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 dream of going anywhere near the guests. My idea of hell!

I must say I didn't realise so many people would be so anti living next door to the owner. I think this may be because it is perceived the owner will be nosy and intrusive.

OP this is MN, occupied by people who don't want to speak to the person on the next sunbed let alone live alongside the owners

As well as more than one plate each a range of glasses; wine, water and beer. Drinking wine out of a half pint tumbler, beer out of a wine glass or whisky out of a pint glass is off putting. Often there seems to be the remnants of a good selection of glasses, say two champagne flutes, three wine glasses, two tumblers and maybe a pint glass. We’ve often bought and donated glasses to holiday houses, they are very cheap in supermarkets so why don’t owners ensure there are plenty?

General points from our experience.

If the house sleeps (For example) 6 people, then there must be:
Space for 6 around the dining table.
Far more than 6 plates, knives etc. You might want to lay food put on some, but still have 6 to eat off.
Enough fridge and cupboard space for 6 people's food for a good few days. Who wants to shop lots on holiday?
Pans large enough to hold pasta/potatoes/stew etc for 6 people.
Large enough oven trays to cook a main and oven chips for 6.
Etc...

(If your holiday home holds more people than you are used to catering for in your family then think carefully about kitchen equipment.)

If you allow kids, then a few plastic cups might save your glass from being broken (I mean we'd bring our own plates/bowls etc for a baby or toddler, but not for a 4year old)

Pint glasses. (Not everyone drinks wine) Large tumblers.

First thing we used to have to do, was move all ornaments, vases, etc to a safe place for the week. There really is no need for them. Even as adults, we'd rather have a clear sideboard/dressing table to put our stuff on than a glass vase and a bowl of pot pourri!

Dog friendly.

Proximity to good walks.

Log burner/real fire.

Own garden area.

I always look at reviews to check cleanliness too.

Great minds chemenger !
Cross post.

I decide on area then search by keywords such as white company bedding. Not because I’m only wedded to that brand but because I figure if someone cares enough to have and list white company bedding they probably care about the same things I do and the place will have good beds, good bed linen, nice toiletries, useful kitchen equipment (like a tea pot and good coffee maker)

Blimey! Are there many owners who list that?

Having said that, we wanted to use White Company toiletries for our B&B but they wouldn't supply to anything more lowly than a 4* hotel. I did have some lovely White Company cups and saucers though and I still regret leaving those behind for the new owner when we sold up.

We look for

Wifi
Tvs that get Netflix
Beds
Location
Up to date furnishings and decor
(Nothing too weird like the apartment I recently saw that had blood red ceilings and walls throughout)
A place that looks like a holiday cottage as opposed to the owners home where they have just moved out for the duration.

Views comes 2nd

Price is only taken into account at the end.

So far we have used this criteria 3 times and had fantastic places 3 times.

With price I think it can be false economy going for something that is cheap but not very nice as we find we stay in the place longer each day and spend less overall.

Went to one that had its own swimming pool in the summer and spent a good part of the day in and around the private pool as opposed to by the beach where we would have been spending money on ice creams and drinks which we just went to the fridge to get when we wanted.

I always use the same company. They have a definite rustic cool house style that I really like. Always great locations too.

We have a three-year-old DS and no car so this year I was looking for:

• Near a train station
• Walking distance from a beach (and ideally a playground if possible)
• Walking distance from places we can go out for food
• Less than three hours away from our house
• Not too expensive So basically a seaside town with a train station and some eating places! And some nice touristy things to do in the town itself - boat trips etc, but tbh we spent more time building sandcastles and playing on the swings than we did going on outings.

In the past (pre DS), we've looked for things like a fireplace, near a pub and some good walks, (as well as near a train station). Weirdly we actually prefer something a bit more basic. If we wanted a hotel room with en suite etc, we'd book a hotel room. I'd much rather go somewhere a bit cheaper that feels more like an adventure. (One of the best cottages we stayed in had a tin bath and an outdoor toilet halfway up a fell. That might just be us though!)

I usually look at National Trust cottages first because they're often in interesting and unusual locations (lighthouse keepers cottages etc), it's easy to search for things like near a train station, they're not madly expensive and the money goes towards supporting the National Trust, who are a great charity.

I booked one yesterday, just saw this thread. Location, Number of bathrooms, bedrooms, wifi, big kitchen, dog friendly, pubs restaurants walking distance for when we want to drink, outdoor area, big dining table, price. I was looking at Air bnb, but you have to email each individually to see if pet friendly so gave up with that. I look at the reviews also. Ended up booking with Toadhall cottages.

