To think we should get the best room in a villa?

[hwange]

We’re going away as a family to celebrate two birthdays: my husband’s 60th and our son’s 30th. There will be five adults: me, my husband, our two sons (30 and 28) and older son’s partner.

We’ve rented a five-bedroom holiday house. The plan is:

• One room for me and my husband
• One room for our older son and his girlfriend
• One room for our younger son
• Two smaller spare rooms

Everyone is paying an equal share, and our older son’s girlfriend organised the whole booking.

All the bedrooms are nice, but one is clearly the best (great view and a fancy bed), one is also very good, and one is more basic but has a small kitchen.

What’s the fairest way to decide who gets which room?

This feels like a reverse….
Obviously the older son and girlfriend should get the best room.

Well since the girlfriend has the hassle of sorting this out making the bookings - and her boyfriend is one of the birthday boys - they should get the best room

honestly getting het up over rooms tat you shouldn’t be spending that much time in , it’s childish

Also agree that the organiser should get it, but would offer to the parents out of curtesy, the parents should then decline on the basis that the gf organised it and let them have the room.

Have a conversation about it I reckon

Ok so you’re responding to posts.

What’s your answer to all of who have asked WHY you think you should get the best room?

You are acting very entitled OP. The only way you should automatically get the best room is if you and your DH pay for the accommodation for everyone. Can you not do that as a treat?

This
Alternatively, names in a hat.

This is the British thing to do! I agree, do that

Ah, on your other thread about this there was no mention that the DIL organised the villa. That changes things - I think DIL gets first dibs. Otherwise it would be names in a hat.

Why would you think you'd get the best room? Surely you know etiquette dictates the one who does the legwork gets to choose, or do you intend to pull rank because you can tell your DSs what to do, leaving GF pissed off.
You'll be back her one day asking why you weren't involved in planning their wedding.

Absolutely this!

I’m surprised you wouldn’t immediately offer it to the person that has done all of the work.

What is your argument for you and DH getting it?

The son and the girlfriend. She organised it, and you are not paying anymore. She’s clearly organised it for her own partner’s birthday, and it just so happens to also be your husband’s birthday. But given she’s organised it, absolutely she gets the best room.

Crikey, my parents would never have expected us to pay on a trip like this nevermind imposing a single person charge on the person who doesn't have a partner

I think I would feel lucky my adult children still wanted to go on holiday with me. And be very grateful that the GF is arranging it all. And take whichever bedroom myself and my husband were assigned. And be over effusively complimentary about it.

Otherwise it could be the only time you holiday with them.

I agree with PPs that obviously the son and girlfriend get it 🤣 why do you think you should get it?

...and apropos of nothing but why are you paying for a five bed villa when you only need three?

Why, though? Why are parents entitled to 'respect'? To be clear, that's how I was brought up as well but I'm realising it's nonsense.

Who cares what room you get, you're on holiday presumably you arnt spending all day in the room, max 8 hours sleeping ??

Why do you feel you should get the best room? And why does it really matter? Go enjoy the time with your family, who cares if your room is slightly more or less fancy than the other rooms.

Why do you think you are entitled to the best room? Is there a reason you haven't shared yet? Because if it's just 'because we're the parents' you're being cheeky and entitled.

Hear hear. This couple seem to want it both ways, as well. Most big family holidays like this the parents pay for it all, or at least the lion's share. You can't pick and choose which aspects of seniority you like. You can't demand to be equal in paying and then be the 'head of household' when it comes to assigning bedrooms.

It wouldn't even occur to me to be thinking in advance about who gets which room. Assuming that each room has enough space in it - i.e. not just one single bed if it's for a couple - I'd just assume the 'least good', which, let's be honest, is still going to be very good; and then, if I ended up with the best one, after insistences that somebody else should get it, just treat it as a happy bonus.

To be honest, it all sounds a bit like little kids fussing about who is going to sit on the throne seat in McDonalds (when it's nobody's birthday); or that their sibling got one extra crisp than they did from a big shared bag!

I'm surmising that the villa was designed that way in the expectation of it being used by a younger nuclear family - so the parents get the best room (as there are two of them sharing and they're paying for everybody); and each child (who is still a juvenile or possibly very young-but-still-largely-dependent adult) gets one of the other rooms.

In the above scenario, you might then assign rooms based on e.g. little children with bulky toys needing more room to play than a teenager with just a phone and laptop; or DDs with more clothes and wanting to do their hair and makeup caring more about a larger space than DSs who just pull on a random t-shirt and jeans and are ready for the day.

I assumed you’d be footing the whole bill when I read the title.

YABU and entitled.

Organiser gets the best room.

I personally would give my parents the best room. They have raised me and these kind of trips away and gestures are a nice way of giving back. I would see it as a gift towards my Dads 60th.

The organiser should get first pick of the rooms where everyone pays equally