To expect MoH to refund hen accommodation after we were refused access?

[Hennightmare]

I attended a hen party at the weekend - Friday to Sunday, staying close to a seaside resort in a private accommodation. I paid my share in advance - nearly £300.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the owner who refused entry on the basis that hen parties (and same sex groups/stags) are not allowed and this is stated in the booking terms and conditions and elsewhere on the website. Despite reasoning, the owner was not backing down, and said there’d been an incident with a same sex group two weekends ago which required costly repairs.

MoH said she was aware of other hens who had stayed and this is how she found the place on instagram. She was told no refund would be given as there wouldn’t be time to let it again for the weekend.

We managed to find budget hotel rooms in the area but this scuppered the plans which were in place for the house - games etc.

I have looked myself and it is prominent on the website about the rules around hen parties etc. It is clear there has been inconsistent approaches in the past though.

Should the MoH cover us for her mistake? I am out of pocket after the hotel booking.

YABU - suck it up, it happened
YANBU - her mistake, she should offer to cover it

Tough one.

Personally id take responsibility but that because the first thing I’d have done before handing over May money would be to check the accommodation out online myself.

So I’d have not paid knowing it doesn’t accept hens.

Did the owner not query a booking for a large-ish group at the time?

Apparently not, which I did find strange. I think MoH chanced it.

Was it not just a group the size of the house, i.e. it was a house that slept 15 and it was booked for 15? Or was it a hotel?

It was a house, there was 10 of us who went.

So if the MOH refunds everyone how much would she be paying out?

I’d always check out the website before handing over any money, did you do that?

Did the website definitely say it when you booked? The only could have updated it in the last 2 weeks

I can’t imagine that she could possibly afford to reimburse you all. I understand why you’re annoyed though.

hmm, i'd be looking at consumer rights and be trashing the venue all over reviews, does it clearly say it on Ts&Cs

I'd be livid at venue, thats a crap rule

How is the MOH going to find £3k to refund you all? That's an enormous amount of money. If hens used the house previously it seems a bit odd of the owner to not allow it now. Surely they will lose a lot of business.

Yeah it is clear. I’d understand the rule if it was somewhere renowned for trashy groups, Blackpool or one of the popular Northern cities, but this was almost in the countryside!

I'm confused - if it was a house/lodge/chalet, then surely it would only be large groups that booked? I really think this is MoH fault, whether you are kind and forego the money or not is up to you.

The owner said it’s usually booked up by families/extended families which is fine.

how bloody embarrassing. What a useless MOH
o

YABU to expect MoH to fork out £3k to compensate you all.
YANBU to expect a refund from the owner though, and for the MoH to pursue that.

Ah but did it say clearly when it was booked? No guarantee that the t&c wernt changed

Were the rules definitely there when it was booked or were they added AFTER the last hen party caused issues?

Totally common and well within the owner’s rights to refuse access (from a lawyer). I certainly wouldn’t embarrass myself by trying to publish a crap review “I was too stupid to read the T&C”.

I’d expect the venue to refund the MoH as they’ve taken the money and not provided a service.

They’ve chosen not to honour the booking and if they’ve been inconsistent in the past about allowing other same sex group bookings then they’d probably lose if they were taken to court.

I know it's a pain for you, but I think it would be really awful to ask the MOH to pay for everyone. Maybe it was foolish of her, but it's not easy to organise a hen weekend and find accommodation etc, and it will cost her an absolute fortune to pay for everyone. And she must already feel terrible about ruining the hen weekend.

If it said no hen parties when the MoH booked then it’s in her, but I doubt she has 3k spare and it would be hard to show.

did she get an email or similar with t and c?

50:50 OP.

Stags and hens were against the owner's terms, which was known beforehand.

On the flipside, the MoH finding the house via Instagram is a massive YABU on her part. Instagram is for inflating one's ago, filtered and AI-edited photos, the best case scenarios, pretty much what the viewer wants to see. This is unrealistic. Review sites like Trip Advisor and Google Reviews, while not perfect (fake reviews), is still better for all round research.

given the inconsistencies in the past, and then the incident that happened two weeks ago, it is likely the website has now been updated to make it clear and avoid any confusion. So I wouldn’t just assume it was like that when MoH booked. Tbh I wouldn’t expect any money from MoH, it’s a shitty situation and I’m sure she feels rubbish about it as it is.

I'm surprised people are so outraged at the rule, which is fairly common. It even used to be the case at Center Parcs, not sure if it still is now.

YABU for referring to 'the popular Northern cities' as 'trashy'.