u/Glad-Suggestion-8233

My in-laws bought a vacation house a few years ago. It’s fully paid off, and they have a rental company managing it when they’re not using it. They offer us the chance to stay there for almost two weeks every year — but they expect us to pay around €1000, plus utilities and the final cleaning fee.

To be clear: I completely understand paying utilities and cleaning so they don’t lose money on our stay. That seems fair to me. What bothers me is the €1000 rent on top of that. The price they’re asking is similar (maybe 100-200€ less in total) as what we’d pay for any comparable vacation house in that area. So from my perspective, why would I spend our family vacation every year in my in-laws’ house if there’s no financial benefit and I could just book somewhere else?

What makes it sting even more is that when my sister-in-law goes there with my in-laws, they pay for everything. So it feels like there’s this unspoken pressure: if you vacation with them, it’s free — if you want your own family vacation there, you almost pay market rate. It feels like a way to pressure us into vacationing together.

My husband thinks I’m overreacting and says his parents are being generous because “€1000 for almost two weeks is cheap.” He sees nothing wrong with it. My parents were shocked about it too. My husband says I’m just spoiled because I’m an only child. As a parent myself, I can’t imagine charging my own children that much money to stay in a property I own outright. Covering costs? Absolutely. Charging a slightly reduced rental price? That feels weird and transactional to me.

AITA for feeling salty about this and not wanting to go there every year?