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No en suite?

(91 Posts)
Greatnan Sun 18-Nov-12 16:47:19

I enjoy watching 'Four in a bed', where four lots of B & B owners stay at each other's premises and then rate them. Two of the properties this week could not offer en suite facilities in all rooms.
I would never consider staying in an hotel or other accommodation if I had to share a bathroom with strangers. At one time, I needed to use the toilet every couple of hours and I would have been very emarrassed if I thought I might be disturbing other guests.
My only experience of camping, in the beautiful village of Plockton, was ruined because there was one toilet between about 80 tents! Luckily, we had a chemical toilet on our small sailing cruiser, but I couldn't go down to the harbour in the dark. Never again.
Am I the only person who insists on a private bathroom/toilet?

nanaej Sun 18-Nov-12 20:11:48

En suites are preferable... otherwise in the middle of the night the thought of getting dressed to go for a pee is awful... and to pack any type of dressing gown is a nuisance!

vampirequeen Sun 18-Nov-12 20:30:31

If I'm in a hotel I like an en-suite but if I'm camping sharing facilities doesn't bother me.

artygran Sun 18-Nov-12 22:04:14

Must have an en-suite; both DH and I invariably have to get up during the night. For this reason, I would rather not stay with friends or relatives for fear of disturbing everyone by padding about in the early hours, flushing toilets.

harrigran Sun 18-Nov-12 22:44:37

En suite is a must have and must be palatial, if I am to leave my own which is very large. I don't do camping or any kind of roughing it. When I stay at DD's she has a guest suite so don't have to pad around the house. It was not an issue when I was younger.

Greatnan Sun 18-Nov-12 23:09:06

As I have said, I wasn't thinking of being a visitor in a private house - just in commercial accommodation.
Yes, it is much more likely that you will find shared bathrooms in French guest houses - just as you often find one unisex toilet in smaller restaurants or bars. Not the end of the world - I just don't like it!

Ana Sun 18-Nov-12 23:11:31

harrigran, you do sound hard to please! grin
I don't know anyone who has an en suite in their own home - you are very lucky.

merlotgran Sun 18-Nov-12 23:24:58

I love Four In A Bed. I'm convinced a member of the production team places a pubic hair in an otherwise pristine shower cubicle just as the cameras are about to roll. grin

Ana Sun 18-Nov-12 23:28:04

You may be right, merlot - I saw that episode where the woman proprietor was almost in tears, insisting that she'd cleaned the shower cubicle that very morning and it was pristine!

merlotgran Sun 18-Nov-12 23:33:47

My parents had a twelve bedroom B&B on the Isle of Wight during the sixties. I remember the manic Saturday morning change-overs. My poor mum would have had a heart attack if she thought anyone was going to run a finger over the top of a door to check for dust.

I love the hissy fits grin

harrigran Mon 19-Nov-12 00:19:17

Ana I thought everybody had en suites grin

trishs Mon 19-Nov-12 02:47:46

En suite or not I always pack a silk dressing gown, which weighs virtually nothing and takes up no space. I once had to vacate tower-block type of accomodation at a conference due to a fire alarm going off in the middle of the night. Once embarassed, never again!

vampirequeen Mon 19-Nov-12 05:33:19

I love the idea of the production team deliberately contaminating the shower cubicle lol.

I love the show and the way they try to catch each other out....all is fair in love and four in a bed lol. There was one episode when a contestant stuck a q-tip into any tiny gap and then gleefully said that the room was dirty.

Greatnan Mon 19-Nov-12 07:29:53

Like all 'reality' TV shows, the contestants are obviously urged on by the producers to be as confrontational as possible. I have noticed on 'Come Dine with Me' that episodes where all the entrants get on well and are nice to each other are not nearly so entertaining!
In 'Holiday Showdown' and 'Wife Swap' the producers clearly have a simple mantra in mind when choosing contestants: Pair up a well-educated couple who enjoy cultural pursuits with a couple whose idea of heaven is boozing until 3 a.m. in Benidorm , preferably with toddler asleep in pushchair. It doesn't always work out, though - I have seen a couple of programmes where both families actually enjoyed the other's choice of holiday and they became friends. The children especially seem to relish doing something different.

Now, I wonder if every member of Gransnet agreed all the time with every other member, if it would be a bit less 'entertaining'?

absentgrana Mon 19-Nov-12 08:59:50

Fat chance Greatnan. grin

Anne58 Mon 19-Nov-12 11:07:10

The B&B that Mr P has been staying in for weeks now doesn't have en suite for every room (Mr P's doesn't but the rate is reduced and he shares a lovely bathroom with only one other guest). Personally I would always only book rooms with en suite, but Mr P says that this one is so much better than some others he was using.

www.mayfieldsguesthouse.com/

Greatnan Mon 19-Nov-12 11:10:21

I know it doesn't seem to bother most men and young people. I was married with my own house at 18 so I never did the sharing a house thing. It is only sharing with strangers that bothers me, not friends and family.

Joan Mon 19-Nov-12 11:50:06

En suite is nice, but so many of us started life in homes with outside - sometimes shared - dry lavs. At school we had 'two holers' ie a long wooden seat with two holes in so you could sit with your friend.

Therefore it is enough for me to have an indoor lav!! When we moved from the house with outside shared loo, when I was 5, to a council house with TWO loos - one just outside the back door and one upstairs, we thought we were living in the ultimate luxury. My current house is a bungalow, with a loo separate from the bathroom and easy to get to from the whole house. Oh, just remembered summat funny: we had a cat that invented toilet tennis. I was sitting there in comfort when the cat shoved biro top under the door. I kicked it back. He kicked it back to me and so on.

I know this thread was about hotel etc loos though, and I have to admit, at this age I need my privacy. For a start off, I like to sleep naked, so having to put on a nightie to go to a communal loo would be a pain!

Oh, if you need your privacy, never go to sea in a sub. On the 'A' boat where my husband served for a while, the lav was in an inadequately curtained alcove directly opposite the galley. The sailor could sit there and chat amiably with the chef. I suppose modern subs are posher in the lav department though.

absentgrana Mon 19-Nov-12 12:09:28

And more hygienic one hopes Joan. Btw You don't have to put your nightie on to go to a communal loo in a hotel.

jeni Mon 19-Nov-12 12:41:54

Some people iron in the nude!

Smoluski Mon 19-Nov-12 12:48:16

And do housework wearing rubber gloves grin

Anne58 Mon 19-Nov-12 12:57:30

second one down on page 3. The mind boggles.

www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?startAt=20&keywords=cleaners&location=halwill+junction&scrambleSeed=28346616&ssm=1&showOoa=10&pageNum=3

trishs Mon 19-Nov-12 12:57:32

Has anyone been in a hotel when the fire alarm has gone in the night? And do you, like me, always check where the nearest fire exit route is, as we're supposed to do when we first check into a room? Part of my dad's job used to be as fire officer for the M&S store in Leeds and I was a H&S rep for many years when I was a teacher so I guess I'm extra safety conscious smile

jeni Mon 19-Nov-12 13:00:06

phoenix just showed that to my cleaner. She doesn't think she'll join that firm :- too cold!

Anne58 Mon 19-Nov-12 13:02:53

grin

Of course, I am assuming that he is a naturist, who does cleaning. I could be totally wrong, and he could be offering to clean naturists.

jeni Mon 19-Nov-12 13:10:00

trishs yes I have . Twice. Once in London and another time in Cornwall. Both times it was a false alarm.