to ask how much you would pay for luxury accommodation, if children weren't welcome?

[LadyOfTheManor]

Beautiful countryside, self catering cottage (16th century old bakery) but done up to a 5 star standard. Two beautiful bedrooms with ensuites, one with a hot tub, sitting room, reading room, kitchen and decking/BBQ facilities. No under 12s allowed, dogs welcome. £650 for the week.

I think that is reasonable, considering two couples would have the opportunity to stay and split it. Would you pay that for just you and dh or you and 2 children (over 12)?

Oh, and, to me anyway, allowing dogs but not children is double-dutch . We have never had any child-based damage problems but do not allow dogs due to the smell and/or dog hair and/or dog left in caravan alone chewing furniture/scratching at carpets scenarios that we know others have experienced .

I have three self catering houses in France. If anything you are under priced, possibly by quite a lot. Prices in the UK tend to be quite a lot higher than in mainland Europe.

If you look it up on google there are various pricing formula you could apply, based on your costs (mortgage etc).
Rentals have seasons, and you would normally have between 3 and 9 price brands. You could do only weeks rentals or Fri - Mon, Mon to Fri out of high season. You can have flexible or fixed change over days.
Take an extra deposit for people with dogs - I would say carpets and dogs should be avoided. You will not be able to steam clean muddy carpets if you have back to back bookings.
I would recommend another forum LayMyHat, which is for rental owners and is a truly inspiring forum. You need to be doing a lot of research and that is the place to do it.

emmanumber3 - £1000 for a static caravan...............eeekkkk. I'll stick to my dog & child friendly cottages (with en-suite, wood burning stove & wifi etc) that I can book for much less.

orienteerer - and I wouldn't blame you. The park set the price, not me - I wouldn't have the nerve TBH . They obviously think that their excellent facilities are worth it .

emmanumber3 - Haven (or the Park) clearly take a massive % of that £1000 as their management fee?

19%. But when you consider that the private letting companies around seem to all take 15%, charge less per week & can't seem to achieve the same level of bookings it is still the best option available if you live too far away to manage things yourselves (as we do). TBH, if we hadn't been able to buy our own caravan we would not be having holidays at a Haven park during peak season - they are just too bloomin expensive! .

These are the things we look for in a cottage:
Dishwasher
No dog - DH is very allergic
Bed at least kingsize - do consider zip and link superking as this makes your accommodation more flexible as you can offer the room as a twin or double.
Shower - with decent water pressure, many places have poor electric showers and cheap fittings.
TV - should have digital reception now & DVD player.
Properly equiped kitchen - sharp knives (they are blunted by having a glass style chopping board in most places), grater, potato masher, dishwasher tablets, sufficient pans, oven trays and casserole dishes to cook a good meal. We would have loved to have weighing scales and a basic cookbook at our last cottage as we couldn't remember the ratios for pancakes.
Replace things that get worn out or broken - the last place we stayed had one decent pillow and a horrible lumpy one per person, this just gives a bad impression. It also had broken window locks on the ground floor.
Clothes airer.
Good towels.
Decent quality mattress.
A note with contact details or brief introduction from the owners/local contact to seem friendly and approachable.
A decent, detailed website.
Enough toilet roll, oil, salt, pepper grinder (not ready ground), washing up liquid, hand soap in each bathroom & kitchen, cling film & foil, bin bags.

A holiday cottage should be at least as comfortable as home and feel like it is someone's home from home. The last one we stayed in was so clearly a business enterprise and the owners had never tried staying there themselves and properly snagged it.

Have checked the other posts and can't see that anyone else has made this point so i ll give it go! Age discrimination? In the same way that you cannot by law say no over 65's you cannot as i understand it say no children under 12. suggest you check with your local trading standards on this one. If you are worried about kids drawing on walls, making a mess etc then what are you doing letting it out? is a child of 11 and 11 months any less likely to be destructive than one over 12? what about kids of 13 with behavourial problems. Ban them too! have to say very surprised to see someone talking about a cottage they own that they are going to let on Mumsnet of all places when they plan to ban kids. Barmy!! How are you going to vet over 12 - ask for a birth certificate. all very disturbing this late at night.

We have stayed here twice and will do again in October, and is really a model for what home from home should be about. It's pricey but oh so worth it.

