it is not always adults sharing.. our lad is 14 yet is charged as an adult by many companies as soon as he is over 12..he will be sharing our room on the next holiday to GC.. this is not an ideal situation, however, the supplements were going to be absolutely huge otherwise..what a rip off!!!

Hi Helen ... many self catering package holidays are actually based on 4 adults sharing a one bedroom apartment, or 3 adults sharing a studio.

This is why the DIY option is becoming increasingly popular for self catering holidays, as prices are usually based per apartment rather than per person.

David

Although - a significant number of SC hols are sold to groups of friends in their late teens or 20's.

The way I see it TOs are putting the lowest price possible in the price box by basing it on 3 sharing - basic marketing, although the supplements do seem a bit over the top.

But - if it is just the TO's how in the same brochure you can find hols with no suplements alongside hols with supplements?

It used to be that if you were 3 adults sharing you would get a reduction as the rooms were meant for two. I reckon now they are cashing as if they have room for a third bed (even if it isn't full sized) they can call it a room for 3 and charge full whack for it. I bet the hotels are not making money out of this.

I regularly go on holiday as part of a party of 3 adults sharing in self-catering accommodation. My elderly parents are increasingly feeling less confident about travelling on their own, especially now that my mother is disabled by arthritis and my dad finds helping her and managing all the luggage a bit of a struggle on his own. So at least once a year I arrange to go with them for a week away - we usually go DIY and get a 2 room apartment but that isn't always possible and I tend to think 'What the heck, it's only for a week - I don't mind taking the sofa bed in the lounge if it means that they're getting to go somewhere that wouldn't otherwise be possible'. We're trotting off to La Gomera in October again but this time with my brother and his 2 teenage daughters so on this occassion we're 2x3 adults in self-catering because even the youngest is now too old to qualify as a 'child'.

The world isn't just filled with couples and traditional nuclear families - there are all sorts of combinations of us out there, including groups of friends of all ages who don't mind sharing if it helps keep the cost down. This can be especially important as one gets older. On one trip to Tunisia I met a group of 6 retired widows who were sharing 2 'family' rooms between them because as they pointed out - this way they could afford a better class of hotel for their money and they didn't plan on spending their days - or their evenings - inside their rooms. Getting a good late deal on 3 adults sharing could make all the difference between women like them being able to have a holiday or going without. And I'd say that they were having as much fun as any group of 'girlies' on a well-earned holiday :-) As I left to go home they were preparing to go on the 3 day Sahara trip!

SM

My mum is on her own and she holidays with 2 female friends who are sisters. A room or apartment that sleeps 3 is what they are looking for.