To book a 6 person lodge for myself?

[MaryRoze]

One of my favourite things to do since escaping my controlling ex is to get away by myself for a couple of nights, somewhere remote with a good view, a hot tub, where I can just relax and recharge.

I've found a lovely site that has a few 2 person glamping pods, and 2 self-catering cottages. One cottage sleeps 4, the other sleeps 6. I dithered over both of them but decided to go for the 6 person lodge as it has nicer facilities, bigger kitchen, nicer views, and an enclosed garden for if I decide to bring my dog with me.

I've just received an email from the company asking me to clarify it's just for me. I've said yes. They've come back and said it's a busy time of year for them (October), so would I like to have one of the glamping pods instead as the cottages are really for bigger parties only.

I've had another look on their website and can see now it says they charge a fixed rate for 2 people, and for each additional person it's an extra £50 per person, per night! So they're obviously thinking they can make more money out of a bigger party rather than just me on my own.

I haven't specified this to them yet but I was planning on paying extra for early check in (£30), bringing the dog (£25), and a bottle of fizzy on arrival (£40). So it's not like they won't be getting their moneys worth out of me.

AIBU to book the larger property just for me?

Oh goodness no, you're totally fine to have booked it! Maybe it's an unusual way for them to have offered it but that's not your problem. If they want to change it going forward then they can. You've found a little gem of an opportunity, enjoy the whole thing!

YANBU. Go you for enjoying time alone. I hope they let you stay. If they send a further email discouraging you I think you should tell them to rewrite their advert so that it's clear what they will and won't accept before booking.

It’s no different to owning a bigger house than you “need”, or a bigger car, or more pairs of trainers. It’s hardly depriving other people of a scarce and lifesaving resource, so if you can afford it and you want it, why not? Don’t let their unusual pricing model put you off.

I can understand offering a fixed increase per additional occupant, to cover the additional costs of changing multiple sets of sheets and probably a bit more work on the cleaning at the end. But charging extra per person per night is just a strange business model as it doesn't reflect the additional costs.

If you are paying their minimum 2 person price then that's fine, they are obviously happy with that as a minimum price or they wouldn't offer it.

Maybe they think they're helping.

This pricing structure sometimes comes up on Airbnb where the price increases as you up the number of guests. I think it’s done in a similar way to cheap airlines so you’re sucked in by the initial low price and then stuff keeps getting added on. Clearly there is a risk for the vendor of exactly this happening. You’re not unreasonable to book it but it does sound like there’s a risk they are going to cancel your booking.

I would imagine that the pods are not selling!
All the accommodation we look at seems to come priced per house/cottage.
The 2 of us frequently book accommodation for 4 or 6 people in Scotland because the weather can be terrible. We once booked what was really a bedsit for a week and it poured with rain all the time.

It shouldn't have allowed you to book it if you had only selected 1 person. Their pricing needs fixing on their website. There must be loads of times that people book it for say 2/3 people if they haven't fixed their pricing.

I've stayed somewhere before where the owner has asked me to only use one bedroom for sleeping when I was under occupying a 2 bed cottage. Presumably this was to save her having to change the sheets. I was absolutely fine with that.

Go for it.

We booked a beautiful house in Cornwall once that was supposed to be for 8 people but it was just DH and myself at that time.

It was fantastic. We booked it in the winter so we had this large house to drift about it, with log fires, lovely big baths and a huge kitchen. We each had our own luxury bathroom which was lovely.

This cottage is in Scotland too It also has a covered gazebo with a fire pit which was the selling point for me in October!!

Suspect their pricing model works in low periods but less so in busy periods. Although I guess not many do this. Of course they wish to maximise their money in peak season. I’d let them know what else you’re going to spend.

I would prefer the cottage to be a home for someone all year round. Until that is the case, then you are being reasonable.

Enjoy your holiday! Sounds lovely.

I wonder if they've found people book it for 1 then turn up with 6 people

I wondered this too. The default when you go to check availability and pricing is 1 guest, so maybe people forget to change this when they book?

YANBU.

What would one search for if they wanted to find something similar? 'somewhere remote with a good view, a hot tub, where I can just relax and recharge' sounds fantastic.

They need to change their pricing model then, to one per property rather than per guest at said property. They also should advertise that at peak times there is a minimum of X number of people. So YANBU when you booked it.

However I do think YABU for thinking that paying for a dog to stay there and a bottle of fizz means that you're spending extra money with them - they're providing extra services in exchange for that so no, not really.

If I were you I would cancel with these guys because they're being difficult and find another nice 6 person place which is priced transparently from the offset.

Enjoy the lodge

Nobody's being unreasonable here.

You're not unreasonable to want to book it.

They are not unreasonable to suggest a smaller property if they're going to have to turn down parties of six and lose money on your booking. You are not unreasonable to say no thanks to the glamping pod, and I would be inclined to point out to them everything you've said about the extras you're planning to order. However, if they turn down your booking entirely, I can understand why from their point of view.

Whether you end up staying there or somewhere else, I hope you have a lovely, relaxing trip. A solo getaway is an absolute joy.

Oh, yes, I bet that's the case!

YANBU to book the lodge and decline the pod, but they are also NBU to ask.

If this is an issue for them they need to review their pricing/booking policies going forward.

Yeah, I get that they're providing a service. What I mean is that I'm planning to spend an additional £95 on top of the cost they've asked for the cottage. I could just as easily not bring the dog, and buy my own bottle of prosecco from Morrisons for a fiver!

YANBU. They need to sort their pricing structure out and charge more for the big one in the first place.

How bizarre, we go on two or three UK self-catering holidays per year, and I have never known any of the properties to charge per person staying. We often have an empty bedroom, because there's three adults and usually the only way you can get two double beds is if the property is set up for more than four people. Sometimes there's an extra charge for the dog. The only time I've ever seen a business not allowing people to hire accomodation that exceeds their needs was a music festival - which made perfect sense because they want their six-person glamping pods to have six admission-fee paying people in it, not two.