<p>or does one need to be 21? My 18yo needs to fly to attend an event and I was hoping to avoid the additional cost of having to go myself so I was thinking of finding a room online, paying for it with the credit card on which kiddo is an authorized user and then having teen go there.</p>
<p>If booking on Expedia you can check on the hotel’s website under policies. Some say 18 is the minimum age and others 19. My kids have never been asked their age once the booking and credit card is there. It also depends I guess on how young the teen looks.</p>
<p>It depends on the hotel. I’ve stayed at hotels with minimum ages of 18 and minimum ages of 21. If not listed on the website, you can always call the hotel and ask.</p>
<p>I would check it out - D and a group of friends went in for a hotel room in NYC over Thanksgiving break and had booked it/prepaid on Expedia. When they tried to check in, they were refused (and their $ refunded) because no one was 21 (some were 20). I thought to myself it would be much better for the hotel if they had a 21 year old in the group to legally purchase alcohol? </p>
<p>I’ve recently booked hotels and the online info mentioned being 18. So I think it can vary.</p>
<p>You really need to check with the hotel that you’re interested in. It varies widely, even within the same city. Many hotels still require that someone in the party be 21. I booked a hotel through Expedia this week for a trip I’m taking next month and it specifically said that there was an age requirement of 21, not that it’s a problem for me! But I’ve never noticed that on individual hotel websites, which is how I usually book. I know that my Ds have often travelled themselves or with each other or with friends through the years when they were younger, and sometimes it wasn’t an issue, and other times I had to make alternate arrangements so they weren’t presented with a problem upon check-in.</p>
<p>Have you considered checking out Priceline? You pay before the trip so he just presents a paid voucher.</p>
<p>Former hotel Manager here. Doesn’t matter if prepaid as noted by the earlier poster. The clerk or manager can refuse to check someone under 21 in and refund the payment. You need to call the actual hotel. When you call write down the name of the person you speak to. Additionally if you are not speaking to a manager ask the clerk to check with their manager. I have had clerks tell me “sure, no problem” but when I pushed them to check with a manager they came back on the line with “oh yeah I checked and my manager says no”.</p>
<p>Priceline’s US website requires at least one of those staying to be 21+. IIRC, it’s UK website only requires a person to be 18. Hotwire allows those 18+ to book a room, but states the minimum age requirement for the hotel (some are 21+) before purchase.</p>
<p>I once had reservations at a hotel that said one needed to be 21 to check in (not stated on the website) so to ensure that those 18-20 wouldn’t smoke in a non-smoking room (though they could just pay the cleaning fee like anyone else). They also mentioned that they had recently turned away a 19 year old marine in full uniform because of this policy. As it was 12:30 am and I was leaving for my connecting flight in a few hours, I was allowed to check in.</p>
<p>I later found out that California law (the hotel was near LAX) may possibly prohibit any rule that sets the minimum check-in age above 18 as California considers 18-20 year olds to be adults for everything except alcohol.</p>
<p>Thanks to this post I just called Cassandra Hotel in NYC where 18yoto D would be checking in on sat. OMG- she says must be 21checking to check into room. Quickly changed to the Hyatt Grand Central who do take 18</p>
<p>Correction “Cassa hotel”</p>
<p>Actually, for future reference, I do know of someone who was allowed to stay in a hotel room at age 15 by himself. He was at a military boarding school in a rather rural area, and needed to get to Houston for my dad’s funeral. His dad made all kinds of phone calls and arrangements, including: buying a bus ticket to the closest major city (three hours away), pre-arranging a cab to pick him up from the bus station and take him to a hotel that he had pre-arranged a reservation for, then pre-arranged another cab to pick him up in the morning to take him to the airport. It took a few phone calls, but I guess the adults that the arrangements were made with did a really nice job of kind of looking out for this kid, given the circumstances. So in an emergency, things can be done out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>My son had several experiences when he had to stay alone in a hotel room prior to age 21. However, I followed the same protocol each time. I made the reservation myself and made it a point to speak to someone in authority each time to explain the situation carefully. Then, right before arrival, I called again and made sure the arrangement was still good.</p>
<p>I understand the hotel’s perspective. They do not want to wind up with a group of underage party animals trashing their hotel. However, in most cases, if they are convinced a responsible, solitary young person, who has a good reason to be traveling alone, and who has the full oversight of a parent somewhere (with a credit card), they will be okay with it.</p>
<p>I drove out to school and stayed alone in a hotel room three of the nights. I was 19. Never had any problems there. Didn’t even think there might be a problem. </p>
<p>FYI the states were Kansas, Utah, and California. Stayed in Holiday Inn Express type hotels.</p>
<p>Many of the restrictions on checking into hotel rooms are due to insurance requirements. Insurance is much cheaper if you eliminate the 18-20 year old cohort staying alone. (Same for car rental companies - it’s much cheaper to buy insurance that begins coverage at age 25.)</p>
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<p>Be very careful of this problem. I had this happen to me, where a friend called and asked the hotel (don’t know if she got a manager or not), was told it was fine, and when we went to check in they wouldn’t give us a room. They were completely unapolagetic and rude about their mistake, on top of it. It resulted in a last-minute panic to find someplace to stay.</p>
<p>My kid stayed in the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago when she was 18. But it was for audition week and there were lots of kids in the same boat. Maybe they made an exception for that week? Or maybe Hiltons are Ok with 18 yr olds.</p>
<p>Many hotels in Florida are 21 and older. Some near the coast are actually 25 and older, especially around spring and summer. They do not want large groups of college kids staying in their rooms. But when a 20 yo is flying out at with a 6am departure time after a 2+ hour drive (to a leadership conference no less) it can be hard to find a room to stay in the night before the flight. She ended up going with a group, and they just got up early (or maybe they never went to sleep.)</p>
<p>In my opinion one key point is missing from all the posts. The majority of hotels and motels require a credit card at check in. A credit card is required even if the room is prepaid with the parents credit card or via some website like Hotwire or Expedia. One of my kids spent the summer working at a hotel. This policy is something many travelers do not understand. A debit card doesn’t usually work since the hotel will put a $ amount hold on the card. It is up to your bank how long it takes to release that hold. It can put a damper on vacation plans.</p>
<p>For D’s 18th birthday she and 3 friends wanted to stay @ a hotel near Downtown Disney. I called the hotel directly before making a reservation, then after assuring them they would never even know these four were there (they were quite trustworthy) and giving the hotel my cellphone number, my husband’s cellphone number, etc, we put the reservation in my name and hers. I had the name of the person I spoke with, and I confirmed with them a few days before they arrived. Check-in was on our credit card, on which she is an authorized user and has a card in her name. The hotel put balloons and a small cake and card in the room, which I did not ask for. Afterwards I wrote an email, thanking them for such great service and telling them I had written very complementary trip advisor review. They sent my D a letter, and a certificate for a free two night stay. I was upfront with the front desk, even though I could have driven to the hotel and checked-in for the girls w/o the hotel’s knowledge. All in all … Worked out great.</p>
<p>Zebes</p>
<p>We once booked 2 hotel rooms out west when our son was probably 15- ostensibly H and son would be together, one room for each parent. He was being the obnoxious teen and we didn’t want to share a room with him, no suites that trip. Son got his own room and it turned out to be a smoking one (all that was available). He lit the matches in the room- we noticed the smell- he had no experience with them as we are nonsmokers. Never expected my kid to play with matches…</p>