detriment of other guests. They are your children and maybe the hotel is attempting to dissuade parents from staying there for some reason and are thus charging you.

well, if airlines can charge you for a seat for two years old & over then I guess you are getting bargain on a bed if the Hotel only charges for 12 & over!LOL How many nights are you staying? ( i.e., how much extra per night?)

I agree, find another hotel/location if the additional charge is offensive to you.

Personally, I think they should charge extra for kids - they do use the facilities, towels, eat "free" breakfasts (like locusts as one poster mentioned), to say nothing of making more work for maids, etc.

rb_traveler - I'm laughing my head off. I think a couple of those "locusts" belong to me.

And bergers, if it is such an issue just switch hotels.

Bergers,
I hear ya, unless they are actually getting something extra (2 extra towels everyday does not, IMO, justify an additional $120), then I think it stinks too.

I was looking at the Surfside Beach Club in Bermuda and they wanted an extra $100 PER DAY for my 2 kids. The room was $350/night for 2, but $450/night for 4, room only. This didn't include any meals, it was for the same size room as if we weren't bringing them. When I asked what I would be paying $100 extra for, they just said "$50 extra per person, that's the charge". I could see if it at least included breakfast, but needless to say, I wasn't about to pay it. I found another place that charged by the accomodation (room) rather than by the person.

Afterall, if you rent a hotel room as a single person, it's the same price as for two people. By the logic a lot of people are using here, 2 people should pay more than one, right?

Berger I'd look elsewhere if I were you.

Not exactly, nina. By the logic used here, hotels should be able to charge extra for the second person if they choose, just as they should be able to charge extra for children of any age, should they choose. It's a free market. Hotel competition has resulted in the fact that very few, if any, hotels charge more for two people in a room than for one. If one tried, people would go elsewhere because others don't.

It's not a matter of what they should or should not charge. Of course we'd all like to pay as little as possible for as much service as possible. But the hotels are not wrong, and it's possible to vote with your dollar (as suggested above) unless they all do it.

Er, I did a little checking-- and, if I'm not mistaken, the OP's two &quot;older children&quot; are <b>19</b> and <b>15</b>. Time to break down and get a suite or second room IMHO....

And sorry, but the hotel indeed has a right to charge extra for wear and tear beyond the typical two guests in a standard hotel room. Sure, vote with your dollars-- but I'm on the hotel's side here.

JAGIRL,
I do not have a problem paying extra for over 16/17/18 year ( yes for my own kids)olds like most hotels, and it IS $120.00 xtra for 5nights; and there is no anything breakfast, unless I cook it there.. I have a problem with the age and all the hotels do this! We stayed in NYC right in Times Square and it was kids over 16. We travel enough to know they have a racket of BS going on in OC, but like I said we do like it there.BUT Just wondered if it P---d anyone else off that they make it soo young! And the price is high there, for anywhere you stay!!!!!!! Hope the restaraunts did not follow suit with them and raising the prices.

Berger, I think you are right! It does stink. If the room costs 200 with two double beds, then it technically sleeps four people. You should be charged by the room not the amount of kids.
Secondly, my kids are skinny and don't go through buffets like slobs. We went to a Luau in Hawaii and 13 was an adult, double the price of a child. Now, I can see charging more for teens, but let's be realistic, they aren't drinking mai tais at 13. My kids barely ate the hawaiian food at the luau. I think there should be a higher charge for teens, but not like an adult.

rjw_lgb_ca-

Actually, I think OP's 2 children were <b>19</b> and <b>15</b> in <b>2004</b>. If my math is correct, they are now <b>21</b> and <b>17</b>. When my brother and I were that age, our parents paid for a second room for us.

bergers4-

To make sure I understand you right, it's $120 extra for your two older children, for 5 nights? That's $12 per child per night. Please don't complain.

At what age do you plan to start paying for them as if they were adults?