No wifi or mobile phone reception, but a landline phone and an honesty box.
Well-equipped kitchen.
Comfy beds, fluffy duvets, quality cotton bedding.
Lots of towels, plus spares, plus extra bedding in cupboard.
Allows kids but no dogs. I am quite sensitive to doghair too and would be reluctant to stay where there had been dogs
Wine plus milk on arrival.
No bath, but big walk-in shower and loads of hot water
Under-floor heating
TV/digibox/dvd in sitting room
Rayburn stove plus conventional electric oven plus microwave
Lots of space for wet wellies/coats/muddy stuff
Washing machine and tumble drier
Dishwasher

I personally would hate it if my landlord appeared while we were there. We leave it tidy, and we can contact him mid-week if we had a problem (last year the hot water system had a wobble), so it is nice to just be left alone to enjoy. We can change our bedding if we want mid-week (but we dont!)

Good luck OP, your house sounds gorgeous!

I paid £763 for a week in a 4 bedroomed 5* cottage, so £650 for only 2 bedrooms is a lot when the place I went also had 2 beds at £400 and 3 bed at £500

Hear hear InTheNightKitchen. My children have never drawn on walls and when i leave somewhere that i have been on holiday to its usually cleaner than when i arrived. What about 2 couples in their late teens say 19 and 20. Less likely to make a mess than me and my kids?

Mummymeister makes a good point. Two bedrooms with no children allowed is more likely to be booked by two young couples / group of friends rather than two more mature couples. £160 pppw would be a bargain trip away.

Yabu

you can never get the smell of dogs out of a house,it would put me off.

Most people with children would want access to a swimming pool and play facilities, and actively seek out holiday accommodation that provides this- if you don't provide it families will probably avoid you anyway.

I'd think very very seriously about the dogs. Have I understood correctly that there are 2 adjoining properties? Could you make one cottage dog free and allow dogs in the other? If you do allow dogs I think you need to delineate a tiled area e.g. kitchen, utility that they have access to, and don't allow dogs on upholstery or in bedrooms - if there is space for a reading room, you might find that you can arrange the layout to accommodate a dog area whilst the building work is ongoing. Given that your target market could be wildlife enthusiasts/ walkers/ possibly surfers? in Pembrokeshire, it would be useful to have a utility/wet area with a washing machine for muddy clothes/ boots / wetsuits etc- I'd say this would be more useful than a separate reading room.

£650 sounds very reasonable for peak, you could probably get away with charging more in peak times but less off peak. Your ideal target might be older people or those without children who prefer to holiday in school term time. Agree to charging by the property.

RE hot tub- could you site this on the decking rather than in one ensuite? Or is it a jacuzzi bath type thing?

Pull out sofa bed in large room is a good idea; this would open it up to say a family with small children plus grandparents in the second bedroom.

Things I'd be looking for:

-well maintained, clean and decorated, but not fussed on expensive wallpaper etc

• good quality bedding (non-feather) and plenty of good quality towels

• well equipped and very clean kitchen- make sure there are things like a decent can opener, corkscrew, enough pans/baking trays/oven dishes/utensils, plenty of crockery and cutlery rather than exactly one set per person. Provide tea towels, oven gloves , washing up liquid, cleaning cloths, dishwasher tablets, loo rolls, bin bags etc.

• clean bathroom with good quality shower and unlimited hot water

• ability for guests to set central heating

• Wifi, , digibox, ipod docks etc

Clean- just on changeover, and provide a change of bedding/ towels at the end of each week.

welcome pack- bread, milk, tea , cake etc sounds lovely.

Ladyofthemanor - I live in Pembrokeshire.

I think £600-£650 is a bit expensive unless high peak.[June-October]
Though you have not be specific on bedrooms? how many people the house can accommodate

My friend has a beautiful new farm house in Noltan, its 5* [decor is to a high standard], on the beach front, sleeps 16/18, she rents it for £2000 high peak, families mainly, with no pets.

I wonder how much custom you will have though, with no under 12s? From my experience its the over 12s that make the most mess [have a 13yo DD]

Tenby is renowned for its family holidays

By only allowing adults, you may find your renting to adults on a social/piss up week, which would cause much more damaged that any under 12s
I also agree with another poster who says her 6month old is unlikely to draw on walls, or venture near the estuary
Any damage to the house would have to paid for by the parents of any child? perhaps you could ask for a damage bond?, to be returned on inspection for damage?
Goodluck with your new venture.

Welshy-my target market is somewhat different to Tenby. Tenby is fish and chips and arcades and bucket and spades and children and hen parties and pubs/clubs/karaoke.

