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?!

A proper size fridge freezer not one of those little under counter fridges with a tiny ice box.
Airer
Good off road parking
Tv in the bedroom
Local takeaway/delivery menus
Good WiFi
Good shower
Recycling facilities
2 sets of crockery and cutlery
Non wooden chopping board
No glass chopping board
Pint of fresh milk in the fridge For a cup of tea when arriving
Non scented conditioner used on bedding and towels
Decent size mugs
Wine glasses that don’t look ultra fragile
Good chopping knives

Lounge is huge, should we add a sofa bed or a single in the corner as a 'day bed' or neither?

Couldn't care less about having a day bed. And I completely discount any kind of sleeping arrangements in the living room - no one wants to be pulling out a sofa bed every day, or waiting for people to finish watching telly so they can go to bed.

Wine fridge (it’s my new must)
Fans. (It was really hot when we went to a lodge last year and we had to bring our own fans which was a real pain)

Off road parking that is easy to find and to get in and out off. The stress of getting out of a blind driveway on to an A road undoes any holiday de-stressing.

No allergens (including no feather pillows or duvets, no fabric conditioner, no scented air fresheners or similar, no pets allowed, thoroughly dusted).

WiFi that is consistently available, and not super slow.

Comfy sofas for evening lounging (which fit more than the number of people who book - so a three seater and an armchair is not enough for a family of four to be comfortable).

I wouldn't need a washing machine / drier. We would never put a wash on while we're on holiday. Wouldn't use a dishwasher either - we don't have one at home so it wouldn't get touched.

A decent sized TV - we've stayed in one where it was a tiny 15 inch thing. It doesn't have to be enormous - just big enough we could sit on separate couches / chairs and all see it.

@@SquirrelFan Also don't be put off by train journeys with one or two changes. Devon and Cornwall has lots of lovely places for which you need to change onto a small branch line, usually a lovely part of the journey.

no one wants to be pulling out a sofa bed every day, or waiting for people to finish watching telly so they can go to bed.
To be fair this depends on your budget. We normally love an extra bed solution because otherwise a 3 bed property costs a lot more than 2!

Not leather sofas
No sofas covered in throws
Decent TV doesn't have to be massive
Good clear photos of all the rooms
Garden
Wifi
No clutter or knickknacks

Basically it has to be as nice or nicer than our own home!

I've just read through the whole thread and the only things we don't provide is a wine fridge (we have lots of fridge space but not a separate fridge for wine) nor a smart TV (but have a hdmi lead to connect to a laptop) . In 17 years of renting I can honestly say that I have never been asked for either.

Oh and we do have one property with a Friday to Friday let. It is because we can't do everything on a Saturday, but it has the advantage of being able to slip seamlessly from week-end let's to week long let's.

What a great thread.

We've stayed at a fair few cottages in our time, and my requirements are as follows:

A 'spare' bedroom - there's only the 2 of us but we like to have a bit of extra space.

A king-size or super-king bed.

Soft furnishings that match / co-ordinate. When you see some photos on holiday let websites where there's some horrid 1980s faded pink flowery curtains and a cheap blue checked duvet cover, for example, that is a NO from me! I like things to co-ordinate in my own home, so why would I pay decent money to go and stay somewhere that's just been furnished with castoffs from their relatives' houses?!

If there's a woodburning stove, please leave a packet of firelighters, some matches, and a decent supply of wood. Even if an extra £20 was added on to the price of the holiday - I wouldn't know that would I? It just seems so penny pinching to charge extra for wood.

Off street parking.

A good selection of books, I always bring a couple of my own anyway, but I seem to get through them quicker on holiday!

A small welcome pack and some basic household essentials.

