Suddenly we need to book two rooms as DS is 13?

[deltapips]

I was browsing booking.com earlier for May half term breaks. My eldest is now 13 so the options that came up defaulted to two rooms rather than one which obviously doubles the price, argh!
There's a hotel in Dorset that we've been to twice. The first time our room had a double bed and bunk bed. The second time we were allocated a two bedroom apartment with a double bed and two singles. Both perfectly adequate for my family now. But I can't book that now.
I know I call them directly but I'm not sure I'd get the "free cancellation" option that I really like.
AIBU to be annoyed or should I just suck it up?

There was no strop. I just said that’s not for me, my parents were fine and took someone else. It wasn’t “lovely” to me.

If you were controlled by your parents at that age that’s your problem. Some families are more flexible and enlightened.

It’s not being a brat, it’s just not something I would have wanted to do. I would have thought everyone would discuss these things at the planning stage, not wait until we were boarding a plane to make them clear…

So, just because I appreciated being taken abroad on lovely holidays, I was controlled by my parents?

I don't think so 😂

I'm with you. We do Airbnbs, cottages or hotels with interconnecting rooms. I don't find we get good sleep if we try to share.

Okay, but if your parents were planning a holiday and said "We can only afford a break this year if we all share a room", would you really have refused and made everyone miss out?

I can't imagine many parents allowing their young teenagers to just stay home alone all week just so they didn't have to share a room

Honestly, some of the attitudes on here really surprises me - it's such a spoilt attitude to demand your own room on someone else's dollar.

You would probably be better off looking at Airbnb. You can usually book a whole flat or even house for less than a hotel room costs.

You then could get 2 bedrooms plus a kitchen area

Either fib or book a different hotel. My 14 yr old still shares with us.

I wasn’t ever faced with the situation as we always stayed in cottages in the UK, and I don’t think my parents would have wanted to share one room with myself and siblings anyway. But I would have thought as a teenager we would all discuss it and find something we all were happy with - everyone is supposed to enjoy a holiday, not just the parents.

That referred to your comment “my parents would never have let me” ie decline a holiday and choose an alternative.

I didn’t have those kind of parents. We had some lovely holidays with our parents, equally some of us declined ones we weren’t interested in. This is hardly rocket science.

everyone is supposed to enjoy a holiday, not just the parents.

You don't need your own room to have a good holiday. Yes, it might be a nice thing to have but it's hardly essential.

Also, when the parents are paying - they get the final say, surely?

Sometimes we do stay in a suite in a hotel. But often we do other accommodation types that are a lot cheap e.g. air bnb, apartment-hotel hybrid places, holiday cottages, ski chalets etc. It’s rare that a hotel is the only choice of accommodation there is available, unless it’s something very specific e.g. it’s for a wedding and you have to stay at the venue.

We had some lovely holidays with our parents, equally some of us declined ones we weren’t interested in. This is hardly rocket science.

Same. They went off without me quite often and I stayed with my gran. There was never any suggestion of sharing rooms with my parents when I did go. The possibility never occurred to them.

I suppose we’d disagree. I wouldn’t have enjoyed the holiday if I’d had to share a room. Everyone’s different!
Yes I would imagine they’d have the final say. Equally I think they’d want to do something that everyone enjoyed, if at all possible.
I think it depends on the individual family and what everyone is comfortable with. I certainly don’t think it’s wrong if some teenagers are happy to do this, it just wouldn’t have been for me!

*share a room with my parents, I should say.

Exactly.

Why suggest to someone that they lie when dealing with the hotel? If the hotel were to lie or mislead about the conditions of the lodgings or the amenities offered most would find that unacceptable.

Why isn't the appropriate answer to look for accommodations that meet your expectations? Is it so acceptable to be dishonest in one' s dealings but to expect honesty in return?

My ds has shared large family rooms with us until he was 15 or 16. We are only ever in the room at the same time to sleep so I can't see it matters.
We've booked through assorted ṭravel companies (not booking.com) and none have thought it odd so I'd imagine most likely your venue itself wouldn't either.
As others have said lie, or see if you can find the same property listed elsewhere (screenshot some images and search them using goggle lens). This age nonsense is just a money making ploy. So annoying.

Are you joking? Glamping is more expensive than a mid range hotel. Maybe you are thinking of camping...

Can you not understand that some parents give kids their own rooms because they don’t want to share with them either? “Demand” never comes into it.

Teenagers don’t have to stay home alone, they can stay with friends, relatives or go on their own holiday.

*There was no strop. I just said that’s not for me, my parents were fine and took someone else. It wasn’t “lovely” to me.

If you were controlled by your parents at that age that’s your problem. Some families are more flexible and enlightened*

It's not controlling, or unenlightened to say that your 13yo needs to share a room if you are going to take them on holiday. It's just practical from a cost point of view. You can't leave a 13yo home on their own.

We've often shared rooms (we are a family of 5), and it's never been a problem. We even shared a cabin on a cruise twice, when the kids were all teenagers. It was a squash, but we coped fine, because we all get on well, and the kids understood that if we didn't share, then we couldn't afford to go, and would need to do a different type of holiday. They wanted to go, so we shared. Nothing unusual in that, I don't think.

Our youngest is 18, and wants to come with us on holiday this year, and again, she understands that if she wants a 'bigger' style of holiday, she needs to share our room. It's not ideal, but it's this or a cheaper holiday with two rooms. Because she's not a brat, she gets it, and is sharing.

Holiday Inn let dc share to 18 I think. Quite a few in dorset ( we live here) I mean you could lie but if you have been before they may have a record on file

*Can you not understand that some parents give kids their own rooms because they don’t want to share with them either? “Demand” never comes into it.

Teenagers don’t have to stay home alone, they can stay with friends, relatives or go on their own holiday*

And do you not understand that some people can't afford to have two rooms? It's not rocket science. And some families would rather have their kids with then on holiday , than leave them at home. Or have no-one to leave them with. Horses for courses, isn't it? Just because your family didn't share, doesn't mean that no families should.

What about renting a 2 bed holiday cottage instead?
We much prefer a cottage to a hotel anyway, and then you have flexibility about coming and going, meals times, etc.

I hated sharing with parents as a teenager and would have preferred not to go. I didn't go on holiday with them after age 14. Mind you our holidays were in a youth hostel in rainy Welsh seaside resorts. Might have been more keen had the holiday been more exciting.

If your teenager doesn't want to share you can always let them do something else while you're away, there are plenty of youth camps run by church, guides, scouts etc that are reasonably cheap

I've just had a weekend in a Premier Inn. I shared a room with my DS (18).
My mum shared with my younger DS (16)

No one minded. Everyone got changed in the bathroom.

My brothers DC (all under 10) picked where they slept each night. We all had a lovely time.

If my DC don't want to share a room they can pay for their own. I can't afford to book multiple rooms.