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Has your employer ever forced you to share a hotel room?

Has your employer ever forced you to share a hotel room?

Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:14 pm
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Has your employer ever forced you to share a hotel room?

In my business travels, I find that quite a few companies require their rank and file employees who travel to share hotel rooms on business trips. Not only have I met people who work in start-ups, non-profits, and other types of smaller businesses who I suspect could be more subject to such a policy, but have encountered workers from well-known firms headquartered on Fifth Avenue in NYC subject to such an edict.

I'm very much a loner, and would find it extremely uncomfortable to be assigned a roommate who is a co-worker, or sometimes complete stranger, to satisfy a corporate policy. A few years ago, I was offered a very good job with a non-profit, but since their policy dictated sharing a hotel room at annual conferences with one (or more) co-workers, I declined.

Several years ago, a friend of mine was thrilled to land a position with a prestigious organization that required heavy travel. Such thrill was short-lived as she was unaware they required room sharing, which she called "the ultimate intrusion", and could endure this only for a couple years and quit. Needless to say, her situation taught me to ask a future employer about their travel policies before accepting the job.

I'm curious to know of others' experience in this dilemma. If your employer has this policy, is there any option (other than quitting, or requesting a position that does not involve travel) if you don't want to share a room? If you comply and share rooms, how does it work out? Ever been assigned a complete stranger or disliked co-worker as your roommate?
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:22 pm
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I've been stuffed five in a normal double/double room before for work. On some occasions, but only with people I know, I have been forced to share with members of the opposite sex.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:28 pm
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Wow - this is pretty surprising. I am not a loner by any stretch, but sharing a hotel room when on the road would feel like I was losing the only place I have some solitude when traveling.



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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:30 pm
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Yikes!! Never had that happen to me and, frankly, I might flat-out oppose the policy and risk whatever consequences that entailed. I'd probably first go the route of staying in a lower-cost hotel or otherwise trying to keep travel costs manageable, but I don't see any way I'd room with a coworker in a standard hotel room. If the company would fire an employee for that, then it says all I need to know about that company.

When I was single and in my 20's, I worked on long-term projects where we'd share a 2-bedroom corporate apartment (always 2 people, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), but when we did side trips, we always booked our own hotel rooms.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:32 pm
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Get Ambien. Wake up the next day and you won't remember a thing.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:35 pm
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I've had it happen a couple times. Once in Wash. DC . It was miserable and left us all unhappy. Once in San Antonio. After that I quit that outfit and let them carry on in their own cheap ways.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:45 pm
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Room sharing is policy only for our annual team bonding meet. We're talking 700 to 800 people here (not in 1 room ). I'm not forced to go every year thankfully.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:48 pm
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Once in Spain. We went for a division retreat and the hotel didn't have enough rooms for all of us. Only 2 rooms were shared and I was in one of them (2 people per room). Not a big deal since we were friends outside of work and most of the retreat was spent at the bar. But if it were a regular policy - no thanks!
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:49 pm
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Never, but one employer tried.

When I worked at KPMG, they tried to get me to share a hotel with an other person for the off-site orientation. I deliberately cancelled my stay with that hotel, and booked one with another hotel across the street. Pretty nervey for someone just starting, but I had actually been with the firm for two years. Yes, they insisted that I MUST attend orientation, even though I had dodged it for two years. HR tried to complain, saying that having a room mate is an essential part of making a connection with fellow workers at the firm. To wit, I mentioned that I have been with the company for two years, so if I have not done it by now...it ain't happening.

I worked in Korea with natives working for KPMG, and they were all forced to share rooms when travelling. The partner would get everyone to double up, then bill double for the rooms. Unethical of course, but not too surprising, considering how he treated his employees.

I have travelled a lot, and if my employer cannot afford to pay for my own room, they cannot afford me.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:49 pm
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When I was an assistant prosecuting attorney, sharing hotel rooms at seminars was expected. Once I was selected to attend a forensic evidence seminar in LaJolla, CA. Two of us were in a room at the Marriott where the seminar was held, but he was a good friend, so no big deal. Every year we attended a state prosecutor association seminar for CLE (continuing legal education) credit. That was in a summer resort area, and a hospitality suite was available, so several of us sharing a room was no problem.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:51 pm
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I was planning an event for a client a year ago, and they insisted that people (not colleagues) share a hotel room.

The event went to a smaller scale, so their budget ended up accommodating invitees in their own rooms.

For me personally, I would never share a room...I'd ask for reimbursement for 1/2 and I'd pick up the rest on my own dime.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 6:58 pm
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Hopefully none of you ever decide to join the military.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 7:02 pm
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I work for a not for profit, and it's fairly standard to expect people to share when possible. At the meeting I'm going to next week for example, they priced the rooms for 1, 2, 3 or 4 people.

I hardly every go that route, I'll combine it with a mattress run, and I can't get a room for what the per person combined rate is I'll cover the extra cost. It's more then worth it for me. It's not a written policy, it's just what some chapters do to keep the cost down.
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 7:08 pm
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I work on a contract basis for a professional sports car racing team, and I always share a hotel room on business travel.

However, because I travel and work with the team as a unit, I always have the same roommate - our team's data acquisition analyst. I've developed quite a good rapport and friendship over the years with him (heck, we'd better, we've spent the better part of three or four months sharing a room now since I got hired in '05). He's introduced me to great music and we've shared our computer-geek sides

The only annoying part is when he hogs the shower every morning

My employer is too small to have any sort of written policy on this, but I assume if I wanted to fork over the extra costs to have my own room I could do so (as I do for air travel.) But to me, it's not worth it, at least as long as my roommate is tolerable. I can easily see how it could be disastrous...
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Old Feb 13, 2007, 7:16 pm
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I've had to share rooms before..............thank god they still have twin beds.
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