Connecting rooms and family suites: what to ask before you book

Ask any parent what they want from a hotel and, before the pool or the location, they will tell you the same thing: a room the whole family actually fits in. It is the number one question, and somehow the one hotel websites answer worst. Here is how to cut through the vague photos and book a room that works.

Family sleeping arrangements come in four shapes, and the words hotels use are slippery. Learn them before you pay:

• Family room: one big room that officially sleeps four or more. Great for young kids, tight once they are older.
• Connecting rooms: two separate rooms with a private door between them. The gold standard with a baby who naps, or teens who want their own space.
• Family suite: a room with a separate sleeping area, sometimes a small lounge. The middle ground.
• Adjoining rooms: next door to each other but with no connecting door. Not the same thing, and an easy mistake to make.

If a listing says "sleeps 4" but shows one double bed, the other two beds are almost always a sofa bed. Always check what the extra beds actually are.

Before you pay, get five answers, because a quick message to the hotel is worth ten reviews: how many the room sleeps and what the real beds are; whether the extra bed is a proper single or a sofa bed; whether connecting rooms are available and guaranteed at booking; whether a cot is free and fits once the beds are in; and whether you can have the rooms made up before you arrive.

On this site the room setup sits at the very top of every hotel page, before the score, before the pool. It carries the most weight in the KidProof Score for one simple reason: get the room wrong and no amount of water slides will save the holiday. Get it right and everyone sleeps. Our picks with real family rooms are just below.