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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think the cottage should have warned about limited hot water?

34 replies

holidaybubble · 14/05/2026 22:46

Booked a holiday cottage for a 4 nights two families with a toddler each. I Found a lovely cottage with a bath and shower friends paid we transferred half all good. Except since being here the hot water has been awful. Both toddlers had a tiny shallow quick bath yesterday evening and then one friend had a shower hours later I went to have a shower just after and no hot water. Switched the heater on waited half an hour as instructed on the info sheet bath water came out cold after 5 minutes. There are 6 of us here including toddlers. I’ve not been able to have 1 hot bath or shower. Friends managed a hot shower as shes gone first due to going to bed earlier. The sign in the bathroom mentions rationed water due to it coming locally and not great hot water but surely if this is the case you should say on the booking website. I wouldn’t have booked otherwise. Tried to get up early and have a shower before everyone else but toddler wanted feeding and by the time I got upstairs people had already been. Tonight I put the heater on again to make sure I could have a hot bath for once left it for 4 hours and no hot water after 5 minutes bath is stone cold. I would complain but other friends booked it. They also are the only ones who have contact with the host. When it first happened I assumed it was because we had all had to many showers close together then because I didn’t leave the heater on long enough after my friends shower the 1st night I didn’t shower and with only tonight left there wasn’t much point mentioning it to the host.

OP posts:
Bristolandlazy · 15/05/2026 09:09

I think it's more than reasonable that you were warned on the booking info. If there's a bath I would expect to be able to have a hot bath.

MrsEmmelinePankhurst · 15/05/2026 09:14

Ask your friends to let you use the hot water for once! They sound selfish if they are using all the hot water, and not giving you the owner's contact details.

FruAashild · 15/05/2026 09:19

Agree with the 'reduce the flow of the water' suggestion. My Mum has ground source heating and so has limited hot water. It's a bit of a shock to the system when you're used to a combi boiler (although, to be fair she does have a decent amount but having an invasion by a family with teenagers does put a strain on it).

JustABean · 15/05/2026 09:39

Totally agree me and hubby booked somewhere in Scotland and nowhere did it say that hot water was limited, figured it out the first night I went for a shower and started to wash my hair and all of a sudden the hot ran out and ended up using freezing cold water to rinse...Rang owners and they said oh yes we forgot to say it's only a little tank and you have 10mins before it runs out that's if you haven't used it for dishes etc then you wait 2 hours for it to reheat again...That lodge was meant to sleep 8 people and it was a nightmare enough with 2 if we had our kids with us I probably would have walked out tbh...

Whysnothingsimple · 15/05/2026 09:56

Where is the Property, if it’s in the middle of nowhere, I would have assumed the utilities were perhaps not what I was used to. If I was having issues I would have discussed it with friends to take turns showering and asked the owner about tips. The property probably can’t sustain more than having a shallow bath. And certainly not full water pressure.

holidaybubble · 15/05/2026 16:34

Friends weren’t deliberately being selfish 1st night I didn’t have a shower or bath 2nd night water was cold but figured it was my fault for not waiting long enough. 3rd night i wanted to wash In the evening and it was cold after a bit my friend had washed in the morning that day. Friend’s husband also had a bit of a cold shower towards the end on the last night too wasn’t just me having issues. @Whysnothingsimpleif only being able to have a shallow bath possible or 2 minute showers for each of us every night I just wish it had been communicated better.
there where also isssues of no working WiFi which they did try fix but couldn’t and no working tv but we managed with downloading stuff onto I pad when out so toddlers could watch tv while we made breakfast. Also couldnt use the baby monitor either which caused some issues too but I’m going to Chalk it up to experience and next time will mention any issues straight away to owner and not hope and try to fix them ourselves or hope they get better. We are home now and looking forward to a warm bath/ shower tonight x

OP posts:
Nearly50omg · 15/05/2026 16:45

The friends are clearly using all the hot water up!!!!

Purplecatshopaholic · 15/05/2026 17:27

Ooft, that would really spoil things for me too. I absolutely would expect hot water for baths/showers and wouldn’t book somewhere where this was going to be a challenge. I’d be complaining to the owner big time, they need to be clearer in their info.

holidaybubble · 15/05/2026 19:49

@Nearly50omgthey weren’t it was mainly the babies we would run them a shallow bath to share and then after that there would be only enough for a few mins shower if that

OP posts:
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