What are the best things you've ever been left or have seen in a holiday home?

[lasagnecheese]

Hi all. Thinking of trying to purchase a little seaside holiday home that I can rent out for part of the year, and I'd be really interested to know...

What are the most unusual/impressive/quirky things you have ever found in a holiday home?

I really want to try and make it something that feels special to stay in, with lots of personalised finishing touches. What would make you think "wow" they've thought about this... so far have things like welcome baskets with food treats and buckets/spades for kids etc, dog treats for furry visitors etc..

What are the best/nicest things you've found in a holiday let? Thanks for your help! X

Oh wow thanks everyone for brilliant suggestions. @SylHellais thanks for the link, will go have a read..
There's another thing I'm not sure how to work out, so for anyone with experience of this... do you rent out Saturday to Saturday (thinking about busy summer months) and if so do you then only have a couple hours to get in, clean and reset? If this all works out, the property will be on the coast, I'm about 90minutes away (with a full time job and two kids) so I'm either going to need to get help with the kids on a weekend for their sports commitments (hubby is away with work some weekends) or get a REALLY good cleaner 90 mins away that I can trust to clean it to an immaculate standard. Trying to work out the logistics. Any advice about how to work that? Maybe I'll need for that a three hour gap between groups staying in the house at least at first but that might screw up booking weekly chunks...

Thanks @FAQs will look into that..

Meant to put maybe I'll need more than a three hour gap...

Oven gloves! That's my biggest bugbear of "missing" equipment. Most places are great at welcome packs, cakes etc but none of these help if you've no oven gloves!
One lovely house I stayed had a hot tub and the owner left fabulous quality towelling robes & slippers, it was like a fancy spa.

We always stay in holiday let's snd it sounds silly but a gesture like a bottle of wine or milk in the fridge really goes a long way! That snd a kingside bed

Great shower, lovely bedding, big towels, decent wi-fi etc. These are the important things, I don't need quirks.

^This, all of the above is super important to me. I don't want to sleep on a cheap mattress when I have a super comfy bed at home.

Also, blackout blinds. V important.

When ds was little I had some great holiday lets set up for parents. Toys, pool inflatables, beach gear etc. So it depends on your market I think. Now mines a teen it's all about the Wi-Fi, and now I'm old I'm all about comfy beds .

We stayed somewhere with complimentary bottled water which was kept in the fridge (from a huge bottle, decanted into a nice glass one with a stopper) as it was during hot weather that was a treat. They also left fresh eggs from neighbours chickens which was very nice. With a note that more were available if we wanted them.

Clean, friendly, tidy, nice bedding, comfy beds, fresh milk, good quality tea bags and coffee are essential.

Yes Saturday to Saturday, we can’t do Friday to Friday, we would either have to take an extra day leave or arrive very very late Friday night.

Black out curtains
Quality white bedding

White fresh towels, white bedding, clean fresh decor. A nice clean folder of info on local stuff and nice restaurants/ takeaway. Cleaning basics, dishwasher tabs for week etc. Agree with less ornaments. The best Uk place we’ve stayed in was an immaculate and freshly renovated place in Skye. Netflix on each tv so kids could decompress at end of day, lovely bathrooms. I’ll go back specifically to there now. We rent something once or twice a year and it’s so nice not to get that all in my head yuk feeling of old bedding/ decor/ carpets. Oh and a coffee Pot/ pod is great idea. If house was demonstrably fresh id love the welcome basket with scones. Oh yeah and beds with no frame at end- rubbish for tall people.

As others have said, just get the basics right for me, I don't want too many extras.

King sized beds, cotton bedding washed in fragrance free laundry products, in fact no fragranced stuff anywhere, reed diffusers etc will get moved outside.

Decent furniture, crockery, cutlery, good quality towels. Easy to use appliances and clear instructions for bins etc.

Non-blackout curtains - by all means have separate blackout blinds for those that want them but I get annoyed when the only option is full blackout or open, I hate waking up in the dark in summer.

A pint of milk, tea and coffee, maybe a cake on arrival but no other food and no wine, we are unlikely to drink it. We prefer doing our own shopping.

Definitely no popping in during the week for any reason other than on request for maintenance etc.

A shelf full of books is nice, also maps and guides to the area.

One of the things I like best is finding enough loo roll, dishwasher tabs etc to last the whole week.

Saturday to Saturday rental, Friday is annoying as you have to take an extra day off work.

I have a timeshare (50 apartments in the complex) which provides good quality white bedding and towels and the place is always spotless. Midweek cleaning is available if you pay.

Reception offers tourist leaflets, books, DVDs, board games and advanced cooking equipment like a fish kettle or cake tins. The sort of things that not everybody needs and might make a private let look a bit cluttered. So in your case OP, maybe in a closed cupboard.

