to ask for my own hotel room on business trip?

[Notmollybutdolly]

Hi. Work for a huge corporate company with a conference taking place in a few weeks.
travel will be the day before, by train, and staying over for training the following day travelling back that night.
work expects us to share a room with someone, and 90% sure it’ll be someone I’ve never met before. Even if it was a colleague, I still would refuse.
AIBU to have emailed them to request them to book me a separate room?
I didn’t give an excuse, only because I feel like I don’t need an excuse for my own room?

This, sleepwalking, late night film watching etc.

Whisper safeguarding, duty of care, privacy etc. I’m sure you’re not the only one to have concerns.

Not unreasonable to ask but companies have different policies. My company I worked for gave the staff a choice, continue with only middle and senior management go for an annual conference or everyone goes but hotel is cheaper, limited inclusive drinks and non management share - everyone agreed to share for the freebie. Years later I suspect staff could think “why are we sharing?” But reality is otherwise not as many staff will be taken

I have shared a room with a colleague once, but she was also my best mate who'd snuck in a sneaky trip to visit me while I was nearish (we live opposite ends of the country) so it wasn't official and it was back in the day when we couldn't afford an extra room for her.

I also work with my husband and don't even share a room with him we have separate rooms at home so I expect the same when we're away for work. If I won't share with him, there's no way I'd share with a random person.

I travel frequently with a family member of a similar age, so we’ve pretty much grown up together. As well as we get on we never, ever share a room. We’ve paid single supplements, sometimes extortionate, all around the world to ensure we can each have our own space.

Absolutely NBU.

I would refuse. If pressed I'd probably say something along the lines of "I'm a terrible room mate and don't want to upset a colleague". But think the classic "I would, but I don't want to." is just as appropriate.

If it's not compulsory and the annual conference is a jolly, I can see why that might appeal to some. I'd refuse and be glad of the ability to duck out nowadays but would probably have agreed in my 20s. Suspect the fact the whole thing is a jolly makes the room sharing much more of a risk from an HR perspective, though.

I worked for the NHS before I retired and was once asked by my boss (HR Director) if I’d share with a colleague on a work trip. I asked him if he was sharing with the Director of Finance. He laughed and then realised I was serious. I didn’t share.

“Expecting”…forward the email to HR and watch out the answer!

Seriously :/

When did society get this immature. I bet the concept of hostels must blow some people's minds.

Hostels - good for getting your head down cheaply when you're on holiday
Work trips - own room needed for privacy and to properly unwind.

Even if I stayed on after a work trip to go travelling with colleague and was happy to stay in a hostel, I absolutely would not want to share a room with that person during the work trip. They are very different situations.

How silly

A hostel is a choice I’ve done with partners and friends on my own terms not as part of my working life

as if anyone would accept to stay with Angela from accounts for work getting un paid for it and having to work with her the next day after her waking me up having a wee at 5am

The largest conference companies make juniors share, or did within the last 20 years. Your experience isn't as broad as you think.
I was expected to share when pregnant!

Why not? It’s a wholly inappropriate demand to make.

Citing a medical excuse, for example, implies that were it not for that reason you'd be quite unbothered by the idea.
I bet companies write off bloody enormous sums for training initiatives, receive big hotel discounts…and would never ask two guest speakers to share!
This presumption that privacy or seclusion is something only weirdos need or prefer seems to me to be a very juvenile, and certainly offensive attitude.

Bad enough having to spend 24 hours a day away from home for work, but at least your room should be your own space.
As a pp said, unless you’d be receiving a generous overtime supplement to your salary for the hours beyond those conditioned in your contract, they’ve no right to expect you to extend yourself in such a way.

100% not unreasonable.

Whilst there is no legal requirement to provide single rooms, its extremely poor practice to require colleagues to share a room e.g for privacy. Also generally it doesn't cost much more to provide individual rooms. Just tell them you cant share with someone who is not a member of your family.

I believe its actually illegal as an employer to enforce this as its an infringement on your personal rights

Out of 7 companies DH and I have worked for, only one sometimes makes DH share a room. And that's when he's on an oil rig. If he's on the mainland, he gets his own room.

Totally reasonable to say you aren't sharing, unless you are goingvto spring the dip feed on us that you are going sonewhere with incredibly difficult transportation, and very limited space!

Just say I have a condition which would make it extremely unpleasant for anyone to share a room with me

Absolutely not unreasonable. You need downtime and privacy and you won't get that, sharing a room with someone who's just a colleague.

Absolutely no way would I share a room with a colleague and I wouldn’t be worrying about coming up with a reasonable excuse either. It is not acceptable. I recently stayed in a hotel with my adult daughter and our twin beds were so close together and touching, they looked like a double bed. I would not want that experience with a colleague

Are you? I have been away with work several times and we were always expected to share rooms.

I worked for a company where the expense budget didn't stretch to sending the whole team to overseas meetings. Teams from the other countries would take turns who got to attend but the UK manager had the bright idea for colleagues to share. Apparently it was all fine until one meeting where the allocated hotel had glass walls and door in the bathroom. So colleagues had zero privacy for showering, changing and using the toilet unless the other one went out into the corridor. There were lots of complaints. Thankfully I worked for the regional team and had my own room...

I've worked for a company that asked us to share rooms on business trips, but didn't force it. Some of my colleagues were happy to do it, but I made it clear that I wasn't and they never tried to persuade me otherwise - but I was lucky enough to be quite senior in my department, which may have helped. Once there was a cock-up and they had no room for me, but some of my colleagues were in rooms with a spare bed. Again I made it very clear that I was not going to accept that and would be quite happy to get the next train home instead, but fortunately the hotel managed to produce a room eventually.

One of my coworkers used to say this about sharing rooms with other male coworkers: "I work with the man, I don't sleep with him! " Usually got them off his back.

No way would I agree to sharing a room.
You are adults away on company business not school children on a field trip.