AIBU to think a cottage is not a holiday?

[Jogonpolly]

Looking to go away in half term (DH and 2DC age 7&10).

I'd ideally like a short haul all inclusive somewhere - good weather and easy for them kids to be occupied. But with the jet fuel issue I don't feel confident booking incase we lose our money.

I suggested going somewhere in Europe by train. A hotel, pool and play area some places to visit, maybe a city or something.

DH has suggested a cottage in the UK, Devon or somewhere. Problem is, I just don't see a cottage as a holiday - in a hotel someone makes your bed and cleans the bathroom. You can choose to eat out or in the hotel restaurant, you don't need to drive anywhere, decisions are easy, everything is easy. My experiences of cottages in the UK are of same shit, different (and more difficult)place. There will still be cleaning to do, breakfast to sort even if we do go out for lunch and dinner, there's more planning and organising. I think I'd just rather not go.

AIBU and a misery?

And before people say it, yes, DH will do some of the organising and cleaning but still, it's just like being at home!

I'd also be happy with a city break, sightseeing etc. doesn't need to be an all inclusive place!

Erm…

Anyway
You can do a few nights on the ferry to France pretty cheaply. You get a en-suite cabin eat drink and he merry overnight and then have a few nights near a beautiful French beach with the kids. St Malo is beautiful with fabulous beaches, Look up the “ offers” on Brittany ferries.

Agree. It the novelty of being abroad and having access to pools, beaches and sun!! Not getting cold. Lots of food and drink you can access whenever and kids can get them themselves.

in a cottage in UK its just being at home but without all the stuff. Reduced chance of nice weather and the food etc is same old.

A holiday is different for different people though

YANBU. I always think a cottage can be a fun change of scene, but I never count it as relaxing holiday.

I don’t like Airbnbs in general as it usually requires a clean, organising, food shop, washing up etc. It’s domesticity in a different setting!!

YABU I've had some lovely cottage holidays. It's definitely a holiday. In fact, while we haven't had many holidays in the UK, almost all our holidays are self catering. Unless we only stay somewhere for a couple of days or so, I much prefer it to a hotel, especially with kids. I love going to local shops and having a spread of lovely breads and cheeses etc on the table for lunch. I love doing some eating out at different restaurants, but not every night. Sometimes you just want a simple pasta, or a barbecue.

But you are not being unreasonable to prefer a different type of holiday.

I think you are also being a bit unreasonable to worry about losing your money if you buy flights.

I always prefer an airbnb apartment/house (usually not a cottage, and usually overseas). I like to have tap water from a kitchen tap (not hotel bathroom), a fridge for snacks, two bathrooms and a separate bedroom from the dcs so I can have sex with DH in peace. I feel cramped in a hotel and I don't like the lack of privacy of someone coming into our room daily, and having strangers in rooms right next door. I don't cook and clean on holiday, we eat out or have breakfast like cereal and pastries. I don't clean very much in, there's not much that needs doing if you're not cooking and you're out all day.

Holidaying in Cornwall or elsewhere in the UK is a different issue. I always prefer to go abroad as the culture is more interesting, but we sometimes do city breaks or theme park trips in the UK and they've been fun. We've been to Cornwall and it's OK, but everything is far apart and involves too much travel to get to anything.

this is us. I grew up in a resort so cannot even stand anymore the smell of bleach in swimming pool water

YABU because lots of people enjoy self catering even if is not your thing. We let out a UK holiday cottage in a beautiful location and it's fully booked for the summer. Most our guests want to go walking and a lot of them have dogs which are easier to manage in a house than in a hotel. We get great reviews.

I like self catering, we enjoy cooking as a family - choosing and preparing food together is part of the experience and it saves a fortune on eating out. We can't afford to stay in a hotel. At the same time, I also understand not everyone feels the same way and will want something different.

@Another2Cats how I wish I could have just washed up and emptied the bins when I was in France. I had very snooty people come and inspect the gites we'd stayed in that were attached to their homes. Good job I was vacuuming when they arrived. Never had this in a UK holiday property. Although this was many years ago and perhaps it has changed now. We even accidentally brought back moths from one of the properties, had to throw all our food out and that owner the snootiest one.

Love a cottage holiday, have one booked for later this year with DD1 her DDH DC, me DH and DD2 is coming as well. On a farm with an adventure playground. Think we are the only property so it should be perfect for us. Purpose built so I'm not pinching a home off any locals

Book a UK hotel then?

Yes it a holiday. It's a type of holiday I enjoy, just because it's not someone else's bag doesn't make it less of one. A holiday for me doesn't require someone to make breakfast for me.

We used to go every year to stay in a cottage at the seaside, my mum went with her grandparents, I went with mine, it's our little family getaway! Though we've never been ones for holidays abroad per say, but that yearly UK holiday is a staple and a tradition!

I do absolutely love a cottage holiday, but I agree, it is certainly not a relaxing, fly-and-flop break.

I’d never stay in a cottage without a dishwasher! We’re doing a cottage in May half term and I agree it’s different to a hotel but it’s still a holiday, I won’t do laundry, we’ll go out and we’ll eat out each day.

Look up Fowey Hall. It's a hotel but tailored to kids and with 2 hours childcare per day included in the price of your stay. Pools etc. Maybe as close as possible to an AI in the UK?!

Depends on what you consider a holiday to you. I don’t consider staying anywhere in the Uk a holiday. Just a ‘break’. A holiday to me has to be in a completely different environment, away from the norm so you can completely detach from real life. I don’t actually mind self catering and staying in a cottage in another country and you will have to experience of trying new food and experiencing a different culture. When I stay in the UK, I don’t consider I have really gone away and refreshed and relaxed. I do understand the want to stay in a hotel for the experience of having everything done for you.

My impression is that AI short haul in the summer would be 40 degrees, wall to wall grease in the buffet and lots of loud, fat, sweaty chavs. I’m probably just stereotyping.

Anything anywhere would be preferable to me.

Depends I think on where you are going. I live in Norfolk and have friends who run holiday lets. Usually for a fee they will clean and do bedding. You can eat out pretty much constantly and there are great options for places for the kids to go. However, unlike an all inclusive resource there will not be a kids club for them. On balance though, with planning the food will be better and you do have more privacy and space.

We stayed in a cottage recently which had a games room, tennis courts, playground etc in lovely large grounds and our DC played outside and enjoyed the freedom of it. There were nice walks and NT properties we could do straight from the cottage. We did have to go in the car for some of our days out or to go to restaurants but the nearest town was a 5 min drive and you could also order delivery from loads of places. Maybe somewhere like that would be better.

Yep! Definitely this

That’s why we like a villa with pool 😀

I have 3 kids. We have never been to a holiday resort/all inclusive/hotel abroad type place. Ive always thought we’d had plenty of holidays though, usually 2-3 a year. Villas in Spain, Portugal and Italy, farmhouses in the south of France, cottages in the U.K, chalets in Switzerland… why wouldn’t those things be classed as holidays?!

My worst holiday i have ever had with the kids was staying in an AI hotel. We were all in the same room and both kids got norovirus, I spent a ridiculous amount of time holding a bucket in the room with foreign cartoons on TV because they were too ill to go out, and then in the evening tried to read my book in the dark while they went to sleep.
I think camping in the rain was more enjoyable!
(Although one of our all time favourite holidays was a campsite in France with a great pool and waterslides, 5 min walk from the beach)
Since then weve only stayed in hotels for 1-2 nights at a time.

With kids , it’s very much like just normal life in a different place and as you say is often more work. I love houses/apartments linked to hotels though as then you have more space but the option to eat out which is really nice not to have to think about!

With. Bod