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Original poster

Self Catering "holidays"

125 replies

Nohomemadecandles · 07/08/2021 19:42

Self Catering Holidays are Hard Work...

I just want a self indulgent whinge really. I'm sure it makes me entitled and I know lots of people are worse off but...

Self catering is not a holiday. It's just wife work in a different house!

One of us is always cooking, washing up, planning what to cook/eat, making beds, moving glasses, taking out the rubbish...

We're lucky (I know, very lucky) to have access to a family home on the south coast. We've been here three weeks. We've had various family members join us who also need feeding and clearing up after.

I'm shattered! I want my own bed and a week in a hotel abroad!

OP posts:
mayblossominapril · 07/08/2021 21:34

YANBU. Most I’ll do self catering is 4 nights. I’ve had enough then and want to go home.
I think a holiday for me would be to stay at home and put both children is childcare all day, tell everyone else I was really busy then lounge around and read books for a week! Actually going away on holiday is just hard work with a change of scenery

BarbaraofSeville · 07/08/2021 21:37

we washed everyone's endless cups and glasses that won't go in the dishwasher

Why?? Just put the dishwasher on again, don't use anything that's not dishwasher safe, encourage people to reuse cups and glasses, make sure everyone does their turn.

A lot of what you're doing is completely unnecessary, so just stop doing it.

frumpety · 07/08/2021 21:38

We always self cater, I hate the whole you need to be somewhere to be able to eat during a timescale thing, but I lower my nutritional bar on holiday and there is a lot of beige food for a week or two.

PullTheWeeds · 07/08/2021 21:38

I much prefer self catering holidays when we go abroad. That way we can have easy cereal or pastry type breakfasts in our pyjamas rather than getting dressed to go out. Theres a fridge for milk for my tea and wine on the balcony. We do a couple of lunches in, like sandwiches or soup and fresh crusty bread and butter. Don't think I've even cooked a dinner in, we would always go out for evening meal.

In holidays in the UK we'd maybe have a few more meals in but those would be pizza, ready meals, fish and chips bought and brought home.

Don't be so hard on yourself, sack it all in and take the easy route and enjoy the space of self catering and eat out like your in a hotel. And make sure the place has a dishwasher.

Cazziebo · 07/08/2021 21:40

nooo! We spend ages deciding what we want to eat and order it for collection at a local shop. It helps that we holiday in the glorious West Highlands so can get fresh seafood, lamb, venison, beef, eggs etc. Also order a case of lovely wine. We take it in turns to cook or do it together - something we don't have time for at home.

Just as well we like that kind of holiday as there are no eating out or takeaway options where we go! It also helps that the cottage we go to has a much better equipped kitchen than we have and it's a real joy to cook.

Darbs76 · 07/08/2021 21:42

Yep why I’m not bothering with a U.K. SC holiday this summer. Sorry if that makes me spoilt or ungrateful. I don’t mind when it’s abroad and a villa as least there’s sunshine but sitting in a cottage in gales and cooking / cleaning in a different location (and paying 2k this summer for the privilege) I’d rather just stay at home

HideousKinky · 07/08/2021 21:43

I also do not like self catering holidays

Preech · 07/08/2021 21:44

YABU. This year's self-catering mini break, I had my younger two DDs asleep in a shared bedroom and 15 year old DSD watching Lost Boys with her dad in the evening. Breakfast was at our own pace, with no threat of a dining room being closed if we didn't make it out of our beds freshly dressed by a certain hour. We could get the food we liked. We could offer a snack without a fuss if anyone was still hungry after a meal. If the DDs were arguing, I could separate them for some calm-down time in different rooms. No behavior to manage in a restaurant in the evening when little kids were already knackered from the day's adventures. No noise to manage for the sake of strangers sharing a wall with us when the DDs couldn't settle down in a new place. A spare TV in DSDs room when she needed to get away from us for a bit and chill. An entire bedroom for DSD to retreat to and catch up on some of the homework she neglected all summer and was getting anxious about.

My DH did the cooking. Grin First night's meals after a very long drive were burger patties under the grill and a fresh salad. I think it took him 10 minutes to do.

We had to Hoover the place before locking up. A price I'm happy to pay if I can feel like my real self on vacation!

DroopyClematis · 07/08/2021 21:48

Love cottage holidays... yes there's the same old stuff but we vary it.
Sometimes we have breakfast out, or lunch out or dinner out.
The joy for us is a different setting. Different walls.
Just being somewhere else means a lot to us.

TheOrigRights · 07/08/2021 21:50

We always do self catering and it works really well for us. You get more space for your £ and with me and DS12 and DS22 we need that.

I am a lone parent working full time and do actually enjoy having more time to cook nice meals and enjoy them. I don't have a dish washer at home, and holiday rentals usually do so that's a treat in itself!

We all muck in with everything, but honestly - if we've been out all day, I'm quite happy pottering about cooking while they have some down time. DS1 doesn't live at home any more so time away with my boys together when no one has work, school or distractions of friends and activities is something I really like.

We've had some excellent airBnBs both in the UK and abroad.

Off to Scotland in 2 weeks time!

knittingaddict · 07/08/2021 22:14

We always go on self catering holidays, but that doesn't mean that I cook. We've just been away for a weeks holiday in a cottage and the only meals we had in the property were breakfasts and supper. The oven was used twice for pain au chocolat and the hob not at all. All our main meals were eaten in pubs and restaurants. If self catering is hard work then you're doing it wrong.

