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?!

We stayed at a villa in Spain once and got there fairly late. We had toddlers and it was prob 15 min drive to the supermarket. They left a great welcome pack which had pasta, sauce, cheese, milk, bread, a bottle of wine,tea, coffee and biscuits. It was great as we could make an evening meal and not have to head to the shops til the next day. I wish more places offered that as an optional extra for say £20.

Things I don't want - a glass chopping board

A must is clean linen. I'd rather sleep in two single beds in a scrupulously clean place than in a king size which is just ok or just fits in a room. If we go away with another family there aren't usually two masters. I wouldn't expect large bedrooms in a cottage. Two bathrooms and enough chairs if the let is for 6-8 adults.

Nice touches are dishwashing tablets and dish soap, kitchen roll, teà towels, some biscuits and tea/coffee making facilities are most welcome after a long journey.

Things I don't want - a glass chopping board

YES!!! Why do these even exist??! It's always holiday homes. I don't know a single person who has such a useless thing in their own home!

I stayed somewhere that would let you order online grocery shoppinv and put it away before we arrived. Hamper sounds brilliant.

Massive teapot
Massive cafetière
Massive cups
Massive pan for pasta
Enough crockery and cutlery so that you don’t have to wash up all the time
Dishwasher
2 kettles if accomadation is over 6 people
A sharp knife
I like basic condiments such as salt/pepper/vinegar/oil and foil/clingfilm

Not even slightly arsed about tv or WiFi

I hate places where owners are arsey/snooty about cleaning. I’ll clean up insomuch as the dishes will be washed and it is respectable looking. don’t leave ridiculous instructions. I once looked at a place where there was a £80 cleaning fee but you could choose not to pay and do it yourself. There followed about 3 pages of instructions about how to clean the grout behind the hob and how to properly strip a bed and dire warnings if the cleaning was not up to scratch. I did not book. The sort of places I go cater for kids and dogs and are in muddy forests where we spend long days in waterproofs and I expect the owners to be reasonable and not put down a cream carpet or a £1000 handwoven rug with a note next to it saying under 12s can’t walk in it unless wearing the slippers provided.

Enough pillows. Pillows are cheap- don’t be so tight about them

Decent sized mugs. I hate teeny tiny mugs. If you want a cup of tea or coffee I want the sort of mug you get in a cafe, not a bone china effort that's the same size as a tea cup.
And if you have a teapot, please have a tea cosy.

Good WiFi. Good enough to be able to stream. Smart TV. Or be honest about the technology capabilities. I don't mind bringing DVDs if I know the TV isn't up to it but I resent "excellent WiFi" which cuts out every three minutes or drops completely if there's so much as a light wind .

Pots and pans big enough for purpose.
Washing machine. Or, don't advertise one if it's then locked behind a door and "only for cleaners use"
Clothes horse (big enough) I'd pay extra for access to a heated one.

I do understand why leather sofas are appealing from a wipe-clean perspective but on a summer beach holiday I’m mostly going to be wearing shorts or short skirts and that’s a clammy combination with a leather sofa.

I'm not overly fussy but a couple of things we always look for are:

Secure garden for the dogs - and I like it even more if this is clearly stated rather than trying to guess from a photo.
A bed with no end. DH is over 6ft and struggles to sleep if there is a foot board on the bed as he can't stretch out (I am eyeing up that Suffolk place with it's emperor beds though...)

Surely just book the place that appeals to you the most and has the facilities you want? And none of the things that offend.
We have a holiday cottage and after reading some of the replies on here I'm glad we keep it mainly to ourselves and just let it to a few appreciative friends.

@GarlicMcAtackney

Lots of these things are pretty stupid ideas though. WiFi, but no WiFi Huge beds, but many beds Cutlery to be stolen by guests Fabric sofas, to be washed every week? Every possible kitchen tool under the sun. But also cupboard space. Neutral decor, but also not boring. Loads of crap to entertain my kid. But no tat. Several side tables (?!) and countless lamps.

Christ. Just stay at home. Why even bother.

I think wine fridge is overdoing it a bit. How much wine are you taking with you fgs? Surely it can just go in the ordinary fridge?

@Zenithbear

Surely just book the place that appeals to you the most and has the facilities you want? And none of the things that offend. We have a holiday cottage and after reading some of the replies on here I'm glad we keep it mainly to ourselves and just let it to a few appreciative friends.

It's more that you don't always know until you get there. Lots of places are advertised as having a "well equipped" kitchen which actually isn't, or advertise Wi-Fi and then you arrive and find it barely works.

I just want information!
Every year I spend hours trying to find somewhere with 3 or 4 twin rooms and maybe one king-size.
My older two kids are too old for small bunks, my daughter and I don't want to share a bed though a room is ok, DH and I don't share a bed at home as neither of us gets some sleep, SIL and dss don't want to share a bed either. But it's always a master, a twin and then usually two rooms with small doubles but that's not mentioned so you have to travel through photos to figure out the layout.
Similarly, is it an enclosed garden, is it shared with anyone else?

Kitchen, I'm not too fussed as we will either bring more stuff or buy more ready meals as needed, but give me information! "Well-equipped" is meaningless.

And how to work the TV and other devices.

Beyond that I'm not fussy and have loved old farmhouses with hundreds of odd kitchen items or with furniture described as "well used antiques - the ones which have survived generations of children".

