Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 16:07     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have been planning a family trip to Europe for some time now. When we told our in-laws, they asked if they could come along for the first part of the trip. I'm happy to have them come along. The challenge is with the hotels. We have been collecting points, and plan to stay at a hotel where we can use our points. My in-laws have stated that the hotel choices exceed their budget. They have offered up a couple of more modest hotels, but it then exceeds our budget if we are paying instead of using points (and, in a couple of hotels, we would need two hotel rooms, b/c of max room capacity). On the one hand, I understand that that it isn't fair to ask them to pay for a hotel that is more than they want to spend; on the other hand, I don't think it is fair to ask us to pay for a hotel when we weren't planning on it. But, these are grandparents, and this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Should we stay in different hotels? Or should we suck it up and pay for a hotel within their budget, even if it means that we are cutting our trip a couple of days short or otherwise figure out how to keep costs down. We also have thought about scrapping the hotel all together and getting an apt, but that might be too much family togetherness for me


You can share your freebie. Have them stay at the same hotel and you pay half of their cost- or you can make up the difference between the hotel they found and the one in which you are staying. I don't think it fair to say- Hey- we are getting free nights lodging and you have to pay your way. Share it all.


I disagree. They invited themselves. Plus some distance on family vacations is a good thing.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 15:36     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
I get along fantastically with my family and have done many family vacations. Sometimes we're in the same hotel, sometimes 2-4 different hotels. It is not particularly complicated to stay in different hotels. Just choose one of the hotels and meet in the lobby each morning. Easy.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 14:57     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
Oh my word, all the analyzing. Just tell them you have saved your points and let them decide which nearby hotel they want to stay at. They are adults, and will understand. They should be proud of you for sticking to a budget and not going over board.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 12:36     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have been planning a family trip to Europe for some time now. When we told our in-laws, they asked if they could come along for the first part of the trip. I'm happy to have them come along. The challenge is with the hotels. We have been collecting points, and plan to stay at a hotel where we can use our points. My in-laws have stated that the hotel choices exceed their budget. They have offered up a couple of more modest hotels, but it then exceeds our budget if we are paying instead of using points (and, in a couple of hotels, we would need two hotel rooms, b/c of max room capacity). On the one hand, I understand that that it isn't fair to ask them to pay for a hotel that is more than they want to spend; on the other hand, I don't think it is fair to ask us to pay for a hotel when we weren't planning on it. But, these are grandparents, and this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Should we stay in different hotels? Or should we suck it up and pay for a hotel within their budget, even if it means that we are cutting our trip a couple of days short or otherwise figure out how to keep costs down. We also have thought about scrapping the hotel all together and getting an apt, but that might be too much family togetherness for me


You can share your freebie. Have them stay at the same hotel and you pay half of their cost- or you can make up the difference between the hotel they found and the one in which you are staying. I don't think it fair to say- Hey- we are getting free nights lodging and you have to pay your way. Share it all.


Fair? OP planned her vacation and then had other people say they wanted to come too. It's not her responsibility to pay for these people if they can't afford the trip. OP is not staying for fee- she had to get those points some way. OP has a budget. She saved up points and planned for this vacation. It sounds like she did not budget for expensive hotel rooms for other people on her family vacation.


The OP said she was "happy to have them along". If I were her, I would share it. But then, I am a sharer.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 11:06     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
Is it possible to use your point to stay at nicer hotels for the second part of your trip? If yes, I'd do that. If no, I'd stay at different hotels. Just make sure you guys have phones to stay in touch.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 10:51     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
While I think it is very generous for the OP to offer to help cover costs, clearly they are not in excess of vacation budget if they need to use hotel points to meet their vacation budget. You are already being generous by including them in your vacation.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 09:42     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have been planning a family trip to Europe for some time now. When we told our in-laws, they asked if they could come along for the first part of the trip. I'm happy to have them come along. The challenge is with the hotels. We have been collecting points, and plan to stay at a hotel where we can use our points. My in-laws have stated that the hotel choices exceed their budget. They have offered up a couple of more modest hotels, but it then exceeds our budget if we are paying instead of using points (and, in a couple of hotels, we would need two hotel rooms, b/c of max room capacity). On the one hand, I understand that that it isn't fair to ask them to pay for a hotel that is more than they want to spend; on the other hand, I don't think it is fair to ask us to pay for a hotel when we weren't planning on it. But, these are grandparents, and this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Should we stay in different hotels? Or should we suck it up and pay for a hotel within their budget, even if it means that we are cutting our trip a couple of days short or otherwise figure out how to keep costs down. We also have thought about scrapping the hotel all together and getting an apt, but that might be too much family togetherness for me


You can share your freebie. Have them stay at the same hotel and you pay half of their cost- or you can make up the difference between the hotel they found and the one in which you are staying. I don't think it fair to say- Hey- we are getting free nights lodging and you have to pay your way. Share it all.


Fair? OP planned her vacation and then had other people say they wanted to come too. It's not her responsibility to pay for these people if they can't afford the trip. OP is not staying for fee- she had to get those points some way. OP has a budget. She saved up points and planned for this vacation. It sounds like she did not budget for expensive hotel rooms for other people on her family vacation.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 09:41     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
I'd be staying at separate hotels. They inserted themselves into your existing plans. No way would I shorten my trip or increase my budget to accommodate that. And I definitely would not be assisting them with costs to make things "even" as PPs have suggested. I'm sure your trip was based on having your hotel costs covered by points you've been saving.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2015 09:33     Subject: Do We need to stay at same hotel as in-laws?
I think you are being really nice by letting them come along on your vacation (if this were me, the post would have begun something like " can you believe the outrage that these difficult people have insisted on crashing our family, once in a lifetime vacation." i digress, but it sounds like we have differnt kinds of ILs!)

anyway, i'd def. make sure to explain why you are using the hotels you are, and get the closet one possible. if youwant to be extra nice, you could always do some research to find places within their price range and close to your hotels

(this is all if you aren't hopnig ythey will be babysitting your sleeping kids in your hotel while you and your spouse are out on the town!)