A double room, a double bed, and no couples..?

Sinus Pi · 07-07-2007 12:58PM #1

ilovehoovering wrote:

big room, double bed, no couples please!

I may be staggeringly ignorant, but I cannot help but revive this ancient thread. A double room, a double bed, and no couples..? It's hardly been the first time I've seen an ad like that, and it keeps leaving me puzzled. Who in their right mind would rent a double-bedded room, if not a couple? The only thing that comes to my mind is a single looking for a place to invite boy/girlfriends over to for one-night stands, which I'd presume to be even worse than having a couple...

Perhaps I'm oblivious to some crucial details, but what could possibly be as wrong with living with a couple as to explicitly exclude such an option?

Pepe LeFrits · 07-07-2007 01:01PM

Sinus Pi wrote:

I may be staggeringly ignorant, but I cannot help but revive this ancient thread. A double room, a double bed, and no couples..? It's hardly been the first time I've seen an ad like that, and it keeps leaving me puzzled. Who in their right mind would rent a double-bedded room, if not a couple? The only thing that comes to my mind is a single looking for a place to invite boy/girlfriends over to for one-night stands, which I'd presume to be even worse than having a couple...

Perhaps I'm oblivious to some crucial details, but what could possibly be as wrong with living with a couple as to explicitly exclude such an option?

lol?

Sinus Pi · 07-07-2007 01:03PM

If I were not serious, I would not be asking the question. I am not of either Irish nor British nationality, hence some cultural specifics might not be as obvious to me as they are for you.

Tails142 · 07-07-2007 01:12PM

Many people find a double bed more comfortable to sleep in so it is a bonus to the room

Who wants to be in a room next to a couple shagging all the time

Maybe someone with a girlfriend/boyfriend that might be over on the occasional night/weekends would be very interested in having a double bed for these occasions.

Also, having 2 people in what is in reality probably a small room - there wouldnt be space for clothing storage for the two of them, an extra person cloggin up the bathroom in the morning, using the kitched, taking up a seat in the TV room. Not that complicated really...

Sinus Pi · 07-07-2007 02:04PM

Tails142 wrote:

Many people find a double bed more comfortable to sleep in so it is a bonus to the room.
Maybe someone with a girlfriend/boyfriend that might be over on the occasional night/weekends would be very interested in having a double bed for these occasions.

Very well, if someone has the extra money. That solves my (poorly worded, too, for which I apologize) "who in their right mind".

Also, having 2 people in what is in reality probably a small room - there wouldnt be space for clothing storage for the two of them...

Now that's talking about renting the room to ONE person - and entirely understandable, if they only want one extra roommate and definitely not two. I, however, have often seen ads for "one double room, two people, but no couples" and that is what had me puzzled originally.

However,

Who wants to be in a room next to a couple shagging all the time

- I'd believe it to be common sense not to make excessive noise while having sex, just as it's common sense not to leave hairballs in the bath drain, not to leave dirty laundry lying about, etc, etc. And, if indeed someone manages to find two people, not a couple, for one room - who's to stop them from starting to date and sometimes shag..? Would they be out of the room then, even if they kept properly quiet about it?

See, the reason I'm asking is that me and my wife might at one time try to find an apartment somewhere in Ireland or Britain. We're both very polite and well-behaved people, we'd definitely never let anyone be bothered by making any improper noise - and, with the prospect of having too limited funds to rent a whole apartment for ourselves, I am finding myself quite perplexed by the discovery of this no-couples policy.

In a nutshell - "no noise" would be entirely too obvious to even mention, but "no couples" seems overkill to me.

Or is it uncommon or unthinkable for the Irish to have couples living together in a shared apartment at all, perhaps? Not for the noise, but for the very idea of it?

BendiBus · 07-07-2007 06:04PM

Maybe a situation where a single person is sharing a flat with a couple would make the single person feel like a spare wheel? Even if they were there first (or even owned the property). So they'd rather share with other singles?

2 couples would be fine, but a single & a couple not so comfortable?

Calina · 07-07-2007 07:17PM

Living with a couple is the closest thing to hell on earth. There is a split down the middle and all people are not equal in the house share.

Most people I know over the age of 25 or so would generally prefer a double room regardless of whether they are single or not. Single rooms in most Irish houses have a shocking lack of storage space even for one person, double rooms are hardly much better.

