UK holiday cottages recommendations?

[TwoSwans]

Hi, does anyone know of a UK holiday cottage company which offers either a very low deposit, or free cancellation? Ie a good company to hedge my bets and book a tentative late summer holiday with, in the knowledge I can cancel at a much later date?

Why dont you book with airbnb? We stayed at a lovely cottage at the Cotswolds last year, and have booked again this year. Its not the same cottage (even though it was lovely), but it was at least a 40min drive to the places we wanted to go. We have booked with another great cottage minutes drive to all the places we want to visit with our 2 year old. You can cancel for free. Just read their cancellation policy

Airbnb and Booking.com have lots of free cancellation places, or you only pay a v small amount if you cancel. Just be aware you can only cancel up to something like three times in 12 months or you’ll be charged more.

Thanks. I was confused by Air Bnb's cancellation policy to be honest. I use it all the time but have never cancelled. I would like to book a cottage as a 'back up', in case our holiday abroad cannot go ahead. So if I were to cancel the UK cottage it wouldn't be because of rules or Covid, just because I'm choosing to... and that's where I am confused about whether cancellation is allowed.

Covid aside Airbnb owners set their own cancellation policy so properties will vary. Last year Airbnb were very generous with cancellations and offered quite a lot of support to owners but there doesn't seem to be a blanket policy in place at the moment and they haven't locked owners calendars in this lockdown which they did in 1 & 2.

Yes you can cancel just because of whatever reason. Like said above you can only cancel up to 3 times per year

Thanks, this is v helpful. Do the ones with this policy still ask for payment upfront or do you only pay once you are past the point of cancellation?

The Airbnb took 1/2 payment when I booked the cottage. They will take the 2nd half payment 10 days before our check in date. The hosts cancellation policy is 24hrs then get full refund. I have cancelled before with Airbnb a few times and got back the full fee

So you want to book an Airbnb with the full intention of cancelling it, stopping an Airbnb owner from getting a booking from someone who actually intends to go and stay. Not a great way to treat a small struggling business imo

I agree with flora, it’s a shitty thing to do, especially in these times. Not sure I’d even do it to premier inn at the moment as everyone is struggling.

This summer we just booked a few days before we went

@Florabella @superram along with many people I'm not prepared to commit money to a holiday which could well be cancelled. Nothing wrong with that imo. Also, most Air Bnb cottages are second homes, side business run by people with a day job. Not the same thing as supporting a "small business" owner with their sole livelihood imo.

Besides, the man we booked with said he was grateful to have any interest at all.

He may not have been quite as keen on your interest if he knew that you intend to go aboard and cancel him and that you only intend to stay with him if you can't go on your actual holiday.

It's true that not all Airbnb owners have it as their main income, but quite a lot do, and it may be even more crucial this year.

I think there is a difference between booking somewhere for your holiday which has free cancellation in case COVID situation gets worse and you can't go, and booking something that you don't intend to go to as you already have a holiday booked for those dates. Clearly a different view to yours, so we'll have to agree to disagree