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.

It is an annexe attached to my house.

Totally avoid one where the owner is on site.

We like
Wifi
Clean
cot and highchair supplied (and please decent quality)
box of toys/books very helpful
No pets (daughter allergies)
Ideally no carpeted floors (daughter allergies)
warm - easy to turn heating on, i.e thermostat not in locked cupboard
welcome hamper is nice, but not essential - maybe just a few bits e.g cleaning stuff
toilet rolls!
bedside lamp
cups, plates, cutlery for toddlers is really really helpful.
Also agree with poster about range of duvets available for cold/warm weather
clear description e.g explaining about towels, are they provided or not.
I don't like owners popping in :-( sorry. I am so exhausted by the time I go on holiday, I just hate being on show.

Some of these things may be seem obvious but we have been disappointed before.

Make it clear on advert whether you can order online groceries to the property.

I don't care about towels. I just want to know if they are supplied or not and how many.

Also as a pp said Saturday to Saturday lettings. Friday to Friday is so irritating when you work Monday to Friday.

Any fixed letting period puts me off. We want flexibility - anything from 4 to 10 nights usually - we seldom ever do a 7 nighter.

Also as a pp said Saturday to Saturday lettings. Friday to Friday is so irritating when you work Monday to Friday.

Yes, this.

I specifically like knowing that does not accept dogs.

A kick ass shower. Mine at home is, I don’t want to slum it on holiday

Heating on when I arrive if in winter

A hot tub!! Outdoors

Oil, salt and pepper etc.

Really nice coffee.

Stayed in loads around the UK and Ireland. I always look for:

wifi
washing machine
parking
reasonable furniture (some look as if they have not been touched circa 1975)

Make sure all of the 'rules' are clear. in Ireland in particular we were stung and it seems not uncommon for oil/electricity to be charged at the end of the stay and this ruined the holiday as it was an expense we weren't aware of.

I really like air bnb

Surprised by how many want wifi on holiday

I have two teenagers so Wifi is a must.
Also I want it for the weather/travel and to make bookings for places plus research where we are going each day. So useful for looking opening times up and planning.

If you are allowing dogs an enclosed garden. Pub within walking distance. Towels- a lot of places now aren't providing them. Comfy sofas. Enough dishwasher tablets for the week. I don't mind a bit of left over food such as olive oil and ketchup.

Surprised by how many want wifi on holiday

The internet is part of daily life for most people now.

Teens need to stay in touch with social media, watching youtube videos, etc.

Lots of people now watch TV via internet instead of an aerial (netflix, amazon, sky & bt via tablet app etc). Even more important because few holiday cottage owners pay for a decent Sky/BT subscription and just provide a freeview box for their guests, so their guests need to make their own arrangements if they want to watch films, online-only series or big sports fixtures.

Hobby photography is now massive and some will want to put the pictures/videos they took that day onto their website and do editing in the evenings.

Then you have the ever increasing number of self employed people, many of whom are internet based and who need to work at some points during their holiday.

Good WIFI isn't optional anymore - it's a necessity these days.

To add.

People also need WIFI to do local research for pubs, shops, restaurants, bus/train times, opening hours, weather, traffic conditions, etc., to book online for attractions (more and more attractions offer reduced entry fees for advance booking and for some you risk being turned away at entry if you've not pre-booked and it's already fully booked).

In fact, in addition to good WIFI, I've been happily impressed/surprised that some holiday accommodation has also provided a printer, so that you can print off your booking vouchers. When you can buy a decent enough printer for £50, it's a good extra to offer and also helps for those who have to do a bit of working whilst on holiday.

Reasons why I don't like places and won't come back to them:

• unclean
• too hot / too cold
• uncomfortable beds
• pathetic curtains that don't keep the light out
• not enough space to sit and eat

Things that irritate but seem commonplace - do the owners never stay in their properties to test them out?

• insufficient shelves in bathroom for stuff
• no bedside lights
• nowhere to put outside coats (at least 2 per person)
• stupid breakable clutter all over the place - I don't mind an ornament or 2 on the mantelpiece, but not in places where I might want to put books or DVDs, or maps, or games etc.

I agree, Kazzy, good WiFi is essential. A GOOD bath and shower.

We mostly book lodges on holiday sites but this thread has been fab for ideas.

Parking first
Good location
Must have bath and shower
Must have freezer, dishwasher
No silly cleaning rules
Price

We stay in them a couple of times a year and it varies. Sometimes we are looking to go to a certain area so we will go on to homeaway or airb&b to see what's available as they tend to be better value than going through the holiday cottage websites. Other times we just want a last minute break anywhere so will scout around for late offers. DH is a real ale fanatic so we always look for somewhere dog friendly within walking distance of a decent pub (we don't have kids so don't have to take their needs into account). We always want wifi so I screen out any that haven't got it. In terms of what we are happy with once we get there...I do like a good king sized bed, a double just doesn't cut it anymore. The mattress must be good quality and have good quality bedding. Proper large bath towels please, the number of cottages we go to that offer one small bath towel each that I can barely wrap around me (and I'm not huge) plus one tiny hand towel that doesn't wrap around my head is astounding. I always take my own now as I've got that fed up of the meagre towel offerings. A good shower is welcome, I know water pressure can vary but please do your best. A good non stick frying pan is great. And last but not least a small supply of teabags/sugar/small carton of milk/cooking basics like oil/salt are really useful. Good luck!

