Why don't holiday cottage companies do these things? AIBU?

[TheStroppyFeminist]

I have been searching for a holiday cottage for next year and so far haven't found the right one but FGS, why don't cottage companies:

1. Show you a floor plan? I want to see where each bedroom is in relation to other bedrooms because of snoring etc
2. Show you the bathrooms properly? I want a huge walk in shower and I want a separate attachment as well but you can hardly ever see whether there is one
3. Insist on a 10am checkout and a 4pm or later check in? It's annoying and we sometimes leave the day before to avoid getting up early

I also won't empty bins or strip beds, I'm on holiday! AIBU? What are your self catering hates?

YABU, understandable, they CBA
YANBU, they really should provide this info

It would be worth getting your agent to include a photo which shows the second sofa, as well as the photo which shows the sofa with the nice view.

The snug for gaming could be a bonus for families with teens - provided that it’s as well as, not instead of, enough seating in the living space.

If your agent limits the number of photos, it might be worth trying a different agent.

We’ve found some great properties down the years which were reduced-price late bookings, when we’ve been looking for something at the last minute, and taken a chance. The reason they were unbooked and still available was because the agent photos didn’t do them justice. Obviously that was lucky for us, but not so great for the owners. (Two of them have been sold and are no longer holiday lets.)

I seriously can’t think of anything as I hate the crazy rush of tidying and leaving before ridiculous o’clock and after my last experience with a group of friends some with young children who needed to be herded and wanted attention, some of the friends nursing hangovers as stayed up to late the night before, I will hopefully never step foot in a self catering house that I have to clean up just like I do at home ever again! Hotels all the way for me now!

A staycation is when you stay in your own home, so you wouldn't would you

Regular MN : I get up at 5am to go the gym, come home, have a shower , make a meal from scratch, put a load of washing on, drop baby at nursery and get to my desk at 8.45am

Holiday let MN: It's very unreasonable to expect to empty the dishwasher and put a bag of rubbish out by the ungodly hour of 10am!!

I've often wondered how people manage group stays. I have one friend who doesn't do a shred of cleaning after staying places because "that's what the cleaning fee is for". She just picks up her stuff and walks out. I have another friend who spends hours scrubbing until you can see your reflection in every surface. Having to vacate a holiday let with either of them would drive me mad - I will NOT leave toothpaste around the bathroom sink and dirty plates on the side, but neither do I think scrubbing the grout with a toothbrush and polishing skirting boards is required.

Someone ain't telling the truth.

No it isn't. That's a holiday in the UK. A staycation is staying at home and having days out

Surely it is obvious that the 6 hour change over is to allow for cleaning/ bed changing, etc? Perhaps it would be more honest to state you just don’t like it?
People ( rightly) expect extremely high standards of cleanliness, but that isn’t achieved in a quick flick round with a duster. Many owners do the cleaning themselves, and have additional livelihoods to maintain.

On the subject of bugbears - I once stayed in a property where every single corner and cupboard was crammed with the owner’s own belongings, accompanied by aggressive ‘do not touch’ notices. 🙄

Must be a generational thing.

Staycation has always meant to stay at home and have days out. However, in recent years, the term has been mid- used to mean a Uk holiday.

I presume if they felt the need they would but I have known people buy properties with less than what the op wants for a holiday rental

Mind if thry did would you find a place with the exact requirements?

And 10am checkout is standard

Not getting address and access details until the last minute i.e. check in time. I can see why they do that but always worry my phone won't work. That's fairly likely when you first arrive in a different country. There needs to be a Plan B in place.

1 - I'm on fucking holiday, obviously my morning routine isn't going to look like it does during term time when yes I'm up at 5.45am and manage to accomplish a lot (including a 2 mile dog walk) before being out the door to take DC to school at 8am. When I'm on holiday I quite like a more relaxed start to the day, weird I know but it's kind of the point of going on holiday.

2 - It's not just "empty the dishwasher" is it - emptying it means you need to feed everyone breakfast early enough to load the dishwasher early enough that it's finished before 9.45am to give you time to unload it before 10am. Yes I could do the washing up by hand in the tiny sink and dry it up with the single tea towel provided which is obviously still definitely clean enough for drying dishes by the end of the week, but I'm on fucking holiday so using the dishwasher is one of those things that make it easier than just staying at home and actually worth the title of "holiday"

Nope - a staycation is a holiday in your home country…

No that’s a holiday.

a staycation is a new term for staying home and having days out from home

We bought a motorhome because those holiday cottages were so awful, also a lot of them allow dogs, I prefer to use all my own stuff as well.

Looks like both are correct…

https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Meanings?textTermText0=staycation&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase

(Not being an arse, was genuinely intrigued as to whether I’ve been using the term incorrectly! 😆)

It's morphed into that, but it originally meant day trips where you returned home to sleep every night.
Staying in your own home as opposed to staying in your own area/country.

I meant as a fairly lighthearted comment, because I usually feel incredibly lazy compared to the average MN in terms of getting up early, or housework, so was surprised by the strength of feeling about a 10am checkout.

I guess I expect a potentially early, slightly busy morning on first and last day of a holiday and do the relaxing in between. Last week we left our holiday accommodation at 8.15am , having put the dishwasher on the night before, and got up around 7. We stopped for breakfast on the way home, no washing up except maybe a mug or 2 for tea/coffee.

Well it's the difference being on holiday isn't it :)

Not that I would ever get up at 5.45 to go to the gym!

A staycation is definitely where you stay at home.

A holiday in the UK is still a holiday, it's not a special kind of holiday. Unless maybe you went somewhere a few miles away. As an example, I get a cycling magazine and it was advertising a cycling holiday about 10 miles from where I live. It would actually be a really good location to stay and go cycling - and I might stretch the term staycation to cover that.

But if I lived in Liverpool and went to Scotland on holiday, that isn't a staycation.

Yes, the floor plans! That would be a winner. with rented accommodation that you get what you pay for. I have had brilliant experiences with one villa Company, the thinking traveller, and more dubious with Oliver’s travels. But TTT is a lot more expensive than anyone else. Worth it in my opinion to avoid all the ball ache.

The kitchen.
We self cater. It would be so good to see the kitchen properly. Does it have a grill? An oven?

Not some picture taken at a distance - and then more pictures of ornaments.

It's not difficult.

I have a large holiday let (sleeps 12 in 6 bedrooms). All I ask is that the dishwasher is set off. Invariably the bins are emptied and some guests leave it so perfectly I am genuinely shocked. Only very occasionally is it a complete mess. I think this is mainly because it is booked by grandparents for their extended family and granny cracks the whip. If just friends it's left ok, the absolute worse we’re 3 couples plus tweenagers who did as much damage as possible from breaking padlocks, leaving freshly chewed gum under rugs, dismantling the hose reel and chucking away the connectors, breaking springs on sofas, and leaving decomposing lobster shells in the bin so the kitchen stunk of bad fish.

But despite my lovely guests I do still need the time to clean, replace broken appliances, do any repairs etc. If I don’t have back-to-back changeovers I always allow early check-ins and later check-outs, and guests are welcome to leave luggage etc even if the house isn’t quite ready.

And whilst I fully take on board the problems caused by too many holiday lets, my house (despite sea views and within walking distance to a lovely beach) had been on the market for 3 years until I bought it - and then spent a considerable amount renovating it.

Friends once rented a holiday cottage and invited us to stay for a few days. It was only when we got there that we discovered the only bathroom was ensuite to the master bedroom. This wasn't explained in the cottage blurb.