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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask for a refund of this accommodation

141 replies

areyoureadytobestrong · 27/08/2019 19:50

I booked two rooms (one double, one twin) via Booking.com. We’ve now arrived and the two rooms are in two unstaffed houses 8 doors apart. We have two boys aged 14 and 16 so it will be fine unless it isn’t .....unless there is a dodgy person in their unsupervised accommodation .....or a fire.
I called the owner who says he is fully booked/ nothing he can do and that Book8ng.com “won’t let him show it as separate addresses”.

I think this is unacceptable and have asked booking.com for a refund. Would appreciate any comments/advice.

OP posts:

Lulualla · 27/08/2019 20:17

My kids and I go away every second weekend to potter sound the UK. Many guest houses are laid out over several outbuildings. Some are huge. If you book 2 rooms you could end up in different outbuildings or with one room at the top and one at the bottom. My children are young so I always call and make sure our rooms are side by side. I also do that for hotels. If you don't request side by side rooms then you can be given any 2 rooms in the complex. That's what's happened. Her kids are more than old enough to safely sleep away from mum. It's all fine.

DarlingNikita · 27/08/2019 20:21

The age of the children is irrelevant. OP booked two rooms in one guesthouse. That's not what she's been given

Exactly. Plus, the owner should make it clear. Lots of people on Airbnb say in their property details if there’s an aspect of it that the site doesn’t enable them to list. There’s no excuse.

ReTooth · 27/08/2019 20:26

If you are actually concerned about their safety then you and your husband can split up and sleep with one of them each.

category12 · 27/08/2019 20:28

I'd be really pissed off. It doesn't matter that the teenagers will probably be fine - it's not what you expected and it adds a layer of stress that shouldn't be there.

GoBrookeYourself · 27/08/2019 20:34

YANBU. Regardless of what ages the kids are, what you booked wasn’t what you were told you’d have, so yes, I’d complain and/or ask for a refund.

MrsLinManuelMiranda · 27/08/2019 20:37

I agree with OP, you did NOT get what you were lead to believe expecting, the ages of kids are irrelevant. Are you expected to have meals in different locations to your children?

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 27/08/2019 20:39

I'm not sure what the problem is given the kids' ages but you know them and their personalities. If you want a refund you need to find somewhere more suitable to stay tonight. Is there a Premier Inn or something?

Lulualla · 27/08/2019 20:41

You didn't book an adult room and a child room. You booked 2 rooms and don't request that they be next to or nest each other.

Guest houses can be split over several outbuildings. That is not unusual.

When you book rooms in any type of guest house it hotel then they can end up being far away from each other. If you need them to be together then you need to make sure you ask for that when you book.

You booked 2 rooms. You got 2 rooms. You havnt offered a link to the description so see how it's worded. Did they say it was all under one roof? Because if they didn't then you have assumed that. And guest houses can be split apart.

DoomsdayCult · 27/08/2019 20:43

You’re supposed to have 1 adult in each room anyway. Not booking.com or the proprietors fault you wanted to leave your kids unattended.

Csleeptime · 27/08/2019 20:44

I wouldn't worry OP at that age they should be fine unless you can't trust them to stay in.

I would however be very annoyed and expect a refund too. It can and should be made clear on booking.

LittleAndOften · 27/08/2019 20:45

You haven't been given what you booked, irregardless of age! You're not going to have been the first to be surprised with this situation either - definitely complain. It's really not as described.

ALemonyPea · 27/08/2019 20:46

You and one DC in one room, your DH and the other DC in the other room. It's not rocket science.

sleepwhenidie · 27/08/2019 20:48

What Lulualla said. You could have been 3 floors apart, how is that really different from a separate building in terms of monitoring their room? If you needed rooms close together you should have stipulated that with the guest house. Only if they promised to provide this would you have grounds for complaint. If you aren’t happy leaving the DC’s in the other building then you need to sleep one adult one child in each room.

