Self catering isn't a holiday. It's the same rubbish in a different location.

[wintersdawn]

We are currently 3 days into a 10 day self catering holiday and I'm sick of it already. My DH loves self catering holidays as they are a break from work and a different location and he can spend the whole time winding down from work and enjoying the break from the commuting routine.

But for me it's just the same shit in a different place, DD6 and DS4 still wake up early no matter how late we let them stay up. We either head off somewhere for the day which seems to always cost a fortune or involve lots of driving or stay in the house but without all their normal toys and entertainment options. We aren't near a beach this time which would normally give the children hours of entertainment, as we are staying in a relations house whilst they are away to save money. We don't have the budget to eat out each night and so the same cleaning, cooking, washing crap happens as it would at home.

I know we needed a cheap holiday this year as we've just had to replace the car and we did the kitchen at the start of the year but this is the 4th year in a row of self catering and I'm over them.

I can't be the only one who gets dragged down by self catering? Can I?

I couldn't disagree with the OP more. I infinitely prefer sc holidays. Apart from the fact they are obviously cheaper, I like to have somewhere to go to at the end of the day that is our private space (not a hotel bedroom). When the kids were little, it meant we could eat when they wanted to, and I could cook food I knew they would eat. Now they are teens/adults, it just means we have private down time. I tend to cook more simply on holiday and, nowadays, would always pay for the place to be cleaned on our departure. I must admit, when money was tighter and we had to clean the place ourselves, that did take the shine off the last day of the holiday.

I haven't RTHT be we've just had 3 weeks SC and loved it. We almost always do SC. OP- your DH needs to do more!

That said, as much as I love our holidays, I'm not adverse to a nice hotel every so often.

Having to go 'out' and sit in a restaurant for ever meal sounds like torture to me. Give me SC any day. It's a holiday so all normal meal rules go out the window. Eat what you like when you like. 99% snacks/ bread/cheese/ice cream eaten straight from cupboard/ fridge / freezer or pizza in the oven type idea. No way am I cooking proper meals and having shed loads of washing up. Sod it on holiday, I can't be arsed. Luckily we all like salad and fruit so no fear of scurvy setting in even if only have a hot meal once every couple of days ;-) This year with one DS age 3 1/2 we ate out probably every other day for either lunch or dinner - but never both on one day as he still naps in the afternoon so its either late lunch then nap or nap then dinner. Picnics out at the beach or wherever we have gone out if not have lunch out. Works well for us. We like to be lazy, but a sort of planned lazy.

It doesn't sound like fun to me either. I haven't stayed self-catering for 30 years.

We almost always stay in a hotel abroad - all inclusive or half board with plenty of kid's activities. Last year we tried camping, but even though we ate out every meal it still felt like too much effort.

I don't mind it in a house too much but camping is the pits

I've always preferred to do self-catering. We have a 2 and 5yo and I couldn't be with 'shushing' them full time. Hotels imo are better suited to grown ups. Maybe when they are a bit older they might want a kids club, but for now I love the freedom - even with me doing all the usual home jobs. We've only ever done one AI, pre kids and I hated it. Buffet breakfasts are awesome, but eating every dinner in the same place sucks.

I love self catering. Largely because eating out is a rip off. And I cook better.

However. We have kids that stay up late, and lie in. And DH does the tidying and cleaning as I do all the cooking. So we all get a lovely break.

Your DH needs to do more. It's your holiday too.

I guess it's each to their own. We always go self catering, and I couldn't think of anything I'd less rather do than stay in a hotel. I'd hate everything about it, from having to stick to defined meal times, sharing a pool, to being confined to one room and having no washing machine so carting a load of dirty clothes back home to spend a week doing mountains of washing....
However I know plenty of people who trot out the same stuff to me as has been said in this thread - "it's not a holiday if you do washing" "I don't go on holiday to cook" etc etc. Well like I said each to their own. We go to the supermarket a few times and stock up on breakfast stuff plus snacks for the daytime, water, juice, etc. We eat out most nights but if we don't, it'll be something like pizza or hotdogs in the villa, not "spending hours in the kitchen". We don't spend ages cleaning but it's easy to keep tidy every day, and we keep on top of laundry so out of 3 cases of clothes, 2.5 of them will go home filled with clean clothes. I wouldn't swop the privacy of a self catering holiday for anything, but I do believe it's a marmite kind of thing, you either love it or hate it.

My holidays preferences have changed with my life, pre kids I wanted to dress up for an evening out, AI with lots of families would of been hell. Small children I liked AI or HB especially as they seemed value for money out of term time. As the DCs have got older space is now the premium as well as places to go and things to do. We are not a sun bed family and strangely we now prefer UK weather and all but I know this will change as teenagers start declining. But I will never be a cruise person.

