Shepherds Hut

This has a shared swimming pool, sauna, kayak available and a river front view. I would have booked this pre children hoping it would be nice weather and I can spend the weekend swimming and kayaking.

Would prefer pod/wigwam to shepherds hut

I would only stay if I was interested in the area, not just for the accommodation

Hot tub is a turnoff rather than a bonus

Pizza oven would be a big bonus!

Private outdoor space a really big bonus so make that very clear

See that might look cute/cosy but say if it's raining out and you want to hang out there, where are you supposed to sit? On the two metal chairs at the 'bistro' table? So uncomfortable for any length of time.

Here is one 30 mins from Cambridge

https://air.tl/sEHoamk1

I don’t think you have enough to offer. It is not wilderness so what have you got to attract people apart from the pub. Are there any local attractions? Cambridge for a day maybe but London is too far.
I also think hot tubs are chavvy.

@Tigger83 I am an ex health and safety enforcement officer and was in hospitality for 20+ years now sit on various advisory type bodies.

1. you will need planning permission
2. just because you call it an airbnb it isnt its a furnished holiday let and all the 70+ laws that apply to FHL's will apply to your shepherds hut. that includes paying for the rubbish to be taken away, fire risk assessments and fire safety, other general health and safety stuff as well. Look at the pink book published by visit britain and freely available on line.
3. If you have a hot tub it has to comply with HSG282 by law. No pop up or inflatable tubs, testing twice a day and emptying and refilling between guests. I know "loads of places dont do this" but its the law. And, hotels have inlining dosing systems like ones for swimming pools thats why they dont do this. Oh and if its a wooden one that needs emptying and cleaning after each and every use because its business not one at home.
4. Join an organisation called PASC - the professional association of self caterers. They have all the webinars and info you could need including things on terms and conditions etc.
5. Do a business plan including a customer avatar and run the numbers. Its hard work and not money for nothing.

If it's a shepherd's hut with bathroom and wifi then maybe.

AirBnB is awash with shepherd's huts to the point I started thinking it would be a nice idea to stay in one.

Vast majority, however luxury, had no bathroom. No way am I walking across a field in the night to go to the loo.

I don't understand the 'sex pond' comments. The only people having sex in a hot tub would be you and your partner, hot tubs aren't shared, they are for the exclusive use of the guests in the shepherds hut. They are emptied, cleaned and filled and sanitised for each guest.

People like the romance of a shepherds hut I think- it's an experience rather than somewhere to stay. We have a one bed cottage as well and the shepherds hut has more bookings in the winter even though its much smaller and more expensive.

Did anyone else think this was a new, quirky shepherd's pie version of Pizza Hut???

Cheaper end of the market - they seem fairly fully booked. So no you're not offering a perfect holiday venue, but bit more exciting than a travelodge.

I travel a bit with conferences etc (which I don't like) and I do look for more "interesting" places as do some international colleagues, as it turns the grimness into more of an adventure.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/buzzard-holt-hosting.en-gb.html?aid=304142&label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQKYAQm4AQnIARHYAQHoAQH4AQyIAgGoAgO4ArykjqcGwAIB0gIkMDczOWNmNmMtNDIwOS00ZjgxLTliNTQtNWY4NWQwMmViYTk12AIG4AIB&sid=628c7edf099aa7f6cc248047220ac26c&dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;no_rooms=1;room1=A;sb_price_type=total;type=total;ucfs=1&

I've stayed in a couple and no way, never again, not in the UK - they really are a glorified shed with not enough space to really relax - eg in bad weather. They're never as big or comfortable as a decent hotel room, and at least then there's probably a bar or pool in the same building.
Tbh I also think they're a bit wanky/tacky faux-peasanty, and I'd always be thinking of David Cameron heading off to his one after humming a wee tune on resigning having tanked the country into Brexit. So, no - sorry OP.

here are a whole ton of cabins

https://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/glamping/cabins/

Think about who you are aiming at - what is in your local vicinity. without the view its the neighbourhood that is going to appeal. Is it for couples (you may not hit the 'romantic break' market due to being in the garden) is it families? Is it dog walkers/ hikers. Pitch it at, and decorate it for, your market.

Dogs are massive. We have just started allowing dogs in our cottage, but not on the glampingsite yet. There are more people looking for breaks with dogs than with children nowdays, so that may be your ideal market - couples with a dog. avoids kids. they are generally less fussy about decor, a nice woodburner with a rug in front and a double / twin bed.

pizza ovens are popular on our site - for hampers our most popular is a pizza hamper, followed by a breakfast, and BBQ coming in last. You can get quite good ones that go on a BBQ rather than forking out for a massive one that takes an age to heat up, especially if there are just the two of them.

Sadly no, but as a previous poster said, I wouldn’t stay in a shepherd’s hut full stop. They’re always well overpriced and very underwhelming. Sorry.

this is our big cabin but it needed be as big as this - like a rustic style log cabin, but quirky, not from the local garden centre. divide up inside. have a decking and a veranda

https://www.glottenham.com/de-glottyngham

Will it have a toilet, shower? I stayed in one without those facilities and hated it.

Hot tub put me off. Is there a toilet and shower but no I wouldn't

A fake shepherd's hut in someone's garden - absolutely not. I stayed in one 25 years ago in Northumberland set in 50 acres with no-one around. We could watch birds and animals, swim in the river and be out in nature. Only came back to eat something simple and sleep, like a bothy, which is what an actual shepherd's hut is for.

No but then I live just up the road from you.

Are you in one of the villages just outside Cambridge?

When you say 30 minutes from Cambridge, do you mean 30 minutes from the city centre or 30 minutes from the city bounds then forever and a day to actually get anywhere in the traffic jams? Is there a decent bus or train service into the city that doesn't stop at 6pm?

If you mean 30 minutes from Cambridge city centre and there is good public transport or an Uber is reasonably priced or it is an easy and safe bike ride (maybe you could invest in some ebikes for guests), it could work at the right price. Accomodation is busy and expensive in Cambridge. It must be 30 minutes to get into the city from the out of town Travelodge type places.

In my head, I am thinking of somewhere like Fen Ditton with lovely countryside and nice riverside pubs. A shepherd's hut somewhere like that would be far more appealing to me than a faceless suburban Travelodge for a visit to Cambridge. It could be the best of both worlds - a city break in the countryside.

If you mean 30 minutes on the motorway, I think you are too far for the Cambridge tourist market. I would want to be able to have dinner and drinks in the city and get back without needing a car or remortgaging my house to afford a taxi.

Sadly there may be none because the economics don't add up.
If you were happy to tell us the area people could give more targeted advice.

I'm not even sure what a shepherd's hut is.
Is it a basic wooden caravan on wheels, ideal for medieval peasants?
In fact did David Cameron have one? Surely a reason never to stay in one.
Would "guests" have to come to your house to wash and draw water?
It does not sound pleasant.

Depends on bathroom facilities

Lots of air bnbs don't have great views but people stay in them for other reasons. I wouldn't be put off by the lack of a view although I would be put off by the sex pond and there's lots to see around that area so I think it could really work. If nothing else you would probably get business around graduation times!

Oh and a pizza oven is great but I wouldn’t be making dough on a break in a tiny hut so not much point. Would rather you left a bottle of wine and installed blackout blinds and curtains .