How to fairly split costs of holiday rental

[AuntiePenguin]

We've started talking to other families about going on a group trip. We'll be travelling from different places (so everybody will pay their own travel costs), but need to work out how to split accommodation and food costs. Hoping the mumsnet jury can tell me what's fair/reasonable.

Family A: 2 adults, 2 primary school aged children (which restricts all of us to going in school holidays). Parents are big eaters and big drinkers (easily a bottle of wine each in the evening). Need one room for adults and one for children.

Family B: 2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby. Teetotal. All going to share one room as toddler and baby co-sleep anyway.

Family C: 3 adults, One of whom has a medically restricted diet so will need special food. Teetotal. Need 3 rooms.

So...in that situation what's fair? Doesn't really seem fair to pay a third each given family A and family C will be taking up more rooms and more food/alcohol.

Pay for accom on a room basis, divide food be three, and family A pays for the alcohol?

Pay per room.

Buy your own food.

I wouldn't bother. It will be a bloody nightmare.

Agree with Milk, Pay per room and each family buy their own food and drink

So is pay per room fair even though some of the rooms are bigger than others? Obv familyB will need a biggish double room, but family C need three single rooms. Do they still pay 3 times as much for accommodation?

Room basis for accommodation. . Each family buy food they want specifically ie the special dietary requirements, baby food and alcohol. .

Then maybe a kitty for bread, milk etc. Or take turns buying. When we go away as a big group we take turns by family cooking the evening meal making sure everyone is catered for. . Then each family can spend what they can afford as in my group, people are a real mix of incomes. . We usually say lunch out so each family supplies their own.

So is pay per room fair even though some of the rooms are bigger than others? Obv familyB will need a biggish double room, but family C need three single rooms. Do they still pay 3 times as much for accommodation? of course it is fair. Each family is paying for the rooms they will use. It couldn't get any fairer

Sorry but sounds like a nightmare from the off set

I'm,with Anyfucker this will not be the lovely holiday you are hoping for and it's unlikely you will get agreement on what a fair split of costs would be.

I'd run a mile and go alone.

Think you will struggle to find somewhere with two doubles, a twin and three single rooms so probably some of c will get doubles anyway. Or they could share to save money

Pay by room, with a lesser rate for singles?

I wouldn't be going, it sounds like a nightmare mix.

I would divide it in three. Family A and B have four members. Family C have 3 adults. One adult could equal two children. Food paid for separately.

I would say a cost per room (which initially disadvantages family C) but then ask family A&B pay more for food and drink.

Then look at is like a b&b so for example a single room would be 40 (so that's 120 for family 3) a twin and small double 50 (100 family 1) and a large double is 60

Pool money together for essentials tea coffee milk bread butter and do the rest separately

We've always rented adjoining but separate accommodation at places with multiple cottages/villas.
Only time we don't we had huge groups going away each new year (about 40). Set room charge. If uk then online shop divided up by number of adults. Bring own alcohol. We were all a bit flexible as we tended to socialist principles and students paid slightly less. wealthier paid slightly more. We all wanted to be together so,nobody got too excited about a few pounds here and there.
Now we just go with other adult couples. Split cost half and half travel and accommodation. Meals split half and half at time of paying. Other costs like coffees, us rides, entrance fees come from a kitty in local currency. We add more to kitty as needed. We don't quibble about someone having two,cocktails and one not drinking - life's too short.
I think sharing without bad feelings only works if you don't have penny pinching. You have to accept it can't be entirely fair but benefits of strengthened friendships and fun outweighs this. Trying to make it entirely fair causes bad feelings not equity.

Get three small apartments/cottages next to each other! It does sound like it's going to be tricky.

Or glamping pods/bell tents all round a camp fire?

I would just split the cost equally three ways but then I'm not one of these people who can be arsed to calculate exactly what each person ate and drank when I go out for a group meal and I much prefer to just split the bill equally.

When we've done multi family holidays we've divided the total accommodation cost by the numbers of people going and each family has then paid the applicable amount for their group. This was regardless of rooms (we've found that the children tend to end up swapping rooms etc. during the week!). Works well in a big villa where every adult or adult cup le is guaranteed to get their own ensuite double room.

We then had a kitty (per person per day) for food and used it to cover all supermarket purchases. Alcohol was bought separately by those who wanted it.

Sounds like a nightmare. No chance I'd do this. Go for separate accommodation.

We do lots of group holidays.

We don't pay per room as we don't think it's fair for a family of 4 who have 2 rooms to pay twice as much as the family who all go in one room when they don't get twice as much holiday - you aren't in your bedrooms that much.

We divide the rental cost into two - representing "upstairs" and "downstairs". Half is split per head where kids are half a head. The other half is split per room but with larger rooms or those with nicer facilities counting as 1.2 rooms and tiny pokey rooms counting as 0.8 or 0.9.

Food and soft-drink costs are split per head with appropriate fractions for little ones. Booze costs are split between the drinkers per head.

You need a spreadsheet to work it all out but it's all fair.

Sounds a) a nightmare financially; b) a nightmare socially (big drinkers and eaters with restricted diet and teetotallers?); and c) almost impossible to find somewhere that fits your requirements exactly - you are more likely to have to book somewhere that has more rooms than you need...

Is it not possible at all to book accommodation in the same location instead? Either camping / glamping, or somewhere like Center Parcs?

I have to say finding a 6 bed villa is going to be a nightmare anyway. I agree it may be easier to look at 3 separate chalets or something (depending on where you are going)?

Bloody hell, all this talk of spreadsheets and divinding costs by 0.8 or 1.2 would be enough to make me need an extra holiday to recover from it all. Are the spreadsheet and complex calculation people the same people who take calculators when going out for a group meal to ensure that they dont pay

To ensure that they don't pay for a single sip More of wine than what they drank?
I wouldn't Bother going On a group holiday if any member of the group was going to be that meticulous about splitting costs