This property is in Cosheston for a start (you might want to check property prices and see that I don't think I am BU with the costing), within 3 miles, there are 8 people. It has private parking (fully lit) and in total 28 acres of woodland and grounds (private to the cottage) as well as a walkway to the estuary. The property will be rated once it is completed...it isn't for the likes of "family trips to Tenby"...I'm aiming more at older couples, those with some "disposable income".

There are 2 bedrooms (both with ensuites, one with a corner smaller bath and double shower, and one with a jacuzzi bath and double shower-in beautiful ancient A frame ceiling rooms with original beams from the 1600s), one sitting room, one reading room (large enough to section off a dining area) kitchen and boot room...and then there is front decking WITH a hot tub (as well as a jacuzzi bath in the master suite)
Mummy-I'm not too sure on the laws of age discrimination, but I know I can say "no children whatsoever" and might find myself going down that route.

I made the point of the local man renting out a studio apartment, with only one bedroom, I double checked his website this morning and between May-Sept he charges £609 a week and £450 over winter. He has one bedroom and walk in bathroom, and one sitting room open plan with a kitchen (the entire space is about 16 foot long, I know because I sold it to him). He is full every single week, and only ever has old people and dogs as his tenants.

In terms of dogs, I think there is a huge market for people with dogs, and funnily enough was discussing a dog walking service today, for people who were visiting local attractions where dogs weren't welcome. I suppose that if people who hate dogs so much don't want to stay then my clientele will be made up from people who have dogs...I'm still so unsure! The creases need ironing out.

I wish you would swap to allow children but not pets. I'm fed up of getting all excited by a property description, only to find kids are not allowed. My family would love the grounds that come with your property, you just have to mention if there is access to open water etc, so that families can make their own mind up about the risk.

We rent a cottage at least twice a year all over the country & tbh your price seems quite low if it's going to be as high spec as you say. Although I'm not sure if there is a market for 4 adults sharing a property, as a family that would be a very good price to pay.

This is a list of things we look for :-
Must have washing machine, dryer & dishwasher.
No dogs allowed.
Prefer an open fire if possible (great for Autumn evenings).
BBQ & garden furniture is a bonus.
Online supermarket delivery is a bonus.
Mention of nice pub/restaurants nearby always helps.

A welcome pack is really nice - milk, homemade cake & local wine was the best. Seasonal stuff is always nice, Easter eggs, Halloween cakes etc.
Good quality towels provided is great, beach towels are a real bonus.

Cleaning materials provided. Whatever you provide please ensure people know. We went to a great cottage, that had lots of stuff provided in the kitchen including stuff like d/w powder, paper towels, cling film, olive oil etc, but as it was never mentioned in the cottage details, we had taken all our own stuff anyway.

I prefer to just see the owner at the start of the holiday, but like to know that we can call them if there is a problem.
Although it's nice to have a few dvd's / books / mag's etc, please ensure it does not look like a dumping ground.

Good Luck, I would love to stay in your cottage.

The thing is, OP, at that price and with those restrictions on children, you ARE going to get the Tenby crowd - Hen parties and the like. Older couples are very unlikely to come as a four.

I think you would be far better raising your prices if you want to keep it to the clientele you desire. You are going for a niche market, so you'll have to advertise accordingly.

Yes. There is an attic conversion we can take over and "do up" but that would be if we allowed children.

Perhaps raising the price is the way to do it...I'm desperate to not bring in the "seaside holiday" crowd as I think they would better suited in Tenby. It just seems a waste of rooms for one elderly couple, that I agree on.

Have decided on salt/pepper/olive oil etc as well as details for the gardener should more logs or coal be needed (there's two open fires). Tesco and Sainsburys both deliver here, and wifi is free of charge.

I think I'll need to think long and hard about the children aspect.

Bear in mind that you are asking on mumsnet, so probably more people have children under 12 than a full cross section of the population would have.

I would not go to a non child friendly place. Not even just me and dh. I would immediately think the landlady/owner would be an inflexible old ogre. I would consider us overcharged, paying for 2 bedrooms, when we could only use one. I could think of NO reasons whatsoever to go away with another couple on a romantic break. Unless of course we were swingers (which we arent). And I would not want to stay in a place that allows dogs. I hate the smell. And I would be chagrined to see a child-unfriendly luxury cottage with stairgates!

As a parent, and non-dog owner, I would fail to see the link between the stairgates, and the upstairs carpets. And if you were to tell me the reason, I would consider you a dog unfriendly welcommer of dogs who bans children from your property.