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?

But it's two weeks if you are in an area with Tattie holidays. And in Angus they start October 4 but in Aberdeenshire not til October 11 going back October 28

Erm, no. A one-off weekend with a smaller amount of income than they could theoretically achieve, is not "negatively impacting their business".

Out of interest, up to what point do you think the business is correct to say to the OP ah sorry no we've changed our mind? Wait a few weeks, until she's made other plans & it's harder for her to change her mind and go elsewhere? Or right up to the point where she turns up and say, oh it's only you - we've decided you don't need two whole bedrooms to yourself, so we've changed your booking?

If you buy a loaf of bread for £2 and the shopkeeper then goes oh hold on actually that's too much bread for just you, let me take that one away and give you a smaller one - do you still think "no-one's right and no-one's wrong"?

The business has made an offer; the OP has accepted it and agreed to it, entering in to a contract; now the business is saying "oh hold on, you should've guessed that we weren't offering this to you, you can't have this". How on earth can anyone argue that this is "not right but not wrong either"? Obviously they can say oh we made a mistake, would you mind changing; and they can cancel the booking and refuse to honour it, and risk the OP taking further action; but that doesn't make them right...

You know the state of the business? You know if they are barely breaking even?

It always amazes me on here that people know so much about other people and their lives and finances.

OP you said this is planned for October, any chance you picked half term? I live in a seaside town and know people with holiday businesses and half term in October is the last hurrah before businesses either close or go very quiet for a few months. Because of that maximizing what they do that week can be pretty vital for some.

Obviously it might not be half term but if it is that could explain the issue for that particular week.

A tent? I had to make do with a bit of tarp and a bed of nettles. And enjoy it. 😁

This.

It amazes me that people don’t understand how business works. If they’re barely breaking even they need to rethink their business model.

What you don’t do is enter into a contract and then cancel the contract in the hope of getting a better one. If you do you will forfeit repeat business.

They might have someone who wants to book that date and pay for six people. It's a business and they way they work is to try and make a profit.

Yes, exactly - that might happen.

Good business model: Let's price this appropriately and set restrictions, to ensure we get the maximum return on our asset.

Bad business model: Let's let anyone who likes book it, and if someone else offers us more money later - we'll hope that the first person agrees to change their booking.

The OP doesn't have to rescue them just because they have a bad business model.

They ought to put a bit more thought into their pricing rather than messing paying customers around. You don't take a booking then change your mind if you think you can make more, I've never heard of that being acceptable, ever.

As I said I live in a seaside town, I've seen businesses close, Covid, COL crisis, weather. People think these businesses are coining it because they have six weeks to make hay in the school holidays but many of them are hand to mouth. Maximising October half term can be the difference between the business being there next year or it being a distant memory. Not the OPs problem but perhaps a big problem for business owner.

Obviously everyone on here is a billionaire entrepreneur.

So price it correctly before rather than after booking.

it’s their business they can do what they want and have chosen to do so. If OP doesn’t like it just to elsewhere.

Yes, but it’s shitty business practice.

My thought is that they probably don't have much difficulty in booking the six sleeper lodge. I run holiday lets and people tend to want the ones that sleep more. The six sleeper for example - fits a family of 4 and grandparents. Or similar set up. Three couples sharing etc. In ruralish places lthis is what sells, especially slightly out of season.

So I reckon they have probably get much more interest in that lodge than the others and want to try and move you to a smaller one that gets less interest.

For me, I would price per unit though - with only extra costs for dogs. So I certainly wouldn't quibble it. A booking is a booking. I would also be thinking there will be less likelihood of damage and probably a lighter clean on exit - as presumably only one bedroom will be used. One person creates much less mess than a larger party. Swings and roundabouts.

Do they have extra facilities on site that you can pay for? For example a restaurant or similar? They could also be thinking of other knock on loss of profits.

And when saying a lighter clean on exit in terms of bedrooms - if all beds have been made up all beds would be changed in the clean down as you obviously can't be certain if they have been used or not. But the overall clean is much easier as much less 'traffic' through the house. This really makes a difference.

If they are charging per person (which is weird) then I would expect them to only make up the master suite in this instance as that is what you have paid for - so they will be making savings too.

Hi all,

Just an update to say there is no update yet. No response to my email I sent yesterday. I'll come back if/when I receive one.

There's no on-site restaurants, shops, or other facilities for those who have asked.

Thank you everyone for taking to the time to reply

The mistake they have made is charging less than the full rate if there's 2 or 1 persons, Fine to keep the booking

Like I said, they should have thought it through before. They can of course do what they like, but it's enormously unprofessional and making a habit of that sort of thing will kill the business anyway. Reputation is everything in hospitality.
Besides, it's not as if the country is short of holiday cottages.

They can do what they like but they will lose clients.

I used to look after a big airbnb which could sleep up to 12 people (only because the owner crammed shit loads of beds into it, it was 3 bedrooms). The prices on Airbnb go up the more people that book, mostly it was families or bigger groups but occasionally there would be a couple book it just for them and then the owner would message them and make them promise not to use the upstairs of the house at all! There was a bedroom and a shower room downstairs. Surprisingly people agreed to this. I’ve booked places bigger than we technically need as I generally travel with my 2 daughters who have SEN and it would not be relaxing for anyone if they had to share a room, and I’ve run into problems a few times when owners assume we will share rooms.

Sorry but it's not clear from your post that you understand how Scottish holidays work though. In your original post you describe it as half term, which it is not and you speak about an October week, whereas lots of Scottish schools get two weeks in October.

You do understand that things change, maybe the business was doing well and it wasn't an issue but the area has had issues or just gone out of fashion. Business models change and maybe they are in the process of changing the way the charge and this has just occurred at the end of the season.

Maybe getting through the off season so they can do their new charges in place depends on maximum profits in the coming weeks or maybe they just know their business better than you do so they know it won't kill the business.

I always assumed that you were paying for the unit, not the number of people staying in it. Units that sleep up to 6 people tend to cost more than units for 2 or 4, to reflect this. I think they are being cheeky - what does it matter to them whether it’s you, a single person, paying the asking price or 6 people paying the same asking price. They’re getting the money, regardless, I would have thought. All I can think of is that if there are on site facilities, such as a restaurant or shop, then 6 people will be spending more than one person, but I still think they are being unreasonable, not you.
We always book a place that sleeps up to 4 and there’s only the two of us.

If I was the business owner and charged extra for additional people, then I'd be suspicious why you would want all those extra beds, that you weren't just saying you were a party of 1, but actually moving a bunch of others in on second day. Be prepared for a surprise inspection lol