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?

@Midrangecolours

We live around a 6/7 hour drive from Cornwall and usually leave the house at about 5am to avoid as much traffic as possible.

As a complete aside, why do people drive so far to Cornwall? is there literally no-where else closer to you? I'm baffled by the obsession with the place

Poor holiday let owners though, it's a few hours out of your holiday. I'm a bit surprised at posters saying just spend the day doing x,y,z - cafes, restaurants, attractions won't be open in the way we are used to. Take away isn't going to fill many hours especially if it's raining.

Well, I happily flew 4.5 hours to Cyprus last year because it is a lovely island.

I do like Cornwall but I don't like the rental prices in high season so we haven't been since DD started school.

I personally wouldn't go on holiday unless attractions do open again. I can better be at home taking walks and have all my stuff available and be comfortable than in a bare cottage when it rains.

I do understand that the owners are currenlty having new guidelines thrown at them and may still try to gifure out what is a guide and what is mandatory. But I think they should also realise that people choose a cottage for being comfortable, have lots of equipment so they don't need to bring everything but the kitchen sink.

To the posters who thinks that a normal bedtime is evil during the holidays, you can be glad if you have a child who doesn't blink or happily sleeps in a buggy. DD never ever would entertain this, she needed a bed at night or no sleep and the next day was hell. I had much more relaxation when she was in bed at 8pm and I had a glass of wine on the terrace or garden.

If I had any doubts about suspending bookings on my property for the summer, this thread has confirmed it was the right thing to do. The anger, vitirol and sense of entitlement shown towards owners, who in no way could have foreseen the pandemic, and who have to take on board new guidelines to protect guests health and safety is clearly astounding.

It is astounding Spidey and it's made me really worry. I'm self employed in tourism, and the attitude shown here is jaw dropping. Just hoping most people in the real world aren't ike this, because I can't afford to shut up shop for the season

Well, I happily flew 4.5 hours to Cyprus last year because it is a lovely island.

Yes I would do that, fly to another country with a totally different culture and guaranteed sunshine but to drive in UK to somewhere packed with tourists where it could well rain all week...taking the same time as flying abroad. It's the obsession with packed to the gunells Cornwall that I don't get.

We live at around 2 hours drive from any coast, if we go on holiday we could go to the nearest one, but we wouldnt want to go there every time. Sometimes we drive 2.5 -3 hours but we like trying different places which means driving further.
And we do really like Cornwall, it's different from other places that are closer.

I had a cottage booked with Hoseasons for mid July. When I booked, check in was 4pm and check out 10am so pretty standard
I’ve just payed the balance and seen that they have changed it check in 5pm and check out 9 am.

To be honest, I was half expecting a change after reading This thread and won’t lie, I am quite peeved mainly with the 9am check out as that is just too early when you’ve paid a lot of money for a holiday.

I’m more hacked off that Hoseasons haven’t bothered to contact us with this new information before hand. We did contact the holiday site ourselves last week and they did say they they will have to remove the hairdryer and some other decorative items and have contactless Check-In and check out but a nothing about new Check-In and check out times.

The owners should be offering a one night discount full stop.

I used to own a holiday home in Cornwall,my daughter in law cleaned for me.My checkout time was noon and checking In 3pm.She only had my property to clean.

Most owners now use cleaning companies,so these new checkin/checkout times are for their benefit not the holidaymakers.

So cancel or expect a decent discount,you are not there to make their lives easier.Sorry but people have suffered horrendous financial hardship in this pandemic,holiday home owners should not be treated differently.

@480Widdio

The owners should be offering a one night discount full stop.

I used to own a holiday home in Cornwall,my daughter in law cleaned for me.My checkout time was noon and checking In 3pm.She only had my property to clean.

Most owners now use cleaning companies,so these new checkin/checkout times are for their benefit not the holidaymakers.

So cancel or expect a decent discount,you are not there to make their lives easier.Sorry but people have suffered horrendous financial hardship in this pandemic,holiday home owners should not be treated differently.

But you do understand they are being compelled to adopt an insanely rigorous and time consuming cleaning routine don't you? Which will cost more money to implement.

If people expect discounts for the inconvenience of a few hours, then the price will go up accordingly. So once people achieve their demanded discount, they will end up paying the same anyway.

I understand more cleaning is required. What I don't understand is why companies have chosen to extend the cleaning hours at a disadvantage to guests rather than have more cleaners working the usual hours. It makes sense if you only have a couple of properties and the owner is doing the cleaning themselves but for companies like Hoseasons they are paying cleaners an hourly rate so why not have more cleaners working core hours as presumably most cleaners only want to work certain hours. They'll all be going off with RSI and bad backs if just a few cleaners working long hours

My goodness I really feel for the owners of the cottages.

Don't you pay for x nights at a place? You're still getting those.

