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?

They can’t, that would have to be in their ts and cs or they are making up charges. There are rules about advertising prices!

It's also, from what you said not really a '6 person' place. As in, 6 bedrooms.
There are only 2 bedrooms so 2 people is a sensible number each with their own room. And no. 5 and 6 have been shoehorned In with living room beds, there's no unused space that'll need cleaning anyway.
As a single booker, you're paying the same price as 2 people but only using 1 person's worth of resources. Plus alone you're unlikely to create more mess, damage etc.
So a bargain, really.

I'm pretty sure the person I was quoting was volunteering to pay the price at full occupancy. Not a snowballs' chance I would do that.

Maybe the business is trying to be clever, advertising the lodge at £X to draw people in and then when its a large group only finding out during the booking process its actually £X +200 (or whatever).
Serves them right for not being transparent with the pricing to begin with. The only places I've seen where the cost varies by occupancy is for hotels with breakfast an optional extra.

You couldn’t pay me, let alone charge me, to stay in a glorified shed glamping pod

You have done nothing wrong OP, enjoy your cottage

YANBU enjoy 🥂

I don't blame the company for getting as much as they can for the place. The fact you intend to buy wine when you're there is nothing to do with it - not all of that is profit for them.

I can also see why they charge for day visitors as there's wear and tear on the place. Also I can see why people have to leave at nine - it's pretty obvious people will bring a bigger party with them.

You're not being unreasonable if you pay as though there are six of you, OP, but you are otherwise.

I think after the cheeky way they operate, I'd be buying prosecco from Morrisons now anyway.

I totally see where they are coming from, theyd rather have money for 6 people than for 1 (or 2 if you pay a fixed rate). It's kind of cheeky to pay for one person and expect a place for 6 and to expect the owners to take a hit in the busiest season.

Imagine going to a hotel, booking 6 rooms but only paying for 1. It's kind of the same thing. If I was an owder of the place Id just cancel your booking altogether, because they are taking a massive hit on this, and many businesses still have not recovered post covid.

We booked our first lodge in May this year. The price was per property not per person, it slept 6, but there were 3 of us plus our dog. We got sent 13 pages of terms and conditions, which if I had received them before booking, I doubt we would have gone ahead, but we did enjoy it. Another booking where we just returned, slept 8 but there was only 4 of us. When we arrived all beds were made up but there were only 4 lots of towels. I’ve never heard of charging for additional people, once you’ve been given the price per property, bit naughty.

It's none of their business!

😂 Then change the rates - they’re the ones that set them!

October is not a busy season in the U.K., outwith half term, nor is it a season for camping.

If they don't want people under occupying in the summer then they shouldn't have that as an option. It's so rude of them to now suggest you stay in a pod instead of a lodge. Tell them you need the enclosed garden as you have a dog and want to keep the lodge.

Why are you making this assumption?

They should have put more thought into their pricing then shouldn't they? If they've cocked up I would expect them to suck it up and learn from it.

This. But it’s worth telling them that you planned to get the extras. It’s perfectly reasonable for them to want to get the best booking for them. Of course they are in it for the money. That’s literally what business is.

If I was booking exclusive use of a six person property, I would expect to pay the same rate as if six people were staying.

I call BS on it being their busy time. October is never the busy time, obviously peak holiday season is Easter or June - end of August, especially in Scotland when schools go back earlier.

They are hopeful of making more money out of the accommodation, which I get, but reality is you’ve booked it and they accepted your booking.

Enjoy your hol.

Agree - it doesn't make sense.

If u wanted a pod you would have booked one. I would not move. They should clearly state re minimum.occupancy.

October in Scotland midweek doesn't sound like a busy period to me either.

We've just booked overnight mid week September to help get DD1 back to uni and we pleasantly surprised how cheap hotel rooms were - then though first half of week in September after term school term starts and weeks before uni term starts why are we so surprised it's cheaper.

It probably never happened to them before, so I'd expect them to cancel the booking and then fix the pricing. People make mistakes, business owners are no different, so don't know why they should lose money for someone else's convenience.

They should charge per lodge, not per person.

Nothing wrong with booking a larger place. If it’s just me and my husband, we always book a ‘sleeps 6’.

Well then I hope they're prepared for some scathing reviews.
OP has booked at the 2 person minimum rate, what if 2 single friends had booked, would they also be expected to downsize?