To think that a 7pm check-in is too late when you have young kids

[sqirrelfriends]

I woke up to an email this morning from the company I booked a holiday cottage with for next month.

For corona reasons:

7pm check in (instead of 3pm)
9am check out (instead of 10)
Removal of all high risk items (they mentioned board games and the DVD player but I would imagine it's going to be barren)

We would have to drive about 4 hours to get there with a young child, 7pm just seems too late to me to check in, and equally 9am is too early to check out, especially with all the extra stuff we would need to bring. Am I being unreasonable to think it would never take 10 hours to clean a cottage? And would you be cancelling?

@Tarararara

Did all the people on here saying that cottage owners should refund them the first night of their stay also ask Tesco for a refund since they had to queue up outside, or their kid's music teacher for a refund since lessons are Zoom rather than in person, or ask the government for a tax refund since their child has not been able to access a full education, or attend the GP face to face? Will you ask restaurants for a refund when they don't offer the full menu upon re-opening? We're in a fucking pandemic!!!! Owners are not changing the check in times for shits and giggles!!!

None of these things are comparable though, are they?

It's more like Tesco charging for a full shop but only giving you 5% of the items.

Or a restaurant charging you for a scampi, chips and salad then not giving you the salad.

Well I could discount the 3 lost hours of your holiday I guess. At peak rates it's £5 an hour to rent the cottage. That's £1 per person per hour.

Knocking £15 - £25 if, like OP, it's five hours not three - off the price probably would actually be a well-received gesture? I don't think it's reasonable to expect the whole first night free but I think just an acknowledgement that you aren't getting the original deal and some compensation for that would make people feel better.

@Tarararara. Great news that the industry has had the nod to re start on 4 July! I will just be delighted to have a uk break and won’t be wanting any sort of refund in respect of a few lost hours in our accommodation. I’m more worried about being chased out of Cornwall by locals waving pitch forks, but that’s a whole different conversation 🤨

How is it like only receiving 5% of the items when the OP is only missing 4 hours of time at the cottage out of a week?

Personally don't see the issue with it, but of a pain but a bit drastic to cancel.
Can't you feed him before check in, get checked in and get him straight up to bed before unloading all the car?

@Angelonia

How is it like only receiving 5% of the items when the OP is only missing 4 hours of time at the cottage out of a week?

Because I can't count I meant 95% of the items!

Ok that makes more sense!

I would tell them that you will check on the next day and reduce your rental by one night. 7 pm is ridiculous.

When hairdressers open, are you going to expect a refund because they won't be able to give you a coffee any more, or offer you magazines?

On the contrary, I’m expecting my hairdresser to put their rates up to cover the cost of ppe. It seems reasonable to me.

Knocking £15 - £25 if, like OP, it's five hours not three - off the price probably would actually be a well-received gesture? I don't think it's reasonable to expect the whole first night free but I think just an acknowledgement that you aren't getting the original deal and some compensation for that would make people feel better

Personally I'd find it a little petty. I'm not in the market for guests who'd fret about that. We offer excellent quality at a fair price.

The ones who want cheap can go to Sykes or Hoseasons and chance their luck on a refund if lockdown is reimposed. My guests will automatically get 100% refund if they can't travel.

Horses for courses.

Elphame, I agree. I wonder how guests would react at having a generous discount of £50 for the lost hours then a COVID cleaning surcharge of £75?

@Zilla1

Elphame, I agree. I wonder how guests would react at having a generous discount of £50 for the lost hours then a COVID cleaning surcharge of £75?

You couldn't impose that on a pre-booked holiday. Only if it's booked now (with the altered check in time already as part of the booking).

Noword, Thank you but I wasn't being serious.

I could deal with the 9am check out but the 7pm check in I wouldn't like. I like to be relaxing by then

Did all the people on here saying that cottage owners should refund them the first night of their stay also ask Tesco for a refund since they had to queue up outside, or their kid's music teacher for a refund since lessons are Zoom rather than in person, or ask the government for a tax refund since their child has not been able to access a full education, or attend the GP face to face? Will you ask restaurants for a refund when they don't offer the full menu upon re-opening? We're in a fucking pandemic!!!! Owners are not changing the check in times for shits and giggles!!!

None of these examples involved a contract.

@Zilla1

Elphame, I agree. I wonder how guests would react at having a generous discount of £50 for the lost hours then a COVID cleaning surcharge of £75?

