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)?

I did not think my tenants would hold her children out to wee outside on to the doorstep, neither did I imagine she would let them scribble all over the walls, and play with nailvarnish on the carpets. I did not include any of this in the contract, as I did not even consider any of this could possibly happen. Nevertheless, that is what happened. You can never assume with other people.

There are people who book a cottage and name only themselves on the booking form, then you arrive to find that they have brought along 2 other families, who are camping out on the floor, and they steal all your linen, etc. The deposit does not half cover you.... etc...

Hmmm. Could I not just pre approve a credit/debit card for a certain amount?

You've made me start thinking about banning children again now!

Could I run through an inventory before they leave or would that be a bit weird?

You could have a credit card on file, ask to see copy of identification, and a utility bill (not mobile phone bill) as part of your booking procedure. Deposit up front, and full payment in advance.

If you ban children, who is to say they wont bring them anyway?

I might have to man the door.

Stop scaring me.

Nobody would do that QS who in their righ mind would risk getting turfed out of their holiday home?

LOTM if you want to be 5 star and graded as such by the tourist board (rather than you just deciding this is what you are and you get this through an independent inspection) then the provision of sofa beds mean that you will never be graded by the tourist board as 5 star. i suggest you contact your local tourist information office for help with this. I was going to comment on some of your other posts but to be honest why bother? No under 5's - again an arbitary figure. No dogs upstairs - yeah right! We have friends who let a cottage at Borth y Gest. They have a no dogs rule and have had no end of trouble. I have just e mailed them about your posts - you cannot just deduct the damage costs off of someones credit card, you have to take them to a small claims court if they won't pay up. Are you really willing to take before and after photos of every letting? Leather sofas and dogs - completely unrealistic in their view.I have a house that i rent out long term part furnished. you have to learn not to care and to make sure that what you put in it you don't mind if/when it gets trashed. And sorry - hen parties will come particularly if you arent booked and everywhere else is. Are you really cut out to be a holiday cottage owner?

Maybe you should get all tenants to be swabbed and vaccinated prior to booking. You should also consider a 'you cannot smell of piss' rule.
Seriously though, either disengage or don't rent!

Oh and can I rent for a week? Two dogs, 3 dcs and dp. Promise not to drop beans on the carpet and if I do, the dogs will lick it up I will bring my own wellies

Another owner of holiday rentals here who doesn't allow children or dogs! Admittedly a slightly different market - city centre property sleeping 15, but my weekly rate is £1100. I market it through an agency and then quote in response to enquiries - where they say they have children or dogs with them, I just mark it as unavailable. From past experience, its not worth the hassle, as I can easily lose a couple of thousand in getting it back to its original state if damage has occurred. I do accept hen and stag parties, as for some reason, none of these have ever caused any damage. There is a difference between them and those large groups of lads who come on booze weekends - again, I don't quote for them any more. You get remarkably adept at spotting them.

The advantage of having paid off half your mortgage is you get to keep it empty sometimes rather than having it constantly full and it makes more financial sense not to risk expensive damage by letting to high risk groups.

Examples of damage caused by high risk groups in the past - setting fire to the wallpaper with a candle purchased by them, red wine on carpets, stiletto marks all over varnished floors, front door left wide open on exit (x 2!), sick on carpets left to be cleared up, piles of rubbish left behind to be disposed of, various items stolen, particularly bedding, baths left to overflow, central heating overflow activated in an attempt to switch on central heating, flooding the shop below and causing it to close for a weekend, main door lock removed so they didn't have to with keys, tiles prised off the shower enclosure and stuck back on with No More Nails, etc, etc!

ps I take a damages deposit in cash of £30 per person on arrival and make them sign a let agreement which agree to deductions from it if damage (photos before and afterwards if necessary). The cash deposit makes them treat it better and also return their keys, which incur a set charge of £60 per key or set of keys missing - not lost one single key since introducing that and used to have at least one set not returned per let before it...

Mummy- I hadn't thought of that. Quite happy for it to sleep 6 no problem.

Dogs will be welcome, there will be quibble about that, children on the other hand will be thought about carefully.

I know I can get people to sign a statement regarding damage, I also know in hotels they take your debit/credit card to deduct for damage and or cancellations. I'm more than cut out to rent out an empty properties, but thanks for your concern. I have another 4, so lets see how this one does and see if we go down the same road for the rest.

Virtual I can't see how £30 a head would cover enough damage...then again you sleep a lot more than I do.

Is there no way of doing it like a normal let (something I have plenty of experience in) where I take the cost of the let plus half of the same amount up front?

When do you do your "checks" is it after the said guests have left?

You aren't really listening to anybody who questions your views, are you?

At the risk of wasting my breath, I'll just add a couple of points from my own experience.

1 - I have been on quite a few hen weekends / weeks at lovely remote cottages bringing our own alcohol. They are a very popular option.

2 - This year I have been to a holiday cottage about 30 minutes from the coast on a family "bucket and spade" holiday. My DD did not draw on the walls. It was just before the school holidays, so out of season, and I paid more than your peak season price, therefore I think your prices are too low. The farm where we stayed had four luxury cottages, every one occupied by families.

Sounds v reasonable to me

bloody hell i would be bored stiff there give me a holiday with my kids in blackpool anytime i just hate countryside holidays with no one around for miles bloody die of boredom

Gah, hate feather pillows, I hope you'll be warning people about those. Give me asthma.

Virtual I can't see how £30 a head would cover enough damage...then again you sleep a lot more than I do.

It doesn't. But its extremely effective in acting as an incentive to look after it and return the bloody keys (apologies for swearing). Especially if it involves cash for some reason. I send them back a cheque a minimum of 7 days after exit, which gives me time to clean it.

It has only ever been the ones who, against my better judgement, persuaded me to take a cheque or let them off without paying a deposit who have caused damage...

Over and above £30 per person or so, you are looking at claiming off your insurance or sueing them for damage...also getting the police involved if its really bad (never had to do that fortunately).

Children, yes, of the few groups I have had with children, they have caused a higher level of damage and mess than the average group - I have had scribbles on walls, sticky cartoon characters stuck on walls, I've had spray paint on a bath (!) and complaints about noise from the neighbours, but I don't really think my property is suitable for children anyway, as it has no garden and is on a busy road. I sometimes get requests from people for cots for children or free accommodation for under 5s\7s\12s whatever, but its not the market I'm in and as above, I now simply say its fully booked.

Dogs - absolutely no way!

It sounds great and dh and I would come for that price in summer[just the 2 of us!].We have a winter time-share in St Davids and love Pembrokeshire.Do pm me details when you are ready.

Oh St.Davids is lovely.

Well I start renovations as of September 1st. I think I'll open the 3 rooms up in the summer for families with children over 5 until perhaps December, then close until the end of February.

Biscuit- I'll need to figure out a way of not allowing hen parties. I am letting this as a quiet holiday home for a week and I'll be offering a minimum of 5 nights, most hen parties don't go on that long. I'll be going out on a limb, but I'm hoping to be booked (had lots of interest already) up enough to not need to invite hoards of stags and hens!