To ask you how you go about choosing a holiday cottage?

[Movinghouseatlast]

My disclaimer is that I am setting one up! It is an annexe attached to my house.

There seems to be so much choice of area I don't know how anyone makes a decision!

So do you pick a general area, or a specific place? Eg Cornwall, or a specific village.

In terms of cottage companies, do you stick with one and look at every suitable property? Or look at loads of companies?

Is price most important? Or a view? Or the interior?

Mine is very high end (luxury dare I say) inside, big log burner, massive furnished terrace but we don't have a sea view. Next door has a sea view, but is very basic (but lovely) inside. We are more expensive as I have compared our house with nearby ones with similar interiors and facilities.

Is it important to you to be able to walk to a village/pub/beach? You can from ours, but some of the most popular cottages in my area are a drive from anywhere at all. Yet they are expensive and booked all year round- and don't have additional facilities to mine.

I am.just trying to get my head round it all. I want to get my pricing right and give people a fab experience.

Thanks.

I wouldn't stay in a holiday let that adjoined the owner's home, or was in their garden etc with shared spaces.
I just have visions if being monitored and them wanting to talk to us all the time, I would not be able to relax.
If it wasn't mentioned and I found out when I got there I would be really annoyed.

That aside for 4 of us I would need

WiFi
Two bathrooms
Large living room
Private Parking
Washing machine & Dishwasher
No Smoking or Pets allowed

Things that put me off a place

1. Check out time. Before 11am is just cruel

1. Ill equipped kitchen. We like to cook so no blunt knives, plastic utensils and crappy chopping boards. It’s rubbish when an owner has furnished their kitchen with cheap cooking equipment.

1. Lack of cleaning products, I rented a place recently with no washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, surface cleaner etc. I don’t want to have to buy all this stuff.

1. Small towels.

I wouldn't do Air BnB for a proper holiday, just for overnight stays. Go with a proper company. I quite often use booking.com when abroad, haven't used them in the UK yet.

Don't care about sea views. A nice view is a bonus but not essential as I probably won't be spending much time in the actual place, it'll be a base to visit other attractions.

I do care about staying somewhere non-smoking and no pets allowed.

I've stayed before in a property which was in the garden of the owner's house. This wasn't mentioned anywhere on the information, I only found out when we arrived, but I didn't mind. They kept themselves to themselves except for a lovely welcome basket.

Mainly what others have mentioned (esp. cleanliness, parking, kitchen facilities), on a first visit I'd mainly be interested in location: proximity to shops, attractions, restuarants ...

There are obviously lots of little touches which would make me more likely to return a subsequent time, but they have been covered by pp.

Price wise, I wouldn't book somewhere which was significantly above market rate in the area, because I'm not looking for a luxury property. I'm not looking for the cheapest either, but certainly something that seems like good value for the price paid. If you're marketing a high-end luxury experience with pricing to match then you need to advertise in a particular way to make that clear.

I have stayed once in an adjoining property. Owner kept her distance. But we came back to the place late afternoon and had sex. When we went downstairs there was a handwritten note through the door reminding us to put our rubbish out as the bins were emptied early the next day. She had obviously heard us having sex so hadn't knocked. We already knew when the bins were put out, so leave us alone. Don't embarass us like this.

Location - area/region first, village/town second and based on facilities (pub, shops)
Price - realistic, affordable
Dog friendly - not for everyone but essential for us
Parking - enough spaces appropriate to the size of the property, a 4-bed with 1 parking space is a waste of time if we plan on sharing with another couple
Privacy - not a goldfish bowl
Comfortable - luxury is nice, but white carpets and a white leather sofa and I'm never going to relax. Woodburner is a bonus.
Facilities - kitchen with pots, pans, crockery, etc. End-of-stay cleaning service included. Wifi is more important than a TV.
View - a pleasant bonus.

So do you pick a general area, or a specific place? Eg Cornwall, or a specific village.
I normally search by county.

In terms of cottage companies, do you stick with one and look at every suitable property? Or look at loads of companies?
Look at loads of companies, but I have favourites (e.g. Sally's Cottages in the Lake District).

Is price most important? Or a view? Or the interior?
Interior. How comfy are the couches? How big are the beds? I like at least a king bed as we have a superking at home. I love patio windows in the living area, and I love a view.

Is it important to you to be able to walk to a village/pub/beach? You can from ours, but some of the most popular cottages in my area are a drive from anywhere at all. Yet they are expensive and booked all year round- and don't have additional facilities to mine.

Not that important.

What I look for: good photos of all rooms
good reviews
location map (floorplan, plus map of area)
off-road parking
a view
things to do locally
a nice garden

I wouldn't mind the owners living next door. handy if anything goes wrong. Good luck!

I am staying in a holiday cottage right now and will not be returning to it. The photos looked lovely, the reviews were good but:

It's not clean. Sinks, bathrooms etc are but the pillowcases are dirty, there is dust and grime everywhere and we have had to wash cutlery, mugs etc before using them.

It smells in a couple of the rooms and so does the fridge.

WiFi is terrible.

