To split accommodation cost by adult not by room

[nwth73]

Going on holiday with a group of friends - have been holidaying together since uni. Some now have families. Make up of the group is:

Family 1 (2 adults, 1 baby)
Family 2 (2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby)
Single adult
Couple 1
Couple 2

In the past, we have always split the house cost equally amongst the adults. Couple 1 is a recent match, last year they were a single (in their own room).

House has got 6 bedrooms, 2 are interconnecting with 1 being a very small box room for the toddler of family 2 - it would not fit even a single adult.

I (for my sins as the organiser) have proposed to count the toddler as a half and then split the cost across the group. So Family 1 and each Couple pays £631, Family 2 pays £789 and single pays £316 (total cost for the week is c.£3k).

Couple 1 has come back and said the cost should be split by room since Family 2 is taking 2 rooms. Which would leave Family 1, the single adult and each Couple paying £500 and Family 2 paying £1000.

I don't think this is fair to the single adult in particular, who is paying twice as much as the other adults when in the past we've split it evenly (and couple 1 friend has benefitted from this before they became a couple).

AIBU to split it by person not by room? What is the done thing once children enter the fray and are taking up rooms of their own?

YABU - it should be split by room
YANBU - it should be split by person (and in what ratio of adults/kids?!)

You do also have to take into account that the room is not the only space each person uses, that’s true, as a pp said.

Per room can work when there’s obvious discrepancies in the space each group takes up - for instance if one family were taking up two or three full sized bedrooms etc

I'd split by adult too. Maybe when the children get to age 5 they'd count as .5 of an adult.
The single adult is unlikely to be benefitting in any way from having a room to themselves - I'm sure they will be allocated the smallest remaining room (after the box room) and there will be no en-suite for example. As PP said, this is not a hotel where we need to tax for single occupancy and make the single pay twice as much as everybody else - this is a group of friends.

Charge by adult.

Compromise between these options. Split £1500 (50% of total cost) per head, and the other 50% per room. But the tiny toom that wouldn't fit an adult is only 0.25 rooms.

1500/ 9.5 heads = £157.90 per head
1500/5.25 rooms = £285.71 per room

So Family1 pays for 2 adults & 1 room
=£601.50
Family 2 pays for 2.5 adults and 1.25 rooms=£751.89
Single person pays for 1 adult & 1 room=£443.61
Each remaining couple pays for 2 adults and 1 room. £601.50

Coming back to this (overinvested now!) - sharing a house isn't like just having a hotel room so splitting purely by room definitely isn't the fairest option, when there is a lot of shared accommodation too (kitchen, lounge, garden etc).

I've tried a few options but they all come out pretty close to what you were suggesting in the first place.

50% of the accommodation (£1500) to be split by adult (for shared areas).
50% of the accommodation (£1500) to be split by room (five rooms not six but the interconnecting one the most expensive room) - ranking the rooms by size as appropriate e.g. £400, £350, £300, £250, £200

Family 1 (2 adults, 1 baby) £350 + 2(£1500/9) = £683
Family 2 (2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby) £400 + 2(£1500/9) = £733
Single adult = £200 + (£1500/9) = £366
Couple 1 £300 + 2(£1500/9) = £633
Couple 2 £250 + 2(£1500/9) = £583

Definitely not the single person paying £500 the same as the couples and the family having to pay £1000.

Divide by the 9 adults. Don't factor in the kids

“But Ann, we have never split by room before. Remember when you were single and we always costed it per adult, so you had your own room but paid half the price of a room with a couple in it? You always seemed happy with that. I’m wondering why you’ve changed your opinion?”

This.

Single adult couldn't pay for half a room anywhere else. You are occupying by the room, so you pay by the room.

We’ve always split by room, and then for food the little kids count as a 0.5 (alcohol only split amongst adults). My sister is happy to have the kids sleep in the room with her. We are not. So we pay double because 2 rooms.

Once our kids get a bit bigger we will count them as a full adult for food purposes.

