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Double, single, standard room. Which one to choose? Help!

Not sure what type of hotel room to book? Here we help you choose between a double, single or standard room and more.


When it comes to booking a hotel room, there are many different options. An important choice is what type of room you will stay in. Do you want a double room, a twin room, or a standard room? But what do these terms really mean?

Types of rooms in the lodging business

You can usually see these titles in the list of available rooms when you are looking for a hotel:

  • Single room
  • Double room
  • Standard room
  • Superior room
  • Suite
  • Twin room
  • Triple or quadruple room

Factors you have to consider when choosing a room

  • How many people travel: the more people travel together the better, although of course, this should not discourage you from traveling alone. You just have to consider that hotel room expenses can go up, since you will not have someone to share them with.
  • Under what conditions do you travel together: several people travel, hurrah! You will be able to save money on lodging, but beware! You have to consider in what conditions you travel together. It is not the same to travel with someone with whom you have total confidence, and you can share everything, be it bed, bathroom, etc. than traveling with someone with whom you could not share all the spaces. That will limit the search for room types… and savings.
  • Your budget: it is something obvious, but it must be said. Going on a tight budget is not the same as being comfortable and perhaps allowing yourself a more spacious room or one with more luxuries.

Let’s look at an example

I am going to take the hotel La Misión de Fray Diego, as an example, when consulting the hotel on the reservation site you can already see the types of rooms it offers. Be careful, not all hotels will have all the types of rooms that exist, or will they be called the same, some give their own names from the hotel chain.

Many times, you will be able to see that the room they offer in case of one or two travelers will be the same and, sometimes, not even the price will change. This is harming the budget of those who travel alone. The hotels justify this because the cost of maintaining and cleaning the rooms is the same, whether there are one or two guests.

And taking advantage of the fact that I’m showing you the Central de Reservas site, if you don’t know it, it’s a good place where you can book hotels at a good price. Here we booked our last hotel in Canada.

To encourage you to try it, here is a 10 euro coupon, which you can use on your first reservation on the site.

What is a double room?

When it comes to booking a hotel room, there are a few different options to choose from. One option is a double room, one of the most common room types, offering space for two guests. While this may seem like the obvious choice for families or groups of friends traveling together, there are also some downsides to consider, depending on the hotel.

Its characteristics are:

  • It has a bed for two people, this can be from double to King size.
  • Or you can also have two single beds.
  • The price to pay is for the room and only two people, adults, may be in it, then children may be admitted depending on the hotel’s policies.
  • Double rooms offer more space than single rooms, giving guests more space to spread out and relax.

It is suitable for:

  • Couples
  • People who travel together, without being a couple, in this case preferably ask if they can give you the version with two separate beds.
  • People confident enough to share a bathroom.

Consider these downsides:

Be careful, depending on the hotel, certain double rooms are made in such a way that they can only be shared between a couple, or at least with someone with whom you have a lot of trust. It occurs in cases where the shower is fully visible to the entire room.

What is a single room?

A single room is the smallest room type and usually only has room for one bed.

Its characteristics are:

  • Space is tight
  • Only admits one guest
  • The bed is usually smaller than the double bed

It is suitable for:

  • People who travel alone or who want to sleep alone and with total privacy

Consider these downsides:

If you take this type of room to save money, and you are traveling with other people, keep in mind that you will most likely end up paying more than when several people are together in a room. You will have to evaluate between sleeping in a single room, with the consequent loss of space, compared to sleeping several in the same room and perhaps being able to afford a larger space.

What is a standard room?

A standard room is usually the base denomination of a hotel. In general, it can be used for reservations of 1 or 2 guests, since they have a bed that can fit two people. These rooms are usually the most economical option for travelers, in case the single room does not exist in the list of the hotel. If you are traveling with a partner or a friend, a standard room should suffice.

What is a twin room?

The hotel industry offers a variety of room types for guests to choose from. In this case, if you choose a room with this name, you will be choosing a double room in which you will be sure that there will be two beds. For certain hotels, this category is included in the double room and when making the reservation you have to specify if it is a double room with two beds or one.

In our case, traveling with Vincent, we prefer the double room with one bed, but we have also had to stay in twin rooms. Now yes, again, it depends on the conditions in which you are traveling

Other room types

  • Triple room: they can have a different configuration of beds; however, this room type can accommodate three people.
  • Quadruple room: the same as the triple but with four people.
  • Superior Room: Depending on the hotel, they may offer a room type with a little more frills, better view, a little more space, and call it that. With this, more services are offered than those that can be received in the rooms mentioned above.
  • Suite: this type of room provides a large space, since in addition to the space where the bed is, this type of space has another room in which there is a room with television or even a dining room.

So what type of room to choose?

As you have already seen, the three most common room types are double rooms, single rooms and standard rooms, in addition to the hotel denominations and the most luxurious rooms. But which one should you choose? It all depends on your needs and preferences.

Double rooms are perfect for couples or families traveling together. They usually come with a large bed, or two, which makes them more spacious than single rooms. Standard rooms are a practical option if you are on a budget.

But this will constantly change depending on the hotel and before booking look at the photos of each type of room and the space in square meters it has.

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Olga Grijalva

Olga is a traveler and travel content creator with 17 years of experience. Her goal is to share useful information to help you plan your adventures. She has visited more than 40 countries and is excited to share her experience with you.

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