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

It’s quite a common thing on air b&b not to allow stag or hen parties- I came across it more than once when looking for somewhere last year, very much in the depths of Norfolk. Sounds like she risked it and lost out but she can’t be expected to stump up all that money, even if it was entirely her fault. Center parcs don’t allow stag/hen parties either and If you’re found out they chuck you out.

Yeah but it’s not unusual for places to have rules about the groups they’ll allow.

We went away as a group of friends (4 couples, 4 young children) and stayed in a house. It was clear when booking that no hen or stag parties were allowed.

If I was OP, I’d have checked the place before sending any money for it. But I do think this is mainly the MoH’s fault.

@Hennightmare actually, I think the owner could be partly responsible here.
I'm assuming this was Airbnb or similar? If the owner has issues with particular types of groups, they should be 'vetting' prospective bookings before confirming i.e. checking out who is in the party first.
If they did this and the MOH wasn't truthful, that is down to her. However, if they didn't imo she/you should be pursuing the owner or booking agency for at least a partial refund. Due diligence works both ways.
And owner would need to prove that these Ts and Cs were in place at the time of booking.

It's a very common rule that the owner is entitled to have. If it was marked on the website before the hen weekend then it's clearly the MoH's fault.
I don't think OP has any responsibility here. The weekend was being organised by someone else and she wasn't involved in choosing it. It's often like that with group holidays - you have to trust the organiser.

I do understand that the MoH probably can't reimburse everyone though and I'm guessing insurance wouldn't cover it as it was her fault. I still think OP is entitled to ask for her money back.

"f the owner has issues with particular types of groups, they should be 'vetting' prospective bookings before confirming i.e. checking out who is in the party first."

Not if they really did make it clear on the website at the time of booking. And how could they check anyway? Something like that's usually just booked in one name.

If you put the accommodations website ts&cs page into the wayback machine you should hopefully be able to find if the conditions have changed since booking

I’m not sure I really agree.

If a place had a no dogs rule, and you showed up with a dog and were turned away, it wouldn’t be the owner’s fault for not messaging you to say “just checking you’re not bringing a dog”.
Ditto no children, no smoking etc. Why must everyone have it spoonfed to them. Just read the rules and don’t book if you don’t want to follow them!

(This is assuming the rules were stated like they are now at the time of booking, obviously).

Yep, absolutely cringed when I read that

The answer lies in whether the t&c’s specified no hen do’s when the booking was made, or whether they were updated afterwards.

That might be hard for you to prove, moh will have to check the confirmation details

She took a chance with other people's money, without giving them the information to agree to it. She owes you your money back.

All well and good to want a refund, and big mistake by MOH but I expect she’d be unlikely to be able to afford to refund you even if she wanted to.

What does the bride think? Ooft...Pretty shit kick off for her/ their celebrations...

Have the venue honestly kept the £3000 yet not provided a service? They just be buzzing!! Money for nothing.

@Hennightmare did the MoH pay by CC or debit card, if so, she can arrange with her cc or bank for a charge back for service not provided. The lodge can then argue their case with the CC or bank.

This.

so email owner, copying in lead booker. What you said here’s re inconsistency on approach.

But yes, she’s messed up. For whatever reason? I doubt intentionally.

did you know where you were going? Was the information available for all?

I recently booked an Airbnb and got an automated message immediately stating that the property is not suitable for children and if I had any children in my group I should cancel and my money would be refunded.

big house for a family get together (no kids).

it’s really really common to have a no stags/hens rule and MoH should have messages/emails with details.

it’s likely she chanced it and hoped they would not notice.

Oh, that's a pain and you've lost a lot of money. It's tricky, because it does sound as if the MOH chanced it, but you can't be sure, the website could have been recently updated with the T&C's.

I'm guessing that she knew what the policy was, but hoped that it would just be a key safe or something. Did she look surprised/shocked when the owner was there to mèet you?

Did you all arrive at the same time, then? Otherwise, I suppose she could just have lied and remarked expressly that Mum & Dad and Grandma & Grandad's train should be arriving in an hour's time.

Incidentally, I wonder what happens with the 'no single-sex groups' rules if it is all one extended family, but they happen to all be the same sex? What would they do if it had been 9 adult women and one of you had a baby DS, so technically a mixed-sex group... or if a gay male friend had been invited along to join in with the exact same 'spirited' hen celebrations?!

Check when the note was added to website.

but I don’t think you can’t ask her to repay you. As much as she booked it, surely you all should have checked the accommodation? I wouldn’t pay £300 for somewhere without having a look at it.

I was going to say the same @Hennightmare
I can change my website within seconds to reflect whatever I want to communicate. Maybe the owner changed it short notice.

Was it booked through AirBnB or on a credit card?

When we were looking for a house on Airbnb for an extended U.K. family holiday last year, just about every place we looked at had a no stag / hen condition. I would say it’s pretty hard to find a property that’s okay with that so I’m sure the MOH had a tough job to try and find somewhere. It sounds like the MOH took a chance that no one would be there to see you arrive and that if you behaved decently “no one would ever know” unfortunately
she’s dropped you all right in it.

Seeing as how the owner literally said it had been booked by a single sex group 2 weeks previously, I don’t think it’s the MoH fault.
I’d do small claims or something. Really unfair not to let you u se it. They could have taken a refundable deposit if they were worried.

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.

When did MOH make the booking - was it before or after this "incident"? Was the "No Hens" rule made clear at the time, either on the website or when confirming the booking? I'm going to assume not. Did you just turn up to find you were banned, or were you told beforehand? And did the same-sex group "incident" involve women or men?

Depending on the answers to the above, I'd be looking at writing a properly shit review.

How long ago did MOH book it? Longer than the two weeks when owner had this hen/stag go wrong?

Cross post with @Gonners - sorry.