What’s The Difference Between Single And Double Rooms? We Explain

Types of rooms in modern hotels may confuse a person who travels not so often. You can find dozens of names that basically don’t tell you anything like Super Deluxe Standard, Deluxe Suite Standard, Single Luxury Deluxe Room, and many other names consisting of three or four words that don’t convey any sense.

Today we decided to give you some details about the difference between Single and Double rooms in hotels. Although the difference may seem transparent and obvious, you should pay attention to some things that may save your money when traveling.

Here’s what we are going to talk about:

Single room and Double room – explanation of classic standards.
What can you change to make your rooms more convenient?
Should you choose a Single or a Double room when you travel alone?
Can two people accommodate in a Single room?
Can three or more people accommodate in a Double room?

Let’s get started!

What’s the difference between single and double rooms?

The difference is quite straightforward: a single room can accommodate one person and it usually has one twin bed. While a double room can accommodate two people and it may have one big bed or two twin beds.

But single rooms in many hotels will also have bigger beds that can easily accommodate two people. And you may use it sometimes.

Also, a lot of double rooms will have the option to use one more piece of furniture like the couch or the armchair that can be converted to an additional sleeping place. In this case, you may have enough place and facilities to accommodate three people in a double room.

Also, single rooms may have additional furniture, too. And they may easily accommodate two people or even three people at times. Whether it is legal or not, and whether you should pay for it or not, you will know a little later if you keep reading the article.

What can you change and arrange in single and double rooms?

You need to understand that a single or a double room doesn’t refer to the quality of the service or to the decoration you get when booking such a room. This only means that a room is arranged for hosting one or two guests.

The level of service can be described by additional words like the following ones:

Budget – it may be cramped or it may be very old and shabby, but it’s cheap;
Standard – just a simple room, usually the most popular in modern hotels;
Superior – usually, hotels use this word to show that they have recently made new decoration for this room or they have bought wonderful new furniture;
Deluxe – these rooms will be slightly bigger and better in all factors than the standard rooms;
Suites – these rooms are usually double, but sometimes single suites can be found, they are quite luxurious and spacious;
President or King – when you see these words accompanying the type of the room, you should know these are the most expensive rooms in the hotel.

So, now you know what you should look for if you want to have a better service or better quality of decorations and furniture in your room. And also you know what to look for if you want to save some money.

But be careful with these room names. Some of them may just refer to a class of the room within a certain hotel. So standard room in a Hyatt hotel may differ much from a standard room in some no-name hotel in the suburbs of a small town.

Every hotel will name a room Deluxe if it is better than their standard room, but there are no certain standards on how Deluxe room should look like and what it should have.

Should you choose a single or double room when traveling?

The answer may again seem quite obvious – you should choose a single room when you travel alone and you should choose a double room when you travel with your friend, child or spouse. But things may differ.

For example, you may want to choose a single room for the sake of a better price if you travel with your child. Many hotels will offer an additional place for sleeping in that kind of room and it will cost you less than booking a double room.

Also, you may choose a double room even though you travel alone, for these reasons:

You want more space. If you love big beds, single rooms won’t suit your needs, you should pay a little more but book a double room.
You may want to bring a guest to your room. If you have some opportunities to bring a guest for a night, better book a double room at once. In many hotels, you will still need to pay for a special night pass for your friend.
You want a bigger room with better facilities. Double rooms may have bigger bathrooms, bigger wardrobes, bigger chests of drawers, and even bigger TVs than single rooms.
The price difference is not big and it can be neglected.

Yes, if the price difference between a single room and a double room is not big, you can opt for a bigger room. Unfortunately, the single rooms don’t usually cost twice cheaper as double rooms. The price difference may be around 10 to 30%, so if it’s 10%, you can just opt for a bigger room and get more comfort.

Can two people accommodate in a single room?

Some hotels may allow two people to stay in a single room while others will have much stricter rules. This may depend on different factors like:

the size of the single rooms in this hotel;
availability of additional furniture in the hotel;
the strictness of hotel rules and requirements;
the laws of the state you are visiting;
other limitations and requirements.

In most cases, placing a second person in your single room will be possible, especially if we are talking about a child. The hotel will provide an additional piece of furniture like a cot or something.

But in some cases, you may be surprised that the single room in your hotel is only made for one person.

Anyway, you should always be honest with your hotel and never try to sneak a person into your room secretly. This may result in problems with the police, in big fines, and even in you being kicked out of the hotel without a refund (mainly in all-inclusive hotels).

How many people can stay in a double room?

In most hotels, three people maximum can stay in a double room. Again, in some hotels, only two people will be allowed to stay because of the room size or hotel rules. Of course, you should inquire about the third person if you intend to bring one with you.

If you inquire beforehand, the hotel can provide you with some additional furniture and other facilities for a comfortable stay. It will never be a good idea to trick a hotel on the number of people staying in the room.

Why are single rooms so expensive?

You may have noticed that single rooms aren’t that cheap to book. Why? They are cramped, they don’t offer a lot of facilities, and one person won’t use much water, electricity, etc.

Hotels that offer single rooms are usually in high demand. People, who travel alone or go on business trips with their colleagues who they aren’t ready to share a room with, want to book a single room. That’s why they are quite popular with people.

But hotels usually don’t offer a lot of them. So they get booked quite fast and people keep searching for single rooms, especially in big cities and business centers all over the world. Companies tend to offer single rooms to their employees when they send them on business trips, too.

Also, single rooms aren’t much smaller than double rooms, so the hotel will spend basically the same money for maintaining 10 single rooms as for maintaining 10 double rooms. That’s why hotels offer quite big prices for single rooms.

All these reasons show that a single room can’t cost twice cheaper as a double room.

Final words

If you are about to book a room in a hotel, you will have a choice of single and double rooms. We recommend opting for a double room at all times when it’s not very expensive. At least, you will have a bigger bed and your stay will be more comfortable. Also, you will have a cheap possibility to invite your friend to your room to stay with you.

But sometimes single rooms give enough space and facilities for you to stay there. So you should learn the prices and then decide. If the price difference makes some sense, you may choose a single room. But if the difference isn’t that big, you should book a double room.

Also, don’t forget that nearly all rooms allow you to bring another person with you – just inform your hotel about such intention.