DrCoconut · 07/08/2021 22:15

But cooking on the campfire is part of the fun for us. It's not something we can do at home. I realise that camping is a step further on than a cottage or caravan but it's still self catering. Self catering is better than having to stick to other people's schedules and for me better than hunting down places to eat. A look at the menu for the holiday park we're going to shortly reveals a bowl of olives as the only thing I can eat there 😫

knittingaddict · 07/08/2021 22:19

A week in a hotel would be my idea of hell. We stayed in a spotlessly clean beautiful cottage with high end kitchen, dining room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and a garden. The grandchildren can go to bed and we get to enjoy a comfortable evening without worrying about them. I would take that over a pokey hotel room any day.

Even abroad we stay in villas and apartments with balconies and bags of space.

Cazziebo · 07/08/2021 22:33

@knittingaddict I'm with you! Just had a few days away in a hotel. Having to get fully dressed with hair and face done for breakfast between 7.30am and 9.30am versus getting up for a cup of tea to take back to bed at 8, then a lovely breakfast in the garden at 10..... Can hardly wait until our Highland week away!

Neverrains · 07/08/2021 22:35

I much prefer self catering. Don’t have to be tied to meal times. Also tend to have more space. We never do anything except self catering!
We eat out most evenings though. Simple things for breakfast and lunch like fruit/bread/ham/cheese. No real cooking.

xsquared · 07/08/2021 22:43

I agree with pp who said self catering holidays are what you make of them, and we love staying in a cottage, as its much more private than staying in a hotel.
You don't have to cook every meal surely, and there must be places to eat out?

Ibizafun · 07/08/2021 22:51

When my kids were young I took an au pair and was happy to do breakfast/lunch in and go out for dinner. Now they’re adults though and it’s just dh and I, have to admit I’d rather stay home than do self catering.

Keladrythesaviour · 07/08/2021 22:58

...but you're not working. You're not tied to a schedule. You're surrounded by different places to visit. Things to see. You can spend the afternoon reading. Or knitting or snoozing, or reading guide books. you can drink Pina coladas all afternoon (and morning) if that's your idea of a holiday, just buy the premade bottles.

Confused I never understand this idea that just because you have to cook and tidy up after yourself (well you don't really, it will just end up messy!) It's not a holiday. I go on holiday to see new places, experience new things, not have someone else cook me a burger.

Original poster
Nohomemadecandles · 07/08/2021 23:13

@Keladrythesaviour

...but you're not working. You're not tied to a schedule. You're surrounded by different places to visit. Things to see. You can spend the afternoon reading. Or knitting or snoozing, or reading guide books. you can drink Pina coladas all afternoon (and morning) if that's your idea of a holiday, just buy the premade bottles.

Confused I never understand this idea that just because you have to cook and tidy up after yourself (well you don't really, it will just end up messy!) It's not a holiday. I go on holiday to see new places, experience new things, not have someone else cook me a burger.

It's not new places. It's a family home. The house itself is the reason to come here. To eat out, you need to drive and that means a convoy if there's others here and no wine! We have eaten out a good few times. But not 3 meals a day.

I don't want burgers particularly Confused

I / we do have to tidy up out of respect for someone else's house.

OP posts:
Keladrythesaviour · 07/08/2021 23:23

I'd say your issue is more where you are going on holiday then, rather than self catering holiays in general. When picking places to hire, we make sure we can access restaurants easily, or have enough drivers to break up responsibility, surroundings we want to visit (be they new to us or old favourites) and somewhere we can feel comfortable and line we can out our feet up during the week. Obviously you leave it tidy at the end and ensure nothing is damaged or dirty, but if the washing up isn't done after one lunch does it matter?
Obviously the burgers was just a reference, not a requirement.
It sounds hard work because you're making it hard work and you don't sound like you actually want to be there.Hmm

MrsAvocet · 08/08/2021 00:04

I like cooking on holiday., especially abroad. There's no pressure to eat at a certain time and, nobody rushing off to some activity or other. I love exploring the local shops, buying stuff that you can't get here and experimenting cooking different meals. Admittedly I don't get the same buzz from visiting yet another branch of Tesco in a different UK town, but I'd kill to be in Spain filling a trolley in a big branch of Eroski and then heading to a villa in an out of the way place, ideally with a village bakery so I can sent someone out for fresh bread brfore breakfast. That's my ideal holida.

AliceMcK · 08/08/2021 00:08

Agree

Self catering holidays are great when you have small kids and holidaying in a budget (most of our holidays). But it’s definitely hard work especially when you want to just sit back and be waited on while enjoying family time x

Snugglybuggly · 08/08/2021 00:10

Eat out?

Twoforthree · 08/08/2021 00:15

I don’t mind them but I wouldn’t want to be “hosting” and “entertaining”.

If we go with family members we take it in turn to cook. We’ve done it so often we know which food to shop for, and cook. It’s a slick operation where everyone pitches in.

You aren’t delegating enough, op.

HarebrightCedarmoon · 08/08/2021 00:15

It sounds poorly located and that you've had too many guests to look after and not enough help. It's not that SC is intrinsically shit, it's that you are doing SC wrong.