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.

Shared towels??? Please tell me that's not a thing!

And if you have so much hair that it needs its own towel then I think you could perhaps just bring a spare one from home.

[quote fiheka]@Lotusmonster that sounds nice. Someone below your original comment says they have a cottage for 8 people, with 3 beds. I see that kind of advertising pretty often.[/quote]
I assume that you as my post. There are 3 bedrooms (1 double, two twins), and a king size sofa bed. So yes, we sleep 8 :)

• I assume you mean my post

Yes. Sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed is not most peoples idea of a fun holiday.

Please please have enough comfortable seating for the amount of people you state can sleep there. As a family of 4 (2 adults 2 teens) a 3 seater sofa and a wingback chair so we all have to sit rigidly upright if ‘relaxing’ in the living area is no bloody fun.

Looks like people want different things in their holiday lets. We do self-catering in the UK and have not encountered the OP's issues nor would they bother me much, except I am wise to the sharp knives and always bring our own knife and good kitchen scissors. Also pestle/mortar, wire wool and a pan/brush.

@fiheka

Yes. Sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed is not most peoples idea of a fun holiday.

Indeed. Exactly this. On some cottage booking sites I have to lie and claim to be looking for accommodation for 2 more people than we actually are just in order to be shown the properties that we can fit in with no one sleeping in the lounge on a sofa bed. Who wants to be less comfortable on holiday than they are in normal life? Holidays are supposed to be relaxing!

Maybe stay in a more expensive cottage? The ratings are there for a reason, friends missed out on a tourist board 5 star rating because their wine glasses weren’t crystal.

Haha our rental has our old missmatched crockery and cutlery and dull knives!

@fiheka

Yes. Sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed is not most peoples idea of a fun holiday.

Then they book somewhere else, which is fine of course. Parties of 8 wanting to stay are rare anyway to be honest.

But it’s clear on the listing (with photos) and totally their choice. Some larger families (or groups) can’t afford a 4 bed lodge (and they don’t exist on our park) and also can’t afford 2 lodges and therefore our lodge is their preferred option. It saves them up to £1000 a week.

We have 5 star reviews & Superhost rated so all good from our side :)

I'm not too bothered about mismatched crockery (although looks shabby), but blunt knives are irritating. We now take our own, plus a vegetable peeler. My parents virtually take a whole drawer of kitchen utensils. Have found kitchen equipment (including pans) is often cheap and nasty not good quality even in expensive holiday homes.

Agree plugs are often the other side of the room to mirrors, so blow-drying is a bit hit and miss.

More than one bin liner would be good. Do they really expect you to go out and buy a pack of liners on holiday?

Once got onto a canal boat to find no washing up liquid and no villages/towns/shops around for miles and miles. And no colander.

Going off track, we stayed in a lodge in the Lake District that had no surfaces other than in the kitchen/dining room. No tables, cupboards, shelves or windowsills (as it is a lodge). So you could only put cups or glasses down on the floor.

We often stay in a HH on Bodmin which has absolutely everything and all good quality.

It may work both ways, but when you are paying for the privilege and maybe spending a four figure sum to stay somewhere for a few days, it is a bit galling to have been left crap to use or for things to be a bit inconvenient. You go on holiday to relax. If you are paying peanuts, then that's fair enough. The cottage that we stay every summer has an inventory.

We've never stolen items or left a place in a state. The rare time we (ds) caused some damage, we fessed up immediately and paid for it. We keep the place clean and vacuum regularly (especially if any sand gets walked in), park where we are told, and strip the beds, put towels in the bath and empty all the bins when leaving.

My Mum had a holiday flat for about five years. She had one theft (a man, on his own, took two feather pillows), no damages, and one mess, where a family left it in such a state that she blacklisted them!

Would holiday let visitors be pleased or annoyed to find a complete cleaning kit in the sink cupboard? Thinking of letting my house as Airbnb and am wondering whether it is better from guests' point of view to have it really fully equipped like a home or to remove anything that's not strictly necessary. Cupboards are not disgusting or anything!

Complete cleaning kit would be very helpful.

I leave hob cleaner and multisurface cleaner as well as anti viral spray. Also dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid and cleaning cloths. So not a whole under sink full of stuff, but enough to clean adequately as they go along.

That's good to know. Do you think guests would be outraged by there being, for example, half a bottle of flash, and expect everything in such a kit to be brand new? Similar question also for things like a basics food kit eg olive oil, salt, spices?

I want to clean as I go so like having the means to do so. I want to leave it tidy but not clean thoroughly before I leave so I would like the cleaning kit so long as I wasn't expected to do the full end of stay clean that I would expect a cleaner to come in and do between rentals.

Half bottle of flash is fine.

A cleaning kit is a good idea and I wouldn't expect everything to be new.
Food products are tricky with the covid dimension. Some absolute basics like salt and pepper and a bottle of milk in the fridge are good, but right now I'd possibly provide disposable sachets just to keep everyone happy.

So long as the holiday accommodation is clean and has sufficient crockery, cutlery etc then I am happy. I generally take my own towels, tea cloths etc as well as basics like condiments and olive oil so it doesn’t bother us if none provided.

Perhaps I am just easily pleased and happy to be away? 😊

I can give an example of everything you shouldn’t do. A house that sleeps 24 with a living room that seats 8. Rooms with up to 4 beds with one medium sized towel is supplied per room. Four bathrooms, only one of which has a mirror of any kind. Only one other mirror in the entire house. Cheapest possible flat pack furniture that is literally falling apart, many drawer fronts either missing or hanging off. One door key between 24 people. Bed linen ancient and bobbled, I’m sure if the could have sourced bri-nylon sheets they would have. Fancy built in coffee machine- broken. Fancy cooker - partly broken. Rope swing in the garden over a luxuriant nettle patch. Pool table where all the cues had the tips missing. Billed as a luxury house, actually nowhere near as luxurious as a typical student flat. Very artful photos in the advert.

Thanks - that's v helpful. Bit worried about the stories of everything being pinched but I'm sure most people don't do that.

We own a chocolate-box holiday cottage that we use as a second home. It has everything you could need and we are often told so. Despite this a guest once complained the knives were too sharp and he had cut himself! It seems you really can't please everyone.

@NeedATan

We own a chocolate-box holiday cottage that we use as a second home. It has everything you could need and we are often told so. Despite this a guest once complained the knives were too sharp and he had cut himself! It seems you really can't please everyone.

Ha!

@Lotusmonster

Wake up moaners. owners have NOT been able to get to their places during this pandemic to check loads of stuff. We’ve not had access at all. Cut us some slack!

My experience of blunt knives in holiday lets goes back decades. It's not a recent thing since covid!

My advice to holiday let owners - please make sure your chopping boards aren't glass. That will probably solve the knife issue.

I loved that teaspoon study.