Plug points by bed important

We do a fair number of UK cottage holidays but for varying reasons so our requirements differ regarding location etc.

We always use Snaptrip to find a place to stay as it tends to include most places available in an area and it's very easy to use and make comparisons.

I tend to avoid places where the owner is on site I'm afraid! But that's mainly because we have dogs and I don't want to be worrying that their barking is disturbing someone - especially the owner!

It's really annoying when people don't say upfront how many dogs they're willing to take. If it's just one then put that in the basic information!

Agree with having lots of crockery - annoying if you have to wash up / put the dishwasher on after each meal because you've only got a few plates etc!

Another pet hate is places that have lots of ornaments and nicknacks. If you've got kids and/or dogs you end up having to move stuff out of the way so it doesn't get damaged. And also you want a few clear surfaces to put your own stuff down on! We stayed in a place last year that had cushions everywhere! You couldn't sit down or get into bed without first moving a pile of decorative cushions!

I would actively choose somewhere with a pub nearby and always check to see what's within walking distance.

And I love a welcome tray plus a bottle of wine!

Oh yes. Cupboards in kitchen to put food you buy. These are like hens teeth! You need to leave space for the holiday makers to make it their own!

DVDs, games and local leaflets help as do local bus timetables. Try packing a suitcase and living in the holiday accusation for a week (no cheating) and see how it works for you

Re dogs. Keep in mind 50% of people holidaying in the UK take their dog. Nice places who take dogs are fairly rare. I’m a member of a group on Facebook that matches dog owners and holiday home owners. People with 3dogs seem to esp struggle to find somewhere to stay. So that might be a usp. Don’t put rules on dogs, not on furniture/beds etc most people (well dogs) will ignore that as there’s no way of policing it. Providing dog bowls, dog towel, treats can go down well.

Movinghouseatlast I used to think of booking.com as more professional than the likes of Airbnb. I expected that if I used booking.com that the apartment would be owned by a business and there would be a full complement of experienced staff (Apple Apartments, Fraser Suites, The Spires Apartments etc).

Airbnb I assiciate with individual owners, potentially with not much experience. A hit or miss really. Often the owners are overbearing and you’re made to feel like you’re staying in their home.

Nowadays it seems anyone can advertise on booking.com. I recently booked an apartment through the site and instead of the company owned, anonymous experience I prefer, I was greeted by a bonkers Airbnb type host who lived next door and popped in and out whenever he felt like it! He even let himself in. Not what I’d expect from booking.com. Turns out he also advertised the property on Airbnb. Had I known I wouldn’t have booked it.

Interestingly, hardly anyone on this thread has said they like overlyfriendly ‘hosts’ (Airbnb word. Bleugh!) on hand. Yet so many of us have encountered them.

Interestingly, hardly anyone on this thread has said they like overlyfriendly ‘hosts’ (Airbnb word. Bleugh!) on hand. Yet so many of us have encountered them.

I went away last year with my mother and my cousin, self-catering, booked through a big agency (the same one we use for letting our own cottage). The first warning sign came when the owners sent the entire house information pack (several MB of Word file) in their making contact email before we arrived, with a request to let them know what time we'd be arriving. Since I had a drive of nearly 300 miles to pick Mum and cousin up at the nearest airport to where we were staying and then another hour's drive back the way I'd just come to get to the cottage, I said I wasn't sure and I'd let myself in with the key, as described in the information pack.

I got an email back saying they'd never missed greeting a guest in all their time as holiday let owners and they'd like to be there, so I said probably about 7pm, and left it at that. Of course, come the day, the flight was delayed by 90 minutes and since Mum's nearly 80 I thought she'd probably want to have something to eat at the airport and then go straight to bed when we got to the cottage, so I sent them a text and an email to explain this, said again we were happy to let ourselves in, and thought no more of it.

Eventually got to the place at 9.15pm and found both owners AND THEIR DOG!!! sitting on the sofa waiting for us. Took us nearly half an hour to get rid of them, by which time poor Mum was just about dropping.

I quite often don't see my guests at all, which suits us all fine :)

Oh and make sure there's enough fridge space! 6 of us stayed in the most gorgeous cottage last year. It had 2 under counter fridges, both of which had an ice box and a salad drawer - so little more than one shelf in each! We'd done a grocery order to be delivered shortly after arrival but couldn't get most of it in the fridge.

It put a damper on what was otherwise a brilliant holiday. We had to shop for food every day instead of being able to shop for a few days at a time. Milk, juice, wine etc had to be left out of the fridge as there was just no room. Not ideal in August!

The property could sleep 8 adults so why the owners thought such limited fridge space in an otherwise very well-equipped house was acceptable is beyond me. There was plenty space in the kitchen for a big fridge.

I must admit I would never book a cottage that was attached or on the same grounds as the owners house. Not much you can do about that though.

I was greeted by a bonkers Airbnb type host who lived next door and popped in and out whenever he felt like it!

How could I forget, the over friendly hosts! In Ireland there was a 'meet and greet' manager/cleaner of a cottage who stayed with us for at least an hour chatting about her life and the local people. She was very endearing in an entertaining way, but every time she drove past (on a daily basis) she would knock the door then walk in"just to check xyz". She was lovely but we started to leave the key in the lock so that we would at least be half dressed when she arrived

I love the idea of an anonymous check in, with the key left in a code box or something.