Is the 21 y/o age requirement for booking hotels standard accross the U.S.?
 

I've been searching for hotels in California and the terms of every single listing i've seen so far reads "must be at least 21 years of age and have photo I.D." etc...

Is that something that's heavily enforced? Is there any way around that?

Ask mommy to book for you.

I would but unfortunatly my mommy's not going to be there. The person booking the hotel has to be present with photo ID according to the terms i've seen on these sites. Time to start making some calls and see if I can pull a few strings.

Must be a Cali thing. 18+ everyplace I've ever been

Just tell them to gfy

why dont you just stay with someone else who is 21?

Yes, 21 is standard. That started a few years ago hotels where sick of teens fucking up the rooms and leaving.

Lot of resort areas require 21+

because i'm going alone

Post where you're going surely someone can help you out.

Frist stop is San Jose, going to a workshop there. Was planning on staying two nights. I don't see how someone could help me out unless they were staying at the hotel with me. That might be pretty akward. Unless they were a hot chick. Any hot chicks looking to share a hotel? Hit me up on ICQ! hehe...

Second stop is San Fran, but I'm going to see family so i'm not worried about a hotel there.

Anyways I'm not looking for anyone's help... I'm really just wondering if this is an official law or just something the hotels are doing themselves. Gonna be making some calls tommorow to see what I can do.

funny, i booked in at a number of hotels in Vegas when i was 16 and not one single place hassled me

Just change the date on your ID, so that you'll be 21. :thumbsup

haha that's funny, did they even ask for ID? How did you have a cc when you were 16? Unless this was within the past 8 years and it was a debit card.

Doesn't have to be a law.. hotel policy > law

Really though, i don't think I have ever been asked for ID while checking into a hotel in the US and i'm a pretty shady looking person in addition to being young. But on the other hand, if i'm shopping at walmart they wanna match my signatures and see 2 pieces of identification just to pay w/ a CC :321GFY

Paypal debit card :thumbsup

If it's not a law I'm sure I can find at least one hotel off a list of 50 that's willing to bend the rules a bit for a little extra business.

I hope I don't have to make too many calls. I don't know how long I can sit through repeating "come on i'll be your friend" for.

Most states, provinces, and countries don't have laws specifically regulating any minimum age required to get a hotel room. On the other hand, most hotels, for insurance purposes, require somebody who is legally responsible to sign for the room, in case of trouble.

You want to find a lodging establishment that doesn't really care about the age of its patrons. This implies seedy, or at the very least cheap.

Find something indeterminate. Recommendations:

* Motels in general
* Comfort Inn
* Small, fenced-off places that still seem somewhat reputable

Walk with confidence. "I do this all the time." (Don't SAY it, just think it.) Act as though nothing is strange. Dress respectably. Be polite. Even if it's against the rules, if you're nice and the clerk doesn't really care: you're In Like Flynn.

... from how to get a hotel room @ 16 -> http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1424015

LOL

Thanks for the info but not sure if the image thing applies since I'll be booking online or by phone weeks in advance.

And I'm not 16 I'm 20 btw :error

Otherwise good info. :thumbsup

lol it was just a general idea :P

That must be new. I used to travel on business all the time on business when I was 20 and never had an issue. That was before you born though.

i guess some areas are 21 due to the fact that the minibar is stocked with alcohol

usually if you leave a security deposit they will rent to you as long as your over 18

i think so, yeah

Reserve over the phone and only bring your credit card. You'll be fine. If it's a chain, call the 1800# and you won't even have a problem doing it 5min in advance. If 1 gives you trouble, go to the next. Perfect excuse is to tell them you flew all the way in and had these reservations and wasn't expecting a hassle.

blame it on partying american teens....those were the days :)

Vegas its tightly enforced, otherwise they just check ID to make sure its you, not for age.
WG

It depends on the hotel really. Nice hotels tend to be 21+ while the "economy" hotels tend to be 18+... at least that's been my experience in the past.

I took my girlfriend to a resort recently and the age requirement was 21+. But when I stayed at a motel 8 while on a road trip once it was 18+.

I believe thats for certain hotels as they have alcohol.... try budget motels like motel 6.

There are at least two in downtown San Diego where it is 18+. They are USA Hostel and Hostelling International. There are others in the beach towns but I didn't check those. See Google.

http://usahostels.com/contactus.html?lang=10&h=3

http://www.sandiegohostels.org/contact.shtml

yeah for sure..

Mr. Romance

i never had issues being under 21 when i was still in that age group. but i usually dont book, i just walk in.

oh totally right with you man

It's not a law but quite a few hotels enforce it. I did not know this when I was -21 until I had just finished driving over 8 hours and arrived at my destination at 2am and needed a place to crash and was told I had to be 21 to get a room. I was pretty fucking pissed. The third place I tried did not have such policy.

Not absolutely sure, but when I visited a data center in ohio, I was 19 or 20... I was booked in under my companies name, using a company card.. No problems at all.

i beleive so, you have to be 21 to book a hotel room, cause a few months ago a friend of mine went down the states and the lady asked her how old are you and she said 22 so yeh you need to be 21 to book the room.

Lots of places have 21 as well as car rentals. so keep that in mind.

have the 57 year old homeless guy in front of the hotel check you in