Christmas lodging dilemma

[rookiemere]

Hi there, not sure if this is really a Christmas one or not, but it relates to the festive period so here it is .

We've been invited to relatives for Christmas - we all get on well, DS adores going there, so far all good.

Downside is that DH and I are given a really old and rather dirty mattress to "sleep" on in the back living room. It's very saggy and springs are poking through so last time we really struggled to get any sleep at all until DH moved to the living room sofa. Also it needs to be cleared away the minute we get up, so it's a bit unrelaxing- although the last bit I can deal with as we're not there for long.

I'm not sure what to do as I definitely need to get some sleep over those nights and DH may not be amenable to moving to the sofa again, also I'm a light sleeper. I did look at hotels in the area but a) DH wouldn't want to do that in case it upset them and b) it's expensive for those nights.

I thought we could maybe bring our camping mats and sleep in sleeping bags on the floor as that would be marginally better than the uncomfy mattress. Ideally we'd also use our camp beds, but that's not really possible as we have to dismantle everything each morning. Also the pillows we were given were really old and unpleasant looking so I'm going to bring our own, which is probably rude, but I can't sleep on the ones we had last time.

Do you think it would be rude to suggest we bring our own sleeping stuff ?

I'd bring a double airbed and bedding. Modern ones have inbuilt pumps which inflate and deflate in a minute or two. You can always stash it away in the car during the day.

I bought a deluxe self inflating airbed for visitors last year.... It is really comfy. I would say that your back has been playing up and you already have this at home so will bring it.

I think that's good idea about the airbed. You can get around the bedding issue by saying you didn't want to create lots of extra laundry for your hosts at a busy time, which is why you've brought your own.

And really, they should have no cause to question it if the mattress and pillows they have previously provided are in that bad a state.

That's a good idea to say about my back or could get DH to say it, and it's not strictly a lie either.

We have a double airbed for camping, but never found that very comfy either so I'll check out how much getting a decent one would cost. DH will grumble about it, but I do need some sleep.

I find it weird that they make so little provision for guests. In other respects they are lovely and hospitable, but leave the duvet & covers for us to put on - hence why I know about the state of the pillows.

If you get a decent airbed, you could sell the other one to partly fund it. You will be more comfortable yourself when you go camping as well.

Are the relatives quite old or infirm? My mum used to get very breathless trying to change bedding, although she would have been mortified at the mattress and pillows you describe. Perhaps they think younger people should do these things themselves.

Hi girlywhirly - no not elderly or infirm, and no future plans to go camping , but good idea about selling the other one.