What would be in your dream holiday house?

[Pynapple]

DH and I have been lucky enough to inherit a beautiful old house by the sea in Devon that we are about to completely renovate.

We're going to let it as a holiday house before moving there in a few years.

So; what would be in your ideal holiday house? I want to make it as bright, airy and easy to stay in as possible.

We have 3 small children and a dog so it'll be decorated with that in mind. It has 6 bedrooms, and a basement that will have a little snug that we will do as a TV/cinema room, and a little games room with a pool table.

What would you like to see?

I'm thinking Nespresso machine with pods, washer and dryer available, decent high chair etc.

Ideas very welcome!

Dishwasher, good wifi/tv connection, ideally a king size or bigger bed in the master bedroom, enough showers/baths for the number of people who will stay.

Thank you!

Definitely putting in big beds - we're thinking 2 super king, 2 double and 2 twin rooms.

There's 3 bathrooms so a bath and a shower each for every 2 bedrooms.

Don’t do the pods. 100% guests will take them home with them.

Dog friendly is important to me, and I’ve been to a cottage that doesn’t have scissors which really bugged me.

I like books and games left over/available to use. Dishwasher. Washing machine helps us to pack light.

Decent knives.

Definitely twin beds - older kids do not like sharing

Oh yes, scissors are vital!

Re the pods, I'd leave enough for a week and expect them to be used or taken.

Yes to books and games too.

We have a dog, and it's a fab place to take them so we'll make it dog friendly. Maybe a jar of dog treats!

What's your target market? Will you accept hen parties for example? 6 beds is an interesting size, so I'm guessing probably groups, or a couple of families, or a larger extended family. If it's by the sea can you have an outdoor shower to rinse off before coming in the house? Safe storage for bikes/boards? I know it's a bit of a Mumsnet thing, but for that size I'd consider 2 dishwashers if you have the room. Can 12 people eat together in the same room? Is there enough outside furniture for the same number? Lots of crockery, and decent large cookware if you may have 12 people staying!

Dog bath in the utility room and dog dryer and dog drying robe and towels. Honestly this will be as good for the house as for your guests!

Lots of big towels! Not tiny towels that hardly wrap around you unless you're really petite.

Staff and a heated, indoor pool of a decent size.

No hen parties, we are thinking extended families. It's a family area and we like the neighbours so want to keep it calm and friendly!

There's room for a huge 12 seater dining table and accompanying amounts of crockery.

There's lots of outside space so good idea re bikes and boards! Thank you.

Downstairs doggy shower is going in; wouldn't be too much work to make it human usable too!

@FelicityFlops - sounds lovely! Let me know if you find a place like this and I'll rent it for my lot!

I love these threads - some of the things people suggest!

If you aren't providing an avocado slicer, hand woven 1 million thread count bed sheets and custom made slippers for all guests, then don't expect to see my money.

@Hasselhoffsheadband

Big towels a must. Nothing worse than choosing between a cold bum and cold shoulders after a bath.

Oh, and maybe a travel cot and star gates available for anyone who needs one?

Also, plenty of shelf space and hooks in the bathrooms. Heated towel rails also a bonus!

The last rental we stayed in had a good large shoe rack right by the front door, and asked people to take their shoes off to protect the wooden floors. Particularly if you've potentially got people coming back from muddy walks I thought that was a good idea.

Good idea @FindMeInTheSunshine - they're easy enough to keep in a cupboard.

Love the idea re shoe racks too - thank you!

If you're renting year round, some heated blankets would be a nice addition. We stayed somewhere once over Christmas and being able to snuggle under a heated blanket would've made it even more perfect.

A fully enclosed garden area so people aren't worried about their charges running off and escaping into the neighbourhood.

A stand full of information leaflets about local attractions.

Enough baking trays, saucepans and pyrex dishes.

We have a holiday let. We try and consider the environment and local trade as much as possible.

So no coffee pod machine as one item use and creates lots of rubbish ( that guests prob won’t recycle).

Local ground coffee company. Local produced apple juice.
No mini hotel type toiletries. All hand soap and dishwasher stuff is eco refill. Local made solid bar soap/ shampoo included ( new bar each time obviously)

We also have easy to maintain herb garden on terrace. Guests love they can pick own mint/ rosemary/ chives/ thyme/ parsley.

The babybjorn travel cot is the best for quality and space saving imo. Even if a tad more expensive. The whole thing can be unzipped and in washing machine if needed

Dh and Brad Pitt circa 1990 on rotation

A good, modern SMART TV which works properly. It’s nice to chill out with a film sometimes…..but not if the only TV is ancient, tiny and basically crap.

A big casserole pot. I like to do one pot meals when I'm on holiday- lots of ingredients in big pot and shove in oven for a couple of hours whilst we go for a walk. You'd be surprised the number of holiday lets we have been to that don't have cooking dishes big enough for the number of people that can stay there!

When you advertise it, please ensure clear photos of each bedroom, and no close-ups of a vase! Drives me mental when you can't be confident what the bed to room ratio is, we travel with teens that can not share, and often factor in additional family members, so it is impossible if you can't see clearly what the layout is.

Have a knife sharpener, and avoid appliances where you need a manual to operate.

A tea pot is lovely.

Games and books are nice, and also, a bunch of takeaway and tourist leaflets.

Welcome box is lovely, local goodies can be nice (we got bara brith, Welsh butter and Welsh cakes in Fishguard). Or just enough to make tea and toast

Also providing hand soap is great, nothing worse than arriving and realising you have none!

Also re eco credentials, it’s things local authorities and booking.coma re starting to look at.
Our local area we have to pay a tourist tax now per year. The amount is reduced because we have less ‘impact’. Things to consider like rain shower that adds air so uses less water, eco flush toilets, garden compost area etc.
All will be hugely beneficial to you also in future if you live there

comfy beds
blackout curtains
coat hooks
enough seating (comfy & eating) for the number of bed spaces

Me and my extended family love booking holidays together but with the sisters, partners and all of us having 8 kids between us it's a nightmare. What wet have found is that our kids age 5-10 REALLY want to share a room with their cousins. So a room with 2 sets of bunk beds or double bottom/single tops etc would be wonderful.

Really good quality mattresses and plenty of spare pillows. I've got RA and GERD and one night on crappy mattress cause me days off pain. I need extra pillows to raise my chest/head so I don't inhale stomach acid. And I hate dedicating car boot space to taking my own 3 pillows.