If I am booking a room for a family, do I need to give the children's ages when I search your hotel booking API?

Yes, you should give the age of each child at the search stage, because the ages usually make a difference to the price you are quoted and to which rooms come back at all.

When you search, you tell us how many adults are in the room and how old each child travelling with them is. The suppliers then use those ages to work out the rate. Some hotels let younger children stay free when they share a bed with their parents, some charge a reduced rate, and some add a fee for an extra bed or a cot. That decision sits with the hotel, not with us, so the only reliable way to get a correct price is to enter the real ages rather than counting a child as an adult or leaving the ages out.

There are limits worth knowing. Every property sets its own age bands, so a child who stays free at one hotel may be charged at the one next door. Rooms also have a maximum occupancy, so a family may need a larger room type or a second room, and the search will simply not return rooms that cannot take that mix of guests. If you search without ages and add them afterwards, the price can move, and sometimes the room you had picked is no longer available for that group.

Before you confirm, read the child policy and occupancy notes that come back with the room so you can tell the family what is included and what they may be asked to pay at the hotel, and check that the ages you enter are the ages the children will be on the nights of the stay.