I like SC, but then I have a DH who does lots of cooking/housework. Plus with a small child we've found it easier to go out for some slap up lunches, throw a sandwich at her at tea time and then we graze on wine and lovely nibbly things in the evening when she's asleep, rather than doing loads of cooking.

It helps that we're not 'cooking from scratch' types and will cheerfully sit down with our microwaved curries and a bottle of wine. I imagine if you have a large family and do lots of proper cooking it's not great. Plus I think you need to be near somewhere like a beach or a good park to nip out to when you have that odd half hour to fill before tea time or whatever. We were a few minutes from a beach this year and it was great to saunter down to it without it being a faff.

I really find caravan parks to be the best when you have a family. You're completely free to do what you want when you want and there's lots of activities to keep the kids happy. The kids love it too so win, win in my book.

You have a husband problem not a self catering problem.

Tomorrow night down tools, ask him what he is providing for all 3 meals as you have done all meals so far. Eat out if that is what it comes to.

"Same monkeys, different zoo" - as my mum used to say about holidays... or "washing up somewhere scenic...wooo"

Something tells me she didn't enjoy pandering to our every whim as children....

We do SC with the DC and have done since they were little. The LAW is that I dont cook at all. DH does. He meal plans and gets it all delivered the day we arrive.

Kids take turns each day to wash up. I only do the laundry if I feel like it. My only job is to plan the excursions and days out. Easy to do as we all like doing similar things so there's no angst there. DH makes the picnics and then wakes kids and I up. He has a stressful job so this relaxes him because he's not having to be responsible or make any decisions.

Back in the 70s my parents used to take us around Europe in a caravan, which is the ultimate self-catering without frills, although we did eat out quite a bit. I do not think it was much of a "holiday" for either of them, but the routine was somewhat different.
I did a self catering Christmas holiday in the Caribbean about 20 years ago with my husband. I don't know why, although we both lost weight. Christmas lunch was hard-boiled egg salad!
We subsequently did better hotel holidays in exotic places, far preferred those.

I refuse to do self-catering. Too much work involved. Id rather save up a bit longer and go for half or full board. & if I really can't afford to go abroad one year then there are beautiful places in the UK

But you don't have to hercules you can have a 1 or 2 bed apartment or adjoining inter connecting rooms at hotels. No way on earth am I spending more than one night in a hotel sharing a room with dd.

I think SC works if your DH is on board. Earlier on in our family life, my DH used to say, what do you want me to do for tea? I'd reply, we have a fridge and freezer full of food, just do what you want to do.

Now he just gets on with it like I do, and hasn't asked me that question in ages. Sometimes you just need to spell it out.

SC is brilliant if everyone mucks in. But it's miserable with a lazy twat in tow...

Eat what you like when you like. 99% snacks/ bread/cheese/ice cream eaten straight from cupboard/ fridge / freezer or pizza in the oven type idea.

Lazyafternoon- I would feel cheated if I had to eat that sort of food on holiday.

Eating nice food is important to me - especially on holiday. Bread and cheese eaten straight from the fridge sounds meagre and dull.
I want properly prepared local food, cooked in a local style, served hot or cold. I want to try new things, taste local cooking.

My kids certainly wouldn't be satisfied with grabbing themselves a piece of bread and cheese or a slice of pizza. They would be hungry and grumpy.

Food is an enjoyable part of my holiday- I don't want to eat like a student in a bedsit.

We're off SC, leaving tonight. 2nd week of SC this summer. I have a headache through my right eye at the thought exacerbated by thoughts of returning to work the week after to be fair The kids are already whinging that they can't fill the car with crap toys, because we're foot passengers on a ferry tomorrow.

I told DH that next year we go half board or something and he just explained to me all the things I like about SC. I just sat there and then asked 'did you just gaslight me about my own opinion?' He looked embarrassed.

One SC holiday a year is my limit. We're already planning one for next year, but it will be just one.

My exact words to my other half when we were discussing holidays:
Me "will I have to cook?"
Him "probabl....."
Me "not a holiday"

Why isn't your husband doing half the work?

I love self catering - always do it. Why do you have to clean and cook? As long as you leave it reasonably tidy then the cleaning company does the cleaning, My DH always does one huge full English breakfast but that's about the limit of the cooking we do, apart from some ready meals or a jacket potato - we go to pubs/restaurants while we're away.

I like being in a cute cottage somewhere we can all just slob out and have our own space (like home) and don't have to live in a hotel room. DS2 is coeliac so hotel breakfasts can be a bit of a nightmare, I'd rather not.

Having said that I do like staying in hotels on my own on business, or the rare occasions DH and I get away on our own. But not for family holidays.