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?!

Enough of everything. Towels, loo roll, washing up liquid, kitchen roll, dishcloths, tea towels.

Beds made up, including sofa beds if you have requested them to be made up.
Enough plates, bowls, glasses, etc for all the people staying plus some extras. We often meet up with friends for meals so need more than just for the 6 of us.
Dining chairs and sofa space at least equal to the amount of bed space.
Sharp knifes, and a sharpening steel. A proper chopping board. Large pans, a lasagne/roast potato sized dish, a veg peeler, a decent tin/bottle opener.
Dishwasher
Microwave
Controllable heating.
Washing machine.
Somewhere to dry towels and clothes.
No requirement to clean (other than wash up), strip beds, or hoover.
Plastic cups, bowls and plates for smaller children.
A spare set of bedding available in case of accidents.
Cleaning materials to be able to clean up after a sick/bleeding child. (Carpet cleaning liquid or similar, disinfectant)
A desk or somewhere I can work
Power sockets near the bed so I can charge up my phone.
Clear instructions for bins, etc, and enough rubbish bags.
Enough space to put food
Enough hooks to hang coats

I use holiday cottages and AirBNBs a lot, both for holidays and for work.

Oh, and wi-fi. I can live without a TV, but wifi is essential.

Somewhere that is disabled friendly.
Proper beds with good mattresses & nice bedding
Nice towels, bath sheets, towels capable of being used as turbans for drying hair, not guest towels.
Big tv
TV in master bedroom
Walk in shower with dropdown seat
Washer dryer
Dishwasher
Decent wifi
Nice pots
Decent size fridge/freezer.

I have stayed in quite a few holiday cottages of all prices & the best ones have always been the biggest static caravans, always have been well equipped, easy for me being disabled. Stayed in what was on paper a super luxury cottage & it was frankly awful, the owner had kept the furniture package that the company selling the cottages supplied, everything was cheap, beds only had foam mattresses, the sofa was lacking any padding, the dining chairs were wobbly, we should have stayed a week, came home after 5 days & had the weather not been as good would have come home sooner, had paid nearly £1k for a 2 bed cottage. Left a stinking review.

Menus for decent local takeaways, notes on where local supermarkets, butchers, bakery, newsagent, pharmacy, doctors & hospital are, somewhere to put suitcases, bags etc, if on a complex, where bins are. An arrival package, we stayed in a lovely log cabin next to a lake, the owner had fresh bread, eggs, milk, biscuits, teabags, coffee, sugar & a couple of bottles of wine in the cabin when we arrived. Things like that make it somewhere you go back to again.

Clear instructions for the bins / recycling. We stayed somewhere it was so complicated I just put stuff in the public litter bin!!

I want to stay at Rose house! Send me a link? Sharp knives- always have to take one. Plus oil and salt and pepper and clean towels. And yes yes yes to empty cupboards to put my food in!

Decent sized beds
Showers at a decent height (we're tall)
Plenty soap and spare loo rolls
Enough crockery otherwise there's no point putting stuff in the dishwasher
No decorative cushions on beds - just end up stuffing them in wardrobes out of the way!
Something nice on arrival - fruit/wine/cake.
Decent sized fridge so we can order a supermarket delivery on arrival and there's space to store stuff (once did this and arrived to find the property only had a tiny fridge)

clear instructions for the bins/recycling.

Same here, we've done the same - holiday home owners seem to forget that different areas have different rules, different bin colours, etc. Most councils send out an instruction sheet so that should be pinned somewhere in the property so guests know the score.

But I'd extend that to instructions for everything, such as the instruction booklets for all the electrical appliances being left in the property, i.e. TV, washer, cooker, central heating, etc etc. For some strange reason, we find that TVs usually aren't tuned in properly, and it's trial and error trying to work out how to set them - perhaps the lack of instructions is why they're not tuned in - i.e. prior guests messing around trying to do it without the instruction booklet!

notes on where local supermarkets, butchers, bakery, newsagent, pharmacy, doctors & hospital are

Maybe not as essential these days when most of us have google on our phones and it's easy to google for the nearest Tesco, but it was certainly an issue in the past. I remember a short stay in Venice many years ago - we just assumed there'd be a shop/supermarket nearby that sold the basics like milk, but we spent ages walking around, and ended up with some disgusting long life milk from a souvenir shop. The next day, we fell upon a proper supermarket in a basement, entrance hidden in a courtyard behind a church which was literally across the road. A note in the property to say that would have been very welcome! The noticeboard had everything else - water bus timetables, doctors/hospitals, lots of leaflets for tours/sightseeing etc., but nothing re shopping for essentials.

