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?

The irony.

More fool you. If your employer expects you to give up your free time for a work trip, they should pay for you to stay in your own room.

That is so inappropriate, I’d refuse to go unless I had my own room. I’d only feel 100% comfortable sharing with my mum, partner or best friend of 25 years. Brother and SIL at a push (we are close and lived together for years). There’s no way on earth I’d share with a colleague or stranger.

This is an absolute no. Absolutely not, no way, should you be expected to share a room with anyone let alone a stranger. You are 100% right to say no.

What about if one of you like to sleep with a light on and the other doesnt.

One of you has to have sound, the other in complete silence...

One who likes the room hot or the room cold

One who snores loudly or has a sleep app machine or sleeps naked.

How is this allowed. Crazyness!!!

You can only ask. Shared rooms are pretty standard practice

Of course it's not unreasonable.

Work is taking the piss. Unless you actually volunteer to share a room with a colleague because you know them really well and get on with them, it's just not acceptable to expect you to share a room with colleagues.

No way. I’m a snorer and need to wee numerous times at night.

My DH finds it stressful at times. I would feel bad for some innocent, unsuspecting person sharing a room with me. Would be so uncomfortable.

I was a medical rep in my younger days for a very well known company and we used to have full marketing conferences twice a year in swanky hotels. One year, they flew us all out to Madrid but obviously clawed back some costs by making us share our rooms with colleagues.

When I arrived, my colleague whom I’d never actually met in person before, had already flown in hours earlier and was laying in the bed (a kingsize that we had to share) smoking. She was a chain smoker, I didn’t smoke, and I never stood up for myself.

We were there for 2 nights and I hated it. It was excruciatingly uncomfortable and no one seemed to question it! This was in the early 2000’s .

This was years ago, and not attending was non negotiable.

Last time I was told to attend something that involved an evening do with a shared room I kicked back and said I wasn't going. Miraculously, a room was found.

Quite.

@Notmollybutdolly OP, do not make an excuse about snoring or flatulence. Simply tell them it’s unprofessional, unacceptable and a huge invasion of privacy, and you’re not going to do it.

Absolutely 100% agree OP. I would not want to share a room with anyone other than my husband. A bedroom is a very personal space. My son had to do a business trip to Germany and was forced to share with a colleague, swore never again! Haven't read all the posts but stick to your guns.

Ugg no. Even as the lowliest of grad trainees I was never expected to share a room. It’s just totally inappropriate. People need some privacy and down time. Last few trips away I’ve had some really early nights and spent time calling family. You just can’t expect that of employees at all. I can sort of see smaller companies trying it on but there is no excuse for a global corporate.

Yep, I know a group of lads that this was the norm - hotel budget £100 each or share a room and split the difference. That's fine if you both agree and are getting a little bonus out of it.

We have a father and son on our team, when we all go out, we all get separate rooms.

I’m going on holiday with DP shortly and am dreading sharing a room with him, let alone a stranger. 20 years of my snoring puts me on edge about waking him up. I would feel even worse for a stranger.

I bet they wouldn’t expect an all male training course to share rooms.

If you need an explanation that's not fart-based 😂 I have previously had to explain to HR that I have severe sleep disturbance that can lead me to scream, wander round the room, try to wake up other people and involve them in my nonsense, etc. I generally sleep through all of this, but the poor soul in the room with me generally doesn't. Feel free to borrow my condition if it helps!

It happens at my work now, a large global corporation. Unless of course you are senior management then you get your own room.

Same at my work.

You should not need an excuse. It's totally out of order for them to expect this.

My previous company would pay for twin rooms, and I said that I would prefer not to go as I would only be ok with a single room due to anxiety (since been diagnosed with ADHD and ASC, which explains my increased anxiety a bit). My line manager passed it up, and I was given a single room. Definitely worth asking. They just didn't want to pay for everyone to have one.

there is no employment law on this
The company is paying for it so it is their policy that dictates who gets what.
Just the same as policy may fund "senior" staff to go first class and less senior go coach class.

Refusing to share is a stance you can of course take. They can refuse to accommodate your request and you can refuse to go as a consequence of that reaction. Might "damage" your future prospects, night not. Impossible to say from here.

I once had to share with same sex colleagues but we made sure our manager never did that to us again.

Every year I go to a trade show abroad for work with a large group of colleagues and we are all expected to share a room with another colleague for FIVE NIGHTS. When I first started at the company a few years ago and was told this I was in shock, but everyone else just accepts it so I’ve just fallen in line too as I don’t feel senior enough to question it. But I hate it. One year I even had to share a room with two other colleagues as we got a family suite with two single beds and a double. There was still only one bathroom between the three of us though. It’s so awkward and you feel like you have no downtime whatsoever.

Absolutely not. I share with my best friend for one night when we do the Christmas markets or similar, and this is more than enough. Work colleagues are essentially an unknown quantity outside of a work setting, strangers really in most cases, so no to sharing.

You think it’s reasonable to share a
roim with a stranger?
Not a chance in hell would I agree to this and anyone who would be ok with it is in the minority