Dear holiday cottage owners

[SylHellais]

We’re in one, and I felt the need to post a note to all holiday cottage owners as the following issues appear to be inherent.

• for the love of god, just buy a whole set of matching cutlery, plates and glasses. They are not expensive and it’s massively annoying to see a cupboard full of random glasses and bits of crockery you don’t want in your own house.

• sharpen your fucking knives.

• buy a set of three non stick saucepans and two non stock frying pans, one small and one large. They don’t have to be expensive.

• when women wash their hair, they need an additional bath towel.

• a plug socket, near a mirror. Thank you please.

• bin bags. And tell guests which bin is for what.

• can you please fix all the small things like the seal around the wood burner which fills the cottage with smoke, or the pedal bin which doesn’t pedal, or the radiator which is stuck on full chat because the valve is broken, or the oven which is impossible to work out how to operate.

Your guests will thank you.

Reading this thread it proves that owning a holiday let is a minefield for us owners! Just picking up on peoples towel needs on here is exactly why you can’t please everyone all the time, some of you want one bath towel , some want two each, some want just hand towels other bath sheets, we don’t have a towels menu for you all so in my let I provide one bath sheets and one hand towel per person (plus a tea towel) our place sleeps 4 and I don’t care if one person books or three, there is always 4 bath sheets and 4 hand towels there, no more and no less! So sorry if this upsets some of you but we cannot cater for everyone’s exact needs so go easy on us 🤣

PLEASE a comfortable bed with reasonable quality bedding. I’ve stayed in a number of very nicely decorated houses with lovely things in them but the beds are the cheapest, nastiest beds it is possible to buy. An Ikea mattress, pillow and duvet is fine. I’m not asking for hand feather tufted. I cannot understand how this happens.

@Angelica789 we provide good quality beds. Initially they were wooden with slats under the mattress. We now have metal beds with a woven mesh metal base under the mattresses. This is because over a season or two the slats disappear or are loosened so they move about and complaints arise because people are uncomfortable. I have no idea why anyone would muck about with or pinch a bed slat .

I'm not even going to start on the subject of waterproof mattress covers and bed wetting when fresh bedding could be facilitated daily.

Why do we need an additional towel for hair washing?!!

@Toddlerteaplease

Why do we need an additional towel for hair washing?!!

I use one to wrap my body and one to wrap my hair. So, two.

@Dogmum40 of course you can please everyone re towels. I have thick hair almost to my bum , a hand towel isn’t going to cut it. Just provide 3 towels per person. Those with shorter hair or who prefer to use just a hand towel for their hair are not obligated to use the “extra” towel. Nobody is going to leave you a bad review for too many towels but if they can’t dry their hair they may.

Reading this and sighing with relief, I think we tick all of the boxes.

So far we’ve been lucky, a few annoyances (please don’t let your toddler smear yoghurt all over the fabric sofas, it’s a nightmare to get out without wrecking them, there’s a massive table plus more seating at the workbench. Also please use the make up removing flannels provided (that say make up on them) rather than my fluffy white bath sheets. I can’t get it out. And please pick up your dog shit!).

Breakages happen, I never charge. But please let me know (I do ask people to). I have a stock of matching spares, but despite 3 of us cleaning we can’t tick off every item. I also leave spare bulbs, and batteries for the remote. Please don’t steal them!

We’ve only had good reviews so far, and constructive feedback is welcomed (but please tell me if something is missing or there is a problem at the time so I can resolve it then, rather than complaining on a website). I will go out of my way to help you plan your holiday, or stay well away, following your lead. I really do want you to have a good time, I know how special getting away can be, and want it to be as easy and relaxing for you as possible.

@Lotusmonster

You pay a lot to stay in a holiday cottage Low season we are £650 High season £1500 We sleep 6. So per night per person low season is £15.47 High season per person per night is £35.71 Is that really what you call a lot?

That's not a lot if you're going with 5 other self funding adults. But yes, it's a lot for most families £1500 for a week for just the accommodation.

To suggest it's not, shows you don't value your guests.

Oh and please don’t die your hair, I’ve not charged you as the marks are small, but i try to keep the place pristine!

I've never had anything like this in any of the places we've rented. 🤷‍♀️

What a strange comment AlsoSummer. Of course owners value their guests but ultimately it's about supply and demand. A cottage within walking distance of the beach in Cornwall or Norfolk will be more expensive than a similar cottage inland in Northumberland.

