On a vacation with friends, who pays how much?

A. L. Katz  |  04:01 PM, Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Imagine it: one friend reclines on a king-size deluxe mattress in a private room with a view of the slopes, while the other gets poked by creaky springs in the middle of the living room. How could these experiences possibly cost the same amount? And what friendship could survive such rank injustice?

Well, yours, probably. Ten-year-olds may squabble over the top bunk, but you're adults buying into the same essentially pleasurable experience. What is the real point of this trip? If your main focus were fancy mattresses and privacy, you'd be reserving separate hotel rooms. But no one endures the stresses of group vacation planning just for the schussing and the icy mountain air. If all goes well, this trip should be as much about cooking dinner together, drinking mulled wine, and playing poker till your eyes close. That's what you're all paying for. By the end of the evening, you'll barely notice or care who gets the "best" and "worst" beds.

So make sure everyone's okay with paying one-eighth of the price based on the most modest sleeping arrangement, and then go ahead and reserve your house. If you're staying a while, you could switch rooms halfway through. If it's just a weekend, don't bother; even the most sexually insatiable couple can survive a couple nights on the Hide-a-Bed. Play a rousing game of rock-paper-scissors over the rooms when you arrive, and then get over it and go play in the snow.

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