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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have made my partner switch hotels in London?

902 replies

LondonWoes · 09/10/2025 15:48

My partner surprised me with a long weekend in London, for my birthday. He got us theatre tickets and told me he had sorted the hotel out.

We got on the train today and he started bragging it was £30 a night. That immediately set alarm bells ringing. We arrive and it’s a dump. It’s not even a hotel, but someone’s house with a load of converted rooms. There’s no reception, just a living room, and every door has the same key. That same key also opened the front door. We had been put in a downstairs room, with no window. It was boiling hot.

I told him I wasn’t staying in that hotel. It didn’t feel safe and the vibes were off. He has begrudgingly moved but made me pay, so now im £500 down for my birthday weekend. Was I being unreasonable?

OP posts:
DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 11/10/2025 00:59

I think in a very round about way... He gave you the best present he was capable of ,,,, the complete and utter ICK and desire to have nothing more to do with him, sparing you any more investment of your precious time.

Turning up with his sister to stop you seeing Hamilton was the most spiteful ever tit for tat thing to do... so spiteful from both of them and cruelly vile. So you've had not only a lucky escape from him , but a lucky escape from becoming enmeshed with a spiteful tit for tat family.

His behaviour was poor to start with but a decent guy would have apologised and done his best to make the weekend work - with people who do that it really doesn't matter if you are both skint you can still have fun and enjoy yourself. Instead he threw a massive sulk because his cheapskating didn't have you falling at his feet.

Luckily, his pathetic antics don't matter as you are able to rise above it, get your own damn tickets and see the show in better seats and enjoy your time in London. They do say that the best revenge is a good life and I do think that is true.

Have a great time OP, well done on having the wit and independence to seize the day and not let this idiot hold you back any further.

Lmox · 11/10/2025 01:12

Loved this thread. Yes OP! Glad you are one loser lighter.

BippidyBoppety · 11/10/2025 01:21

XelaM · 11/10/2025 00:08

But his present to her was totally rubbished by the OP who had no end of complaints and ended up dumping him and switching rooms. Why should he still give her a thoughtful present? Maybe she should have waited until after the show to dump him 🤷‍♀️

OP didn't rubbish the Hamilton tickets, she rubbished the flop-house London accommodation at £30 per night, and the "nice" meal which was a take-away. Her now ExPartner of 18 months (!) threw a sulk. They moved to a better hotel - at her expense - and he still behaved like an arse.

I don't understand why you'd think it OK that someone you'd been with for 18 months would behave like this.

Lifesd · 11/10/2025 01:21

What an absolute bastard you are well rid OP.

Londonismyjam · 11/10/2025 01:38

XelaM · 10/10/2025 23:13

Well done to him for standing up to OP's OTT drama and taking his sister! Why would he let the OP use the tickets when she was so horrible to him all weekend?

You don't look a gifted horse in the mouth and all that...

I think you’re the sister…

MissFancyDay · 11/10/2025 01:55

Well done Op!! Enjoy the theatre x

OriginalUsername2 · 11/10/2025 02:19

Good for you OP. No point sitting around trying to be a grateful birthday girl after all that! You assessed the situation smartly and found solutions to put yourself in a better place pretty much straight away.

This is also an example of why it’s important for people to have access to some fuck it money. Even if it’s just enough to get you home from wherever you are if the vibe is off.

Hakunatomato · 11/10/2025 02:21

LondonWoes · 10/10/2025 20:38

Pretty much! I’ve secured a ticket tomorrow and we’re absolutely over, there’s no way back

So did you get to the seat and he was already sitting in the seats?

Todayismyfavouriteday · 11/10/2025 02:23

Good on you for leaving him! What a disgusting, tight, cheap arse. Just imagine the kind of life the next woman he picks up is going to have. Only a woman with very poor self-esteem would stay after this weekend. Good riddance!!

TootSweeties · 11/10/2025 02:36

Either his DSis is on this thread or some of you have seriously low standards. A shithole and a burger and a piss poor attitude. How the fuck is that effort?

Enjoy Hamilton OP!

