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

We had a similar experience, the house was very grand but I don’t think the decor had changed since the 1980s, everything appeared dusty even if it wasn’t and we couldn’t find a decent frying pan to use that didn’t have the Teflon peeling off. Also, considering how many people it hosted - 18; it should have had pans x 3!!

Even when we are "self-catering" we tend to eat out in the evening more often than not. In a hotel room, I don't like not being able to easily and comfortably (and inexpensively) rustle up my own coffee, lunch, tea and cake, glass of wine and nibbles whenever I want to, plus the space to properly spread out and relax in your own garden (or at least balcony) to enjoy it. Or curl up on a proper comfy sofa if it's cooler weather. If it's a longer holiday we will likely cook some very simple meals too. I find a week of eating out a bit much. Don't really get the hotel love to be honest. Hotel rooms/lobbies/bars/breakfast rooms are just not my favourite place to hang out. And I don't want to be out all the time. Don't feel like there is any drudgery involved!

No, I’ve worked in hotels though, and know they don’t employ one cleaner per room, so your comparison is nonsense. Have you worked in hotels?

Cry me a river

People say they prefer hotels but in the UK where are you getting 7 nights in a hotel for 6 people for 1k?

The savings we make by staying self catering easily make up for a 10am exit. If you're really that bothered you could leave on day 6 at whatever time you wanted. It would still be cheaper than 7 nights in a hotel.

It’s cottage owners here saying they need more time to clean than you would need to clean a hotel room, introducing the comparison and ignoring that the cleaners don’t just have one room to clean. Plus people seem to forget that the cleaners often don’t just have the rooms to clean, but all the common areas too. And yes hotels may employ more cleaners, but don’t think for a second that they’re not frequently understaffed and over worked.

You aren’t but I personally would prefer a day less than self catering but also I don’t think I’ve stayed in a hotel in Britain for longer than 5 nights.

I think maybe for me, I grew up going to very cheap, basic s/c places because that's all my parents could afford. My mum would spend all day cleaning the first day we were there.

Now I think places have much higher standards, and are generally much nicer, and I personally, don't feel its a huge deal to strip beds, empty bins or wash up breakfast items. Our latest place didn't require us to strip beds, but it probably takes a couple of minutes, although I'd definitely complain about having to make a bed.

I packed my bag the night before (took about 15 min) we put the dishwasher on the night before. In the morning, the only "cleaning" i did was wipe the bathroom sink, and wipe down the kitchen surfaces, and take out the bin. Admittedly it took a bit longer to pack up when DC were little, but teens got up at 7.30 to leave at 8.15, and slept in the car.

I think I'm the same @Fizbosshoes Used to have to take all bed linens and make beds up when you got there. It was still a 4pm check in in the 80s, can remember on at least 2 occasions one of us kids had managed an injury which required treatment in the time we spent hanging about before we could get into the cottage.

Hi Naunet, I have, yes, a degree in hospitality, and as I said in my post the hotel cleaning crew are able to stagger the many rooms under their care as not everyone checks out at the same time. Holiday lets are usually small businesses and therefore have a static window in which to be available to clean and change over as they cannot have a team on standby to go in ad hoc as hotels do.

I’m more than happy to have reasonable discussions and differing opinions, but it’s nice to keep it respectful as I hope my original and subsequent posts are, rather than telling people they’re talking ‘complete nonsense’ each time you reply to them because they said something that differs from your view.

Most cottages are run by amateurs and it often shows.

You need to right click and open each house in a new tab

@Nadeed Don't book them then! It’s easy enough to find a decent agency. If photos look poor and there’s no detail on what’s provided (yes, some agencies limit space!) you should probably look elsewhere.

Before I started this thread yesterday I emailed a cottage company to ask if they had a floorplan of the house I was looking at and they've emailed back today to say they don't, so I won't be booking! It's nearly £2k for a week in November, I really need to see the layout!

I just don’t do holiday lets or Air bnbs or that sort of thing, where there’s a “sting” that they want you to spring clean the place as well as check out by 10 am and pay a cleaning charge.

I like semi resort type places like Forest Holidays (other similar providers are available) where you don’t get any of this crap.

I caught a piece about holiday lets on R4 this lunchtime (You and Yours), where an owner was saying that lettings are down this year (partly due to the weather but also because costs of insuring/cleaning/heating have rocketed, leading to price hikes, as has eating out etc).

Out of interest, I took a look at Landmark Trust (used them a few times in the past - have floor plans) and was surprised to see that they have 77 properties available this coming weekend. DD isn't back at school for a week...tempting.

How do you expect them to clean for the next guests if you allow a late check out and early check in?
Have some common sense!
Floorplans are a good idea though I’ll give you that.

Yes. Bookings are down. Costs have gone up a lot. A hotel I used to book for £160 a night is now £250. That’s not summer holidays either. However we want people to earn fair wages so we have to accept you have to pay. I suspect no profit this year for us.

Guests check out on Saturday at 2pm, next guests check in on Sunday at 10am.

Obviously that's a days rental money gone for the hosts.

I wonder though, since it seems to be something so many guests want, would they be prepared to pay a little more for this, thus meaning the hosts can get away with losing that extra day.

I think that's what I'd do if I was a host. It would be nice to have that buffer to sort things out before the next guests arrive.

I do sympathise with owners whose mortgages and all other costs have gone up and who can't find any cleaners and who are hated by the locals in Cornwall and Wales and places like that. I do think bookings must be down, I'm seeing a lot of availability when I'm searching, probably because it's cheaper to get on a plane!

Yes, me too. Last time we stayed somewhere we left on a Friday so we could leave at our leisure and not have to be out by 10am on Saturday. Then we stayed in a hotel on Friday night on the way home. So we did pay twice as we'd already paid for the apartment we'd rented but it was worth it to leave at a reasonable time and not get up early.

Hotels are often very flexible about check in times - if you arrive earlier than 2 or 3 they usually have your room ready or just ask you to wait half an hour in the bar. And checkout is never before 11 and often 12. And you're not expected to do any cleaning up!

Me too! We once stayed somewhere and the third bedroom was down a corridor, through a firedoor, into the.kitchen and then out through the other side of the kitchen and our five year old refused to sleep so far away. A floor plan would have been very helpful.

Just got back from Spain and the private villa (owned by people in the UK) we stayed at had no mention of the vast numbers of steps to access the property, which wasn't good for one of our older relatives waiting on a double knee replacement. I actually think it should be mandatory for any steps to be mentioned in listings, having been immobile and on crutches for 20 months not hoo long ago

Not sure how many people you need to accommodate, my relatives' place in Norfolk is superb; you can find a floor plan on the website as well as a virtual tour, and detailed accessibility information too. High spec and very well kept, but only sleeps 6.
I should say, I don't get any commission 😂
https://www.stablecottage-norfolkcoast.co.uk/