I'm anchor tenant in a house and I flatly refuse to have couples in the other double room in the house. Very few houses are big enough to have four adults in it...at the moment I frankly wonder if any three bedroomed houses are big enough to have 3 adults in it.

I don't know of anywhere that I lived where it was common for two couples to share accommodation and frankly I'm not sure it would work in practice. But I don't know for sure.

Sinus Pi · 07-07-2007 08:11PM

Again I must emphasise that I'm talking strictly about cases with someone seeking TWO persons but NOT a couple - renting a double room to one person is now entirely understandable, and I'm not furthering that point at all.

As for spare wheels - I must admit there's some reason in what you're saying. Some couples indeed tend to be very "closed", keeping to themselves only, so you end up renting the room... and you have it occupied and paid for, but you get no flatmates at all, just "ghosts" that are there but are not interested in any kind of activities with anyone but each other.

I cannot help but wonder how that can be worked around. I ended up browsing room-to-let ads, even though we're not exactly planning moving to Ireland just yet - and so far I have found dozens of no-couple ads and very precious few "two people, couples accepted". I hardly imagine convincing someone that we're not "future ghosts", that we're quite outgoing and open and well-behaved people that would obviously take care not to let our being a couple become a problem for anyone...

Perhaps some of you could shed some light, share some tips..? How's a friendly couple to find accomodation, when renting a whole apartment is out of the question price-wise?

Vokes · 07-07-2007 08:42PM

Sinus Pi wrote:

Who in their right mind would rent a double-bedded room, if not a couple?

Well, surely any single person who's taller than 5'10" wil need a double?

I myself need at least a double - I'm over 6ft and have a painful habit of falling out of a singles

Victor · 07-07-2007 09:50PM

Please don't drag up threads like this, but feel free to quote it in your first post.

Sinus Pi wrote:

I, however, have often seen ads for "one double room, two people, but no couples" and that is what had me puzzled originally.

What the ad should have said is "twin room, two people, but no couples"

Sinus Pi · 08-07-2007 01:46AM

Please don't drag up threads like this, but feel free to quote it in your first post.

I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again.

Victor wrote:

What the ad should have said is "twin room, two people, but no couples"

If a double is a room for two (in theory) with a wider bed, while a twin is a room for two with two beds - then you're right, in all probability.

However, again: if two flatmates become a couple - let's take a first-off-the-shelf scenario; they share a twin room, one gets lonely, invites the other to bed, and from occasional shag buddies they become a full-blown (no oral puns intended) couple - what then? Aren't their other flatmates in the same situation they had been trying to prevent? Or is there a general nonverbal rule, that flatmates should never get too close or it spells instant trouble in itself, even if it doesn't lead to any other problems?

daiixi · 08-07-2007 08:13PM

One of the rules of flat sharing is "don't screw the crew". People sometimes break it but it can be a disaster if they do. E.g. who moves out if you break up?
Secondly chances are if you're renting out a twin room then you'll get friends move in or at the very least two people of the same gender which people assume will reduce the chances of the occupants hooking up.

Ste.phen · 10-07-2007 01:04PM

You could consider renting a two bedroom apartment, and then subletting the second room to a single person, if you have trouble renting a double room?

Amandy · 11-07-2007 09:47AM

Igy wrote:

You could consider renting a two bedroom apartment, and then subletting the second room to a single person, if you have trouble renting a double room?

In fact you could then rent it out to a couple, and maybe then you'll understand why some ads say "No couples".... Just a thought!

hot fuss · 11-07-2007 05:48PM

Sinus Pi wrote:

I may be staggeringly ignorant, but I cannot help but revive this ancient thread. A double room, a double bed, and no couples..? It's hardly been the first time I've seen an ad like that, and it keeps leaving me puzzled. Who in their right mind would rent a double-bedded room, if not a couple? The only thing that comes to my mind is a single looking for a place to invite boy/girlfriends over to for one-night stands, which I'd presume to be even worse than having a couple...

Perhaps I'm oblivious to some crucial details, but what could possibly be as wrong with living with a couple as to explicitly exclude such an option?

I think it's quite obvious that the person who placed the add is looking for one person for the room. Obviously when looking to rent a room, a room with a double bed is better than a room with a single bed, so they wanted to point out the bonus, but didn't want to attract couples, because they only want one flatmate.

