To be seriously annoyed about security of my children in this Villa

[Bigmissty]

I was on holiday last week in a lovely Villa in France with a some friends and their children. It had 5 bedrooms and we were told that one was a bit separate from the others and was a great room for kids. But it was in fact up a separate stair case and over the garage!
I didn't feel safe having any of the children out there, the oldest two are 11 and 12 and maybe they would have been ok but it just wasn't worth risking it. Am I being unreasonable to complain to the agency about this?

2 families have complained already this year. That suggest there is a problem, as the property listing obviously doesn't make the layout clear.

Separate staircase within the same main building ( ie staircase on one end of house leading to bedroom, eg off kitchen or similar) fine.

House with 4 bedrooms, plus external staircase to bedroom over garage - possibly joined on to main building, but no internal access at all, not fine.

Saying out the adults in that room (if external, an more f an annexe bedroom rather than part of main house) doesn't help - I wouldn't want my children sleeping in a separate building from me, regardless of who is in the main house/who is in the bedroom over garage.

If it was an external annexe arrangement ten I would complain - it's not something you should be expected to anticipate and ask about.

I think they are being weird. But if two groups of people have told you they feel misled, then you (or owners) need to change the property description so it is clear that there are 4 bedrooms plus separate staircase to bedroom 5.

Could you maybe put a floor plan or more detailed description of the rooms on the marketing for the villa? It sounds like a mis-match in expectations which you could probably avoid with more information.

Well if you have had 2 complaints this year then you obviously need to describe it more clearly in the letting info before people book - perhaps put suitable for teenagers instead of children .

Well I think you just need to make the information clearer.

Our house is similar. Our DDs bedrooms are from a separate staircase to ours which is at the opposite end of the house. We've lived here since the dc were 9 and 12.

It wouldn't be suitable for young dc but for older ones it should be fine.

I think they are over-reacting personally, but yes, perhaps you could change the description to make it clear that the 5th bedroom is over an external garage.

I wouldn't be so worried about security but having young children up a separate set of stairs is a fire risk IMO.

You might not be able to get to them.

I don't think you'd lose anything by refining the description of this - some people may actually prefer this arrangement - esp if they have teens or another relative with them (Aunty Flo wants a space to herself...)

There is internal access between house and garage and the house has been rented out for several years in the summer without this having been a problem before. I can see the security risk in regards to a fire but not otherwise.

The other four bedrooms are much nicer and adults would very likely not want to sleep in the one over the garage, we have had many large family groups stay there and it not be an issue.

All of the house and fifth bedroom is behind a secure front door but there is an electric garage door but I am not aware that this could be opened from the outside, in fact pretty sure it can't be!

Just state in the details that its great for older children. That should be enough to put people off who won't like the arrangement.

Since I've happily had my DCs in separate hotel rooms and chuck room keys at them while we are at the pool or in the restaurant, I can't conceive why on earth this is a problem for any DC over about 8.

Possibly a shy 8y would feel a bit on their own, but it's not a problem for two DCs sharing. My two would have thought it an adventure at 5&8.

I won't book holiday cottages if the dcs need to sleep on a different floor to me, so I wouldn't like this arrangement at all. Mine are under 8s though, but I'm guessing I'll feel the same when they're older! I want to hear them if they get up, I want to scoop them up with me if there's a fire.
I think though any strange place feels a bit less secure than your home.

Just out of interest ( nosey) what are they hoping to achieve with the complaint ,are they wanting a refund ? Did they complain on arrival ?

So the kids come down the separate staircase into the garage, then into a door into the house? I wouldn't be happy with that either as it is essentially external to the house- is there anything in the garage which is a safety concern like tools, paint, solvents for example?

So the kids come down the separate staircase into the garage, then into a door into the house? I wouldn't be happy with that either as it is essentially external to the house- is there anything in the garage which is a safety concern like tools, paint, solvents for example?

No you don't need to go into the garage at all there is a door at the bottom of the stairs into the living room area. No access to anything dangerous in the garage anyway it is empty apart from some bikes.
The guests gave a load of feedback and this was part of it, most of it was positive they did not say anything whilst they were there. I could understand more if their children were younger but at 11 and 12 I struggle to see why it was a problem.
I will adjust the description and see if this helps.

One of my DC has epilepsy, I would not want them to be sleeping in this sort of set-up, where I probably could not hear them if they had a seizure. I would appreciate a floor plan in these circumstances, to make it clear before I booked. It is possible there was some reason similar to this as to why your clients felt uncomfortable with it.

The only situation I can see that it would be a problem would be if the kids in question were larking about after the adults had gone to bed, and needed a talking-to. This would have necessitated down the stairs, up the other stairs, talking-to, down the kids' stairs, up the adults' stairs which would have proved a bit of a faff. But that wouldn't have been your fault, OP. You'd probably be able to fend off future negative comments better if your description was a bit more graphic, but I see you're planning to do this anyway. (Sounds a lovely property!)

Is there bathroom access from this bedroom, or only in the main house? That would influence whether I used the room for children or not - I wouldn't particularly want even an 11 year old having to go into the garage and then into the house in the middle of the night for the toilet.

Years ago, DH and I rented a flat for a holiday. It turned out that while the bedroom, bathroom and living room were the first floor of the owner's property, the kitchen was an extension downstairs. It meant that the owner had to walk through the kitchen of the holiday flat in order to access his back garden. (Not only did he do so, he then harangued us one day on our return from a day trip, about the appalling state of the kitchen: we'd left out breakfast dishes drying on the draining board!)

When you want a really nice relaxing holiday, discovering that the holiday accommodation is not quite as you imagined it, can actually be very stressful. I can imagine a sensitive 11 year refusing to sleep out of hearing distance of parents in a strange building, and would be quite annoyed that I couldn't actually use the 5th bedroom in the way I had anticipated.

If they were concerned about the children they should have put them in the main part of the house and slept in the garage room. Some people complain about anything.

Weird. What about campsites anyone could wander in and unzip your tent!

I think children over the age of 8 would be absolutely fine

Good for you. Personally I wouldn't want my 8 year old sleeping completely out of earshot whilst in a different Country on holiday.

If this is not made clear in the description I can well understand why there have been complaints.