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

MoH is a bloody thankless task. I’ve done it twice organising hen dos and it was not easy or fun!!

And if she's as well off as you say, OP, then maybe she should foot the bill for her mistake, particularly if some of you are struggling financially. I'd never have expected my hens to do this-some of them could never afford that much, and the to have to pay twice because this woman tried to pull a fast one (if that is the case, but like everyone says, who doesn't have emails these days).

Yes, it says clearly that Hens/Stags etc are not permitted. The OP said that in one of her posts.

I don’t understand why you think an owner isn’t entitled to set their own rules!!

If you rented out your own property, you would decide who was allowed to stay in it.

This is a very common rule and something that has to be at the top of the check list for anyone booking a stag or hen, I've seen it constantly over the years and would be surprised if it didn't cross MOH or anyone else involved in the bookings mind, did she literally do it all alone? She has massively dropped the ball here sadly. spending other people's money and planning someone else's once in a lifetime event you have to be extra careful, how could she have missed all the guidance or not thought to check unless a) it has been added after her booking due to the recent events or b) she saw it and chanced her arm which is nuts. I think MOH should get the evidence she has that the place has been used by hens in the past and send it to the owner explaining how it wasn't clear. I expect the owner will highlight all the various places that it WAS clear but it sounds like this is the only glimmer of hope she has to ask for a goodwill of half the money back or something. Realistically from the owners perspective though, if it was blindingly obvious they don't allow hens and they are generally fully booked and would likely have had another booking, I don't think they owe her anything. I do think they might have let 3-4 of you stay there as a compromise tho, was this requested ?

If they denied access to the property they should be refunding. I would be taking this further and getting a charge back.

I recently went to a parkdean caravan park and even they state no hen/stag parties. I think the moh was silly not to check and double check and make it quite clear what the booking was for.
However, I’m not sure I would chase her for the money. I’d put it down to experience.

Why would they if they clearly say that they aren't taking hen or stag parties or single-sex groups, then they would assume that everyone booking with them has read those rules and is not a single-sex group. It's clearly a large property and let out to groups. I rented a large property once for a group going to a party conference (delegates from my constituency) where it stated no hen/stag groups. We were mixed sex, so no issues. This group was trying it on, thinking that because some hen/stag groups got in without the owner realising, that it wasn't really going to be an issue. That's a big risk that someone took. If I were paying £300 for it, I'd be asking the person who organised it if she'd got clearance from the owner that they would let their hen party stay before handing over my part of the fees.

There were ten adults on this trip, I can’t believe that not one person checked the listing before handing over the cash, really, do people do that?

Surely if you’d all had a bit of a nosey at the venue, the area etc of where you’re staying then you’d notice something saying “No stag/hens allowed”.

Unless the venue was sent to you as a fait accomplit after you had already sent the money for the booking, then surely everyone is equally complicit in agreeing it was a suitable place to stay?

Nope.

The OP says it's clear on the website.

Surely you all looked at ten accomodation yourselves? Do you have travel insurance through your bank or a yearly policy?

I don’t understand the posters saying that the accommodation should refund - if it was clearly stated on the T&Cs that hen do’s/single sex groups are not allowed, you of course will be refused entry on arrival and the booking will be cancelled with no refund because you’ve essentially lied in order to try and rent it. I work in holiday rentals and you’d be surprised at some of the horror stories I could tell, people assume it will be a key box situation so turn up with all sorts of groups, I’ve even had people host house parties in our properties and sell tickets. Anyway, MOH is an idiot, YANBU for wanting a refund from her, it was a big risk to take with other people’s money.

If the owner was that fussy surely they would ask ages for everyone on the trip? When I have booked accommodation caravan park or a holiday cottage I have to put the ages of everyone down. Did the moh lie or was she not asked?

Because you book the house. You don't book it as 10 people. You book a house which can accommodate 10 people. There's any number of reasons why 10 people might be on holiday together without it being a hen do.

AirBNB almost always sides with the guest in any dispute, so as a host who doesn’t allow parties either, I send a friendly email beforehand thanking the guest for booking, offering to help with any recommendations, and drawing attention to the house rules. Then if there are any issues - extra guests, stealth dogs, parties, etc - I’ve got a paper trail. A couple of times, guests have let slip they’re planning on hosting a large family party and I’ve been able to make it clear that our property would not ‘be a good fit’, in AirBNBese.

I've never been asked to put ages. What difference would it make anyway?

Why should the owner be left out of pocket because the group has tried to deceive them? It is not the owners fault that the MOH chose to ignore the clear T&Cs which i’m sure would’ve been attached to the booking email.

I booked a house (Sykes) last year and it still asked for all ages in the party. It was a 4 bed with sofabed in the lounge so room for 10.
Likewise this summer on a caravan park I had to put in all ages of people on the booking.

Have you always been a snob??? Bugger off with your classist condescending behaviour.

For this very reason - ensuring it isnt a hen or stag weekend turning up.

How would ages tell you that?

It’s actually a very common rule for many Air BnB type places - they want to avoid damages and excessive noise pissing off their neighbours. I’ve seen it many times in booking listings - no hen/stags allowed.

So what? It wouldn't make the slightest difference here if the owner had asked ages.

Yep this

You said in your first post that it was prominent on the website for no Hen / stag groups.
I find it very hard to believe that 10 people failed to see a prominent notice on the website - or that you paid £3000 for a 3 night stay!

Yes, what difference does the ages make?