If I am booking a hotel for a family, do I have to enter the children's ages or just how many children there are?

Yes, in nearly all cases you need to enter each child's age, not only the number of children travelling.

The reason is that hotels price children by age rather than treating them all the same. One property may let a young child stay free using the existing bedding, while another charges for an extra bed, and an older child may be counted as an adult. The age also decides whether a room can take the family at all, because occupancy limits are set per room and by age band. If an age is missing or wrong, the price that comes back will not match what the hotel expects, and your customer can be asked for more at the desk.

What is asked for does vary by supplier. Most want the age as it will be on the date of stay rather than the age today, which matters if a birthday falls during the trip. Some suppliers limit how many children can be attached to a single room and will ask you to split the family across rooms instead. A few will not return any results at all if an age is left blank, because they will not guess on your behalf. These rules come from the hotel and the supplier, so what you see in your search is what they have given us.

Before you quote a family, check that you have entered an age for every child and that it is the age during the stay, then read the room description in the result so you can tell your customer clearly whether the child is included in the rate or will be charged separately at the property.