CoachNot · 11/10/2025 03:30

I hope he's gone back to the £30 a night hotel

wordler · 11/10/2025 04:35

All of you defending the DP - what are you on???

At the most he could have turned up to the theatre with flowers, chocolate and a huge apology and shared the show with her, then taken her out for a late night drink.

At the least he could have turned one seat in to get his money back.

He tried to make the OP's birthday weekend a disaster.

FairKoala · 11/10/2025 04:45

Personally I would have dumped him when he said the Airbnb was £30 per night. Even before you got there.

Anyone who would think that you were going to come out of a weekend at a £30 per night place in London without flea bites, bed bugs, injury or theft is too stupid, too tight or just doesn’t think you are worth spending money on

This isn’t about being spoiled or being a brat. It is about having some standards of cleanliness and personal safety

WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing · 11/10/2025 05:28

RoseAlone · 10/10/2025 23:19

The guy is a genius! This was nothing more than you deserved for acting like a spoiled, entitled, ungrateful princess.

He can do so much better. I'm glad for his sake that you've shown your true colours this early on. Good luck to the next person that takes you on.

Hope his next victim enjoys getting the sticky, infested red carpet rolled out for her birthday….

Heres hoping his expensive lads ski trip is without incident and doesn’t result in a painful, leg breaking fall…

FFS

JenXWarrior · 11/10/2025 06:09

WilfredsPies · 09/10/2025 20:30

OP has nothing to feel bad for. As PP have said, it was BF decision to book a birthday weekend for her and in that case he should have done it properly not let someone down by booking dirt cheap rooms with security so poor she’s left out of pocket by several hundred because she now has to book last minute nearby rooms Perhaps he didn’t have the money to do it ‘properly’? Perhaps he thought that it’s just somewhere to dump their bags and not somewhere they’d be spending much time? Perhaps he thought it would be something like this https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/safestay-holland-park.en-gb.html?aid=2419775&label=metagha-link-LUGB-hotel-1338453_dev-desktop_los-1_bw-17_dow-Sunday_defdate-1_room-0_gstadt-2_rateid-public_aud-0_gacid-21415137781_mcid-50_bc-ABRsVQ_ppa-1_clrid-0_ad-1_gstkid-0_checkin-20251026_ppt-B_lp-2826_r-16437991860520500073&sid=84b16299d7e33a3df3d1504f7f62408d&all_sr_blocks=133845326_88610428_0_2_0%2C133845326_88610428_0_2_0&checkin=2025-10-26&checkout=2025-10-27&dest_id=1338453&dest_type=hotel&dist=0&group_adults=2&group_children=0&hapos=1&highlighted_blocks=133845326_88610428_0_2_0%2C133845326_88610428_0_2_0&hpos=1&matching_block_id=133845326_88610428_0_2_0&no_rooms=2&req_adults=2&req_children=0&room1=A&room2=A&sb_price_type=total&sr_order=popularity&sr_pri_blocks=133845326_88610428_0_2_0__1490%2C133845326_88610428_0_2_0__1490&srepoch=1760037021&srpvid=26dd86bde70701d9&type=total&ucfs=1&
which looks cheap and cheerful and that she’d up for a bit of an adventure like lots of people in their twenties would be. Did he have any idea of her expectations? Did he realise that he wasn’t doing it properly?

The other issue is BF response which was to get sulky and let it be known he wasn’t paying for replacement rooms. A mature person (he’s late 20s so old enough to know better), would have apologised and put his hands up that it wasn’t quite the bargain he’d hoped and if he really is skint let her know that and offer to go halves on replacement rooms If he’s skint then he probably didn’t have £250 to go halves with her. And I’d imagine that having just spent £200 odd on her, he was probably feeling pretty hurt and embarrassed to be told that it was nowhere near good enough and then have to admit that he didn’t have the money to fix it.