BBQ, comfy garden furniture, hot tub, beds with non broken mattress, kitchen basics like oil, salt, pepper, a few herbs & spices, milk in the fridge, tea, coffee, Nespresso machine or other thing to make good quality coffee and I'd pay a fortune to go swimming right now so let's also add a pool to the list! I want it to be at least as nice as my own house.

A couple of posters have asked for links. I'd love to see others. Here's ours!

We had our first booking since March (apart from for keyworkers) today. Looking forward to hosting again! I had a quick read of our last page of reviews. It makes it all worth it 😊

airbnb.com/h/coachhouseedgeofcotswolds

That didn't work for some reason, I'll try again....

abnb.me/URzkGXKOz7

Looks gorgeous. And that bath!
Will definitely bookmark for if we want to stay in that area.

Maybe different here as I'm in the US, but a lot of holiday lets here use keypads on the doors, instead of keys.

We've had a keypad on our house doors/garage doors for about 12 years and I find it very strange when I have to remember to take house keys anywhere with me now. I reckon soon there will be tech where you just get sent a code on your phone and use that, like in hotels.

Don’t care about TVs but my must haves are - An outdoor area that it safe for kids.

• A dinning table that comfortably sits everyone that sleeps there (you’d be surprised how many places will sleep 10 but only seat 6/8).

@RockyRoadster

I dislike leather sofas because they're hot and sticky in summer and cold and slippy in winter, plus, they can be hard if you dont have the squishy kind

I think you are confusing fake leather with real leather. Real leather sofas aren’t hot in summer and cold in winter.

Not at all.

I have a real leather sofa in my office which is a complete pain to sit on as its far too cold and slippy. I know it’s leather because I bought it.

I once rented a suite of rooms in Devon from a household celebrity which came with two very nice leather sofas but they were very sticky to sit on in shorts or a short dress.

My car has leather seats too and again, I find them uncomfortable in extremes of temperature.

[quote PutYourBackIntoit]That didn't work for some reason, I'll try again....

abnb.me/URzkGXKOz7[/quote]
That looks lovely but what is the sink with people in it?

@BessMarvin it's a Japanese deep soaking bath, it's fab! It allowed us to fit in a walkin shower as well as a bath. It has a shelf to sit on and retains the heat for longer. You can soak up to your neck, and our guests who visit to walk the Cotswold Way or go Mounain biking love it after a hard day. I wouldn't swap it for the main bath in our house as i think i do prefer to stretch out, but for a small bathroom and/or for a bathroom where a walk in shower is a must for accesibility for some guests, it's brilliant.

My big wish for holiday lets is to provide what they state is going to be provided.

If it says sleeps 6 and images show 6 dining chairs, description says TV and DVD player in lounge, washing machine. I expect 6 chairs a TV and DVD player and a washing machine.

Toilet roll, a hand towel and soap in the toilet closest to the door is a great bonus especially if you've just travelled on a long journey with DC. Someones bound to need to go and its a pain having to dig out your own bits from the car before unpacking.

Oooh, check out at midday, please! 10am is obnoxiously early, especially when you're on holiday.

I think 10am checkout is to allow enough time for cleaning. If it was midday you'd have to push back the check in time for the next guests.

Yes 10am check out is to allow us to clean and leave perfect for the next lot in at 3am. We're not being mean, it just wouldn't be possible otherwise. Most guests leave our place in a decent state, but we've had some corkers who've taken the mickey and it's been carnage! Our worst experience were the people who snuck a pet parrot in in its cage. The bird kicked dish and sh@t out through the bars and the holiday makers allowed it out to fly around the property which is a converted barn with lots of lovely high rafters. We were up ladders that day cleaning parrot droppings off of 'perches'.

[quote PutYourBackIntoit]@BessMarvin it's a Japanese deep soaking bath, it's fab! It allowed us to fit in a walkin shower as well as a bath. It has a shelf to sit on and retains the heat for longer. You can soak up to your neck, and our guests who visit to walk the Cotswold Way or go Mounain biking love it after a hard day. I wouldn't swap it for the main bath in our house as i think i do prefer to stretch out, but for a small bathroom and/or for a bathroom where a walk in shower is a must for accesibility for some guests, it's brilliant.[/quote]
Thanks for explaining. It amused me greatly because the angle of the photo or something it looks like a sink next to the loo with tiny people in it!

I know it's to allow time for the cleaners but I still don't like it. I'd be happier to do both 2 hours later.

After reading this, I have formed a resolution never to run holiday lets. Ever.