How should this holiday bill be split?

[aibuuname]

AIBU to think we are being short changed in this set up? As a disclaimer I don't think I will kick up a fuss this time as its a pretty good deal regardless but interested to see what would be considered normal for such a situation incase it arises again.
4 couples, 2 couples have 2 young children each between 3-7, one couple has a small baby and myself and DH are childless. We are all going away for 4 nights booked for September. Now I love my friends children and am excited to spend time with them all as we all live spread out and its been hard to see each other often due to covid etc. However its been assumed the villa bill will be split 4 ways is this normal? all my previous trips where pre-children with this group or with other childless couples. It feels a bit like us and the couple with the baby are subsidizing the cost of the older children as they will be sharing 2 rooms between them and therefore it would be fairer if the bill was split by room. Particularly as a 4 bed villa would cost quite a bit less than a 6 bed one.
As I say I don't plan to cause a fuss over this as its a good deal, i'm excited to go and we can afford it but I'm wondering if this is normal and cautious about setting up a precedent for any future trips.

Split by bedrooms would be fairest

Agree, split by rooms would be fair.

Who is assuming? The couple with 2 kids by any chance?
CF- They should pay for 2 rooms. I have 2 kids and have paid for their rooms when sharing a villa, wouldn't cross my mind not to!

Split by room is fairest (and only way I’d do it).

If it was 4 rooms, I couldn’t get excited about paying towards the electricity used by extra kids.

I think that dividing by person or by room would be a bit harsh on the couples with children, though I see an argument for it. Probably unfair by person, but fair by room? I think it would still be cheaper for you than your old 1/4 share so they’d actually be subsiding you!

Fairest for me though complicated is estimating what 1/4 of a 4 bed villa would have been as your share. Fair for you, and possibly cheaper for the larger families than a per room cost.

Yes if they are having two rooms they should be paying double those taking up one room.

We've done a similar holiday. 1 couple and 2 families, each with 1 child.

The two kids shared a bedroom in a 4 bedroom apartment. The childless couple paid 1/4. Us and the other family shared the 3/4 between us (3/8 each of the total bill).

No way we would have expected the couple to pay 1/3. We were using more bedrooms and were saving money anyway compared to going on holiday just the 3 of us.

Obviously by room. I hate it when people do this. I'm still sore about a self catering holiday I went on with friends years ago when everyone took turns to cook - the couples cooked together and split the food bill between them. As the only single I had to pay on my own for everyone's dinner one night. Very unfair.

I'd just drop them a message and say - aren't we paying for the bedrooms we're using?'

Can't you just text "aren't we splitting by room?"
. You should also ask how you are splitting food?

I agree fairer to split by room, it's a bit complicated if someone else found an amazing deal though and in that case I'd split compared to the cost of one room in another location. You can always say that youd assumed you would split by room but happy to pay a quarter this time even though you're only using 1 out of 6 rooms as it's such a good deal (if you think you will go away together again) so it doesnt set a precedent

We always pay by room for accommodation and a child counts as half an adult for grocery shops/meals out. Nothing for under 2s.

Another vote for a split by room here.

Split by bedrooms ie. split 6 ways - the couples with the older children pay 2/6th each and you and the couple with the baby (assuming it will sleep in a cot in their home) pay 1/6th each.

By room.

Agree sort how you are splitting food too

Also I'd take into account how nice each room is. Eg children are normally given the smallest twin room so probably not fair (if you are splitting by 6) to assume the same split for a king size nice room with the best view and an en suite. If you split it evenly then you have to take your chance that you'll be allocated the inferior room.

When I've gone on holiday before one couple had to sleep on a pull out bed in the living room and we agreed theyd pay half of what everyone else paid each as it wasnt as nice as having their own room.

Amazes me how cheeky people are, as a parent of 3 children i would ALWAYS expect to pay more due to needing extra rooms.

So you are right, and they are out of order.

Yes, split by room. And agree with PP, this needs to be knocked on the head before you get into splitting restaurant bills/taxis/other expenses four ways.

Split by room. It sounds like the families with DC will be getting 2 rooms each so should be paying more than those with no kids or a baby that will be in their own bedroom.

hi, we do this quite often. rather than split by room, adults pay a bigger share of the total price than kids. I can't remember what the split is, but it's essentially a per head price, with dogs going free (!) and kids being much lower than adults (as of course, they don't earn a salary...). I'm sure someone here will have an idea of sensible split.

Agree with the above poster re the room types. If they are all equally nice (size en suit etc) then splitting by room would be fair. However, if the kids room is smallest no en suite and their parents a double whisky your in the kind with en suite then I can see arguments for a different split. This is why I hate going away with anyone else 😂

Looks like its not normal
It is a couple with 2 kids assuming we will split but they are also the ones who found the villa and are doing the booking so perhaps more of an oversight than intentional cheeky fuckery. All 6 bedrooms are full sized doubles with ensuites, I think that's why its grated on me a bit it would seem less unfair if the kids where in an obvious kids bedroom with bunk beds etc.
The baby will be staying in the same room as her parents as she's only 4 months old.
Food I am not to worried about as we have all eaten out together plenty of times children included and this has never been an issue, I doubt we will be doing much cooking in the villa for foodshops etc. to become a problem.

“Whilst your in the king” - do we still not have an edit button for poor typers like me 😏

Surely the two couples with young kids pay two sixths each and the couple with baby and you just put one sixth each??

I think if you are going to expect the children to pay the same for a room as the adults you need to bear that in mind when allocating rooms. You can't stick the kids in the box rooms and have a double with an en suite if the kids have paid the same as you for their room. Perhaps the couples with children should pay 1.5 times what the couples without pay and use the smaller rooms. It is unlikely the rooms will all be master bedrooms. If the couples only using one bedroom each manage to get the master bedrooms with en suites and the couples with children get 2 smaller rooms each I think you should all split the bill equally. You can't charge them more whilst getting better accommodation than them.

In that case OP just reply and say since the rooms are all equal shall we not split by room then. See what they say to that.