I’m subscribed to those travel alerts for low fares and 99% off them aren’t good deals. Well, a couple weeks back, there was a great deal. Minneapolis, MN to San Juan, PR round trip for $214 in February on American Airlines. I told some friends, who then told some friends and pretty soon, we have a little group of 7 of us going down there-3 couples and 1 single person.
We decided to find a house on the beach for the week and rent it all together to keep costs low. After throwing out a bunch of different properties, we all seemed to agree on a beautiful and HUGE 4 bedroom/4 bathroom house with all utilities included. Perfect…except…
The group is of two minds regarding how to split up costs. Some think that the full amount should be split by 7, since there are 7 people going. Others, including my SO, think it should be split 4 ways, since the group needs to have a 4 bedroom house to accomodate all (based on cruise ship logic). I can see it both ways and would rather not rock the boat as it were. Frankly, I’m more inclined to split it 7 ways and eat the extra money just so everyone’s happy (but, that won’t be the case anyways).
Now, we rushed into this a bit too fast and should’ve discussed what’s what first, but hindsight and all that, here we are. So, how would you split this up? There’s also a secret option which I’ve floated out there, which was to find a cheaper place so the difference between 4 ways and 7 ways was so small that it’s not worth the debate.
The answer to that was yes, actually. He went to an event in California and rented a 3 bedroom. They split it three ways, he was in one, another person was in the 2nd, and 4 people shared the 3rd bedroom where the two couples alternated sleeping on the floor to save money. Personally, I wouldn’t want to have that many extra people in a place.
My friends and I do this fairly often and we always split evenly, couples and rooms be damned. It’s not like a hotel where you’re paying primarily for a bed to sleep in, you’re renting a whole house, together.
It’s a vacation home with friends. I suspect that the time each of you will spend in your bedrooms is going to be less than the time you spend in the other areas of the home.
It’s not like the person in their own bedroom is getting some unimaginable luxury, whereas the rest of you are being forced to share. You all WANT to share a room with your partners. A 7-way split is totally fair.
That seems a little extreme to me, were the four sharing lacking in disposable income? I guess if the singleton isn’t then he/she could pay for their own room. If it were 3 people in a 2 bed I think then the one should pay half, but maybe the couple should buy them a dinner as compensation and to make him/her feel more at ease (three’s a crowd), but getting up to seven or more people and that becomes less of an issue.
Somewhere in between, but closer to splitting it 7 ways. Everyone is enjoying the amenities of the house. It is only bedrooms that are unequally utilized. To split it 4 ways is just trying to screw the single person. All 7 of you will be equally sharing the living, kitchen, recreation, and bathroom spaces.
I did this a few years ago, and we had people who had the nicer bedrooms to themselves pay just a bit more. But if you stick the single person in the shittiest bedroom in the house, no way they should have to pay a premium for that.
The four bedrooms will not be identical, so give the smallest one to the single person and split 7 ways. Now you can squabble over who gets the best room.
I agree that the only way the single person should pay more is if they have a lot more square footage per person in their bedroom which will probably not happen because they’ll get the smallest bedroom. And still they should not pay twice as much. Even if all the bedrooms are the same size, they should at most pay 1 1/4 as much as everyone else considering the rest of the place is so big. If the rest of the place were tiny I could see them paying 1 1/2 times or even more.
I thought about this and here’s what you’re going to do. It’s reasonable that the single person should contribute a bit more (they get to have more space) but not as much as couples. After all, you’re not just paying for having a bedroom, you’re also paying for having common areas, utilities, etc. So split the difference. Find some spot between 25% (1/4) and 14% (1/7), like 19%, for the single person to pay; that leaves 27% per couple, which is only a little bit more than they would be paying ordinarily. Plus everyone gets to enjoy the sweet, sweet scent of compromise!
Split it seven ways. It’s chintzy to nickel and dime friends over this.
If you’re going to start prorating it, then do a lottery for who gets the single room and has to pay more. What, you mean you would rather share a room with your partner? Then split it seven ways.
The simplest, fairest way would be to split it 7 ways, then put everyone’s name in a hat to assign bedrooms:
“And in the master bedroom, we have…Ron and Ken!”
No?
Seriously, I’d argue to the group that wants to split it 4 ways, that if that’s the case, then you insist on randomly drawing to see who gets what bedroom. That means that the single person gets an equal shot at scoring the master bedroom with the jacuzzi tub en-suite and ocean view, just as the couples have a 25% chance of getting the bedroom with two twin beds (or better yet, bunk beds!) and a shared bathroom. Fair is fair.
Otherwise, if the single person is fine automatically get assigned the twin/crappiest bedroom, I’d split it 7 ways. He only has to pay 1/7 of the cost of the house, which is fair, and the others have to pay 2/7, but get assigned a better bedroom.
7 ways. Splitting it four ways is a good way to make the single person not want to come with you any more (or not be able to afford it.) God forbid they’re unhappy about their singleness, then they get to be alone AND pay for an imaginary partner!
I’d go with a 1/7 split, but if the people actually involved with the decision are truly divided on the approach then the advice above is the best answer.
