Would appreciate the MN kangaroo court view on this! Should clarify at the outset that we are not in the UK, and are lucky enough to have low/zero Covid and can therefore book holidays with confidence.
My husband and I have a group of friends that we have been on several weekends away with, always staying together in an Air B n B.
Some of the group are couples, and the rest are single women. The accommodation price has always been split per person, and not per room, so for example a couple sharing a room pay double what one of the single women pays even if the room configurations mean that she gets a room to herself. Sometimes the women have shared a room / bed, and then they pay the same as a couple. To be clear I think that's absolutely fair, and I have no gripes with that.
It's not always easy to find a house big enough for all of us so the last time we went away my husband and I volunteered to go on the sofa bed. It wasn't 'private' but we are all friends and we are all pretty easygoing (although I'm starting to think I am not so easy-going!) The organiser of that trip offered to give us a bit of a discount but we said it was fine.
I suggested a beach trip in July and as usual invited the whole group on what's app. Three couples said yes, and two of the single women said yes, and asked if they could bring a third (female, single) friend. Sure. The more the merrier. I couldn't find a house big enough on the weekend in question, but I did find four houses that each had four bedrooms, and all had a sofa bed. Range of prices, asked the group what they thought. We decided on a house. Then one of the three couples said "actually, no drama, we might only stay one night and will book our own accommodation nearby". The other couple (who is still staying in the house) then asked if they could bring a friend, he would take the sofa bed if that was alright with everyone.
So now we are two couples in two of the bedrooms, two of the girls sharing one room, the other girl in a room on her own, and male friend tag-along on the airbed. Or so I thought.
The three single women have messaged me privately saying that now that one couple is staying elsewhere, they had been hoping they could still have the sofa bed, so none of them has to share a bed.
I asked were they still willing to share and they've said they'd rather not, sleep better in own bed etc. Which I get, but two of them were presumably willing to share when we all agreed to the first house!
If you are still with me (sorry), the AIBU is this: is it fair to pay per person and not per room if you are not even willing to share a room in the first place? How do you normally divide up expenses in these situations? I don't want to cause any upset so thought I would solicit views, including if the view is 'let them sort it out amongst themselves and do not engage!'