Shared Bathroom?

[NRV Runner]

My upcoming purchase has two rooms downstairs with a shared bathroom. Currently the owners rent that as one suite: Standard bedroom with king-sized bed + office/lounge area in the other room (relatively large sized). Seems like a waste of a room to do that, but there is only one bathroom for those two rooms.
My question is - how common is it for two rooms to share a bathroom? Would it potentially be more profitable to offer those as two rooms at a slightly lower rate, or keep it as a large suite?

 

[Morticia]

It is so uncommon to share a bathroom that I wouldn't do it. You'd be amazed how many guests complain that their private, unshared bathroom is across the hall and not in their room.
Try to figure a way to get a second bathroom in there or make this the most fabulous, profitable suite anyone has ever seen.
If course, it depends where you live. Americans are terrible at sharing, but other cultures aren't.

 

[gillumhouse]

IF the bathroom is situated between the rooms, install a bathroom for the other room back-to-back (or side-by-side) so you tie into the same plumbing area. Toilet & shower in the bathroom and you can put the sink in the room itself in a nice vanity if space is the problem.
I have 2 rooms that share due to it being impossible to get plumbing to the 3rd room. Those are the budget rooms - I get families or I also do a weekly rate with no breakfast for workers in the area in those rooms.

 

[NRV Runner]

It is so uncommon to share a bathroom that I wouldn't do it. You'd be amazed how many guests complain that their private, unshared bathroom is across the hall and not in their room.
Try to figure a way to get a second bathroom in there or make this the most fabulous, profitable suite anyone has ever seen.
If course, it depends where you live. Americans are terrible at sharing, but other cultures aren't..

Sounds like I'll focus on making it the most fabulous suite I can since we live in Virginia

 

[Generic]

I have shared bath, but it depends on your clientele, their age group, what you are offering and the price. To be honest, those with the biggest buggaboo about it are Americans. Likely the same people who won't go to the bathroom anywhere else but home. But then I have a certain percentage of Americans who love my rooms with shared bath and come back to stay with me all the time. And I'll be honest, almost all my favourite B&B guests stay in shared bath or will stay in shared bath.

 

[gillumhouse]

Back in my traveling days, I LOOKED for shared bath because it was less expensive. I could buy lunch or dinner with what I saved with shared bath.

 

[JimBoone]

Would it potentially be more profitable to offer those as two rooms at a slightly lower rate, or keep it as a large suite?

I'm the odd kid with an 8 room motel, but my two cents worth are as follows:
[1] If you are turning away guests on a regular basis then you might increase your profit (and labor unfortunately) by operating your suite as two rooms with a shared bath. If the style of your business accepts families or couples traveling together, adding sleeping space in that second room could give you the option of extra space for extra income, only you know if folks take advantage of the lounge/office area for that purpose.
[2] One thing I feel I've learned from this forum and others is to put my effort into being special and going after "my" guests, with only 8 rooms I can't compete on volume/quantity with a large property, I must provide a quality, something special and develop "my" guests. Find your spot and you and your guests will be happy, to me that's what makes this a wonderful life.

 

[Northern Dreamer]

We are in the Michigan - heavy summer tourist area. We have two queen rooms that share a bath. It is detached and just next door to the first room and across the hall from the other room. We provide robes and have only had a small fraction of our guests question it...and most even comment afterward on how easy it was compared to their pre-conceived idea of "sharing" a bath. When couples are traveling together is has gone smoothly. When we have a full house, (and the two couples aren't traveling together for the same event) we simply suggest that each couple/room simply communicate briefly to coordinate the bath with their travel/event schedules. Nobody has walked away a hater...
Note: After folks leave for their day, I also do a touch-up cleaning each day the guests are here to eliminate any excessive messes or trouble areas...takes 10 min tops...

 

[TheBeachHouse]

I would NEVER rent a room with a shared bathroom as a guest.
So i wouldn’t offer one to my guests.
We also have a similar setup. We rent as a suite with a bedroom and a sitting room. The sitting room sofa pulls out so we can offer those two rooms to a group of three. $25 extra for the third person.

 

[user 26]

It really depends on who your guests are ...
But consider this, for some it's not just being difficult ... travelling with my sister, when she needs a bathroom, she needs it in a hurry. Middle of the night ... whenever. Having to wait for someone else to get out is a huge issue for her. She would never fuss, just can't possibly share. And many of her friends are facing similar aging and/or health challenges but still want to travel. Years ago, she was happy to share. Not any more.

 

[Lee2014]

I don't know your rooms etc. But I would sit in each room and try to envision what I can do. Measure the room. Is there any furniture in this room that can be removed? How about changing the king bed to a queen? Does one room have a big closet? Do they each have a closet back to back that can be made into one bathroom for one room and the current bathroom will be for the other room? Is one room at the end of a hallway which can be changed from hallway end to bathroom? By adding a sink to the room you don't need a huge room for just a shower and toilet. Look outside for addition possibilities.
My parents' house had a bathroom which was not handicap accessible and those days are coming. We took another bedroom and made it into a handicap bathroom, hallway, and closet 1/2 bath. Then the old bathroom was made into an office. So much nicer all around.
Years earlier we had a bedroom we didn't like where the closet was, so we moved it across the room and redid the walls..
Think outside the box.