Are you the 13-year old who wants to stay in the hotel room alone? Or are you the parents of a 13-year-old who is asking such a question? The reason for clarifying it before we start with the answer is that the answer for both parties will be different.
To find an authentic answer to this question, you must contact the hotel in question because it is not only about the city to which you are traveling; the hotel might have its policies too. They might even want to see your demeanor before letting you in as a 13-year-old unaccompanied guest (or might not let you in).
But we’ll cover this question from different perspectives here in this article, specifically covering the following topics:
- Why do you want a 13-year-old to stay alone?
- Are you allowed to live as a 13-year-old in a hotel room alone?
- In what scenarios can the hotel permit?
- What is the legal age at which you can stay in a hotel room alone?
Why do you want a 13-year-old to stay alone in the hotel?
We understand that this is not the answer to your question, but you have to clarify it first to the authorities to let you (a 13-year-old) or your kid stay in the hotel alone. Here are a few possible reasons:
- Your kid is gone for a trip with the school
- They have to visit their relatives in another city
- They have gone on a recreational trip with a group of friends
- A 13-year-old has sneaked out of your house
All these scenarios create a different level of the situation. So, the decision of the hotel management might differ in every case.
Multiple scenarios where hotel management can allow or disallow stay to a 13-year-old
Below are the main scenarios that you might have to deal with in such a situation.
Your school is taking you on a trip
If a school is taking kids for a trip, you will be welcomed by the hotel. Mostly the members of the group will be of the same age, so even if your age is 13, the hotel authorities will already know and probably will not have any problems with it either. So, you can expect to stay easily without any problems because your school will have made agreements already.
You are with your parents
If your family accompanies you, and you have a room of your own as a 13-year-old, the hotel authorities will probably have no issues. In this case, you are under the supervision of your parents, so whatever you do, your parents will be responsible for it. Besides, the hotel authorities will have your parent’s or guardian’s credit card to pay for expenses, including the hotel room charges. Besides, they can set particular guidelines for the children and want the parent/guardians to implement them to maintain a peaceful environment in the hotel.
You are unaccompanied and are alone
Well, in that case, there are many ifs and buts along with the requirements of analysis of the legal policies of the hotels.
If your parents have booked a room for you
In some cases, you might be allowed to live alone in a room even if you are 13 years old, but your parents will have to talk to the hotel authorities on the call and tell them that they are authorizing you to live there alone. This is not it; the hotel administration is also interested in your expenses on your hotel stay. So, your parents must also agree to pay the hotel bill and claim full responsibility for any expenditure you might incur.
To take the words as a guarantee, some hotels might make your parents sign some papers. Others might be happy with an extra deposit before staying. So, they’ll have all their costs covered.
But even this scenario is possible in certain circumstances, and not every city or hotel owner can let you stay even by completing all these requirements.
Even if the hotel allows, we would not recommend a 13-year-old kid to live alone in the hotel room. Because even if the management agrees to have an eye on your kid, they still cannot look after a kid that likes sneaking out or is capable of other mischievous behavior. When they find such an attitude, you can expect the hotel management to call you and discontinue the rental agreement they have made with you. So, be careful about this aspect too.
If your parents are staying with you
If your parents have to go somewhere in an emergency where they cannot take you along, in that scenario, you’ll be living alone in the hotel room. In that case, you can expect the majority of the hotels to accommodate the situation.
The authorities know that your parents will be back in some time, and there is no potential risk involved.
Your parents might then request the management to watch the teenage kid. The hotel management might even manage to do it. However, if you are the kid or the parent of the 13-year-old kid, you must keep in mind that the hotel staff will not work as a babysitter. They might help the children do certain things or not let them out of the hotel premises if you have given such instructions. But that does not guarantee the safety of your child.
In such a scenario, you must tell your kids about the basic precautionary measures they must employ, including not letting anybody in their room or not touching liquor or any such stuff if the rooms are already equipped with it.
If you are a sober individual
If you are a sober individual, meaning you don’t look like an annoying kid; you are dressed up properly, and your appearance doesn’t seem like you’ll be a lot noisy in the hotel, disturbing the other guests, then your parent’s request and other documents might get you a room. If other requirements aren’t stated by the law of the state you are in.
Besides, there must be some genuine reason for staying in a hotel; otherwise, even your appearance won’t get you through.
If you have booked your room
Well, as a 13-year-old kid, you cannot expect to have your credit card. So, even if you have it from your parents, it is highly likely that your parents have not permitted its usage and thus staying alone in a hotel. In such a situation, the hotel authorities will be skeptical. They will not give you a room because you are underage.
Even if you let them charge the card first and pay them extra, even then, things might not go in your favor because there are multiple risks involved, and no hotel manager will get into unwanted risks just to rent out a room.
In extreme cases, there are chances that they might get your parent’s contact number and call them to pick you up. However, they cannot force you to stay till your parents arrive. But all of this will be chaotic and troublesome.
When can you stay alone in a hotel room?
If, after getting all this information, you are still fond of living alone and thinking for how long you will have to wait to live alone, then the answer is pretty clear.
You have to be an adult before booking a room for yourself. Without credit cards, you cannot book a room of your own. However, one important thing that you should keep in mind is that you can’t violate the terms of any hotel and make excessive noise or create other problems that might disturb the other guests.
If you create any such situation, the hotel management can ask you to leave the premises immediately. So, irrespective of your age, you have to abide by the hotel’s policies.
In most cases, the hotel management does not even prefer getting guests who want to party in the rooms or create other such chaos. Amazingly, there have been no reported incidents of any lawsuits against the hotel for age discrimination in the customers. This means that even 18 is just a number for the hotel management. You might book a room in the hotel when you are 18, but the stay will depend upon your attitude and overall demeanor.
Summing Up
There are multiple instances relevant in deciding if you’ll be allowed to stay in a hotel room alone when you are 13 years old. But most of the scenarios highlight that a 13-year-old kid can’t stay alone in any hotel room. This is because of the guardianship issues and the fuss that a teenager will create alone. Not to mention the charges incurred by the teenager and its coverage. So, with all these issues, hotel management does not accept such guests, but in a few circumstances, a call from the parents and their acceptance of all the bills could provide you with permission for an emergency stay.
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