The “extra” I appreciate is a transparent lidded trug of cleaning equipment which has spare toilet and kitchen rolls, jcloths, dishwasher tablets, oven gloves and a general cleaning liquid in case of spills. It’s the sort of stuff you appreciate if you’re fully self catering rather than just using the apartment as a place to sleep. All in an unobtrusive container.

The cleaners swap the trugs over and replenish them during the week.

Hostess in Italy baked us a lovely Easter cake!

Hate nick-nacks, but I really love leaflets/books with things to do in the local area, some good books on a bookshelf, and some board games!

I like a shelf of second hand books and a decent supply of tea towels, not particularly special but often not available!

Home made scones & clotted cream & strawberries in Devon was a lovely treat on arrival! And wine in the fridge 👏👏👏

@Coconut80 your place sounds lovely . I love the little touches especially on arrival. Please could you PM a link .

Oh and loads of blankets to put over the sofas for my dog was brilliant too!

Most holiday cottage rentals you need to be out by 10 and new people allowed in at 4 so that gives enough time for cleaning. I'd definitely use a cleaning agency as what happens when you have plans or your car breaks down.

I still fondly remember the cottage in Cornwall where they left 3 bags of homemade fudge.

We've gone back to same cottage several times because we like the way it is set up.
They provide:
Cotton bedding & towels
Tea towel, spare hand towel, kitchen roll & toilet roll
Books
Maps of local area/walks/folder with info about local places to eat
Decent knives, tin opener and chopping board
Small welcome pack with milk, tea, coffee and biscuits
Selection of pillows (I am allergic to feathers)

My only complaint as such is that they don't have bigger beds. The mattresses are very comfortable but I would rather sleep in a king-size than a double if the room is big enough.

I’ve found that really good quality mattresses make a big difference - the house I go back to year after year has the most amazing beds and I always look forward to sleeping there!

If the kitchen allows it, having a built in bean to cup coffee machine is a real treat and it can’t be stolen (like the easily unplugged little nespresso which was taken in the week prior to my arrival once... 😠) and having those little fold out suitcase holder thingies like hotels use in the bedrooms is another nice touch.

Hi OP - co-incidentally - We stayed in two air b&bs recently & are also in the process of setting one up ourselves (to use for us to visit family as well)

Both places had SUPERB quality bedding/towels/kitchen stuff - I was actually amazed at some of it, because the rates were on a par with all other much less appealing (to us) lets in the area. (I googled the crockery & even with a trade account, they were very expensive : dinner plates £20+ each). I think cleaning/housekeeping is critical for a 'luxurious' place as EVERYTHING in both of these was pristine/new looking.

One of them left free-range eggs/'artisan' butter & bread/cookies - possibly a package costing £5/£6?
Am not sure that helps with profit per se as it comes off the bottom line - but I do think it really helps with repeat bookings/recommendations... Even DH was 'impressed' with all and he never notices such things...

Key Box with security code/very good folder with local info/very simple u fussy bathrooms with v good showers - you've probably thought of all these things!

I think you need a cleaning company. It’s too much to be doing a three hour round trip to clean every single week, but it really needs to be a really good one. I turned up to one place to find dirty dishes and the bin full. The owner was mortified and gave us a small discount, but I had a 10 week old baby and my parents with me and although it didn’t spoil the holiday it wasn’t nice.

I wouldn’t put milk or eggs etc. A growing number of people don’t eat/drink these now and they’ll go to waste.

@lasagnecheese

Oh wow thanks everyone for brilliant suggestions. *@SylHellais* thanks for the link, will go have a read.. There's another thing I'm not sure how to work out, so for anyone with experience of this... do you rent out Saturday to Saturday (thinking about busy summer months) and if so do you then only have a couple hours to get in, clean and reset? If this all works out, the property will be on the coast, I'm about 90minutes away (with a full time job and two kids) so I'm either going to need to get help with the kids on a weekend for their sports commitments (hubby is away with work some weekends) or get a REALLY good cleaner 90 mins away that I can trust to clean it to an immaculate standard. Trying to work out the logistics. Any advice about how to work that? Maybe I'll need for that a three hour gap between groups staying in the house at least at first but that might screw up booking weekly chunks...

Thanks @FAQs will look into that..

Anywhere I have stayed is out by 10am. Arrival time is 4pm. Should (hopefully) allow sufficient time to clean, etc.

We stayed in a beautiful cottage one Christmas, we arrived there was a lovely welcome hamper of local produce: eggs, bacon, sausages bread & jam for breakfasts and biscuits, wine & beer for that evening. We still buy the wine now it reminds me of the cottage.
They had put up a Christmas tree and had left the radio on playing classic fm low so we were greeted by tasteful Christmas music it really added to the atmosphere.
A small box of toys in the children’s room was a great addition. There was also games, books & dvds as well as super fast internet.
Make sure there is enough seating for the guests it sleeps, we discounted a load of places because of this. For example it slept 6 but table only seated 4 no good when your planning a Christmas stay & lunch!