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

I agree. I think it's worth writing to the owner to say he changed his terms without notice, citing the previous troublesome party he mentioned.

If MOH can find the confirmation email and the T&C don't mention it, all the better. Point it out to him!

If/when he digs his heels in, send him a letter before action and make a Small Claims application.

The T&C email DOES mention it and says if you're a hen party, you're required to let them know. The MoH ignored that. After that, the owner gave plenty of notice of banning all hen parties and gave the option of a complete refund. The organiser decided to ignore that as well and chance it anyway. There is zero chance of a claim succeeding.

Oh, heck, really? I missed that.

If she deliberately ignored it, she does morally owe the hens. Unless she's likely to have three grand floating around, though, she probably can't.

How annoying!

Oh, there's a chance, then? Good luck!

This might prove a case for a Small Claim after all ...

Would that be better as one claim for all of them (300 or however much x 8 or 10 or whatever it is) or are they better doing it individually?

I’m strangely invested now.

The owner was being unreasonable since the house was booked and he/she must have realised it was a group of women and should have refused the booking if it was not what they wanted - you should all get your money back.

@Grammarnut The owner would not necessarily have realised the booking was for a group of women at all.
That’s why the owner has to state in their property details and t&c that they don’t accept hen and stag parties.
The only information I get from my booking agency for my holiday property on receiving the booking, is how many adults, how many children and how many infants are in the party. The booking info does not state whether the guests are male or female or why they are booking the property.
In this case, the owner made it very clear that hen and stag parties would not be accepted and offered a clear time frame for a refund which the MOH, on entering the contract with the owner deliberately ignored, twice.
The owner was not the unreasonable one in this story,

Yes I agree with this. Jointly pursue the owners for the money, you don’t need to make her feel more crap than she already does.

I agree the owner isn't obligated to give a full refund. However, they should refund the cleaning fee since no one had to clean (normally there is a cleaning fee included in the total cost).

OP you haven't said how much you paid for the other accommodation?
How much was it and did you pay ?

I still think it’s pretty poor ( and slightly suspicious) that everyone left all the organising to one person and gave their £300 each without question.

Yes she did cock up but I think the entire hen party has some responsibility here. I would never assume some friend of the bride was better than me at booking a weekend break. I would have definitely had some input as I know all my friends would also do.

It was MoH mistake but I don't think you can expect her to find £3000 to reimburse you since none of the other 9 in the hen party bothered to check the arrangements she had made.. I find it hard to believe you all handed over the money without checking the accommodation website first. Surely you wanted to know where you would be staying and the facilities, parking etc.

So yes, her mistake, and presumably T&C's didn't allow for last minute cancellations so no refund due from owner but I don't think it's reasonable for her to shoulder all the blame on her own..

Bit shitty of the bride to say she doesn’t want this to go any further so it doesn’t “overshadow her wedding” when she isn’t a penny out of pocket!

Should have pretended to be sisters and cousins. A family group.

Exactly! I’d be mortified if I was her, and thinking about how I could make up at least some of the difference. I’d also view my MOH in quite a different light.

I promise you it really isn’t.
My mum rented her air bnb and she clearly stated no parties.
Well, they had a sex party and there was baby oil hand prints all over the walls, all soaked into the bed sheets and mattresses, broken furniture. The damage went into thousands. Air bnb refused to refund, but then it happened again and they eventually paid her compensation.

And it was a very posh area.

I used to holiday let properties for a living and we would refuse entry to a hen party if it was clear that they weren’t accepted.

Yes, what a selfish person! You can all be £300 down through trying to support her, and she washes her hands of it!

Yes, well done this woman who has called it out. Back her up - politely, but firmly. The MoH should be stepping up here, imo. She fucked up, end of, and should be proactively sorting it - quietly and not making a fuss. Some people seem to have a totally brass neck. Agree the Bride should be kept out of it, and should stay out of it, it’s all very well not wanting anything ‘over shadowing her wedding’ when she didn’t pay for anything…

Oh that would piss me the fuck off.
id be asking me my money and everyone else’s back.
she was so reckless and disrespectful to gamble with other peoples money.
id be fighting for it back and so should the others.
i feel sorry for the bride, how embarrassing.

Are you sure it was on the website prior to two weeks ago when apparently a similar group caused a lot of damage

Seems a bit weird that there was a group there two weeks ago but now your not allowed

almost all properties will list this rule, and almost all hen parties chance it. You got really unlucky. It sucks but you really can’t expect her to pay you all back much better everyone be a bit out of pocket than one person not be able to pay their bills!

I remember the hen party phase of my life - like buses, they all turn up at once (or very quick succession)

There is no way I could've afforded to lose £300. I was one of the poorer people in the group. Not paid a lot, living in London whilst a lot of the other hens were paid a lot more than me - city traders, lawyers, oil sector .....

The hen who has very reasonably and politely asked the question about the money should be supported.
If it were me I would be getting in touch with the MOH directly and asking for a refund as I wouldn't be able to afford losing that money.

The MOH sounds awful. I cannot believe she hasn't apologised yet.

Absolutely nothing to be torn about with this additional information. It’s definitely on MoH to refund, she chose to chance it and did not inform everyone about the email she received. If you all had if known, people could have said they would pull out unless alternative accom was organised as they didn’t want to chance their money. She did the wrong thing and should be the one to pay.

And absolutely fuck the bride ‘not wanting a fuss’, unless she is going to reimburse people (and why should she, not like she knew about the email either!) , then it’s CF behaviour to throw everyone else under the bus.

Did you not read where an email was sent to MoH stating hens parties would not be allowed and to cancel without penalty within 7 days if it’s a hens party?

@Carla2601 I simply just don't agree with you.

None of the hen parties I have attended where we hired a house 'chanced it' - we were honest with the owners.