MyDcAreMarvel · 27/08/2019 20:49

I left my 13 year old six weeks off 14 in her own chalet at Butlins as we didn’t all fit into one. It was a 5 min walk away.
Your dc will be fine!

HeffaLump1 · 27/08/2019 20:51

YANBU. Even if booking.com dont allow for separate addresses, why hasnt the owner written that in the description of the place?

chergar · 27/08/2019 20:51

Can you link to the guest house or tell us which part of the country it is in?

When booking did you give the ages of the children? Was it a last minute booking?

I don't think it is reasonable to expect a 14 & 16 year old to sleep in separate accommodation to their parent/carer, you are basically asking the 16 year old to supervise the 14 year old, totally unfair on the 16 year old to be put in that position.

The doors inbetween, are they part of the guest house or separate accommodation?

Sleeping child/adult x2 won't work as one of the rooms is a double so parent sharing a bed with a teenager, not awful but not ideal either.

If OP went away and left her kids alone overnight there would be many saying call SS!

timshelthechoice · 27/08/2019 20:55

I'd be pissed off, too.

IsobelRae23 · 27/08/2019 20:55

Did you request side by side rooms? If not, then tough luck, sorry.

I would have had no problem with dc, when they were 16 & 11, sharing a room. Ds now 19, is more safety conscious than us all. Seriously he could be married, with a baby of his own, living with his wife miles from you. It’s reality. Unless you have no faith in him that he can not behave and will get up to no good? Then I could understand.

Sorrysorrysosorry · 27/08/2019 21:09

It's part of the same complex and just a few houses away.

A few houses away ISNT the same complex.

You're only 8 houses away and I'm sure you all have mobiles.

Hardly the relaxed family holiday situation.

If you're worried, could you have one adult with each child? Not ideal, but at least you'd feel more reassured

I would do this but I would be complaining ASAP. I know others who have had rubbish bookings through them. Be warned, reviews are heavily edited in the accommodations favour! What you see you have written compared to the limited/edited parts published can be VERY different!

l0v3f00d · 27/08/2019 21:14

If you didn't specify the venue wouldn't have known that you preferred 2 rooms together.

Also, from the hotels perspective an adult should be in each room. No hotel would sell a room to a 14 and 16 year old.

sleepwhenidie · 27/08/2019 21:14

Was it definitely not in the description that the accommodation was over more than one building?

NerrSnerr · 27/08/2019 21:19

If I was booking an extra room for children I would have double checked on the accommodations actual website or contacted them to double check the room would be near. If you book 2 rooms without any special requests there's no reason to think they'll be near each other.

Does the guest house have a website that says how many rooms it has? That would indicate the likelihood of being nearby.

Disfordarkchocolate · 27/08/2019 21:23

I'd be very annoyed too, there must have been a way of letting you know. For one booking you expect to be in the same building. Most places would have you very close to your children without you even needing to ask.

I once stayed in a hotel only to be put in a room over the road and around the corner. Bathroom so small it made me feel claustrophobic and the breakfast was served in the other site. My employed had booked the room and I feedback that I was dissatisfied.

OccidentalPurist · 27/08/2019 21:23

It's annoying but for the sake of a smooth running holiday I'd just put one DC with you and one with your DH.

We're currently on holiday in an apartment and have done the same because my DH snores too loudly, but my DS15 sleeps so heavily that it doesn't wake him up!

Lulualla · 27/08/2019 21:23

@Sorrysorrysosorry

Yes it is. A complex is made up of several different buildings! Lots and lots of guesthouses have different little chalets or outhouse which made up the "guesthouse". When you book rooms you will be allocated anywhere which is available. If you need rooms together you should always specify that.

You booked 2 rooms. You got 2 rooms. You could have had one room on the top floor and one room in the basement. You've got room a in different buildings. It happens. They didn't tell you that you were booking into one building and you didn't ask for rooms close to each other.

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