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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To tell my manager I won’t share a room with colleague again?

334 replies

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 15:55

Some background here - my role requires regular travel around the UK as the company has various sites. For about 3 nights each month I stay away in a specific location; up until 2024 I always had my own room, a change was then made for financial reasons that I’d need to share with the colleague travelling with me who does the same role.

No issues at all, we got along and she was respectful and we’ve remained friends post her leaving the company recently.

I travelled with her replacement last week, and we shared a room as per process.

Firstly, she jokingly (I thought) said before we left that she is a snorer. She’s not wrong, even with ear plugs I was struggling to get an uninterrupted nights sleep. By her own admission she is a larger lady and she says even her own husband gets on at her. She honestly snored like a man.

Next issue - we have a £30 per night meal allowance. On one of the nights, I visited my cousin who lives in the area and she cooked for me, so I had no reason to use my allowance.

My colleague asked me if she could use it when I got back to the room (about 9pm at this point). Now she’d already had dinner and the restaurant was closed. She said she only wanted it for a soft drink so I said no problem. She then came back up to the room and said they were still doing room service. 20 minutes later the door goes and hot food arrives which she proceeds to eat on her bed, and the smell lingered all night.

A couple of other minor annoyances in terms of time spent in the bathroom and loud phone calls with her husband which she could have taken outside the room/in reception.

She is polite in general, but that was our first trip and I don’t think I could handle monthly stays with her.

AIBU to tell my manager I won’t share with her again?

OP posts:
SleepingStandingUp · 01/03/2026 18:03

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 17:23

Yes unless they are particularly senior, as I know they have their own rooms then.

What would have happened if your new colleague had been a man?

GranolaBaker · 01/03/2026 18:03

You can’t share a room as you are unable to sleep. End of.

I shared a room a few times in my early 20s as a grad as our team was trying to stretch our “away day” budgets. But never ever would I be expected to share a room if on offical firm business.

Glittertwins · 01/03/2026 18:02

No way would I share with anyone from work and that includes those I count as friends.

BrendaSmall · 01/03/2026 18:02

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 16:30

Well she can do something about the snoring, as in her own words she knows she needs to shift some weight, but she chooses not to.

Edited

So you’re saying only overweight people snore?

I know people who don’t have any weight issues who snore!!

You definitely need to tell your employer you’re not prepared to share a room anymore!

twilightcafe · 01/03/2026 17:58

Never in my life have I or would I share a room with a colleague.
YABU (a bit) for agreeing to share in the first place.
Your employers were taking the Mickey to ask in the first place.

LongDarkTeatime · 01/03/2026 17:57

You should definitely ask on the grounds of lack of sleep, as especially if you have to drive, that’s a safety issue.
I wouldn’t mention the food though.

BlueJuniper94 · 01/03/2026 17:57

Hatty65 · 01/03/2026 16:02

It would be a brave or foolhardy employer that asked me to share a bedroom with a work colleague.

It's utterly inappropriate. I would refuse to go unless I got my own room.

It's great everyone feels so secure in their jobs

CantBreathe90 · 01/03/2026 17:57

There is no circumstance in which I would share a room with a colleague!! I don't really even like sharing with my DH 😂

MrsJeanLuc · 01/03/2026 17:55

QuickBrown · 01/03/2026 16:05

If you go in with all those reasons it sounds a bit moany. Stuck with just the snoring.

Also, allowing someone else to use your dinner allowance is fraud. You could get in trouble for that. What on earth were you thinking!!!

saraclara · 01/03/2026 17:54

BurnoutGP · 01/03/2026 16:36

Ugh you're losing me with your rude judginess. You shouldn't have to share a room full stop. But you think its ok just with the nice skinny ones. Are you 12?

That. I'm at the low end of a normal BMI, and I snore*. It's not always about weight and it's certainly not anyone's fault.

*Which is why I refuse to share a room

ReadingSoManyThreads · 01/03/2026 17:53

It's unacceptable, and I would tell them you will no longer be prepared to share a room with a colleague (any colleague). If there is any pushback over that you used to do it, then I'd say, that you were both close friends which is why you didn't mind, but as you've saved the company hundreds, if not thousands of pounds by doing so, you feel you have positively contributed to cost savings. Then reiterate that you are deeply uncomfortable sharing with colleagues.

Do not tell them about the dinner allowance. You should not have agreed to that, what you should have done, was get the food receipt from your friend and bill that, or half of it as you ate half.

As for the people laying into you about "fat shaming", I'm obese and snore, and I'm not offended in the slightest. I recognise that I am currently unhealthy, and I'm doing something about it. I find that most of the people shouting "fat shaming", aren't even fat themselves, they just want a reason to be outraged on someone else's behalf!

Be firm @Worktripissue and say no to your workplace over this. They would be highly unreasonable for them to make an issue out of it. It's your own personal unpaid time and expecting you to share it with anybody, sleeping next to each other and sharing an ensuite is inappropriate and unacceptable.

