Any holiday house owners out there? Need some advice!

[IsolaPribby]

Hello!

We have a small holiday house on the Isle of Wight. We advertise on TripAdvisor, and over the past few years we have had steady bookings through the summer. However, this year has been very slow, and we are struggling to know why.

Has anyone else experienced a downturn this year? We thought what with Brexit etc that more people would be interested in holidaying in the UK.

We are competitively priced, but are considering dropping prices just to get people in.

Anyone have any ideas, or similar experiences?

Thank you

Thank you all. The house is small but very well equipped, and within walking distance of shops, the pier and the beach, which is something that I really appreciate when we stay. But the parking is definitely the biggest down side. There is no parking in the mews, but as Bluerussian said, there is a council car park close by, and you can drive up to unload.

Hopefully things will pick up.

I think you need more recent reviews. You need to bury the one about the noisy pub and ball kicking kid next door as that would really put me off booking.

Make sure you contact each guest after their stay and ask them to review you, even though the site will too. A two pronged approach may work.

If you use booking management software like Eviivo then it will put you on all the major sites with one central calendar. I do that and 80% of my bookings are from booking.com, with Airbnb second and a few bookings from hotels.com, trip advisor, home away, Expedia etc.

@IsolaPribby it looks lovely, compact but immaculate.

I love Sandown too, best part of the island. Once it's on more sites I bet it rents easily. Have you tried the Facebook holiday let pages?

I’d want a sea view if I was renting on the island. I think you need to add a different agent. And 20 weeks is probably the most you’ll get as it’s so seasonal.
I know people who have holiday rentals there (not Sandown but the Isle of Wight) and they are booked for the season now.

I have just looked. A few things that would put me off are:

1. you have enough beds for 5 guests, but only dining table seating 4 guests and garden seating for 4. Either increase table size and seating, or swap bed to regular bunk bed for 2 not 3.

2. the stickers in bathroom. looks like a toddler lives there, so doesn't appeal to a couple booking.

3. it looks clean and nicely furnished for a everyday house. It doesn't have much 'wow' factor for a holiday. I think it is lacking a personal touch as maybe too much has been removed. Planting, artwork, local products