Splitting the cost of a beach rental house

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this should go in the travel forum or family relationships! But anyway, we’ll be renting a beach hose with my family this summer- it was going to be 4 couples (including us) and our toddler. We pushed for a 5BR house because we hate sharing a room with DS, so we’re going to offer to split the cost by BR (so that we’d be paying 2/5 of the cost). But now my sister’s boyfriend is likely not coming, or if he does, it would only be for a couple days. So I don’t know if splitting the cost by BR still makes sense or if we should do it per person? For us the difference is marginal, but for a singleton it’s a lot more. What do others do for splitting costs- per person or per BR?

[Anonymous]

Per bedroom. Maybe she can bring another friend. It's so many months away. Anything could happen, including you or your child getting so sick you miss the trip. You'd still need to pay. Once you guys made a decision, it needed to stay that way.

If you really want to be nice, I suppose you could tell that sister that if she needs help to pay her share you'd be willing to help her out. I will also point out, though, that your family will be spending a lot more on food and other expenses than she is, so it may all even out in the end.

[Anonymous]

I think it should be per bedroom. You don't pay less in a hotel because there's only one of you using the room vs 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per bedroom. Maybe she can bring another friend. It's so many months away. Anything could happen, including you or your child getting so sick you miss the trip. You'd still need to pay. Once you guys made a decision, it needed to stay that way.

If you really want to be nice, I suppose you could tell that sister that if she needs help to pay her share you'd be willing to help her out. I will also point out, though, that your family will be spending a lot more on food and other expenses than she is, so it may all even out in the end.

Sorry, I may have mistyped in my original post- we hadn’t actually made a decision, so that was partly why I was asking what was “fair.” She can be overly sensitive and I don’t want to rock the boat too much. But you’re right that she may decide to bring a friend.

[Anonymous]

I faced a similar situation a few yesrs back when splitting a rental house among families with kids and singletons. One singleton felt paying per bedroom wasn’t fair since it didn’t take into account the common spaces. We the family felt a bit annoyed because we were 4 in a bedroom and she was in s single. In the end we broke the fee into 2; I believe it was 50% of the total split by bedroom, and 50% split per person (by 4 in our case since there were 4 in our family).
The percentages might have been 60/40, can’t remember.
Anyway it mollified her. But she was counting every penny the whole time and honestly her chespskste attitude kindvof ruined the whole thing.
Live and learn - I won’t vacation with her again.

[Anonymous]

If the $$ won't matter to you, and it will to her, then just for the sake of being a kind person - you pay the extra.

[Anonymous]

Per bedroom seems the best way to do it
Unless some bedrooms have private bathrooms or balconies
Then I'm not sure the best way

[Anonymous]

I think you should pay more with three vs. one. I don't get this sharing evenly when there is one person vs. three. My sister doesn't have kids and her boyfriend wouldn't come. If the 4 of us went and shared a room, we'd fully pay or do a minimal split.

[Anonymous]

Per bedroom. Why does it matter if he comes or not? She's not going to sleep on the couch is she?

[Anonymous]

I have no idea why people do this four or five families/couples whatever in one house. Nothing about it sounds relaxing. And all you hear about is drama and what is fair not fair etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the $$ won't matter to you, and it will to her, then just for the sake of being a kind person - you pay the extra.

Huh? So OP is supposed to pay for the 2BRs for her 3-person family plus a share of her sister’s BR? That’s silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should pay more with three vs. one. I don't get this sharing evenly when there is one person vs. three. My sister doesn't have kids and her boyfriend wouldn't come. If the 4 of us went and shared a room, we'd fully pay or do a minimal split.

In both of the scenarios OP presented, they will definitely pay more.

OP, what does the rest of your family favor? Presumably they’d pay a bit more in the per person scenario. I think you should just stick to per BR, especially if there is a chance she brings a guest. The rest of you can kick in more $ for food if you want.

[Anonymous]

When we rent a beach house with family, the rental itself is divided by bedroom, but all the other expenses (e.g., groceries) are divided on a per person basis.

[Anonymous]

Per bedroom.

One of your friends could split with their spouse between now and the summer. Are you going to offer to pay for half of their bedroom cost because only one member is coming?
No, I didn't think so.

Your sister is renting a bedroom that sleeps 2 people. She is welcome to bring her boyfriend, neighbor, co-worker, whomever she wants as long as they're polite, clean and respectful of others. And she's welcome to come alone. She pays the full price either way.

[Anonymous]

If your DH didn't come, would you expect to pay less?

I think splitting per bedroom is the fairest way by far. If she doesn't want a bedroom (ie: will sleep on a couch or on the floor somewhere else) that's one thing. But everyone would need to agree with that too because I would not like someone on the couch during my beach vacation.

I think these types of trips only work out when people can go with the flow, everyone is willing to pitch in and is willing to trust no one is taking advantage. If there's penny pinching and bean counting, this trip won't be fun. Dishes, cooking, shopping, lugging beach shit can all get really old if everyone isn't helping.