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

Given that OP says they booked months ago, I can’t understand why no-one spoke up when the owner admitted that there had been a hen do only a couple of weeks previously. Surely that indicates that they were still taking bookings for these events long after MoH booked. I think the owner is trying to pull a fast one to be honest.

Yes it was totally her mistake, it’s understandable you’re furious and in principle, you’re right that the person who made the mistake should cover it.

But it’s not really reasonable to expect her to refund £00s to all the hens out of her own pocket, is it?

Well I hope you all get your money back.

But I wouldn’t expect the MoH to reimburse any of you before you get the facts and proof the MoH was sent the clear T&C’s in the booking confirmation.

Exactly!

I wouldn’t have left the accommodation until the owner either
A) gave a full refund
B) produced the T&C’s that was sent to the MoH at the exact time of the booking

I can’t believe a group of adults were happy to walk away £300 down each. In this economy. Crazy.

The no hen or stag parties clause is very common in booking terms and is likely to have been in place prior to the hen party two weeks ago and it isn’t a case of hen parties were fine two weeks ago but now aren’t. That hen party may have ‘slipped in’ without the owners realising and caused a lot of damage. The owner after that incident does not want a repeat and is meeting guests as they arrive rather than using the key box that the MOH expecting. If the MOH booked it with a no hen or stag party clause in place she can’t claim the money back. Feel quite sorry for the owner and the bride.

Did the seaside resort stay vacant the entire weekend or was the owner able to find someone to stay at the last minute (on either the Friday or Saturday)? Did part of the cost include a cleaning fee (which you shouldn't have to pay since you didn't stay).

The owner clearly had accepted a group 2 weeks ago so it could be a change that is more recent. As you will have booked a while ago, this change might not have been in place then at the time of booking. The owner slipped up there in admitting they accepted groups 2 weeks prior....if that also shows on their instagram then it could be a recent change and they should've notified you prior and refunded the money.

Hi op,

If the accomodation was booked before the hen party which caused damage to the property, then the owner has either changed the rules after said party, or the rule about no hen parties was in place before, but the owner didn’t really enforce it. Either way, this increases your chances to recovering your money.

If the rules were in the T&C but reviews/feedback of the property mention hen parties, then standard practice takes precedence over the written terms. Equally, if the rule wasnt made crystal clear at the time of booking, it shouldn’t be enforced (such an important term cannot just be in the small print). It’s v disappointing that the owner didn’t at least ask you to pay a refundable security deposit to protect him against any damage.

what happens if you go on the booking site now? Can you see anywhere in the advert that the property is not available for hen parties or similar?

Moh could try to recover the money though the booking site or as a charge back on the debit card, on the basis that she purchased a service which has not been provided.

Standard practice wouldn't make a difference here because there is no standard practice between this rental owner and the MoH who signing the contract. Providing the rule was clear and part of the contract, the fact the owner has waived that clause for other people does not give the MoH a right to have the clause waived for them. (Assuming the lack of waiver is not down to discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic).

OP I would be furious at the MoH, but I wouldn't expect her to refund 10 people for the mistake unless she was ridiculously wealthy, it's just not going to be within reach for most people. I would probably have gone home if I couldn't afford to swallow the loss and cough up for the additional expenses.

She should at the very least have paid for the budget rooms. But this experience just reinforces why getaway hen dos are a bad and costly idea.

I would pursue the owner. Sounds like a bit of a scam to me. Surely when she saw the booking was for a large bunch of women she realised that it may have been a hen party, and she should have been in touch. But instead waited til you turned up and made it an issue just so she could turn you all away and keep the money. Threaten her with small claims court. I bet a lot of people who she does this to just suck it up.

Did he owner know how many people are staying at the time it was booked? Did the MoH specify it was for 10 women?

The accommodation has likely updated the website since the costly damage and after your MOH booked it so it may be obvious now but maybe wasn’t previously

Why would she know it was for a large bunch of women? Most places you just tell them how many people and if it's got that many bed spaces then there would be nothing to suggest it was all women. No Hen Party clauses are pretty common and have been upheld by courts. If the no Hens rule was clear before the booking was made, they aren't going to have a leg to stand on.

What is a hen do though as opposed to say a bunch of female friends celebrating a 50th birthday? Do they really mean and say they do not allow single sex groups of any age or purpose? I would be following this up.

Their house, their rules. The moh didn't have to book somewhere with that rule. We've booked Airbnb with this rule, fro a group of 6 women. We've always emailed, clarified our ages and circs and had it confirmed before booking they were happy for us to go ahead. We wouldn't have booked without it.. Esp as accommodation cost 3k.

so this is entirely on the MOH altho I think she's unlikely to offer or afford to pay back nearly 3k

Tbf it's probably a bit ageist, and they're assuming gen does are made up of younger people

Not rtft but can you use the wayback machine / internet archive to see if t&C's have been added or changed since MoH booked? It's a bit hit and miss as to whether it's been snapshot at the right times but worth chucking URL in and seeing:
https://web.archive.org/

@Hennightmare edited to tag you cos it's a much faster moving thread than I thought!

Absolutely

Many sites say no parties.

Do you know about Wayback Machine? You put in a website address and it shows you what it looked like before. I would put the page url in for the house/cottage and see if there’s anything from around the time of the booking and whether it stayed no hen parties. It’s free to use