Split by adult

Def by adults. Honestly I think it’s unfair on the family with the toddler already and would be horribly unfair to make it per room! As it stands the single person is being most subsidised not the family with the tiny box space

So couple 1 wants the single person to subside her holiday. 👍

Per adult, as it has been. She can not go too? Quibbling over 131 more for her as a couple vs the additional 184 that she wants the individual to pay is a bit much, especially since, as noted in previous years she didn’t feel the need to pay the room rate.

I’d be miffed by this as well. Next time, if there is a next time, you holiday together I’d suggest she takes a baby/child alarm and lets you have the master with en-suite in the name of fairness.

YANBU to have assume that the accounting used for prior years would also apply this year if no one sugested otherwise during the planning phase.

Couple 1 is a recent match, last year they were a single (in their own room). I'm not sure if this means that one specific friend came alone in prior years and is now bringing a new partner from outside the group (so an extra adult added in to the total), or if two singles within the group have coupled up. Either way, though, it seems unfair to demand a change that mainly benefits them. If everyone else is happy with the old arrangement, I'd use that for this year and discuss making a change for next year.

If you want to change for future years, I think some hybrid split probably makes the most sense, but I wouldn't charge extra for the box room if none of the adults could have used it. Certainly Family 1 paying the same again for the tiny room as for their main room that fits two adults and one/two children is unfair.

In a hotel you're using the room only.

In a house you're sharing other rooms - lounge, outside space etc.

In houseshares they often calculate the size of room proportional to the whole space, which is nearer to splitting by adult in this example.

I'd split by adult.

Or use what another poster proposed - 400 for single, 650 for couple.

If you want to be really precise calculate the whole space each person is using and split it like that. But then, IMO, you have to have some way of charging for toddlers and babies (1/2 and 1/4 maybe). It just gets ridiculous, although it's not a hard calculation it feels kind of petty. If people are struggling for money that much you will get arguments over food too I'd imagine. Or maybe they're not struggling, they're just being awkward about the single person, who is losing out here if you pay by room.

At this stage whilst there are only toddlers/babies, split per adult

This is the best outcome IMO.

The box room should be discounted entirely.

Single should pay a little more than half a couple for the pleasure of a room to themselves.

You only start counting in children when a bigger rental is needed to accommodate them. If the couple who have the toddler are asking for a seperate room, then they pay. If the box room is just part of the deal, then they don't. People saying that single people can't rent half a room, yes you can. The rate is less for a room with a single bed. Per adult is fair. As said, when petty gripes start, it means holidaying together is coming to an end.

If I was one of the couples with children I would feel cheeky not paying extra for the space we are using (not just bedrooms) and the fact that a holiday had been arranged to include my family and a house found to suit us all. Resentment is likely to be built in otherwise.

Are people with children not letting their children in the living spaces,bathroom,kitchen,garden?

I'd definitely just split between the adults. I go away with a big group of friends and sometimes there's a couple of kids and sometimes not. We always just split between the adults.

If you’ve been holidaying together for years and it’s not appeared to be an issue why change everything? Has anyone else indicated that they’re not happy about the existing arrangement?

Split by adult rooms. Couples are sharing spaces. Give your single friend a 25% discount on the room rate and split the cost amongst the other couples. If I were single and going on holiday with a couple and we stayed in a hotel then we would pay by room.

Use the box room as a luggage room.

Honestly, I can't imagine wanting to charge a couple with a young child double!

We do family holiday every year and do exactly the same as you. Split by adult and kids (not babies) pay half. Then we work out the room configurations as best we can.

Sometimes single people have shared rooms, when my kids were tiny I wanted a separate room for them, now happily share with them if needed etc.

As others have said, this can't be compared to a hotel as you are also paying for communal facilities which should be split equally.

The way you have split it sounds fair, especially given the person complaining has benefited from this arrangement in the past. I can't believe they actually have the audacity to complain!

If I were the family and someone tried to suggest that I should pay same as a single adult for toddler to use the box room, I would simply state we will all stay in one room. If I were the single person, I would probably just pull out entirely!