@Zenithbear

Surely just book the place that appeals to you the most and has the facilities you want? And none of the things that offend.
We have a holiday cottage and after reading some of the replies on here I'm glad we keep it mainly to ourselves and just let it to a few appreciative friends.

I agree with this on an overall level. Lots of people on here making very picky requests based entirely on their own circumstances (kids, pets ect).

However there's some things on here that could be very useful to know if you're setting up a holiday home to let out.

E.g

King sized beds - lots of people seem to want them and it's not something that someone who only needs a double would be put off by, therefore probably worth the investment long term as it widens your possible customer base.

What a 'well stocked kitchen' means to people - again, yes, some people on here are very picky (e.g being put off by no garlic crusher when crushing it under a knife works just as well for the short term) but if by looking through this thread you notice that to most people this means multiple saucepans and copious amounts of cutlery you may either choose to add these to your kitchen or change the description to 'stocked with basics' to avoid bad reviews bringing your overall star rating down.

A corkscrew, or clothes rack - something that's easy to overlook, really quite cheap to add, and although some guests won't care or use it can really drastically improve the experience of other guests for a relatively small price.

I don’t understand why they ask you to clean, I think it’s a cheek! I also don’t understand why those that can don’t offer lifts from the station etc. If I ever do Airbnb on my house I’d offer lifts to sweep up the non drivers.

I’d love to see links to those properties owned by Mumsnetters on this thread! Please post them!

A bed with no end. DH is over 6ft and struggles to sleep if there is a foot board on the bed as he can't stretch out

Yes! Most of my family are over 6' tall, and they all hate beds with ends on them. This is something we check in the photos before we book.

I'm 5'7 and it would never have occurred to me that this would be an issue till I met DH.

Surely just book the place that appeals to you the most and has the facilities you want? And none of the things that offend.
We have a holiday cottage and after reading some of the replies on here I'm glad we keep it mainly to ourselves and just let it to a few appreciative friends

But how do you know it has the facilities you want if they are so cagey about it? And if you are going out and actually buying items for people to use when they stay then why do so many buy glass chopping boards, blunt knives and cups and glasses that would not look out of place in a dolls house. Why advertise that it’s for 8 people but provide 3 pans, non of which can fit enough food for 8? Why exactly 8 plates so you have nothing to serve food off and have to wash them all immediately if you want a bit of cake after dinner. Your own cottage for your own use will presumably have the things you want but if you are advertising to generic strangers you have to consider that they may want to cook and eat and drink at some point during their stay.

Why does everyone dislike leather sofas so much?

One thing that I’d like, and this applies to hotels too, is towels that can be differentiated between people - so maybe white but with various coloured stripes. I don’t need a clean towel every day but I want it to be mine!

I am currently staying in a holiday cottage which has an incredibly well equipped kitchen, but still no sharp knife. I imagine they get stolen so people don’t provide them any more. Have never come across a decent knife in a holiday let.

@frumpety

He looked after the flats himself (cleaning etc), and my colleague used to say that she always went to his house on a Saturday night, as they had a "picnic". Yup, using any leftovers that he found when he was cleaning the fridge etc. She couldn't understand why I looked so horrified, she said there was no point in letting food go to waste. Boak!

Don't see the problem with that really if there are sell by dates on stuff or it is unopened or fruit or veg ?

Sorry, I should have clarified that. It was real 'leftovers', like the remainder of a packet of ham, a tub of butter that had been used etc, she specifically mentioned those 2 things. Personally I always either take things home with me or put them in the bin, but apparently not everyone does.

(And I have leather settees AND a glass chopping board at home, oh dear!)

Any TV can be turned into a smart TV by adding a Chromecast, FireTV stick or Roku - starting prices at £30 each.

I have a spare Roku I take on holiday with me, ready logged in to all my accounts and with all the apps I want pre-installed. Alll I need is an HDMI port and some wifi and that's job done.

Don't care about TV or Wifi but a radio would be good.

Outdoor seating and table

Barbecue to save bringing one

Decent shower (bath would be even better!)

Blankets/throws for chilly evenings

Great thread (too long havent read though).

Thinking about all the cottages, houses, barns I stay in, Mine would be:

WIFI
TV
Washer Dryer
Dishwasher
Microwave
Fridgefreezer
Pads on the dining room chairs!
Enough sofas to seat the max. no of occupants!
Table lamps, bright enough to read by
Bright kitchen & bathroom lighting
Outside lighting
GOOD lighting generally
Warm wool/cotton blankets/throws
cushions
DECENT cotton bedding
Minimal decoration
Sturdy proper furniture
proper heavy curtains & blinds
Books on the local area
Proper carpets / flooring & rugs
Privacy (hedges/screens/blinds etc)
The bins nicely hidden
A welcome pack

@fairlygoodmother

Why does everyone dislike leather sofas so much?

One thing that I’d like, and this applies to hotels too, is towels that can be differentiated between people - so maybe white but with various coloured stripes. I don’t need a clean towel every day but I want it to be mine!

I am currently staying in a holiday cottage which has an incredibly well equipped kitchen, but still no sharp knife. I imagine they get stolen so people don’t provide them any more. Have never come across a decent knife in a holiday let.

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

I am genuinely curious here, what sort of prices do you pay for these places? I’ve seen some over £700 for a week, but they seem to have most of the requirements listed here. Is it worth it?

It’s my 40th next year, and I’d like to spend it in luxury or basically anything that’s better than my house 2 adults, no children, possibly 2 dogs, ideas for budget please?