Villa split between childfree couples and families

[Adrianne1234]

Trying to organise a long weekend away (2 nights) with a group of friends for autumn and this is the group split:

Family 1: 2 adults & 2 kids
Family 2: 2 adults & 2 kids
Family 3: 2 adults & 1 kid
Family 4: 2 adults
Family 5: 2 adults

We don't seem to agree on how the total price would be split. The house has 6 bedrooms. 3 family rooms (king beds + single beds) with ensuite bathrooms, 2 standard double rooms and 1 room with 2 single beds for "extra space" (6th room is not claimed by anyone but deemed necessary by the parents to have additional space).

2/3 families seem to think the total bill should be split by couple, without considering the kids.
1/3 families and the 2 adults families think that the families should pay more because despite everyone technically occupying 1 room, some rooms are family rooms.

To state the significance of this, if we wanted to find accommodation for 10 adults, the price per couple would be around half the one we are paying to have a place that can accomodate all the kids/has the right sort of family rooms.

If it was to be split by couple, price would be £550 per couple, which seems pretty steep for families without kids (that also end up getting the crappier rooms).

Food bills will be split amongst adults so kids won't pay for that which has been agreed by everyone.

Thoughts?

In a hotel you’d usually pay an extra 50% or so for a family room. I’d go with this approach.

It’s already quite generous to the families with kids to split the food by couple rather than by head. No need to make the couples without children subsidise the family rooms too.

I would be pissed off if I had to pay the same as a family and then also got a crappy room! Are they expecting to pay the same but get a king size with en suite but those without kids get just a double?

I would suggest the families go away together and the kids go together somewhere different! Or go somewhere with separate pods so you just pay for yourselves as this one might be quite a difficult one to resolve!

Could you pay by room, but the family rooms are more expensive? The families would have to share the cost of the spare room as well!

what a shit show already
i look forward to threads being started from all parties involved in this holiday!

Just go by what you've outlined about the overall price. If it's doubled by the inclusion of kids then half the price should be split among all families and the other half among those with kids.

The families with children should pay more as they require more space so are making the place more expensive. Otherwise the people without children are paying extra to fund someone elses children coming.
There are 15 people going, you could split the cost by 15. Or if you wanted, count each child as half a person because they are not in a room by themselves, so the couples with two children pay 3 peoples shares and the couple with one pays an extra half a share?

The families with kids pay more.

That’s a lot of money for 2 nights in a standard double room. The people with kids should definitely pay more. I have 4 children and so going anywhere is expensive, but that’s the cost of kids 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think only adults should pay but this is room dependant so only if kids share a room with them. It’s just too many people to go on holiday together

when my friends and i went on similar holiday together… the child free were keen to pay same as everyone else and the families were saying they would pay more. Basically everyone loved/liked each other enormously and didn’t want anyone to be remotely short changed or feel like that

it was a wonderful holiday

this? has unpleasant stamped all over it already!

So the people with kids have bumped the price substantially by insisting on a load of specific requirements.

The people without kids get crappier, non en suite rooms?

And of course at least one of the families will offload one or both kids into the extra room at some point (if they are old enough)

The families with kids are taking the piss to want to split it by couple , particularly as the couples without have already agreed to subsides their children's food

We’ve done similar holidays and have always counted the kids at half adult cost for accommodation. Not sure why you’ve booked an extra bedroom though?

I think only adults should pay but this is room dependant so only if kids share a room with them.

That would work if all the rooms are the same. When you have three large king size with en suites and two doubles without their own bathroom, that becomes more difficult. I wouldn’t want to pay £550 for two nights in a small double.

We used to do 50% for kids who needed a bed (so babies free) whether they had their own room or not. We also used to split the food bill in the same way, so half the cost for children until they got to teenagers and ate everything the same as us!

Alcohol we just buy what we want and pool it - but we are all reasonable and we never ran out!

Of course the families with kids should pay more - they have better rooms, will probably use the extra room, have insisted on a bigger property etc. I'd probably count kids as a half share. Based on what you've said, the total you are paying is £2750?

So Family 1 - £660
Family 2 - £660
Family 3 - £550
Family 4 - £440
Family 5 - £440

This only seems fair to me - you've already been more than generous agreeing not to include the kids in the food bills.

will the couples with no kids have to share a bathroom?

Families with children should pay more, they're getting bigger rooms. It doesn't seem right that childless families should subsidise the holiday for the children, which is essentially what is happening when children aren't being added to the headcount

It sounds doomed already.

doesn’t it!

Suggestion as per @budgiegirl seems best under circumstances. We tend to select accommodation where all rooms are equal in quality (all en suite with choice of twin/king bed) and divide cost by room but include children in the food split. This is because some families want to split into two rooms and not have a big one. I would definitely also be having the parents footing the bill for the extra room if this was chosen on their insistence

@prescribingmum I still think that the childless couples are over paying. The others will have an ensuite, whereas the childless will have to share a bathroom together. The couples with children will probably put their kids in the spare room to have a room to themselves. The food bill is already split between the couples.

Don't underestimate the amount of food 5 children will eat (and the cost to the non-family couples). And the likelihood is (sweeping generalisation coming...) that you'll end up buying very specific things for the kids which the adults don't want to eat, so it costs even more.

Unless the kids are all pre-schoolers with tiny appetites and no fussiness (ie - eating the same as the adults) it's crazy to split the food shop that way.

"(6th room is not claimed by anyone but deemed necessary by the parents to have additional space)."

They're going to turn it into a den for a big sleepover for the kids.

@sgasdgasg I see what you mean. It is really hard when the accommodation (in terms of room setup/ensuite etc) has been selected to the detriment of the childless couples. This is the main reason why we will only ever pick villas where this aspect is equal between all rooms as the budget does not need to account for these differences.

I also would not agree with children not being included in food bill unless they are very young and/or their parents are catering entirely separate meals for them (at their own expense). We have always included kids in the food bill and done separate for alcohol.

Tbh I can't see these trips surviving if parents with children are so demanding. We have some friends who are a bit like this and only ever consider AI holidays with them as the resentment built up over things like this will end the friendship

The en suites make a difference. Those with en suites pay more

If the cost is split per couple than the rooms should not be allocated based on family size.
As a more expensive villa was chosen to accommodate needs of families with children those families should be paying all of the excess cost compared to a villa for 10 adults.