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?!

Enclosed garden. But please put the bins, and any compost bin, in a secure area so that when children are playing in the garden you don't have to worry about their curiosity for the compost heap ...

Television capable of USB (so we can bring Chromecast). Please fix it to the wall or to a cabinet, children shouldn't be able to push it off the table. Oh, and please can you regularly re-tune it, preferably after Freeview move their channels around? Or if you're not going to do that, don't change the password and prevent guests from re-tuning it for you.

No ornaments, no pot-pourri, no dried flowers - nothing within child arm reach. I don't mind ornaments on a high mantlepiece, but I'd rather not have to 'child-proof' the room.

Large mugs. (We tend to bring our own.) How about a range of mug sizes to please everyone?

Tell me if there's a dishwasher, and we'll bring enough tablets for the week.

A casserole dish! I like to make oven curries, or at least slow-heat two or three portions of shop-bought curry.

Don't give us a set arrival time, be flexible (key caddy) or live next door. Driving is stressful, worrying if we will be early and need to kill time or be late due to traffic just makes us frazzled. We are not responsible for the traffic on the A30.

DH would say "a deep bath".

Wifi of the fastest that you can get (we accept that sometimes it is rural and therefore pretty slow).

If there's an obvious children's bedroom, don't have pictures on the wall / wall cabinets (I'm looking at you, Haven) / wall lights / television in grab reach. And put simple cabinet locks on the wardrobe (after you've fixed the wardrobe to the wall).

Some empty kitchen cupboards! So often we go away and hosts have filled all the kitchen cupboards. Where do I put my week's supply of treat food and picnic lunch stuff?! Often on top of the oven hob etc. Does my frock in.

A decent size fridge. And a freezer. Not just the drawer at the top of a fridge.

Decent wine glasses. Often they are like the freebies from petrol stations in the 80s.

Kitchen roll, oil, vinegar and salt in the cupboard. Extra points for ketchup.

One than one loo roll please.

Stay in the house/cottage yourself for a few days. It'll be easy to see what's right and what's wrong pretty quickly.

Decent knives /sharpener
Baking trays that you can put a pizza on
A receptacle for making a big lasgne or similar in

Decent sized mugs , ditto wine glasses
Washing up bowl and drainer and a dishwasher
Washing machine
Tumble dryer - not washer dryer, or at the very least a couple of decent sized airers
Freezer space, not just a teeny sized ice box for ice cubes
Decent sized TV , doesnt need to be huge
Digital radio is also nice
Extra pillows
Cleaning stuff
Decent Wifi
A good powerful shower

Don't mind leather sofas

Washing machine and an airer to dry clothes, so annoying having wet washing balancing on the doors! If it's a beach let then two bathrooms, so we can use one as the "sand shower", plus beach towels provided as well as the indoor ones. Draining rack! So few holiday lets seem to have a place to put clean wet dishes. Sharp knives, dishwasher tablets, surface spray, dustpan and brush.

My favourite places have:

• a least one properly sharp knife (too many drawers of blunt ones)
• a way of making proper coffee - doesn't need to be a fancy machine, a cafetiere or bialetti type stove pot is fine
• enough plates, mugs and glasses that I only have to run the dishwasher once daily - so a bare mininum of 12 place settings for a 4 person house
• short list of recommendations for best local restaurants and takeaways
• Proper cleaning equipment. We've stay in too many places where the only bangs on about leaving the place spotless (not a problem) but then locks the hoover away and leaves no broom or dustpan .

owner, not only

In addition to your excellent wifi and king size bed, my must haves would be:

• very good hotel standard linen
• dishwasher
• immaculate and v modern bathroom and kitchen
• neutral tones with only occasional colour accents

Oh god I just thought - a corkscrew and bottle opener (can be 2 in 1)!

Nothing worse than arriving for a nice break with some nice wine or beers and then not being able to open them!

@Bawdrip - YES - hooks!!

Many many many hooks, everywhere.

And plug sockets next to the bed pls.

Based on many years of self catering:

No ornaments or twiggy stuff please. It gets knocked over or covered with dust.
Dishwasher and washing machine both essential. As are an airer and pegs.

More than one full loo roll per toilet please.
Knives to be sharp but not surgically sharp. I sliced myself three times on the same day last year.

A shower should have decent pressure. Otherwise DD1 will be in there until check out time.

And something I don't want again- fleas in the beds.
You know who you are, so called luxury cottage in Somerset.

A decent tin opener!

@pigoons

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

Why would you need to run the dishwasher half empty? Why wouldn’t you just wash the cutlery normally in the sink?

I like decent white towels and cotton bedding
Comfortable pillows
King size bed
Comfy sofa and living space seating
WiFi
A reasonably well stocked kitchen eg no blunt knives, a garlic press, large enough pans if you go as a family.
Cleanliness

I'm pretty easily pleased. I like luxury as much as the next person, but what I actually expect is that the basics are done well.

@AbacabMR

You sound really kind! And actually, your suggestion of an extra bedroom is genius and I shall adopt it if we go stay anywhere again. We've booked 2 bedroom cottages with friends before - but I'm happy to pay the extra on a 3 bedroom if it means I don't have to share with DH.

Thank you so much. It never, ever occurred to me.

If you own a holiday let, go stay in it from time to time (out of season). Just pack your bag as if you were going on holiday and go. If you have to pop home for things or go to the shops to get things - then you need to add them to the inventory.

Proper full sized bath sheets, I hate it when they supply towels that just cover my bum (and lots of them do)
I like a properly equipped kitchen with non stick frying pans. Not everyone eats out all the time when they're on holiday.
Good WiFi is essential.
I like a mirror near a plug socket (preferably with a dressing table, I've lost track of the number of cottages I've stayed in where I have to dry my hair by guesswork because the mirror is fixed on the opposite side of the room to the socket.
More than one teatowel for a week's holiday would be lovely, so many only leave one.

Spotlessly clean. King size bed. Comfortable sofas. Washing machine and dryer.

Re woodburning stoves etc please leave matches and a decent supply of wood. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage in Yorkshire but no matches! So no fire that night after a very long drive...Also firelighters...

Such is my loathing for leather furniture that I've rejected holiday cottages and apartments on that detail alone. I just hate it! I should have put leather sofas and chairs on the "what gives you the heebiejeebies?" thread.

BED!!

So many only have doubles. I need a king at least, preferably a super king if the room is big enough.

If the bed has a cheap looking pine frame I know the mattress is going to be cheap and uncomfortable too.

Horrible cheap mattresses even in higher end properties.

@BlusteryLake - yes - draining rack!!! Why do so few places have them?

Ditto what people have said about double beds - OK for one but definitely not OK for two. A good, powerful shower. A basic little set in the kitchen of olive oil, salt and pepper, sugar, good tea and coffee, cafetiere. Ice in the freezer, stair guards for those with little ones, and fast wifi if possible.
Ah yes, as someone said sharp knives, I bloody hate blunt ones!

A salad spinner 😂

I wish I could stay in these places! My only requirements are it’s clean and has a comfortable bed 😳

I’m saving more for my holiday next year 😍

Ditto what people have said about double beds - OK for one but definitely not OK for two

Even though they're called double beds? DH and I aren't the Borrowers but we happily sleep in a double bed.

I used to own a B&B which had a kitchenette in the family room (which had a separate twin room for the children). It did have a superking as it happens but I'm so glad I'm out of it now. Leather sofa - not leather - leather - not leather etc. It's a bloody minefield and while I did a good job I think, I bloody hated everyone in the end. Not that they would ever have known as I was very lovely to everyone. Even that American family...