Holiday let with inadequate curtains, AIBU?

[MyMarmite]

We’ve paid £1,000 for 7 nights in a holiday let. The master bedroom has no curtains or blinds in about 4ft of window and so I am awake early as it’s bright. diagram attached.

it’s an awkward window but I still think it’s unreasonable not to cover it if you’re letting it. This is a professional holiday let.

There are 2 other double bedrooms but dh is in one of them and they are 2 floors down, deliberately, as I snore. So I can’t use the other one as then he won’t sleep because of my snoring.

I’d rather go home than not sleep all week. It’s 2.5 hours away. AIBU?

OP I think you should complain today. Even if it was half the price you have paid, there should be curtains or blinds. Basic thing for anyone to have in a bedroom where clothes are changed, for your privacy.

This. I am very sensitive to light and eye masks are great

No, genuinely don't. My parents have curtains, as do my in-laws. My grandparents also had curtains. In our block of flats there are two out of 16 which have curtains, and both occupants are older than my in-laws. None of the other blocks in our road have curtains either. The old farmhouse does, but again the couple that live their look similar age to my IL's. I'm in my 40's, none of my friends or the DC's friends have curtains. Actually I dislike it and am waiting until the DC are old enough that I can put plant pots at the edge of the balcony to create a screen like our neighbours have done. Curtain rails are not standard in new builds and we don't have any in ours, MIL had huge issues finding someone to install some in their new place.

If OP was desperate to sleep, she'd get an eye mask and/or go to the doctor to sort the snoring. Complaining a holiday let isn't decorated as you would is, well, strange.

Personally, I don't know anyone who has curtains who isn't over the age of 76. It's not considered the thing to have in your house

shit, I missed the memo, be right back, just off to charity shop the blinds 😂

Tinfoil is better than bin bags, but I always travel with an eye mask these days, because I like the dark, and even it escaping around the curtains annoys me (or if the kids come in, they like a lamp on, and I don't sleep as well when the kids are there anyway!)

YANBU though - decent blinds in bedrooms on a professional let is the bare minimum - every hotel has blackout curtains for this reason.

I have curtains and blinds - TBH, I live in the middle of nowhere and don't need them at all, but on a couple of places they're useful. On other windows I don't think I have ever used them at all, and in the living room/bedrooms I've added curtains on top to keep the heat in in winter and properly blackout the room.

Curtains and blinds both have their place I think.

It’s like a parallel universe @SayOrPay! I’m fascinated that there’s a curtain free community somewhere in the UK!

No one in my family can sleep without both curtains and a blackout blind, so I feel your pain op!

@SayOrPay you are right, curtain poles are not standard in new builds. Neither are towel rails, shelves or toilet roll holders. You’re meant to put theses in yourself 🤦🏽‍♀️
If you visit a show home, there will 100% be curtains.

I was just about to say what the heck is difficult about installing a curtain rail? I've done it and I'm the last person you'd describe as handy with the DIY. And that they aren't standard fixtures, either.

@SayOrPay A window with absolutely nothing on it is nothing to do with decorating to taste, more blinds and/or curtains are a basic necessity. Nobody, literally nobody, expects to turn up to a holiday let with nothing on the bedroom window. I don't think anybody checks photos to double check the person has put blinds or curtains on the windows. You seem to have missed the point that it's about nothing being on the window rather than just not having curtains

OP, I would be pissed off and would be contacting the owner. For now, I would tape bin bags onto the window.

Curtain rails are not standard in new builds and we don't have any in ours, MIL had huge issues finding someone to install some in their new place.

Do you think curtain rails may not be put up in new builds because the type of rail you need depends on the type of heading you want your curtains to have?
I know two families (adults in their 20s to 30s) who've recently moved into new builds and they both have curtains. Don't know if the rails were there before.
And surely any competent builder can put up a curtain rail?
76 is weirdly specific but I presume is the age of the youngest person you know with curtains.
You must be able to tell from the feedback you've received that your viewpoint is the minority one.

Op. Has your husband tried ear plugs? My husband snored and ear olufz were a last resort and I barely heard him.

plus I then bought him these and he does not snore now at all.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B4S61QE?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Yes this works, we’ve done it in holiday lets which had lightweight curtains to try and stop the kids getting up with the sun. It drives me mad when holiday houses have such crap curtains, no one wants waking up at 5am on holiday! I always travel with an eye mask now.

Agree!!

FWIW I go nowhere without an eye mask now as I can’t sleep a wink with any light.

Drowsy are expensive but great masks, Amazon have some similar shaped much cheaper versions. Get one on same day delivery!

Wow. Do you not leave the flat, surely you must see homes outside and on the telly and know it’s the norm to have curtains or blinds? Irrelevant of age?

Personally, I don't know anyone who has curtains who isn't over the age of 76

Eh? Are you having a laugh?

Op - just tape bin bags or pin a dark sheet over it - we did this loads on holiday when the dc's were little and holiday let curtains were inadequate. It's no big deal - surely you're not that lacking in critical thinking?

@SayOrPay So you don’t have anything in your bedroom windows? That’s very unusual, most humans need darkness to sleep.

Tin foil. Spray window with water. Foil will cling. Remove easily when you leave.

Someone needs to tell the Insta influencers that curtains aren't "the thing" 😂

Your MIL probably had difficulty getting someone to fit a curtain pole because it's a tiny little job that's not worth it for most tradespeople. Not because it's a dying art, like lacemaking or something

n

surprised how many people here have both blinds and curtains. we only have curtains in the lounge. I don't like them. We have blinds or plantation shutters elsewhere. None of us need total darkness to sleep. I thought this was pretty standard, but apparently not

Definitely not standard. I detest plantation shutters and wouldn’t give them house room.

So when you‘re getting undressed in your bedroom in the evening do you do it in the pitch dark so your neighbours can’t see you in all your glory?

I’m imagining having to see far more of you and your neighbours than I’d like!

Curtain rails are not standard in new builds and we don't have any in ours, MIL had huge issues finding someone to install some in their new place.

Of course they aren’t. That’s because curtain rails aren’t “standard” - different rails for different curtains and different tastes. I don’t have curtain rails in my bedroom but do have blackout blinds. DD is a new build flat - she has blinds AND curtains (which are more for decoration). I actually live on a bus route so all of us in the road also have nets or privacy film.

@SayOrPay do you genuinely have NO window coverings? Are you never naked? Do you not worry about the heat loss in the winter?

Curtains aren't just about blocking our light though, they also keep in heat at night and help with sound. When I temporarily didn't have Curtains in the sitting room (where nobody sleeps) the room sounded echoey & it lost heat quickly.