I would expect a luxury cottage in Norfolk or Cornwall, with private parking and its own garden to be £2k at least in high season, possibly closer to £2500.

For many owners that £2500 will cover: agency commission, advertising, insurance, utilities, council tax, income tax, cleaning and depreciation. And don't forget the owner's time vis a vis administration and management.

What will be the profit, Roses, once all overheads are paid, roughly.

In my 3 bed holiday cottage in Cornwall my profit was usually between £3-5k a year. This was after mortgage, agency commission, bills etc.

And please use recent photographs that give renters a decent idea of what to expect. Not ones that you took 10 years ago when you first rented it out.

There's nothing worse than arriving somewhere to find a grubby unairbrushed version of the glossy one online................ like we did for the "luxury" Devon farmhouse we paid £1500 to rent for DH's 50th. It probably was luxury 10 years before, but it certainly wasn't when we got there. We all needed a chiropractor after a week on the beds and sofa. It's still being let using the same photos

@Toddlerteaplease

Why do we need an additional towel for hair washing?!!

Because I find it unpleasant to either stand there wet and shivering while I towel dry my hair or have my wet hair dripping down me while I dry my body. I'm sure there are lots of very clever people who have ingenious solutions to this problem or who are hardier than me and don't mind. Good for them. I prefer 2 towels. I don't wash it after every use and I don't think using an extra towel is a massive extravagance. It just makes my life a tiny bit better.

It sounds like a lot of input for £3 to 5 k, but I suppose you do have the property at the end of it.

It is exactly why I sold it! Too much work for too little return. I live 5 minutes away from it but it was still a pain.

The people coining it in are those with no mortgage.

So where to dry wet damp washing or rain on clothes

Decent heating

Decent shower

Clean
Clean
Clean

Everything else I can put up with but has to be clean

If you allow dogs dont have fabric sofas Have something that can be wiped over.

@midsomermurderess - it depends whether there is a mortgage or not. On the basis of an average of 1100 for an optimistic 26 weeks, I'd say not more than £10k per 2 bed property once allowances for building maintenance are taken into account. I have friends in Cornwall who have stopped holiday letting due to the hassle and overall prefer the return of a six month rental where the property is generally better looked after.

The real money spinners are farmers who have well maintained static caravans in select locations.

I never cook in self catering unless you count breakfast so none of that would bother me.

Hooks. Cost nothing but makes so much difference.
I want hooks to hang wet coats on when we come in.
I want hooks on bedroom doors to hang dressing gown / jacket.
I want hooks on the bathroom door so I don't have to put clean clothes on the floor.
Lots of towel rails, preferably heated independantly of the central heating.
Blackout curtains. I don't want to be woken with the birds when I'm on holiday.
A smart tv. Not some ancient thing that you can only watch live tv on. I don't want to have to bring my laptop so we can watch netflix on a wet night in.

That's interesting about the income. And a six-month rental has the advantage of someone becoming settled in the local community and contributing to the economy. It does sound like if you have a bit of land and a yurt, you'd be in the money.

@Toddlerteaplease

Why do we need an additional towel for hair washing?!!

To wrap your wet hair in, do this at home. Then you can dry off your body, plus it feels more hygienic

@Dogmum40

Reading this thread it proves that owning a holiday let is a minefield for us owners! Just picking up on peoples towel needs on here is exactly why you can’t please everyone all the time, some of you want one bath towel , some want two each, some want just hand towels other bath sheets, we don’t have a towels menu for you all so in my let I provide one bath sheets and one hand towel per person (plus a tea towel) our place sleeps 4 and I don’t care if one person books or three, there is always 4 bath sheets and 4 hand towels there, no more and no less! So sorry if this upsets some of you but we cannot cater for everyone’s exact needs so go easy on us 🤣

Sounds perfectly fine to me

Oh god glass chopping boards. Not only do they blunt the knife they set my nerves on edge every time I cut something (with my own knife because I know the ones you've provided are blunt and there is no bread knife).

Please also provide something to make coffee in. Just a cafetiere is fine, but in 2020 it's not that unusual to drink fresh coffee.

And please proper curtains. Not a voile that doesn't stop the daylight and results in a toddler being up at 4am.

When I’m paying 1200 quid for a week in a basic cottage I want free dishwasher tabs get them at Aldi just don’t put out 4 like 1 a day would break you.