Why is it so hard to find two-bedroom hotel suites online??? (cost, rentals)
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I've been really flummoxed with how difficult it is to find something which should be pretty simple online - a list of hotels with two-bedroom suites.
Basically, I'm married with two kids - 12 and 8. They're opposite genders, and shouldn't be sharing a bed anyway. The preferred way to go when we travel is my son sleeps on a couch (he doesn't mind) my daughter gets a bedroom, and my wife and I share another bedroom.
Finding two bedroom suites on all of the hotel sites is basically impossible though. A handful of sites like TripAdvisor do allow you to filter for "suites" but 80%+ of the time these suites are just one bedrooms (sometimes with two beds in a single bedroom). Unless I look for a particular chain that I know will have them, they're basically impossible to find.
Oh, and yeah, I prefer to book with AirBNB for just this reason. But my wife has gotten increasingly resistant to doing this, because of ideological reasons (she feels that short-term rentals displace local residents). As a result, I'm at a loss planning a trip right now to Charleston SC. It's like, we could get a two-bedroom suite out in the sticks and have to drive into town, or stay in the city area that we want, and all have to cram into a single room. Neither one is an attractive option.
It may not be appealing depending on the length of your vacation and the goals but you could always try for two adjoining rooms or at least side-by-side. You and your son share one room and your wife and daughter share the other.
Zero in on extended stay brands like Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Homewood Suites, etc. Not all of them have a two bedroom option but a lot of them will. Residence Inn here has 2 queens plus a sofa bed as an option-
It may not be appealing depending on the length of your vacation and the goals but you could always try for two adjoining rooms or at least side-by-side. You and your son share one room and your wife and daughter share the other.
Yeah, I looked into that just now. It's doable, but it would cost $4,000+ for the trip in total (rooms at the hotels I'm aware of with adjoining rooms run about $300 a night) and my wife balked at the price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by beachmouse
Zero in on extended stay brands like Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Homewood Suites, etc. Not all of them have a two bedroom option but a lot of them will. Residence Inn here has 2 queens plus a sofa bed as an option-
We stay at Residence Inns a lot with our family, and there's indeed a nearby one which could fit all of us for about $300 a night. However, it's across the river from Downtown Charleston, and there doesn't appear to be any way to cross on foot. We're city folks, and when we go on vacation we want to be able to roll out of bed and explore, so the idea of being crammed on the side of a highway when there's this awesome walkable historic city right next door is just...not appealing.
We tried to do this several times when traveling with friends. Ultimately, the cost of hotel 2 bedroom units was very prohibitive. Unless your budget is WAY more than ours, your wife may have to budge and accept that Airbnb and VRBO is part of the travel landscape, a market disrupter, and it's not going away.
Some places also have 3 beds in one room. I know many families without huge budgets that use them.
You could also go from staying in really nice places to getting 2 rooms in an average place.
Stay in a Motel 6 and you can get the kids their own rooms.
You have many options. The best would be to get your wife off her high horse and stay at a Air B&B, Vacassa, or vbro type place so the whole family doesn't have to suffer for her beliefs.
I get her concern with short-term rentals overall, but this difficulty you're having is specifically the market gap that airbnb attempts to fill. You want a 2 bedroom place in the core of Charleston and that's not available outside of the short-term rental platforms. (Or you may be able to find a few to book direct and skip the platforms)
As for generally-speaking outside of your current search, I do think it's tough to search for 2-bedroom hotel suites. All I typically do is search the chains that I specifically seek out, like Residence Inn, Hyatt House, Homewood Suites, etc.
I feel your pain. I have 3 kids ages 8-15 and a MIL who travels with us (so 6 total). We CAN smoosh into a single 2-bed suite with a fold-out couch, but it SUCKS. Mostly because 1) people are noisy sleepers and 2) we are all stuck using one single bathroom.
I've been really flummoxed with how difficult it is to find something which should be pretty simple online - a list of hotels with two-bedroom suites.
Basically, I'm married with two kids - 12 and 8. They're opposite genders, and shouldn't be sharing a bed anyway. The preferred way to go when we travel is my son sleeps on a couch (he doesn't mind) my daughter gets a bedroom, and my wife and I share another bedroom.
Finding two bedroom suites on all of the hotel sites is basically impossible though. A handful of sites like TripAdvisor do allow you to filter for "suites" but 80%+ of the time these suites are just one bedrooms (sometimes with two beds in a single bedroom). Unless I look for a particular chain that I know will have them, they're basically impossible to find.
Oh, and yeah, I prefer to book with AirBNB for just this reason. But my wife has gotten increasingly resistant to doing this, because of ideological reasons (she feels that short-term rentals displace local residents). As a result, I'm at a loss planning a trip right now to Charleston SC. It's like, we could get a two-bedroom suite out in the sticks and have to drive into town, or stay in the city area that we want, and all have to cram into a single room. Neither one is an attractive option.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
I can relate to this.
Have you tried booking dot com? They usually have these filters.
However, travelling with family n kids, I have noticed that AirBnB suits me the best. I prefer to have at least two restrooms, and a parking facility. Many hotel sites are sometimes ambiguous about it, but AirBnB does the trick for me.
Booked through Booking dot come a few times and it worked out good too.
May be ask your wife to look into the idea of putting your own residence on AirBnb while you guys are out on Vacation renting an AirBnb in SC? This will not only make the "displacing the locals" factor even out but you will also get some money made while you are away on vacations. Win win situation.
May be ask your wife to look into the idea of putting your own residence on AirBnb while you guys are out on Vacation renting an AirBnb in SC? This will not only make the "displacing the locals" factor even out but you will also get some money made while you are away on vacations. Win win situation.
If the wife will even remotely consider that idea, HomeExhange.com is a much better way to go. AND it's (generally) cost free, may include a car, and can provide a home/condo that's plenty big enough for the family.
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