So you're saying that whatever they charge for four people to stay there, they should charge the same for two of us? I'd be as outraged as you are -- maybe more. Why should two of us have to pay as much as for four people?

A 679
I just think @ ages 16/17 and up is/should be the ages any parent should pay extra for any of their OWN children! For just under$200.00 (a night)just for my hubby and I plus the extra.. well just what I think!!!!! What do you think is fair for YOUR OWN kids?????? I do not have aproblem paying extra for older kids, it is just the age 12...

OK, I have just one more room to rent. Two families want to rent it. I can only charge $200 for it. One family is four including two young teenagers. The other family is two adults, no kids. Let me see. Which would I prefer to rent it to? Hard choice?

I fail to see why an adult couple should have to pay as much as a family of four including two teens. Could you explain why you think they should?

Neopolitan--I agree, and I have two children that are at/near the age of where hotels start charging for them.

I cannot imagine a family of four in one room with one bathroom.

By letting your kids under 12 stay free they are already forcing other people to pay part of your expenses. Why should your teenagers - who probably use as much if not more of the facilities and create as least as much wear and tear as adult guests - be free? You're the one who decided to have kids - you're the one who should pay for them. Not the other guests - who don;t have kids yet - or whose kids are already adults or who didn;t bring kids with them.

(Frankly I think hotels and resorts should charge for all kids above 5/6 based on actual usage and wear/tear.)

Am I the only one who gets the biggest kick out of these &quot;traveling with children&quot; debates? ;;)

It's not about fair. It's about supply and demand. The hotels will charge what the market will bear.

But if it were about fair, I think 12 is fair and I have a 13 yr. old. She goes to the movies, the mall, restaurants, the roller rink, etc. without us, with friends. She's an inch taller than me and we weigh about the same. If we do brunch, she eats more than me. If we go to the pool, she swims a lot longer than me. Actually, since my husband and I share a bed/room and she gets her own, and she demands equal time in the bathroom, and she uses more of the facilities/amenities, I think maybe I should get a discount.

Consider it payback for the tax deductions.

It was when my kids both hit 12/13-ish that I started insisting on 2 rooms. Two adults and 2 young teens in one room for a week is NOT a vacation!

Kal, I think NYtraveler has a probelm, either does not have/like kids.. or maybe just not his/her own. the point is being missed, I think paying extra for older kids( somewhat) is normal, but &quot;12&quot;. Heck, when my daughter turned 10 her haircut went from $8 to $20, her hair length was the same. So, I took by business elswhere, now she is just old enough to pick her own. I just think it is out of control, when a parent has to pay so much money for a room ( maybe for some is all they can afford), but the hotels sock it to them for a 12 year old. I have firneds with triplets, can you imagine?!
And yes Kal we love traveling with our kids, any ages, but don't MOST parents?!!!!!!!!!! That has never been the issue!

Bergers, I guess your computer doesn't show my posts and questions? I've asked the same basic question two times and you just ignore it. Please explain WHY you think that two people in a room should have to pay the same price as four people in a room? How do you explain the fairness of that? And saying &quot;because it effects me&quot; is not a good answer.

So, bergers4, your title says it stinks at 12 or 13. But really, that is the age that kids have huge growth spurts, eat more, start taking hourlong showers (if they can get away with it), demand extra towels, and no longer fit on the loveseat. Heck, even restaurant kids meals end at age 11 or so. Seems logical to me.

bergers4 - Clearly most people disagree with you when you say that 12 is too young for this to kick in, but it's still your prerogative to feel that 12 is, indeed, too young.

What you don't get is that it's not a racket or BS. It's business. Why should the hotel care that your friend has triplets and wouldn't be able to afford paying the extra rate for all three of them? The hotel didn't choose for them to have triplets, or to work in the profession that they do with the income they do. The hotel is in business, and will charge what they can reasonably make based on the current market. That's not BS, that's how a business runs. As has been said many times, if you don't like it, don't pay it. Some hotel, somewhere, is not charging extra for 12 year old kids, so take your business there if it means that much to you.

