How do I find a hotel room by size?

Question

Neither on Booking nor on Expedia I can't find how to specify the room size needed. It really is a problem when you search for a spacious room. It may look nice on photos, but appears to be too small when you proceed to the hotel page with full description. At the same time not all hotels provide this info. Are there any other searching engines / ways to search / and how do you people deal with this? Please share.

Answer 1

In some countries, star ratings (the official ones, not those based on customer ratings) have criteria setting minimum room sizes.

For instance, in France, the minimum room size (bathroom included) for a room for 2 persons is:

• 1-star hotels: 10.5 m²
• 2-star hotels: 10.75 m²
• 3-star hotels: 13.5 m²
• 4-star hotels, 16 m²
• 5-star hotels: 24 m².

There are different sizes depending on the max number of people per room, and there are tolerances (up to 20% of the rooms of the hotel may have a surface up to 10% less than the stated minimum).

In some situations there are separate minimums for the room excluding bathroom (the bathroom always has a minimum of 1.5 m²).

The criteria are listed here, in the Annexe, criteria 29 to 41.

Of course, this varies greatly from country to country, and while this is the minimum for the hotel category, they can have different room categories with varied room sizes, and they can even have all rooms with a much larger size than the minimum and still be in a lower category if they don't meet the rest of the criteria for that category.

Answer 2

That depends a bit on what exactly you mean by size: raw square footage, multiple separate rooms, certain number and type of beds, specific amenities (kitchenette, dining area, work space) etc?

Some of these features are searchable (or at least have a filter) on some search engines, others do not.

Unfortunately search engines have significantly degraded recently. Every hotel tries to advertise the lowest price which sometimes is for a small set of mostly undesirable rooms. Once you select a room type a human being actually would stay in and add all the junk fees (resort fees, taxes, booking fees, tourist fees, fantasy fees) you often end up at 2-3 times the advertised price.

Your best shot is probably to stick with the larger chains (IHG, Marriot, Hilton, etc.). These have branded sub-chains that often have specific "personalities". One example would be the "long stay hotels" (Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Homewood Suites) which tend to have large rooms often with separate bedrooms, and a living/dining area (at a reasonable price). Perhaps you can find a sub-chain that caters to your specific needs.

Obviously you can always buy your way up. Most mid-range to high-end hotels have different room types including sizable suites at the top end. So it all depends a bit on what exactly you are trying to optimize for and what trade offs you are willing to make.

Another alternative for larger accommodations are AirBnb, VRBO etc. Here can you specifically search for number of rooms, beds, etc.

Sidenote: Here is one interesting trick that worked for me a few times specifically in east Asia. If you have mid-level status with a chain and stay in one of their hotels the first time, you sometimes get a massive upgrade. Could be that they think you are a frequent traveler (since you have status) and want to become your first choice in region.

Answer 3

Some search and booking engines, such as booking.com (no affiliation), list room size in the listing of available rooms. Here's a screenshot showing room size at the Thatcher Hotel in Hopland CA:

Answer 4

I like Booking for the avalability of subsequent booking, by there is no way to filter by size (believe me, I tried). But you can proceed to the hotel's page when you receive the list of available hotels and see the description of the room there. As for other search engines, you can try Bedsizefinder.com, it is an Expedia partner, but unlike Expedia itself, there is an opportunity to specify the room size and choose the size of the bed. Another option is to go to the website of the hotel you like and get the necessary information there. I assume, it's not that fast, but in this case you'll get reliable up to date information.