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!

Yes to the big casserole pot. Also chopping boards! Often forgotten in holiday rentals and you end up chopping onions on a dinner plate.

A small welcome basket is also good - the drive down to Devon can be a pig, and if they arrive late and frazzled, guests will be very grateful for some teabags, a pint of milk in the fridge and a pack of biscuits

Honestly, the most important thing to me is a comfy bed and a comfy sofa. We stayed in the most amazing new let a few years ago, it had everything in it known to man and all from John Lewis. It really was amazing...... only they'd got the beds and sofas from Ikea. We actually went home a night early because my back wasn't up to another night in that bed........

Everything else is just window dressing as far I'm concerned.

The most important thing is to match your price to the level of luxury. So if you're charging top whack then guests will expect a lot of extras. Equally though, if you're not planning on charging high prices then don't try to supply all this stuff endlessly to cater for all possible tastes as you will not make any money, especially as things will get broken or stolen from time to time. The basics include things like being spotlessly clean, having enough crockery and cutlery and towels and chairs (!) for the number of guests the property sleeps, and having adequate (don't have to be luxury, just decent) beds and bedding. Saucepans and knives that haven't come out of an Argos starter pack. Clear warnings on the advert if it doesn't include things like a dishwasher, TV or Wifi (or if the wifi is slow). A loo roll and soap to get guests started. If you want to market yourself as child friendly then all you need according to Air BnB is a high chair, travel cot and plastic crockery and cutlery. Everything else is a wonderful extra, and very much appreciated (and will get you great reviews), but you don't need it and be aware that you will have to raise your prices accordingly. There are different markets out there: lots of people do want the luxury extras and will be happy to pay for them, but there is also a huge market out there for guests who just want a reasonably priced break and are happy to bring their own cooking oil and buy their own biscuits as long as you are clear in the blurb about what you do and don't provide.

That being said, if you are going for luxury extras then I love a decent welcome basket with wine and local cake etc , and my dream property would be toddler proof so would include not just a travel cot and high chair for babies but stair gates and either a bed guard or a toddler bed.

Very sharp knives and a well-equipped kitchen, including pots that are big enough to prepare an amount of food relative to the number of people staying there.

I like to cook to relax, and pottering about when I have far more time available than usual is fun for me.

Unfortunately, previous experience has taught me that you're lucky to get a blunt paring knife and a colander in most holiday rentals.

Also, no to the Nespresso machine, horrible environmentally wasteful things. A decent cafetiere is a better bet.

A removable bed guard for that in between cot and big bed stage. Tea cups that are big enough for a decent cup of tea! A wine bottle opener is always forgotten.

What about some stuff to take to the beach?

Adequate sized pots and pans for the maximum number of people
Enough crockery, cutlery, glasses for everyone
A dishwasher big enough for same
A big fridge — again, thinking about the number of people staying
Decent chopping boards and knives
A salad spinner
A washing line outside and pegs for wet towels/beach gear
A teapot
A piano 😬
Zip lock beds which can be either doubles or singles and appropriate bedding for both (I’m always looking for houses with singles for my DC and friends)
An empty cupboard in the kitchen for food (so often in holiday lets there’s no food storage place… bizarre)
Good curtains or blinds which block out the light in bedrooms
No bossy notices

Good luck!

Hot tub
Money
Wine and food
Blue carpet
Prayer books
Old fashioned teapots etc
Floral wallpaper
Information packs or leaflets kept on a coffee table
A fruit bowl
Shoe rack or box

Decent knives.

Enough tea towels.

Further to the nespresso thing - lots of people who love coffee will want to make coffee, not a hot drink that reminds them of coffee. Stovetop bialetti, even a French press, a bean grinder. Cups to drink it from so you don’t have to use mugs.

I love the drawer full of leaflets, but maybe I'm weird!

I do like a folder/ sheet with useful info like nearest shop/ pub/ takeaway/ chemist etc.

Also books and games - check the games regularly to make sure all the pieces are still there.

A big selling point is also to provide all the random outdoor stuff that takes space in car. Maybe stored in a very small shed.
If your near the beach then a beach umbrella, maybe some folding beach chairs, buckets and spades.

Big hit here is those aqua play water play things for the garden. Ours folds into a small
suitcase sized thing.

Also came to say zip link beds. There are so many places you end up writing off because they just have King beds over twins and the configurations isn’t right for your booking. You will have a lot more versatility if you have zip link.

