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?!

@Springcatkin

Finally finished it here Any comments on how the make it more appealing / anything we need to add? Have got 12 plates, cutlery etc, pans plus large wok and frying pan, loads of mugs in various sizes, casserole dishes and storage boxes.

It says no pets allowed but there’s a cat in one of the photos? No pets has to mean no pets - my Dd would be puffy faced & sneezing within 5 minutes of a cat has been in the house

I was also going to comment on the no pets and then a photo with a cat! Also, you say the dining table seats six, but it looks like it only seats four, if you want it to show it seats six (comfortably), I would include a photo of it set up for six.

Is there seating in the lounge for six?

Sorry, another one from me! You say it sleeps six, yet having looked at the photos and read the description, I can only see a master bedroom which sleeps two and a second bedroom which has twin beds, where do the other two people sleep? For us booking somewhere, we would need three bedrooms and a lounge still.

On the plus side, I like that heating can be controlled by the residents, the extra crockery, the use of a utility room and patio area, we would consider staying there, but have children (11 and 15), so wouldn't be able to.

@Ariela

Can I ask OP why a smart TV is such a must have on holiday? Surely you can watch TV at home, holiday is for walks, exploring, views, countryside, etc. Not sitting watching TV. Unless you never get a chance at home perhaps?

Thanks for that, @Ariela.

Why do you assume that ALL holidays must be like YOUR holidays?

My DD is disabled so we only go out for a couple of hours each day then spend the rest of the time in a (hopefully) lovely cottage and watch movies / shows / whatever together.

You should perhaps widen your horizons and realise that people have different needs and requirements.

Curtains or blinds with blackout lining. I do not wish to wake up at dawn on holiday.

@Springcatkin

Finally finished it here Any comments on how the make it more appealing / anything we need to add? Have got 12 plates, cutlery etc, pans plus large wok and frying pan, loads of mugs in various sizes, casserole dishes and storage boxes.

It's a lovely setting, Springkin. Looks lovely and rural.

What sort of market are you aiming at?

WiFi
Decent size TV, like 50”
We all have big TVs now so don’t want to go on holiday with a caravan size one. We won’t steal it.
RegularLy replaced mattress. Sagging and leaning is the pits.
Big bath towels. I’ve spent a fortune so give me bath sheet size ones not one I can’t even fit around me. If I’m there for a week give me a replacement or the ability to wash and tumble dry.
Spiders. Please get rid of the webs and spiders I the corners and behind the bed frame which are easily seen.

Wow, I am seeing how the other half live!
Just back from a gorgeous week away. Cottage was next door to owners (strike one), had a bazillion ornaments and 'things' including china displayed in glass fronted cabinets (strike two), two double not king beds (strike three), non smart TV (four), barely any WiFi or 4G (five).

The owner was such a lovely lady, we barely saw her except at the start and end, everything worked, there was plenty of kitchen equipment and loo roll, and the peace and quiet was amazing. We heard owls hooting at night!

We actually really liked all the random pictures, china, ornaments, and the lack of connectivity. DD was careful and didn't grab or break anything, as she is at home. It was fun staying somewhere decorated in such a different style to what we are used to.

Honestly, unless you are paying thousands for a weeks' holiday, a lot of these 'must haves' are quite demanding.

For me, if you advertise it as pet free, it really should be pet free. Not, oh well when my in laws use it they bring their cat, and when I'm cleaning the dog comes in with me. We stayed in a a beautiful place in the August just before my daughter started school. I was ill all week with my (normally very mild) asthma because there had been pets in there, and it went on for months. I had multiple courses of steroids and had to have new medications that I'd never had before, and I was still ill at Christmas.

Agree that it needs to be better than my own house.

I’m not going to pay £4k for a worse night sleep and less good shower than I could have at home.

I really appreciate enough toilet paper/dishwasher tabs/cleaning spray so that I don’t need to buy more.

But the single most important thing is it needs to be scrupulously clean. If your sofa cushion is marked, clean it or get rid. If your towels are threadbare, replace. Clean everything and then clean it again.

My pet peeve about holiday lets is small bedrooms. I want to get out of bed without bumping into something! It’s grest to have a king size bed but if the room isn’t big enough to sensibly accommodate it it’s an obstacle course to get out of bed to get to the loo in the middle of the night!

A large bed with posh mattress. A change of bed linen and a blanket in case it gets cold.

A decent shower.