Or, as Neopolitan said, can you only see NYtraveler's and Kal's posts on this particular thread and no one else's?

I can see how this could be confusing to parents. For example, at Novotel (an Accor chain hotel that is more common in Europe than NA) the child policy is effective up until age 16.

But it's really up to the hotel in question as to what age they decide to charge adult rates, or even if they decide to give a child rate at all. Hotels can charge what they think the particular market that they serve will bear. They don't give child rates because it is 'fair' but only if they think doing so is necessary to get the business of the market share they serve. If they can still make their revenue targets after lowering the age of their child policy, or charging fairly high third and fourth person fees, then that's what they'll do. The same applies to any other discount - seniors, military, AAA, etc. etc. It's not a matter of being nice, but of trying to lure a specific market segment. A hotel might not, in fact, be all that interested in a given market segment. (Charging high 3rd and 4th person per room rates might be a subtle way of discouraging children.)

I can't speak to whether free market capitalism is fair, but the principle is generally pretty consistent.

Let's take it in the other direction. Hotels and resorts that charge &quot;per person&quot; charge me MORE for traveling alone. I'm only one person using the facilities, towels, etc. However, I understand that since they charge &quot;per person&quot;, they can get more money if two people stay in the room, so I have to make up some of the difference.
Asking you to pay $12 a night for each extra person is VERY reasonable in my opinion.

I too travel with two teens (14 &amp; 18) and we generally only get one room. Of course, hotels are all over the map in terms of extra charges. We just went to Whistler, B.C., and the condo we rented wanted $40/week for extra kids - not a large charge, and certainly not unreasonable. I might decide to avoid a hotel that charged an extra $12/night for each of my kids, but I certainly wouldn't be outraged about it. We are also not above claiming that there are only 2 or 3 of us, and then putting all 4 of us in the room.

&quot;Not exactly, nina. By the logic used here, hotels should be able to charge extra for the second person if they choose, just as they should be able to charge extra for children of any age, should they choose. It's a free market&quot;

I agree that it's a free market, I didn't say it wasn't. I will not stay in a place that is going to charge me $100 extra per day for the same room only simply because my kids are going to sleep in it. It's the hotels right to charge whatever they want, and it's my right to book elsewhere.

Regarding the suggestion to book 2 rooms, I think it's easy to say but very expensive to do. Now that my kids are 13 and 16, I try to book a 2 room suite, although my family can struggle sharing one bathroom, I grew up in a family of 5 with one bathroom, how did we ever survive?

With lodging prices at $300 or more per night sometimes, a second room is a luxury I'm not willing to spring for.

As far as single travelers are concerned, my husband pays the same price as couples for hotel rooms when on business travel, I don't see any hotels giving him a rebate because he only used one towel, but that same hotel might charge our family more for the same room if we use more towels.

The question comes down to this, either charge by the room (and allow as many people as the room can sleep), or charge by the person, but doing both when it's conveniently profitable is somewhat unfair IMO.

&quot;I fail to see why an adult couple should have to pay as much as a family of four including two teens. Could you explain why you think they should?&quot;

Let me address this. If that family is not receiving any breakfast, and is renting the exact same room as the couple, then what costs are the incurring over the couple? Maybe a couple of extra towels (kids do not use more than one towel each)?

If a hotel that charges over $200 a night, as so many do, and then charge those pesky &quot;resort fees&quot; can't absorb the cost of washing 2 extra towels (how much can that be?), then let them charge me the $2.00 extra, it can't be more than that.

On the other hand, can you answer why you and your wife shouldn't pay more than just my husband for the same room?

&quot;Please explain WHY you think that two people in a room should have to pay the same price as four people in a room?&quot;

For the same reason that one person in a room has to pay the same price as two people in a room.