I will be practical with my suggestions -

A washing machine

A washing line with plenty of pegs, and ideally in a peg bag that hooks onto the washing line

A clothes horse

Big mugs

Serving plates and serving bowls

Enough cutlery and china for everyone isn’t (in my view) the same as 6 of everything in a house that sleeps six, so maybe 10 of everything in a house that sleeps six (or thereabouts)

If you have a gas hob, or a fire, a lighter

Hooks for outdoor coats, hats, umbrellas etc near the front door (plenty of)

Hooks on the back of bedroom doors (for dressing gown, or to quickly hang clothes of an evening) and bathroom doors (for dressing gowns, maybe a towel and clothes, so that they’re not taking up space and dont get wet in the bathroom) (again, plenty of)

A non-ticking clock in each bedroom

When can I come?!

Decent large beds and mattresses.
Twin bedrooms.
Blackout curtains/blinds.
Good lighting/lamps etc.
Enough plugs/charging points.
Good bedding, pillows and towels.
Heating and radiators that are easy for guests to control (I can't sleep in a warm bedroom and the temperature has spoiled my holiday sleep on more than one occasion)
Open fire in the living area.
Pool table.
Dishwasher.
Washing machine.
Garden seating and BBQ area.
Cafeteire/coffee machine.
Decent bins and clear instructions re recycling.
Decent wifi

“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!”

More useful is a couple of dog bowls and old towels - they’re the sort of thing people forget or don’t bring enough of, IME anyway.

Yes to zip lock beds.
Large fridge/freezer
Decent kitchen crockery and utensils
Enough large pots and pans.

Empty cupboard space in the kitchen so I have somewhere to put the food we have brought

Zero or minimal ornaments etc filling up window ledges, tables etc

A bookshelf with an eclectic mix of paperbacks

Definitely agree with enough plugs, and a bedside light both sides of the bed. Think about replacing the sockets by the beds and a couple of others with the ones with usb sockets.

Also agree about the put up bed. Looking at places for my family we need a couple of double rooms but with an extra single or put up bed for the children who are too young to go in a separate room on their own in a strange place.

Deffo deffo zip link beds.

I love a guest book so I can see all the things other guests have done (and their irritations!)

Wifi code displayed prominently.

No excessive notes or instructions. (Like the air bnb hosts who asked us to mow their lawn, or the the holiday home that had a list of dos and don'ts stuck to seemingly every surface. Or the holiday cottage that was on the market, unknown to us and we were asked to show some buyers around. Basically don't make your chores my chores. You can tell me when bin day is though).

Comfy sofas - not conservatory type pine or rattan ones.

Comfy beds - not hard mattress.

Bedside lamps.

A nice hamper of local produce on arrival. Or even just a (refillable) glass bottle of water in the fridge.

Spare linen and towels. Dustpan and brush and hoover. Dishwasher tabs. Bin bags.

That'll do for me!

A good range of decent glassware. I've stayed at a couple of places where you get odds and ends which look like they've been nicked from the pub. It's not unknown for us to go and buy some to use.

I'd like decent sized wine glasses, high balls, water glasses and a few pint glasses. Ikea are fine as they are easily replaced.

In your booking information, could you include information on supermarket home deliveries (who delivers in your area, etc) - we very often arrange a delivery.

Useful to have in the kitchen would be an apron, spare oven gloves, barbecue tools, grater, serving bowls, ice cube trays, salad servers, serving bowls, good tin opener, knife sharpener and washing up sponges.

Throws on the sofa, and decent cushions, and lamps.

I'd include a dvd player and a range of films - these would always go down well, dvd's are cheap as chips and are great for kids to just chill out in front of at the end of the day.

(I fancy a holiday now)

Egg cups!! No one ever provides egg cups, and on the rare occasion they do there are never enough. Often hard to improvise egg cups.

Serving dishes and utensils

A tray -- useful to carry drinks outside and clear up and table mats for hot dishes .

Personally live a hot tub but appreciate expensive to put in and maintain just something that when you have small children and therefore are staying in, in the evenings nice for a change.

If you are in walking distance if the beach then an outside shower is great. Also if you are near the North coast, storage for surf boards.

If you are by the beach an outdoor shower and place to hang wetsuits and stack boards is really useful. It can look really cool too!

Welly boot rack and scraper if there are muddy walks close by (saves your porch and hallway becoming trashed).

A selection of books and board games goes down a treat with us. Plus beach toys and a windbreak.

Framed map of the area. We stayed in a house with this and it gave us the best ideas of where to go and the layout of the town. I’m mad about maps though so might be just for me

A big no to nespresso pods but a bit yes to 2 cafetières - I hate pods both for the taste and the eco issues but love a pot of coffee.

A key pad box for the keys so they can turn up later than normal handover.

If parking is limited give a very good idea of what size car or cars can be parked in the details.

And coming from someone who lives in a touristy place, please make sure you organise proper business rubbish collections rather than the weekly residential collection. You aren’t supposed to use the normal bin collection for holiday lets but Airbnb places often ignore this and it gets messy! Nothing worse than turning up to someone else’s rubbish from the week before! Sorry that wasn’t meant to be so ranty!!!