Do you actually cater if you go self catering...

[NaomifromMilkshake]

We just use our apartment as somewhere to sleep and hang on the balcony and we use the fridge for wine and beers and snacks... and the makings of light lunch or breakfast...

My DM is horrified at what she considers a waste of money, seemingly you should cater in SC....

In her defence she is 80 and a war child.

I make the first coffee of the day and cut lemon for the gnt, that's self catering isn't it? :)

I'd make breakfast definitely but not other meals.

We don’t do self catering abroad, but on cottage holidays in the uk we tend to have stuff in for simple meals - we wouldn’t want to be eating pub/restaurant food every night.

Meant to add, we usually have a late breakfast which keeps us going until a mid/late afternoon snack - tea and cake etc.

Generally breakfast and dinner in the apartment, and either eat lunch out or take a picnic.

I don't think that eating out is a waste of money as such, but I would rather spend that money on day trips, ice creams, souvenirs, etc.

Yes I will cook in a SC cottage/flat. In big part because that’s the reason why I will have taken a SC place!!

Much easier to prepare picnic etc...
Easier when you want to cater for a specific diet (me)
And easier when you have young dc. Yu can feed them and then have all the time in the world to eat etc... vs being stressed in a restaurant/having grumpy children because it’s late etc...

Btw it doesn’t mean that we don’t go out and eat in restaurant. It means that it’s not the default position.

And YY about preferring to spend the money doing activities/ice cream/souvenirs rather than spending it on restaurant/cafe twice a day.

We cater when we self cater. If we're abroad for a week we'll probably do a restaurant every other night, the rest we cook/do a buffet. Mainly because DS and DH love to get in the pool (and not get out - they're growing gills...) and I love to read a good book by the pool in peace. The thought of getting showered and changed just to go to a busy restaurant is not great to be honest. I'd rather do a pasta/pizza or buffet meal so we just pick and mix sitting by the pool watching the sun go down. Plus we often have quiet villas which means a drive - and DH or I can't have a glass of wine then.

In this country we may go out a couple of times but otherwise we cook. We tend to be on the go all day so again, getting showered, dressed, drive to a restaurant, drive back etc having already done quite a few miles driving or walking is sometimes too much.

Yes, but we both love cooking and searching out regional specialities etc so it’s part of the holiday for us. Not every night though.

We tend to buy food for breakfast, fruit and snacks.
We usually eat a big breakfast, take snacks and fruit out with us then have an early dinner out.

Half and half. Whether we're in this country or overseas, we will always have breakfast things in the cupboards and stuff for a light lunch - bread, cheese, salad, ham, crisps, fruit.

Evening meals - a mixture. Over the course of a week we'd probably eat out twice, barbecue twice, takeaway once, and the other two nights i'd "cater" but that means sticking a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven or pasta with a jar of pesto or something.

I'm certainly not whipping up three course meals.

No we don’t cater in self catering

We eat out for the vast vast majority of meals...if not all

We do have snacks though...

Not sure why my age is relevant

You mentioned your MIL's age and said that might be relevant.

As old as my tongue and slightly older than my teeth

I've not heard that phrase for donkeys years!

When we go abroad self catering I will get I stuff for breakfast and snacks but eat out for lunch and dinner. I like to try out different restaurants and eat the food the locals eat. Were going all inclusive this year but we are taking 4 children so it's just easier (and cheaper!)

Mainly eat in, I get bored very quickly with hotel/restaurant food. I'm also a good cook and I enjoy it too.

We're off to Cornwall for a week in August and we have 2 evening meals booked out, 2 lunches and we'll probably have 1 breakfast outside too.

We do a combination. We almost always have cooked breakfast in the apartment and might have a late lunch out in a restaurant or beach bar.

In the evening we usually go out for drinks and tapas or DP might have something more substantial, but I'm rarely hungry enough for a full meal, if I've eaten well at lunchtime, or sometimes we have drinks and nibbles on the balcony.

We'll go to the supermarket at the start of the holiday to stock up on bread, crisps, olives, cheese, breakfast stuff and drinks. This is no hardship as I love a nosy round a foreign supermarket.

Or we might have a snack or a big ice cream in the middle of the day and eat out in the evening. The amount of actual cooking is minimal and it's just the way we like to do things.

More relaxing than staying in a hotel and having to dodge housekeeping, where, even if you're out all day, they seem to be superbly skilled at wanting to clean the room every time you pop back for 5 minutes.

Depends on the trip. City break we tend to eat out. Hiking trip, we tend to SC breakfast and do a packed lunch then eat out in the evening.

For me, the whole point of self catering is that you self cater! If I w wanted meals provided, I wouldn't book self catering. That said, we try to eat out or buy a take away once or twice each holiday, as a treat.

But I want meals provided on my terms. I don't want to stay in a hotel and have to eat all my meals at their restaurant.

I'm quite happy to stay in a hotel on a B&B basis and sometimes we do, but for lunch and dinner I want the choice of eating while we're out and about, wherever that may be, or making something quick and easy in the accomodation.

We usually get a self catering apartment, or sometimes stay in an apart hotel, so we have the flexibility of either completely self catering or hotel food on site.

We will eat out some of the time but mostly cook for ourselves. Not really a budget thing, we just like the space and privacy of SC. Mind you, we are all OK about cooking so don't see it as a particular downer. In some ways it adds to the interest of the holiday shopping for things to eat. Like a PP we enjoy a mooch around a foreign supermarket

Yes we cater. It's how we keep costs down. In a fortnight's holiday, we might have 2 evening meals out and a takeaway. I'd have picnic most days too. Depends on other expenses but when we stay in Devon in independent sc we drive to beaches etc so pay for petrol, parking and outdoor pool as well as usual coffee and ice cream out. And then the odd day at a farm, theme park etc. So even without eating out, we can spend a fair bit.

We stay self catering because it's cheaper than a hotel and DS gets his own bedroom. I actually prefer a restaurant to be available so our first choice is apart hotels where you get the best of both worlds. Although we did go half board to France last summer and it was nice not having to go out for dinner.

I dont self cater so i can cook

I self cater because there is usually more room for the 5 of us

We have a villa on holiday for 17 days this year (hotel for 4) and the villa will let us spread out

I do, my ds is very fussy though and up very early, so wants his breakfast well b4 I want to face the public, usually just breakfast though

Abroad - we might eat out 4 nights out of 7. We do cook simple meals the other nights, I like buying local ingredients/foods. It’s part of the holiday for us. We will obv have breakfast and make lunches too.

In UK - we will eat in most nights, easy stuff, maybe a takeaway and make packed lunches for every day.

I hate not being self catering to be honest, I like the option of staying in.