The poster upthread that said they wouldn't just park up and go to the beach for the day because someone might nick their stuff really made me chuckle.

The only part I think is U is the letter sending the change of time email after trousering the balance. At least give the Booker the option to cancel.

@2Rebecca i wondered that but then reasoned perhaps some of the requirements couldn't be done simultaneously.

But again, then the price of the holiday will go up to reflect this.

And getting hold of reliable, honest, thorough cleaners for part time work isn't just a matter of clicking your fingers and they will appear. They need to be recruited and trained. There just hasn't been the time to implement this since these insane expectations of sanitisation appeared.

Next year I imagine changeover hours will be back to normal, but if the sanitisation requirements remain, expect the price to go up to cover this army of additional cleaners.

Hester do you think it is more fair to tell the guest about the change before they settle the balance?

I don't think anything about this is fair, to be honest.

But I think that for this year at least people might have accept that things might not be as they want or expect. It sucks.

It depends on when they were given the guidance.

But it also depends on whether the time change comes under reasonable adjustments or not.

And that is not a simple thing, as this thread shows

41,000 people have died, you're talking about losing 5 hours of a weeks holiday. Get a sense of perspective people!

I REALLY don't understand why you can't be up and out by 9am? What do you do in real life?

Also, how is a 7pm check-in losing a day? Plan an activity near where you're staying. Eat out, the quick wash and bed when you get there. You're losing maybe half an hour tops.

Using the children's bedtime isn't the best excuse as on holiday you should be flexible, however I'd be annoyed that it's cut into my holiday time. Ask to see a copy of their Covid risk assessment

When pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, gyms etc reopen, there will be changes implemented to take social distancing on board, at least for a while. I'm sure people on MN will be understanding and supportive, especially if they are small businesses. But of course MN often hate the fact that some people have more than one property, even though without this they wouldn't be able to rent self catering holidays.

And yes I am aware that the terms and conditions of the booking has changed since it was agreed. In case people hadn't noticed, a pandemic has happened meaning the t's and c's have had to change accordingly, often with short notice. I was only informed by our housekeeping firm about a fortnight ago.

If I had any doubts about suspending bookings on my property for the summer, this thread has confirmed it was the right thing to do. The anger, vitirol and sense of entitlement shown towards owners, who in no way could have foreseen the pandemic, and who have to take on board new guidelines to protect guests health and safety is clearly astounding

It would be even better if you put it back on the open market for sale or rental to LOCAL people to LIVE in. Don't expect people to feel sorry for you, you are massively privileged to own a second (or more) home.

But of course MN often hate the fact that some people have more than one property, even though without this they wouldn't be able to rent self catering holidays

I don't do self-catering in cottages, I stay in hotels or B&Bs. I had planned to stay in a lodge in Scotland in September but the owners have them on their farm so they're not removing housing stock from the local market. Other than once in Croatia, I've never stayed somewhere that could be used as a home.

getting hold of reliable, honest, thorough cleaners for part time work isn't just a matter of clicking your fingers and they will appear. They need to be recruited and trained

Isn't there a whole army of sixth formers looking for summer work? Oh I know they're lazy and unreliable. Why not try them and see?

As a complete aside, why do people drive so far to Cornwall? hmm is there literally no-where else closer to you? I'm baffled by the obsession with the place

Especially as you have to go through Devon to get there, which is prettier and the locals are a bit less pitchfork-wielding.

I understand the changes but they should give options for refunds if it doesn't work for people. You didn't book the property under those terms.

For some people those times may be workable but for others would be too much of a hassle depending on their personal circumstances and should be allowed to cancel with a refund if they want to.

Crikey I’d be cancelling because of the 7pm issue alone. If DD18mo isn’t in bed by 6.30 she goes into jittery overtired mode and we’re lucky to get her down by midnight.

We more than often go to a holiday cottage in Devon / Cornwall for our 'main' holiday because we have a dog and a disabled daughter.

For us, we book a cottage thats far bigger than we need and a step up from our own house, as being in a posh cottage in a nice village / seaside environment is the main thing for us. We don't go out for extended periods when there - we choose a place with an extra special garden or on the sea front.

Not being able to get in until 7pm is a problem for us - we'd travel down the next day instead but would want a discount.

Right now, we've moved our booking until next year instead.

.

@cologne4711
I wouldn't describe myself as privileged. I work as a nurse. I inherited the money to buy the property after my parents died relatively young. My father was semi literate but worked long hours in the building trade, and made a good living out of it. But if that's your idea of being privileged, you go for it.

I admit I do at times feel guilty for having it. However, where it is has a thriving tourist industry, which obviously employs lots of people. Without property for tourists, there would not be jobs for people locally. I also do my best for the local economy e.g. using local tradespeople when I need them, recommend local businesses to guests etc. Unlike many holiday let owners, I pay council tax rather than business rates, even though business rates are cheaper.