SerendipityJane · 01/03/2026 17:48

I am stunned that an employer would put anyone at that risk level.

Weirdly I am not. Maybe it's my age ?

Ihavelostthegame · 01/03/2026 17:48

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 16:30

Well she can do something about the snoring, as in her own words she knows she needs to shift some weight, but she chooses not to.

Edited

You just lost my respect with that comment. YABU To be so disrespectful and judgmental about someone and their health and what is and isn’t in their control.

Yanbu about sharing a room. But I have no time for people who are so judgmental towards others

Athenatheowl · 01/03/2026 17:45

7238SM · 01/03/2026 16:23

I mean a youth hostel room with 12 dorm beds would be even cheaper for the company! Its wrong to expect adults to share at all. Bonkers.

I think I’d actually prefer this to sharing with one person!
You could find a little anonymity in the crowd.

TheIceBear · 01/03/2026 17:43

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 16:30

Well she can do something about the snoring, as in her own words she knows she needs to shift some weight, but she chooses not to.

Edited

plenty of skinny people snore . This is irrelevant to the issue.

Jamesblonde2 · 01/03/2026 17:42

She sounds a bit like a slob.

TheIceBear · 01/03/2026 17:41

No I absolutely hate this and I’ve seen it happen before in my workplace . I’d refuse to go if I had to share with a colleague I don’t care how nice they are . It’s such a violation of privacy and dignity expecting people to share . They would not expect a man and a woman to share ..

CarelessWimper · 01/03/2026 17:41

I would only share a room with DH and so unless you have a partner who works for your company and is staying in the hotel anyway then no YANBU.

I am stunned that an employer would put anyone at that risk level. There is no way I would agree to sharing a room with a random colleague. I would be raising this with HR if there is one and my line manager

Frottin · 01/03/2026 17:41

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 16:30

Well she can do something about the snoring, as in her own words she knows she needs to shift some weight, but she chooses not to.

Edited

She can't change that immediately though can she? So therefore she can't do anything about it to make any difference in the short term.

I think it's unreasonable for your company to expect you to share anyway - if they want you to travel then they need to facilitate your own space.

I think you are being unreasonable to expect everyone should fit into your expectations of behaviour though. If you don't want to give her your allowance next time, then don't - that's in your control, but everything else is not yours to dictate.

Hhhwgroadk · 01/03/2026 17:41

You are totally entitled to "off duty" time. If your emiployer makes it part of your employment, then you should be recompensed in total plus incidentals, including "time off in lieu". You are not a slave.

PrettyPickle · 01/03/2026 17:41

For me that would be a straight up NO.

It’s really not standard practice in the UK for employers to require staff to share hotel rooms when travelling for work. They can ask, but they can’t insist. Even if they’re trying to save money, it’s generally considered unprofessional and inappropriate.

Once the working day ends, you’re not being paid to be “at work”, so your employer has no right to impose a colleague on your private time even if you like them, everyone needs some "me" time. A hotel room is where you sleep, wash, dress, use the bathroom, decompress, and have personal space. That’s a basic dignity and privacy issue, not a perk.

Give me a few drinkies and I snore and I would feel uncomfortable inflicting that on others and I would try not to snore and I wouldn't get a good nights sleep either. You and your colleague should be able to sit in your room in privacy and do your own thing, be that talking to family, decompressing, stuffing your face or snoring loudly.

There are also health and safety considerations (proper rest, stress, wellbeing) and potential Equality Act implications if someone has anxiety, medical needs, or anything that makes sharing unsuitable.

Most UK employers provide single rooms or at least single occupancy as standard. Room‑sharing is seen as outdated and only ever happens if both people volunteer to do it. It shouldn’t be mandatory, and it shouldn’t be pressured. I think they can ask, but I doubt they can insist because its your private unpaid time to manage and not theirs.

I wouldn't throw your colleague under the bus, I think she would be as relieved as you, if you didn't have to. Just explain to your boss that you do not like sharing with colleagues and only accepted it before because you new the previous person well.

watchingthishtread · 01/03/2026 17:40

You shouldn't be expected to share with anyone. It's completely inappropriate.

MrsArcher23 · 01/03/2026 17:40

I did initially vote that it is unreasonable for you to have to share with a colleague but, on further reflection, based on rereading your initial comments and your ad hominem attack on your colleague, for her own dignity in the workplace , she should not have to share with you.

topcat2014 · 01/03/2026 17:39

Christ which fully grown adult would ever accept this :)

Can just about see it for a graduate induction course. Even that is pushing it.

Muffinmam · 01/03/2026 17:38

Worktripissue · 01/03/2026 15:59

I think it’s because there was a big restructuring at the time with multiple redundancies so they were making a big thing about costs and not wasting money where possible. It was never an issue because my ex colleague and I were so friendly.

It is highly inappropriate that you share a room with a colleague.

I would refuse to share at all.