Peace and quiet! We stayed in a cottage on a farm about 10 years ago that, on the surface, was absolutely perfect. Except the farmer kept coming to the door to "see how we were", and DH and I were too paralysed with politeness to be anything other than nice. In fact there were 2 occasions when I opened the door and he said "ooh, I timed that just right, I heard the kettle boiling" and we actually ended up inviting him in! FFS 🤣. I'm laughing about it now because if that happened these days it'd be a very different outcome - thank you, menopause! 🤣

Why no leather sofas? We have them at home ...

Sorry, I missed something - why are people so against leather sofas? We have them ourselves here and I prefer them in a holiday cottage too. I just think they're easier to clean if (when!) I drop wee bits of chocolate on them!

Springcatkin - snap!

Decent mattress, preferably king size, a proper shower, not a dribble, or if not, a bath I can lie down in. I am 5’8” and hate short baths. Plenty of hot water, not tepid.

A corkscrew, wine glasses, a decent tv, candles and matches for when the power inevitably goes, and an airer I can stand in the sun, so the bathroom doesn’t smell damp.

I’m not bothered about WiFi or 4g but peace, birdsong and somewhere to sit in the sun (summer) or a log burner (winter) are essential.

Blackout blinds in the bedrooms, or lined curtains.

Some of you are hard to please!

My only must haves (ie I filter out any properties that don't have them) are WiFi and off street parking, though the last place we rented had a permit for free parking in the nearby public car park which was acceptable. In recent years, all linen provided has become important too, but for years when the children were small, we were happy to take our own sheets and towels.

Other than that, I look at the photos, judge the acceptability of the location, prefer en suite bathrooms but with a family of 6 would settle for 2 bathrooms, no fewer.

One plea I would make to owners though: bear in mind that people holiday with older children too. Mine dont mind sharing rooms but they are way too old to share double beds. It can be really hard to find rentals that sleep 6 with one double bed and 4 singles. It is usually 3 doubles, or bunk beds for small children. It would be so nice if you bought beds that zip together so most of your guests have the option of large doubles, but for families like mine, we can accommodate adult single children.

I'm not keen on leather sofas, much prefer fabric. It wouldn't be a deciding factor though.

Large mugs. When I make tea, I need a decent sized mug, I hate cottages that only have small ones.

Tea towels, the amount of cottages that I have been to that only have one! And hand towels, you often only get one per person, fine except I need a couple for the kitchen and two for each bathroom (one in use and one in the wash). An airer as well as a washing line and pegs and a decent ironing board, not one from 1963! Oven trays, how do you make a quick pizzas for 6 with one bloody oven tray? Decent sized wine glasses are nice but not as essential as the other things.

I always pack oven trays, dish towels and hand towels and i would prefer not to.

Leather sofas are practical but cold and not cosy.

I'd never go anywhere I was expected to bring my own sheets etc.

@Springcatkin I would agree to do 2x singles in the other room, linked if possible for flexibility. Don’t make the room too squashed with beds, keep it simple. Also for the lounge, if you have the room you could have a sofa bed if it looks like a proper sofa, and is comfortable (they tend to be hard IMO) just for extra flexibility and as long as there is storage for the extra bedding. People don’t need to use it as a bed. No need to remove the desk if you don’t need to and it suits the room.

Thanks for your comments, @Apossibility84 and @Squirrelfan, I have sent you both PMs.

Ours has the following which are musts for me

Small front garden (I don’t like the idea of a front door opening onto a road/pavement as I have a five year old).
Off road parking.
Dishwasher (and enough dishwasher tabs).
Enough crockery etc for everyone to eat without washing up between every meal.
Good quality knives, pans etc.
Good wifi.
Access to ports in the TV to plug in a console.
100% cotton bedding.
Superking bed.
Seperate bath and shower.
Washing machine and clothes horse.

I always take my own knives, peeler, magiwhisk and corkscrew on SC holidays - but definitely yes to a decent number of large saucepans/trays/oven dishes. Some of us love cooking and don't want to eat out or have takeaway food every night!

I hate bunkbeds. so restrictive. Zip and link way to go