It’s him that has caused that mistake to sour the entire birthday weekend and it’s why so many PP are telling OP to bin him. The final straw is that ‘suddenly’ the reservation isn’t what he thought, whatever that means and he’s ‘treating’ her to a birthday dinner in London of a takeaway in her hotel room. And you’re feeling sorry for the BF?! Yes, I’m feeling sorry for him because it sounds like he has really tried to do something nice for her, however misguided, and he may as well have just set fire to £200. She could have made the best of it and they could have had a fun weekend if she wasn’t so intent on showing him that she was worth more. As it is, it’s a complete disaster and if they’re still together by the time they leave to go home, it will be a miracle. If they’re are, there’s no guarantee that she’ll be the one doing the dumping.

I'd kick her ungrateful, sorry arse to the kerb for this.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 11/10/2025 06:23

RoseAlone · 10/10/2025 23:19

The guy is a genius! This was nothing more than you deserved for acting like a spoiled, entitled, ungrateful princess.

He can do so much better. I'm glad for his sake that you've shown your true colours this early on. Good luck to the next person that takes you on.

OPs EX BF mum/sister, no need to get so upset, at least you will have your little boy under your roof for another few years.

secretfancydress · 11/10/2025 06:29

This sounds too dramatic to be true. If London is a weekend away how did he rope in his sister to be there for starters.

handsdownthebest · 11/10/2025 07:16

wordler · 11/10/2025 04:35

All of you defending the DP - what are you on???

At the most he could have turned up to the theatre with flowers, chocolate and a huge apology and shared the show with her, then taken her out for a late night drink.

At the least he could have turned one seat in to get his money back.

He tried to make the OP's birthday weekend a disaster.

They’re all big fat blokes that can’t get a shag out there, disguised on here as women, because nobody in their right mind would think that what he did is ok.

Pinkfreedom · 11/10/2025 07:45

RoseAlone · 10/10/2025 23:19

The guy is a genius! This was nothing more than you deserved for acting like a spoiled, entitled, ungrateful princess.

He can do so much better. I'm glad for his sake that you've shown your true colours this early on. Good luck to the next person that takes you on.

Wow your standards are low.

HappyMummaOfOne · 11/10/2025 08:18

I’ve just read through all of your posts and I can honestly say you are my new favourite person! 👏 well done for leaving him in the room and getting another, cancelling the remaining days for his room, for taking yourself out and enjoying London and yay to securing a ticket to watch the show today!
you are 100% right that you are worth more than he was offering and I hope you have a wonderful time at the show today.

CheapMustard · 11/10/2025 08:18

I love this! Well done for knowing your worth and sticking with it. Not a chance in hell would I have stayed in £30/ night manky basement room with no window eating a takeaway burger… hell no!

Faithless12 · 11/10/2025 08:33

XelaM · 11/10/2025 00:49

Side note, but you can definitely ski in Aviemore for £500 including train, b&b and ski pass ⛷️

We spent about that each for a weekend with flights and ski hire earlier this year. It’s doable.

DramaLlamacchiato · 11/10/2025 08:37

JenXWarrior · 11/10/2025 06:09

I'd kick her ungrateful, sorry arse to the kerb for this.

Well OP has got in and done it first to this tight fisted, sulky manchild and good on her too.

TootSweeties · 11/10/2025 08:50

wordler · 11/10/2025 04:35

All of you defending the DP - what are you on???

At the most he could have turned up to the theatre with flowers, chocolate and a huge apology and shared the show with her, then taken her out for a late night drink.

At the least he could have turned one seat in to get his money back.

He tried to make the OP's birthday weekend a disaster.

Then was chuffed to bits by the sounds of it. Well rid!

TootSweeties · 11/10/2025 09:03

My mind is honestly blown. Some of these comments! “The guy is a genius!” No, he’s a first grade twat.

If “spoiled, entitled, ungrateful” is what OP is for a) looking after herself b) having respect for herself and c) knowing she deserves better than this cheap, mean sod then so be it.

Was just thinking about my daughter and how I’d hope she would handle this and I think OP is lighting the way. I’m sad to say I’d have accepted this at her age. But no way in hell would I expect today’s young women to.

So many of us have been programmed to be grateful for what we’ve got. To stuff our feelings down and accept poor behaviour. Christ I did for 20 years but have finally learned it’s okay to love myself.

Let’s not set the bar so low.

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