to ask if anyone has booked a recent UK break

[frazzledfatty]

Has anyone booked a UK break recently in the hope restrictions will be lifted?

Any sites that are safe in terms of refunds?

I had a short break booked for May in Scotland, the accommodation owner cancelled. It's a group booking, that has been moved to 2021

We had our May half term booking moved to next yr & cancelled our trip abroad but were hoping to get a UK summer break.

I've got my eye on a cottage with cottages. com in late July. Their updated t&cs say it will be fully refunded if it needs to be cancelled due to Covid. What's stopping me booking it is that we're also due to go to France at that time. Personally I think it's unlikely to happen and even if we can go there's the worry of quarantine at either or both ends. DH wants to wait and make a decision nearer the time. It's a relatives holiday home and they will be there part of the time, we were all really looking forward to it. When we told relative that we were considering playing safe and going for a UK break instead she said she was sure France would be fine by late July, it's a large house with a pool in a rural area so wouldn't matter too much if some businesses weren't open. So I'm now in a dilemma. I would love to go to France if at all possible but I also don't want to wait until the last minute to book a UK break to find we can't find anything suitable - I'm fussy and the cottage I've found is perfect! The UK cottage would only be refundable if we couldn't go due to Covid, not because we've decided to go to France instead!

So, in answer to your question, it seems like many companies are offering refunds if cancelled due to Covid and I would be booking if it wasn't for the above dilemma. I don't know when you're planning but, from what I've been reading, there's a high chance UK holidays will be possible by mid July, just choose somewhere with lots of natural stuff to visit in case not all attractions are open, just don't book MY cottage, ok?

We have booked a haven holiday for October half term with a few other couples. We took the insurance that means we can cancel it up to the day before travel and get a full refund plus they offer a full refund should the park not be open by then or not all facilities available.

Booked self catering for august - they were clear that the deposit is non-refundable but if coronavirus means they are closed we can move it to another date (including same dates next year for same price). Which we were fine with.

We have booked a self catering cottage for the end of August. We have taken a bit of a punt but didn’t want to wait and miss out

We’ve booked for late July just this week. We booked with Hoseasons as they seem to have a pretty good policy - we can transfer the date and if we do need to cancel altogether of our own accord we only lose the deposit which is fairly low (split between 4). They also only want the remaining balance three weeks before the booking.

I was contacted by a holiday cottage complex company taking bookings from the beginning of July. I was surprised because overnight stays are not yet agreed with regard to lockdown. They are saying they will offer 100% refunds if lockdown is not sufficiently eased. I thought it was a bit of a punt on behalf of the company and i would be a bit nervous of booking because I have heard of so many people struggling to get refunds. Maybe I am over cautious.

@Holidayaddict thank you, I will check them out, but not your cottage! We are looking at July, we were supposed to go to France (hadn't booked flights) to family home but just decided to stay in the UK.

@cookiemonster that's an option I hadn't thought of, thank you.

@shamoo & @smallpinkbear can I ask which companies you used? I'm scared of everything being "sold out" if I leave it too long.

@winterberry7 thank you, I will look at them.

@elsiemc I normally use air bnb but have heard lots are struggling with refunds so that's put me off.

Yes I have a long standing booking for first week of summer holidays in England and just booked two nights in late August and have another week in late august too. Keeping everything crossed.

I imagine I can rebook them all for later different dates if needed.

I’ve booked for the weekend that my daughter should have been getting married with my husband’s birthday the following day.
Two houses next to each other but not a complex. I can change the booking date, if necessary.
The owner said they were booking up very quickly now. Late July, so may have to move it, but hopefully not.

We had a break with Butlins for next month but they're going to be closed. We could have had a full refund or alternative dates of our choice so we opted for alternative dates. We've rebooked for the same time next year, they've honoured the offers applied to our original booking which were one child eats free with every paying adult, onsite booking discount, and a welcome home discount. They've also given us a specific unit for free (usually you pay extra for specifying which exact apartment you want) and a £50 on resort voucher to spend while we're there.

If you are thinking of booking , be aware some companies will not refund you if you book during the pandemic and that is the reason you don't
go .
Some insurance companies are also not covering it

@haggisfish can I ask who you booked with?

I have booked a week at haven for the end of July. They have a corona guarantee so if it’s cancelled I get my money back. And it was cheap!

We have free cancellation up to a month before, so will have to call it then.

We booked via Air BnB months ago but haven’t heard yet. It’s a self catering cottage.

Do not book with Sykes. We had to cancel end of April due to CV and are having a hell of a job getting a refund even though we bought insurance at the time of booking. The insurers are buck passing arseholes.

I booked direct with owners for cottage and caravan and the last one is with field studies council.

We've booked a couple - one with Grace Darling holidays in Northumberland in July and one in Cornwall for the end of August. We're having major problems actually paying for the first one....(MIL lives there and we need to go and see her and I don't want her traveling on public transport to get to us.)

Check the T7C before you book OP, pay by credit card and you should be okay. At the worst you can always take someone to small claims, which is actually very straightforward.

I know someone said up thread but Hoseasons/Cottages.com are offering full refunds if we’re still in lockdown and 3 week before departure balance due dates. I’m not sure if they’re still doing their low deposit, but you’d only lose that if you decide to cancel before that.

We've got a holiday let provisionally booked for aug. It's direct with the owner. We've stayed there before. They haven't taken money from us.

We have cottage holidays booked in September and October with deposits paid. We are reasonably confident that we will be able to go.