Holiday cottage owners - things I would like pls!

[EinsteinaGogo]

Hi everyone,

There have been a few posts from holiday cottage owners recently (which makes sense, due to situation).

I'm browsing holiday cottages / lodges in Suffolk for between Christmas and New Year, and I'm pondering my 'must haves'.

Obviously, everyone has their own 'must haves'. In our case, we only go out for a few hours a day. the rest of the time we spend In the cottage.
so my must haves are:

Excellent wifi
Good sized Smart TV with Netflix at a minimum, ideally Amazon and ability to have other apps
King sized bed

There are so few places that have smart TVs -
I'm actually thinking about bringing one! And so many places only have a double bed. My DH is 6'4". Double beds mean rubbish sleep for us.

Renters: what are your must haves?
And owners - can you get me smart tv and massive bed pls?!

if it has a washing machine, an airer to dry clothes on is essential. We stayed at a self catering lodge last summer with a hot tub and washing machine, but no airer to hang clothes to dry on, we ended up buying a cheap one and bringing it home again!

Helpful thread thank you :) I might come back to ask some specific questions ad an owner

Must have washing machine, preferably a dryer or place to dry clothes
Must have dishwasher
Must have bath
Must have decent shower
Must have minimum of king size bed
Bedding must be 100% cotton
Not leather sofas
Must have dimmable lights or lamps for use in evening

My wish list (and I'm ready to book) are king size bed, tv, linens & towels and secure parking as we may use motorbikes. Washing machine and dryer a bit plus because luggage space is limited on bikes.

Not bothered about a tv at all but definitely would like:

Huge bed
WiFi
Very, very clean.

Washing machine
Dishwasher
Outdoor area
Hot tub
(Which we pay a premium for...)

Washing machine (with a washing line or a tumble dryer)
Wifi (though we tell the kids there's none!)
A king sized bed (we have this at home and sharing a double is not comfortable)
Black out blinds (though we always pack tin foil and masking tape for the bedroom windows so would use this if needed)
A shower (powerful enough to rinse lots of hair)
A garden (we don't have one so we only book places that do have them)
I also expect to be able to prepare a meal each evening so oven dish/good knife/serving spoon/salad bowl etc.

Off road parking
Good wifi
Washing machine and preferably tumble dryer, ironing board and iron. Airer if no dryer.
Well equipped kitchen with at least one dishwasher tablet per day if there is a DW.
Space for coats and walking boots etc
Normal thin curtains plus blackout blinds, I hate waking up in the dark so I'd just use the curtains.
Garden or decent sized patio or balcony with table and chairs and preferably loungers too.

Oh yes and a bath as well as a shower. Don't mind shower over bath, in fact I prefer these to cubicles.

Comfortable bed.

More than 1 toilet paper roll.
Shower.
Powerpoints.
Bath mat and tea towel.
wifi.
board games.
good curtains/if not blackout
table and chairs for eating outside
somewhere to dry clothes and towels if by the beach.
basics like oil, salt, pepper in cupboard.
At least 1 decent knife.
A note containing information on what to do with rubbish/recycling, local supermarket, best pubs near by. local hidden gems.

couldn't care less about TV - I don't go away to sit and watch TV.

It's there a reason why it has to be a smart TV? We use a Chromecast or fire stick at home so people can cast their own pet favourite viewing apps, intrigued as to how the smart TV would be an improvement?

If there's an outside area it's nice to have a couple of sun loungers - even just the foldy ones, or 'comfier' garden chairs than just the ones that come with tables.

No cheap scented candles

Definitely nothing vanilla scented

Just fresh and clean. Cleanliness should be tip top

@Adamandtheaunts - that would work too, as long as the TV was modern enough to have the USB ports. One rental last year didn't even have that 😱

At least 2 large saucepans signs that it’s possible to make a family meal. So often there is only one which is no good if eg you are making Spag Bol.

When my dc were younger I preferred if there were not too many table lamps & knick knacks to get knocked over.

Yes to no scented stuff, I do not want reed diffusers etc.

I'm not bothered about smart TV either.

King, ideally super-king, sized bed.
Excellent WiFi.
Plenty of comfy seats in the living room, enough for all the guests...if you have 6 beds then 4 comfy seats is not enough.
Decent water pressure in the shower.
Clean, plain, cotton bedding with plump clean pillows and duvet with washable cotton protectors.
If you have a washing machine, dish washer or coffee machine, please stock a few detergent/coffee pods.
Clear guidance on bins/recycling. I'll do what I can to make sure it is correctly sorted and put out...but you need to tell me your local rules.

Wifi
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Linen included and beds made up
A couple of decent knives in the kitchen rather than blunt ones
Decent shower and bath
Pegs if you have a washing line

Our cottages have all that except we assume people will sign into their own amazon prime and Netflix accounts etc on the Smart TV.

We pondered getting a separate Netflix subscription but decided its actually quite a personal thing and I'm not sure if there's a way of 'wiping' what the last guests watched? You also run into issues around sharing the account information etc.

Amazon a Prime no way as you can order stuff not covered under prime.

We are nowhere near Suffolk though sorry.

Washing machine
Tumble dryer - as well as for drying clothes, there never seems to be enough towel rail space to dry off bath towels between uses so I often give them a quick spin in the tumble dryer. I hate having to dry myself with an already damp towel!
Dedicated parking that's easy to drive into (not like the 24 point turn we had to execute at a holiday cottage in Falmouth).
Well ventilated bathrooms (see tumble dryer above)
Secure outside space for the dog
Pubs, restaurants, shops etc in walking distance
No slippy leather sofas
No passive aggressive officious notices plastered about!

Washer / dryer
Decent pans / knives / kitchen equipment / corkscrew
Enough crockery and cutlery that you don't need to run the dishwasher half empty
Tupperware storage containers
Enough cleaning products - i.e. more than 1 bin bag, sponge or tiny bottle of washing up liquid
Decent bedding and a choice of anti-allergy bedding if feather bedding routinely provided
Reliable wifi
Extremely clean

As others have said, enough sofas and comfy seating for the evenings. Not uncomfortable leather. I want to relax in the evening in comfort.

We are a family of five and my pet peeve is when our booking is accepted and an extra bed is set up (great!) but the kitchen is obviously only meant for four. We pay extra for the fifth person and they deserve a mug, glass, chair etc.!

Pubs, restaurants, shops etc in walking distance

That might be a bit outside the owners' control .

Enough plates, glasses, cups & cutlery
Good range of kitchen utensils & pans
King sized bed
Extra pillows
Good WiFi
Radio / music system
Plenty of sockets for chargers etc
Decent shower
Welcome basket with bread, milk, tea, coffee, cereal etc

Why would you go on holiday to just watch the tv?