To book a 6 person lodge for myself?

I think after the cheeky way they operate, I'd be buying prosecco from Morrisons now anyway.

I don't blame the company for getting as much as they can for the place. The fact you intend to buy wine when you're there is nothing to do with it - not all of that is profit for them.

I can also see why they charge for day visitors as there's wear and tear on the place. Also I can see why people have to leave at nine - it's pretty obvious people will bring a bigger party with them.

You're not being unreasonable if you pay as though there are six of you, OP, but you are otherwise.

YANBU enjoy 🥂

You couldn’t pay me, let alone charge me, to stay in a glorified shed glamping pod

You have done nothing wrong OP, enjoy your cottage

Maybe the business is trying to be clever, advertising the lodge at £X to draw people in and then when its a large group only finding out during the booking process its actually £X +200 (or whatever).
Serves them right for not being transparent with the pricing to begin with. The only places I've seen where the cost varies by occupancy is for hotels with breakfast an optional extra.

I'm pretty sure the person I was quoting was volunteering to pay the price at full occupancy. Not a snowballs' chance I would do that.

It's also, from what you said not really a '6 person' place. As in, 6 bedrooms.
There are only 2 bedrooms so 2 people is a sensible number each with their own room. And no. 5 and 6 have been shoehorned In with living room beds, there's no unused space that'll need cleaning anyway.
As a single booker, you're paying the same price as 2 people but only using 1 person's worth of resources. Plus alone you're unlikely to create more mess, damage etc.
So a bargain, really.

They can’t, that would have to be in their ts and cs or they are making up charges. There are rules about advertising prices!

The more you post the more inhospitable they sound.

With so many ridiculous rules, i'm not even sure why they're in the holiday let business.

I'd expect them to refuse the booking or charge a single person supplement.

I’m going to nitpick while agreeing. Yes you would pay the full price, because paying the booking price is paying the full price if it’s for 2 people and the op is 1 person. You don’t get to headline your cheaper 2 person price and then refuse to allow people to book it, that would be a breach of consumer law.

I was agreeing with you, simply making the point that it needs to be clear on the listing at the point of booking.

I would've either paid the full amount or cancelled.

I wouldn't. I would pay the price quoted at the time of booking.

I didn't think I was massively under-occupying because although it says "sleeps 6", it's only a 2 bedroom cottage. Persons 5 and 6 are expected to kip on sofa beds in the living room.

You sound perfectly reasonable - it really sound like a them problem as never heard of a charge for pop in day guests before. A mid week booking in a low peak time - they should be biting your hand off really.

YANBU. I would just reply with "No thanks, I booked the larger lodge because it has better facilities. I would not like to stay in the two person pod."

If the lodge can't be booked by one person their booking system should reflect that.

It pisses me off that places set the price for 2 people and you see it and think that looks alright, then you enter your kids or friends in and it doubles, so if a place does that AND also doesn’t actually want one or two people to book in and pay the base price I’d be enfuriated. And absolutely keep the booking 😁😁

OP, no matter the circumstance, YANBU to book whatever's available if you can afford it.

It's a common business tactic to advertise a low headline price, then add extras. In this case, an additional charge per head. Knowing that most people booking such a large unit will be more than 2 people so the extra covers the actual cost of the rental.

I know I said that in two different ways in my post

You have worded your op and title in a way that misrepresents the issue and will sway the votes because you know you aren't unreasonable to book a bigger place than you need, it just boils down to money.
The holiday owners should have closed this potential gap with their pricing before this happened eg fixed price in busy season to reflect max capacity potential.

I don't think your extras make up the shortfall and I would've either paid the full amount or cancelled. I would hate to stay somewhere where there might be bitterness or resentment from the offstart.

I wouldn't like to.be told to only use one room either. Wtf.. and this is why I hate Air BnBs and the like, they just aren't professional, have weird rules and tightfisted. Worse than staying at relatives!

I have a small medical condition that means that we like to have 2 toilets, we also take our dog so like an enclosed garden if possible. That means we usually book accommodation with 3 bedrooms. Never been questioned yet

It is a bit like that, true, but then in this instance OP is ordering extra food for herself to eat at her giant table which wouldn’t all fit on a smaller one, so they can either take her money or risk it being empty if they can’t let it to a bigger party who won’t be paying for early check in, a dog and a bottle of champagne so it’s a bit 6 of one, half a dozen of the other as far as I can see. At the risk of too many metaphors, if I were them I’d take the bird in the hand, not try and get the two in the bush!

Meh. Tell them you're bringing someone. Make up a friend. Then tell them they couldn't make it for X reason when you arrive.

Wow, I'd be put off by their sneaky charging of each guest (including day visitors?!). Maybe just email explaining you'd be wanting to bring your dog and order fizz?