I suspect many will be putting their prices up so they can "discount" their 7 day price to a 6 day price

I'm holding at the moment and absorbing the extra cost. I'm even taking bookings for next year at current prices but at some point they will have to go up. Certainly I wont be offering cheap off season short breaks any more. They will have to go up. They barely cover the cost of providing them at the moment so factor in extra cleaning costs and they won't be worth doing.

Given that self employed people are now being told the Auguat grant they were going to get now won't happen unless they can prove their income is adversely efected AFTER 14th July (leaving June completely unaccounted for), I wouldn't hold my breath for any discounts.

It depends how much you want to be there. I wouldn't be bothered about the late check in as it's holiday anyway, and to me it wouldn't matter. The checkout is doable if you do everything the night before, including packing up the car with just a few things out for breakfast etc. If it's going to be a really lovely holiday then do it but if you're not sure due to other issues, forget it.

I am seriously shocked at the OP's response to this, we are all going through massive changes and adjustments and many of us are losing financially and much worse, some of us have lost loved ones and colleagues.

My single parent daughter has built up, over the last four years, a small glamping business, she has 5 shepherds huts and cabins, she has put every bit of energy and every penny into her business, she loves to give her guests the best holiday she can.

At the beginning of the pandemic she cancelled and refunded in full all her bookings, she hasn't been eligible for any grants because she sub leases the land.

She is relieved and exited to open again in July, has arranged with local fisherman and suppliers so that guests can pre-order at cost lobsters and local produce, she has set up new BBQ's and has a local chuck wagon in to do breakfasts and paella nights.

However the recommendations and new regulations will significantly impact her costs, she has had to double up on all kitchen crockery etc as there will not be the time on changeover to deep clean it all, she has invested in steam cleaners and more cleaning products.

She wants to keep people safe and help them have the best holiday they can in the circumstances and will, even fully booked for the rest of the Summer, be lucky to break even.

And here is the thing, since taking bookings again last week she is fully booked until the end of September and could have booked three times over and has been offered crazy money for gazzumping (which she hasn't done)

If you are lucky enough to have a break booked and going ahead I think a later check in and slightly earlier check out is a privilege, I suspect many will have no choice this year! I have holiday booked and paid for in the UK but travel restrictions on numbers (to the Islands) mean we can't actually get there unless we swim, so for us and our children it will be a tent in the garden and a loss of the holiday cost, do I care, not really, our household income is down 80%, but we are well and happy, we will just have to get through.

And here is the thing, since taking bookings again last week she is fully booked until the end of September and could have booked three times over and has been offered crazy money for gazzumping (which she hasn't done)

Yes I think people are being a bit naive here if they think it's a buyer's market. We have had people trying to book with us 'privately' throughout May and June so far (obviously we said no). All of our actual March/April/May/June bookings that we cancelled earlier in the year have mostly moved their booking to later in the year (Aug-Oct) or rebooked for the same dates next year.

We are still fully booked from mid July onwards, we receive roughly 3 enquiries a day at the moment asking to book dates over the next few months that we have to turn down, but that's fairly standard in normal times too.

We haven't imposed the later check in, the booking company has.

If you contact us directly we will do our very best to accommodate you. If you demand a refund for the loss of hours you won't get one because we have balanced it against our extra cleaning costs.

If you decide you don't want to accept the changes that's fine, let us know and we will let someone on our waiting list take your spot and we hope we might see you again another time instead.

People are probably forgetting about all the people who normally go abroad but have had their holiday cancelled.

Many of these will have had money refunded, time off work that they either want to or have been told to take and are desperate for a change of scene.

If the original bookers of UK cottage holidays no longer want them due to a minor and entirely understandable change in the t&cs, there are probably plenty of people willing to take their place.

I know someone who’s trying desperately to book a holiday cottage. There’s nothing available until November.

We have availability on the Isle of Skye. Very excited to be reopening, but lots of work ahead with the new cleaning and changeover protocol. This thread has made me a little sad in terms of some guests' expectations of how to respond to Covid-19 disruption.

Now we have to do all that and disinfect with some pretty user unfriendly chemicals

And then expect a paying guest to spend 7 nights sleeping with those chemicals? Good luck with that.

I had a lodge booked in Scotland in September - if someone wants my place they are welcome to it.

What I'm disappointed about is the large number on here who would still want the holiday, but say they would expect cottage owners to refund the first night of their stay

Nope that's not what I said. I said if you need a full day to clean (10 hours is more than a full working day) then you need to have a 6 night let and have a day inbetween. Not the same thing.

Have any of you said to Visit England that the guidelines are not workable and potentially dangerous in terms of chemicals in the cottages?

So basically there’s no point in the first night or last night!