How would you split the cost of a holiday cottage for family. Per person or room.

[MeMyselfAndIris]

I’m looking at potential holiday rentals for family get together. Do you split the cost per person or per room. For example a single person in one single room V 2 parents and one child in one triple room. Also single adult in double room. The party is made up of 3 single adults all wanting own room, couple with child (who would also like own room but tricky due to expense) and another couple.

Well that’s on you, if you’re bothered about it, speak up. And if you did and were ignored then I’m sorry you go on holiday with people that don’t care about you and I hope you didn’t go again with them.
We’ve had the box room before, the dc have been shoved into the box room, we weren’t spending enough time in our rooms to be bothered. It just genuinely doesn’t matter to any of us. These days there are so many of us that the calibre of houses are much nicer and much grander so the ones that end up in the smallest rooms tend to be our dc who aren’t paying anyway (we pay for them), if they don’t like it they can opt not to come. They are adults and can pay for their own holidays if they’d rather not come. They have never missed one of these holidays except for the Covid year.

hotels dont offer discount for single occupancy im a double room

if i went on hols with a mate, we could either share and split the cost of the room, or get a room each at full cost

same goes for the singles in question

Very different situation if your kids aren't paying to go.

And it's not as simple to raise it as suggested. For me it brings a whole can of worms that are best left closed.

Per person.

Have you thought about food?

It is but as I said, we (as in dh and I) have also had the smallest room in the past, and the room overlooking the bins and the car park rather than a sea view with a balcony, the room without the en-suite. Along with paying for other rooms for our dc to be in.
i guess my point is, we really don’t care, it’s more important that we all get to go away together and we don’t let the totally insignificant stuff bother us.
not everyone is the same, some people would ruminate about it but in groups as big as ours it’s great to be laid back - some years we’ve had the most spectacular room in the house. Swings and roundabouts.

Only fair if everyone shares a room, and all rooms are of equal size and equal facilities.

Personally I'd prefer the option of not sharing, so I'd prefer by room so I could choose to pay more not to share. There is no world where a double room to yourself should be priced at half the rate of a double room shared by two people.

I thonk you have 8 people, 5 bedrooms and communal space which you will all use. I would say there are 2 calculations - splitting the bedrooms (50% of total) and splitting the communal space (50% of total).

So each room = 10%
Then communal space splitting by 8 people including the child who may well dominate the space = 6.25%

Singles = 16.25%
Couple = 22.5%
Family = 29%

Family should get the biggest room with ensuite.

But obviously room size might make a difference with pricing.

I'd charge per adult. Child goes free.

So the couples without children are subsidising the families with children AND subsidising the single people? No way!

We’re doing this group thing. Two couples going and 4 singles cost is split per person. I’d say let the child go free if in with the parents.

We go skiing with my sibling (who is a singleton), so instead of a 2 bedroom apartment, or even a 1 bedroom with sofa beds, we have to get a 3 bedroom one. This makes the holiday much more expensive as nice 3 bedroom apartments in decent ski resorts are few and far between. So we split the cost of the apartment (the biggest cost of the holiday) 3 ways as it’s one room for our children, one room for me and DH, and one room for my sibling. Then the rest of the holiday is split by person, so we pay more or less four fifths of the remaining costs (flights and lift passes are a little cheaper for the kids).

Per room. Otherwise people are paying extra to share a room. Not on really.

Per person (adult)

Which means, unless everyone is sharing, that the couple without children are subsidising both the single people and the families. How is this fair?

I think everyone is ignoring the fact that the singles are all your children? Is that right? Why does your youngest have to bunk in with you and her or his dad but your other children get a double room to themselves?

The only people involved who are not your husband and your children, are the childless couple - your sister and her husband? Whom you say you've subsidised on many other holidays and will be paying for all the food for (as well as everyone else's food) this time?

Is this actually only about what to ask your sister to contribute for one room/ two people?

Or are some of the singles also your sister's children?

I think that makes quite a difference - if you're paying for everything and just want to ask your sister to chip in, ask her for 1/6 of the accommodation price if it's a six room "cottage".

They can always request a room each and pay per person, or get the booker to find a room with bunk beds and share with another couple/the singles?

Or pay half each for a room which is obviously what they’ll do because it’s actually cheaper and couples typically do want to share a room anyway.

The people sharing are couples though, they can always ask for a room each and pay the same as a single person per head if they’re really not wanting to share.

Honestly I think a hotel would be better!

If you are simply sleeping there, then it should be per room. If you're sharing bathrooms, kitchen and living space then it should be per adult. If you're family then you shouldn't expect the children to be charged.

Funnily enough, people get very upset indeed when couple do this. The 'per person brigade' tend to think that couples have to share rooms, whilst subsiding the singles to have a room to themselves, and the families to bring their kids along for free.

There is no world, ever, that it is fair for a shared room to cost twice as much as the same room all to yourself.

Honestly all this chat about people "subsidising" their friends and relatives just comes across really miserly!

If you are penny pincher it is just better for everyone for you to get your own accommodation separately and then there's no resentment.

As a person in a couple I don't see what's wrong with being aware that life is more expensive for singletons and accounting for that with the people you holiday with. You're supposed to like them otherwise you wouldn't go on holiday together

Life is cheaper for a single person with one income supporting one person than it is for a family with 1 or 2 incomes supporting 4 or more people, plus a whole lot of extra costs thrown in like childcare etc.

In the same way as I don't like splitting the bill in the restaurant when one same greedy person always orders twice as much food as everyone else but expects everyone else to sub their costs, I don't like going on holiday with people who want twice as much but expect to pay the same as everyone else.

Want a double room to yourself? Fine, but expect to pay for it yourself, and not expect people sharing a room to subsidise you.

Price of holiday homes tends to be on the number of beds and baths. Order of charges per room.

Double room with ensuite pays most
Biggest double room pays next,
smaller double rooms next depending on facilities and location. (Eg more for sea view or quiet side of house away from noisy road or clog dancing seagulls on a flat roof in one case. They were fucking loud!)
Single room pays least.

I would allocate single room to the child.

Alternatively find a cluster of houses and rent those separately.

I have to say there does come a point in these proceedings when you do wonder if it’s worth it.
I have just realised that the cost of two full
rooms for a long weekend with DHs extended family is more than it would have been for the equivalent nights and rooms at a decent hotel if we had booked in advance. Plus I would get a breakfast rather than ending up doing the majority of the Kitchen sort out and dishwasher emptying.
Maybe I will suggest a hotel for next year !

Child is 16 so imo.should be included in the numbers.

I would find out if the couple wants to share or have their own room. Then find a villa with enough rooms to accommodate everyone (singles in their own room, couple either together or single plus room for child) and divide by the number of people.

I would give the couple sharing the biggest bedroom and let the rat of them fight it out.

When you pay for accomodation it's not just the bed you are paying for.....

Nearly had me going there! 😆