Probably all been said but
Twin beds or ideally one double and two singles; if you have 3 bedrooms then I'm sure a family of 3 DCs would like one single and one twin.
Outdoor space.
Decent kitchen.
Washing machine
Wi-Fi
We like quirky - National Trust, we've stayed in a railway carriage!
I wouldn't consider cabins/static caravans if I thought they'd be too hot or cold TBH.
Or any silly rules about cleaning though we do our best.
No glass tables or breakable ornaments.

Oh and a freezer, doesn't have to be huge but we ordered ice cream from Ocado once on arrival and found only a larder fridge!

I thought Airbnb had a pet friendly box you could tick

Owner next door wouldn't put me off. You could make a point in your advert how guests can rest assured their privacy will be utterly respected. And the advantage of if they do encounter any issues you will be on hand to deal with it.

I think it may just take time to build up a couple of repeats which will generate word of mouth recommendations. The place I booked for our summer holiday already had some regulars. If it works out for us this year, I can see us also repeat booking.

Coming back to the logs, if you are planning to market your property as 'luxury', I would 'give' the logs and factor that into the pricing. It feels stingy otherwise...

re: logs, I'd recommend supplying enough for 1 fire a day and building it into the charge. Or have an 'honesty pile' so they don't have to come & ask for more.

Things I hate / would stop me returning

late check-in & early check out times
not enough kitchenware, especially sharp knives
half-used packets, tins etc in cupboard. A good example I visited used re-fillable salt/pepper/oil/sugar and the owner clearly replenished & cleaned the containers each time
no bin bags/dish tablets/loo roll/kitchen roll; these should be included
shared gardens / pools

We only hire cottages abroad so for me I look for walking distances to pubs/restaurants etc and a private terrace or small garden.

Do the research on your competitors in the area. So check out airbnb, booking.com. Read the reviews, what guests, do and do not like. How much is charged. Be prepared to adjust your prices down close to the date if there is a void. Keep on top of your bookings. Photos of your accommodation, plus the local area.

We have just come back from a cottage stay in Cornwall over Christmas. What was really nice was it being so well equipped, loads of basic kitchen item, s&p oil, vinegar, cling film ...you get the gist. All bedroom had there own bathroom, this was very important to us .A washer & dryer & a log burner& lots of lovely seating. We had a wonderful week. There was an issue with the wifi, as it wasn't working and no data but the kids got used to it and there was less arguing and more playing games .... fantastic

I must admit I would never book a cottage that was attached or on the same grounds as the owners house.

Nor would I.

I'm with Sagely on the logs - on a week's holiday you don't want to be finding them and putting them in a car to get back + realizing the nearest place knows it's the nearest and costs twice what you'd pay at home. Yes to basic essentials including kitchen and cleaning/black plastic bags/tin foil etc. Yes to a welcome pack and/or recommendation for a local delivery. Yes to bath sheets rather than tiny towels. Yes to cleanliness and cleaner (build it in to the price). Yes yes yes to a floorplan - I don't want to hear anything from the next door bedroom. If dog-friendly it really helps to have a truly secure garden (think terrier). Yes to wifi, parking, black out curtains, enough bathrooms, table space etc. Yes to outdoor space and kit to enjoy it. Yes to a really good and updated advice book - and visitors' book where people can list what they found wonderful/disappointing.

I wouldn't mind having the owners nearby perhaps with a message "you don't need to see us unless you need us". Keysafe is great - and it doesn't tie you down to those poor sods who arrive at silly o'clock because of a breakdown.

You'll have several sorts of people - those who prioritise price, or area, those who are pet-allergic and those who can't travel without them, those who look for luxury and those prepared to forego White Company supplies and power showers if you are offering charm, ease and masses to do in the area with whatever family they bring with them. Whatever site you use make sure it has appropriate filters, that you use keywords in your description, and that you have good (but not misleading) photos done.

@Movinghouseatlast, when I'm looking for a holiday cottage, I want somewhere that's at least as nice as my own home.

We've booked several holidays through Boutique Retreats. Really high end, often quite quirky accommodation with lovely details such as roll-top baths, open fires, sea views, huge comfy beds…

@dontcallmecharlotte you’d be surprised! Have had a good hit ratio of excellent holiday cottages in Cornwall and Norfolk using that - but possibly better in days when holiday cottages had own websites and not everything was done through collation sites.

But to clarify it was white company bedding. I have other toiletry brands I prefer! Basically it needs to be better than what I have at home because I don’t want to pay a months mortgage payment for a weeks holiday and it be worse than being at home.

You will find those that want champagne accommodation, welcome packs etc. for beer prices. They threaten negative feedback. Best ignored. Like goldilocks, the porridge/chair/bed is never right.