What’s a fair way of sharing the cost of this holiday cottage?

[meaniemaybe]

Group A have booked a holiday cottage for £2000 for 10 nights. 2 adults.

Group B are staying for 3 nights 2 adults and 1 child.

Group C are staying for 4 nights 2 adults and 3 children.

One way to split cost would be per person per night so overall there are 49 ‘person nights’ which you could price at £40.82 each so A would pay £816.40, B £367.38 and C £816.40 as well as there are 5 people in group C but for fewer nights?

Or could split by rooms - A will use 1 room, B 2 rooms, C 2 rooms plus sofa bed in communal area?

Or is there a simpler way we’re not thinking of?

This isn’t exactly equal, but I’d probably get Group A to pay £1000 (and they get the nicest room) and the other groups £500 each.

I don’t think it works splitting it by “person nights” as group A have the benefit of the cottage t9 themselves some of the time.

Are group b and c overlapping do they need more extra rooms than if they went separate times?

And id group a are the parents /grandparents of b and c then it's different again. Then I'd do a half and b/c half each.

We’re siblings. So one adult in each group is sibling of the others. Oh and group B and C won’t overlap

Could you work out what booking it for the 3 nights and the 4 nights would cost for the respective family groups and see what figure that leaves for the couple?

I would go
A £1000 nicest room
B £430
C £570

'Person nights' seems the fairest approach here, but maybe with the children counting as half a person?

Your first way is bonkers because the family staying for 4 nights are paying the same as family staying for 10!

It sounds like it's As 'idea' for want of a better word, as in it's the holiday they want to go on, and the others are just kind of guests.

So the cottage is £200 per night, on the nights there are 3 groups there I would divide the 200 by 3, so it would be about £67 per night for each group, on the nights there are 2 groups I would do £100 per night for each group. Agree with PP that the group staying 10 nights should get the best room

agree I would see group A take the bulk of the cost as they are staying there for 10 nights.

It wouldn’t be right to charge group C the same as group A considering they are staying less than half the time of group A!

group B & C are staying less than half the time and children don’t realistically get charged the same as an adult so the PPPN seems a bit off! Especially expecting them to pay the same as group C

I would suggest the easiest way is - the cottage costs 200 a night - for the nights it is shared then the 200 is divided by the groups so if 2 groups it’s 100 each, if 3 then 67 each and if only group A then they cover the full 200 surely? It is a simple cost per night divided by the number of groups for that night.

you haven’t said if the nights overlap but this works either way

This. Or per room per night meaning 3rd child effectively goes free but I wouldn't mind that for a neice/nephew.

I would suggest the easiest way is - the cottage costs 200 a night - for the nights it is shared then the 200 is divided by the groups so if 2 groups it’s 100 each, if 3 then 67 each and if only group A then they cover the full 200 surely? It is a simple cost per night divided by the number of groups for that night.

I think this is the best idea so far

A -£1200
B -£350
C -£450

I would do person nights but not charge for the child on the sofa.

If I was group C I wouldn't feel great about paying for four nights the same amount as group A who are staying for 4 nights. Also group C is only staying one extra night to group B and are paying more than double what group B are paying. The difference of one night between group B and group C costs more than £400 more even though they are only using 2 bedrooms like group B. It isn't much fun having to use the communal living area as a bedroom so I wouldn't charge all that extra for that. Kids usually cost less than adults in a rental so I wouldn't go with per person, especially as there isn't enough bedrooms for group C. Maybe £1000 for group A, £450 for group B and £550 for group C. If there is a particularly nice room with ensuite group A gets that. Think that's the best you can do. Or divide by adults and days which would bring group A s contribution down a bit

I mean wouldn't feel great if I was group C paying more than double to group B. 🤔

I like the £200 per night idea but A comes out a bit of a loser there.....

A - £1300
B - £300
C - £400

But per person per night A are the absolute winners.

So...fuck it, no one fair way...so go averages..

A - £1000
B - £400
C - £600

I’d say A pays £1000 and tells the siblings to sort out the other grand between them. Job done.

Starting point would be to split per room per night stayed.

So A: exclusive use for 3 nights: 3 x 200 +
1 of 3 rooms for the rest of the time: 1/3 x 7 x200
Total = 1067
B: 2/3 x 200 x 3 = 400
C: 2/3 x 200 x 4 = 533

That being said it would depend slightly on how it was arranged - e.g. was A planning on going away and had to book a more expensive cottage than they would otherwise have gone for to accommodate the others for their short stays - in which case B and C should pay a bit more than their 'fair share', or did you all discuss a shorter booking together and A said they wanted to extend it so they could stay longer - so accepting full responsibility for the cost for the extra days etc.

I would do £200/night divided by the number of rooms used (with sofa bed not counted).

Couple A pay £200 x 3 nights + £67 x 7 nights

Couple B pay £134 x 3

Couple C pay £134 x 4

Easiest way is to split the cottage down by night so 2000/10 = 200 and then split that depending on capacity on certain nights.

We've always done person nights so you can imagine my horror when I was charged just by person even though I was staying less time with a different group.
Person nights is the way to go although I wouldn't include the child because that seems petty

Are the 2 rooms B use the same as the 2 rooms that C will use?

If so who is changing the linens?

Group A have booked a holiday cottage for £2000 for 10 nights. 2 adults.
Group B are staying for 3 nights 2 adults and 1 child.
Group C are staying for 4 nights 2 adults and 3 children.

£2000/10 nights = £200/night.
Divide each night by the number of groups staying on that particular night.

Group A have booked themselves a holiday and group b and c are coming to see them basically. So group A should pay for the vast majority of the accommodation and get the best room. In my family group B and C would not be charged anything but would probably offer £200/£300 each to group A. I think charging group b or c anywhere near £500 would be a nonsense.

You could also do room- night's (I wouldn't count the sofa-bed). So
A - 10 room-nights
B - 6 room-nights
C - 8 room-nights

Total = 24 room-nights
2000/24 = 83.33 /room-night

A = £833
B = £500
C = £667