To want my parents to book a hotel room?

[MilkandWine]

Opinions please as I'm really not sure if I'm being a cow or not here.

Basically I moved to London last month and my parents are coming down to visit me (and meet up with an old friend who will be in the country briefly at the same time, so it's not just to see me)

I have a flat in the busiest part of Camden imaginable (right next to the tube). I love my flat but it is tiny weeny. It has a little living room/kitchen dinner, a small bedroom and an en suite shower room. You would call it bijoux if you were being nice and a poky little hole if you weren't!

My dilemma is my mother is making it very clear that they are expecting to stay with my for the whole trip. Admittedly I have a sofa bed but once it's folded down there will be no room to even move in living area. Plus the front isn't double glazed and Camden is incredibly noisy, they literally won't get any sleep. I am in the back room and I still can hear the noise with ear plugs in!.

I suggested (tentatively) to my mother that they can get a decent hotel for around £100 a night if they book in advance. Her response was 'Oh no, your dad will never fork out for a hotel'. Now if my parents were short of money then fair enough but they aren't! They have more than enough to cover the cost of a few nights in London.

So am I being unreasonable? If I lived in a decent sized flat then fair enough I wouldn't mind at all. As it is though we will be squashed in like sardines and probably getting on each others nerves. Even if they spent 1 night at mine and 2 in a hotel it would be something but they won't even consider it.

does it really have to cost as much as you said in your op? could you not get one of those premier inn type deals, a single, and go there yourself? think I would ....

Haha Plainwhitet - £100/night is actually pretty conservative!

OP - there's a youth hostel up the road in Chalk Farm beside the Enterprise which is about £50/night but it's pretty grim and you will be sharing bunk beds with random drunk people. Which isn't very fair when you're forking out about £1,000/month for your flat and trying to go the work the next day!!!

Honestly your mum and dad are just deluded - when they see the reality, they'll defo go get a hotel or stay with their friends down there.

Holiday Inn at Camden Lock about £150-£160 pn for the room (not pp) in the summer. My parents stayed there a few years ago and it was fine.

ROFL at asking your parents to 'get a room'

Mine are way past that stage.

It's only 3-4 nights, if they insist they want to stay I'd put up with it. But, make sure that you tell them all the problems, and be prepared for the moaning when they see what it's like, "We weren't expecting it to be this small," etc. etc.

Where are your parent's friends staying while they are in London?

I agree with those who say tell them exactly how it is - that they WILL be on the sofa bed. That it is really noisy and it is very small.

I would add that you should say to them that they are welcome to stay, but they stay with you knowing all this and if they voice even one small complaint about any of it, you will insist that they pack up and leave right there and then, because you have been very clear what it will be like.

Be prepared for a lot of chat from your parents about how little your money gets you house-wise down in London compared to up north!! Im from the North East too and i get this chat every time parents come down, iv been in London for three years and its still as tedious to hear now as it was the first time!!

I can't decide who to side with. I mean, it's not like I've never had someone stay on a blow up mattress in my lounge when I had a one bedroom flat...

I was going to suggest the Holiday Inn on Camden Lock too, it's pretty reasonable and nice too!

Birsofshoreandsea - not in London you can't!! And certainly nowhere near Camden - you might get something for that price out in Zone 4....

Are they coming before the end of September? If so it might be worth looking at some of the London University accommodation options - a lot of them let out rooms for about £30/night, and many of the [[http://ucl.ac.uk/residences/ UCL residences are pretty close to/in Camden. May not be The Ritz, but generally pretty clean and comfortable if basic (might work for you, even if not your parents !)

Have you sent your parents any photos of your flat? Possibly with the sofa-bed out? I'm not sure it will make any difference to them wanting to stay as they don't seem to be listening very well, but it does give you another layer of "I told you so" for Day 2...

Plenty of decent central hotels in London for under £100 a night if you look on bookings.com

Apparently I am on the only person to be shocked that they wouldn't be welcomed regardless of the size of the flat :) I suspect next time they will decide to stay in a hotel without the potential for any bad feeling and if not well it's only a few days and they are your parents.

I couldn't let my mum and dad sleep on a sofa bed whilst I was in the double bed. I just couldn't do that. It's disrespectful of their age, for one thing. Sofa beds are manageable if you're the only one in them but a nightmare otherwise.

I agree they should go to a hotel and I think one night on your sofa bed should be enough to make that happen. It does mean them spending £500-600 though and I can imagine they wouldn't want that. It's a lot of money when they could sleep in your bed.

We have the same problem when we have guests at our Camden flat. Ours is 2 bed and a living room but if both my flatmate's parents come then they stay at the Novotel on Euston Road. Apparently you can use Tesco clubcard vouchers for this! I haven't actually done it myself but might be worth looking into. It's about a 20 min walk for you but closer to central London itself?

It doesn't sound feasible for them to stay. I would also say that uni accommodation during the vacation is a good idea. I have done this a couple of times and it is cheaper than a hotel and the rooms are fine.

Go with it and see how they feel after the first night. They'll probably be running to the nearest B and B. I think you have to let them make the choice - you did occupy her uterus for 9 whole months, then live with them in their house iyswim . I'd put up with it out of respect to the 'rents tbh.

I'd give up my bed for them, that said.

I would give them my bed, it wouldn't occur to me to do anything else actually. It's only three nights after all. I would also be pretty hurt if my own child told me to get a hotel room as well as i would be looking forward to seeing their place and spending time with them, although obviously I don't know what your relationship with them is like.

There are PLENTY of decent - even nice - places to stay in
London for less than £100. Try the Penn Club in Russell Square for starters - a bit like student halls of residence but spotlessly clean, always freshly painted, dead quiet, central and excellent breakfasts. You can get basic singles without en suite for £50, doubles for about £80. And no, no vested interest, I just happen to think it's a great reasonably priced place to stay in
London.

having said which, I'd put my parents up regardless.