Easy

MysticalSoul · 12-07-2007 03:20PM

Speaking from my own experience, my apartment has 2 double beds, and I would not take in couples, as an apartment really is not big enough for 3 people in my opinion. Also, when I have had couples in the past, I have felt crowded out. One place I lived in, a guy had his girlfriend there all the time (she was not a lodger), and it was she who would be doing the cooking, washing etc.

Where I currently live, I have a single girl, and her boyfriend stays over a few nights a week. That I have no problem with, however she keeps to herself a lot - has a tv in her room, so other than cooking is rarely in the communal area. For me, both of these are less than ideal.

In a house I rented a little over a year ago, the landlady had her boyfriend over most nights, and could her them getting intimate every evening around 6pm (which was a bit embarrassing), so that is less than ideal.

I think a lot of people may have had bad experiences with couples and hence why they are reluctant to take them. There are still a few though, as the rent is usually higher for a couple than a single person.

gbh · 12-07-2007 03:44PM

Some people feel uncomfortable sharing with a couple, some don't. Accept it. It's like some people wouldn't like to share with an alcoholic or a smoker, etc. etc. It is your home after all even if rented and a lot of people like to wind down or relax in the evening. They want to watch the odd tv programme and not have the remote taken over for the night. Probably the fear of being outnumbered or outvoted or not been able to get your way on something turns people off living with a couple.

Electric · 19-07-2007 04:48PM

In college two of my roommates started going out. Everytime that they argued (which was alot!) they always argued in the sitting room. It was really awkward no one wanted to sit there and watch them fight, but yet we wanted to watch TV. In the end we usually went to the pub and usually came back to them going at it really loudly.

It was always really awkward when you came home and they were cuddling on the couch. The three's a crowd vibe really kicked in. I think for most of the year we lived in our bedrooms while they had free reign of the house!

Plus there is the issue of space. Most Irish 3 bed houses are barely big enough for 3 adults.

I wouldn't live with couples again.

pow wow · 21-07-2007 07:12AM

I'm about to rent now and will only consider a double room. I'm single but I'd like to have the facility if you know what I mean lol. I'm also 25 and the thought of some pokey 9ft x 9ft isn't something I would be interested in.

Firetrap · 21-07-2007 07:00PM

I've rented with a couple and wouldn't do it again. It's got nothing to do with what happens in the bedroom - it's just one person too many getting in the way. One person extra to compete with for the shower, the TV, the washing machine, car parking space, cooking facilities. As it happens, it was them hogging the kitchen that really got my goat.

I'm single and renting a double room, more for comfort than anything else. A lot of single rooms I've looked at or stayed in are glorified box rooms. Plus, if I ever did get lucky....LOL

DéiseGirl · 26-07-2007 04:55PM

What a depressing thread - my boyfriend and I have shared a room in a 3 bed flat for the last few years. I hope our flatmates don't think of us as "an annoying couple"

We are about to move out as we have just bought our own house and I believe the lads are hoping to just get one person into the room so maybe they did find us annoying

I suppose couples can be annoying and it is an extra person to share everything but in our case we made our room pretty self sufficient - TV in the room, laptop set up with wireless in the room and an ensuite in the room too so we weren't sharing all the facilities. We'd probably be washing machine hogs more than anything...endless endless washing

tHE vAGGABOND · 27-07-2007 01:40PM

I have lived in shared houses/flats for a large percentage of the last 6 to 7 years..

I have lived witha few couples in that time, and have found all of them very anti-social and never really had as much fun in those houses as I did in a house of single people..

its the same as I lived with a nice Brazilian couple, and they spoke Portuguese to each other all the time, and I really did not enjoy that. They were nice people, but 60 or 70% of the time I did not know what they were saying, even with 3 of us having a cup of tea in the kitchen..

Its nothing against the people themselves - its just if I want to live somewhere or indeed rent a room in my gaff I want to have fun and make my own life easy and therefore I am going to make some choices about who I want to share with...

27-07-2007 03:56PM

My landlord has a girlf and they hog the kitchen and sitting room when she's over so it does feel like I live with a couple
I can exactly see why peope don't like couples
Can't be helped tbh but can be avoided

A double room, a double bed, and no couples..?

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