So your data is coming back at you in 2 different formats. We have the same issue and while it's not wonderful it's certainly not the end of the world. Naming

So your data is coming back at you in 2 different formats. We have the same issue and while it's not wonderful it's certainly not the end of the world. Naming conventions can help you know the return type of functions. And if you understand the types of queries being done under the hood by your ORM then sometimes using a custom query to retrieve ids to be used in a simpler ORM query is not such a bad idea. I think it's a case of doing things consistently in your code base so you use your ORM when it helps you and don't fight it when it's not going to help you.