There are signs everywhere telling us what to do and what not to do. Just put everything in a clear information folder.

No instruction booklet for any appliances. We could not figure out how to make the oven work.

Very thin threadbare towels and duvets covers with holes in them.

Clutter everywhere. I'm worried we will leave stuff behind as it will be difficult to see.

A woodburning stove but no wood. Every other place we have stayed in that has a fire normally lets you have a certain amount free and then an honesty box to pay for more wood. There is no wood here.

Do the opposite of all these points and you'll be fine!

Parking
Clean
Bath preferred
Price
Not five miles down narrow lane but in the countryside.

In fact my top two are price and clean. I have to look at budget end so do not expect any thing other than basic. Some basics do have a bath.

I'd go with the key safe option, it is handy for guests who are travelling a great distance or from abroad and arriving late into the night.
Pop a little friendly note in your welcome book letting guests know that you on site and available for any questions but you like your guests to have privacy whilst staying.

I am doing Air BnB. But am considering a cottage company instead.

Wouldn't even occur to me to look for a holiday cottage on AirBnB (and I have used them several times for European city breaks so I'm not averse to using them).

Seaview would be a happy bonus.
Adjoining property wouldn't worry me.

OP look at the competition. This is a luxury annex advertised on air bnb that is already booked up for peak times this year.

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/21759402?guests=1&adults=1&check_in=2019-06-27&check_out=2019-06-30

You might want to have a browse on www.laymyhat.com - lots of good advice there from people who have been running holiday lets for a very long time.

I think everyone has their own individual requirements. Mine are:

• Cleanliness (this is so important especially when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms)
• Dog friendly
• With a washing machine and dishwasher
• Ideally with a sea view or very close to a beach (e.g. within short walking distance).

If there were shops within walking distance that would be a plus but is not essential.

Oh and I do tend to rely heavily on reviews for info so spend time on tripadvisor and I compare lots of different websites rather than sticking to one cottage website.

Proper WiFi which just works!

Sorry OP, I’d never book a holiday home adjoining the owner’s property. It could be beautiful but the idea of being watched or critiqued would put me off it immediately.

We have a family holiday once a year in a large rented cottage & go away with another couple every year. We have had a mixed bag of experiences, mostly good.

We look for:-

Location - Dog friendly beaches, activities for the children, walks, shops not to far away.

Parking - off street parking which is not going to be nabbed while we are out, preferably for more than one car.

WiFi - A must as I will still check some work stuff, we will want to access Netflix etc

Kitchen - well equipped with enough plates, mugs, spoons etc. as well as baking trays and knives. On one holiday we ended up buying a sharp kitchen knife and wooden chopping board, as all they had were glass ones & steak knives.

General - well maintained, we stayed in one cottage where on the last day the tap in the kitchen came off and a jet of water was hitting the ceiling. It was meant to be a dog proof garden, but there was a hole in the garden fence, panic as dog escapes. Light bulbs out - Just irritating niggles really.

Privacy from the owners & not too much personal stuff about. We stayed in a cottage in France where there were literally hundreds of photo's of the family, it felt like we were really intruding.

Nicnaks are a pain too, we have before ended up gathering stuff up to child proof the house.

I love a decent information pack with details about how everything works, about the local area, emergency numbers, taxi and bus route details, attraction leaflets.

Choose an area where there are things to do and holiday like e.g. Devon
List cottages in price order
Dismiss any that take dogs
Dismiss any that aren't attractive from exterior and interior
Go for best value for money if reviews 8 plus. Prefer shop close by, away from pubs.

I would only book a superhost property on Airbnb

People who have a log burner and charge for logs get on my wick. Ditto charging for ‘welcome packs’ containing a solitary dishwasher tablet and a sachet of conditioner. Either don’t provide it and make it clear or provide it and bung extra on the price.

I use unique home stays a lot. Gorgeous houses with lovely interiors. Never had a dud one yet! Expensive but I’ve rented overpriced, dirty houses with for example no loo roll or soap before.

My kids will insist on WIFI.

Whether I come back often depends on area and if little extras provided

I start a search by area and narrow down by property size etc. Then by outside space and privacy.

Inside my checklist begins with bathroom fitments and quality of the shower as that makes or breaks a property for DH. Next is the bedrooms followed by general interior.

View or not is not that important, it's nice but I'd rather have a higher spec interior as, frankly, at the end of a busy day outside with the kids I like to know there's a decent bath or shower, very comfy beds and a little bit of luxury to revel in at the end of the day.

Basically holidaying with children is hard work and I want to be rewarded with niceties at the end of the day.

Please, no stupid 2 in 1 washer/dryer that doesn't actually tumble. I'm on vacation. I do not want to be pegging washing out.

Sorry OP, realise that wasn’t helpful. We go to Devon every year - same three requirements. Tumble drier, dishwasher and no dogs. I don’t want to spend my time pegging stuff on the line or washing dishes. One year we went somewhere that accepted dogs and had to leave immediately. Strong ‘dog’ smell, hair all over the sofs and beds and mess all over the garden. Never again!

I wouldn't use AirBnB for a cottage.

No dogs here too!