More than one towel. For the money that's being spent, give us enough to dry ourselves.

A tumble dryer. Saves you having to deal with wet towels strewn across the bathroom because there's nowhere to dry them.

A washing machine with a quick wash function and some washing powder tablets.

Tea towels or kitchen roll. A spray cleaner for the kitchen and any spills.

A small bottle of washing up liquid.

More than 1 chipped mug and 2 glasses.

A kitchen knife that actually cuts, a fish slice, slotted spoon and a colander.

A potato peeler, can opener and bottle opener.

If the fridge has an icebox, finding ice already in there is brilliant. Or if you're really fancy, an American fridge with icemaker.

A mop, bucket and broom/dustpan and brush.

A decent non stick pan.

Bin bags.

Somewhere to hang clothes up. It's all very well having magnetic locks on your built in wardrobe to keep your stuff safe, but it would be nice to be able to take clothes out of bags and at least get some creases out by putting them in the bathroom whilst the shower is on.

Wifi.

Salt and pepper in the cupboard.

It would be marvellous if there was a small jar of instant coffee, a box of fresh teabags and a pint of milk in the fridge.

Do all those things and you'll a) have a clean and tidy property to go through as quickly as possible for turnaround and b) probably get a repeat booking.

@Springcatkin

Finally finished it here Any comments on how the make it more appealing / anything we need to add? Have got 12 plates, cutlery etc, pans plus large wok and frying pan, loads of mugs in various sizes, casserole dishes and storage boxes.

No pets allowed, but your 5 cats are likely to visit?

That would put me off straight away.

Thanks I'll update on no pets - we mean no visiting dogs but do state in the description that there have been cats in the house and they will most likely visit.

@Angelnix
Would be happy with an 11 and 15yr old, just dont want small children.

The extra sleeping is a sofa bed in the lounge so I realise not suitable for everyone.

@Springcatkin

It so much better to under advertise and over deliver than over advertise and under deliver.

With that in mind I’d advertise as sleeps 4 (or 5 if you must) suggesting that the house accommodates two people on a sofa bed in the only living room would be seen as misleading by most.

You must be clear that this is not a pet free house. What does cats may visit mean? That they’ll be in the property?? I think you’ll really limit your market if you won’t allow people to bring their own pets but will subject them to yours.

[quote PegasusReturns]**@Springcatkin

It so much better to under advertise and over deliver than over advertise and under deliver.

With that in mind I’d advertise as sleeps 4 (or 5 if you must) suggesting that the house accommodates two people on a sofa bed in the only living room would be seen as misleading by most.

You must be clear that this is not a pet free house. What does cats may visit mean? That they’ll be in the property?? I think you’ll really limit your market if you won’t allow people to bring their own pets but will subject them to yours.[/quote]
@Springcatkin , I agree with @PegasusReturns .

If your cats really will be in and out of the holiday cottage, I think you should make that really clear, (and perhaps a feature?).

It would be off putting for me.

I've got a real phobia of cats so I couldn't stay at that cottage.

To not cost an absolute fortune.

I live in the US (but I'm a Brit) and the experience of holiday cottages in the US and UK are incredibly similar.

We just had a week away in our own state, and the cottage had 49 different glasses for alcohol, 6 frying pans and 1 saucepan!

Luckily it was very close to a load of places for food (groceries, take-out or a restaurant) and I managed to improvise when we did just eat at the cottage, but like many people, I actually enjoy a quiet evening where I just have beans on toast and watch some TV.

Must have - power shower, fans available, a decent hob

@glitterfarts

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.

We stayed in a lovely cottage last year in Gargrave. It pretty much matches everything from what you want apart from board games. 2 mins away from the local Co op, pub just up the road, brewers fayre about 10-15 mins away if walking and close by to nice canal walks. 4 miles into Skipton if walking along the canal. We've booked to go again soon and it's lovely a quiet too Only downside is it's nearish to a pig farm so you can smell a lot of pig 💩 on a night time. My DSis relished the smell of it I was practically gagging every time we went for a walk on a night time. I did have a heightened sense of smell due to Pregnancy though but I didn't realise that until the end of the holiday

@iklboo

One of the best holiday cottages we stayed at had rocking chairs on the porch. Bliss at night with a drink and some quiet music. It also had chickens that came to visit in the morning and you could buy feed and their eggs from the main cottage. Not that chickens are a must 😄

That sounds perfect. Where was it please?