Holiday cottage welcome pack

[kennycat]

I realise im
sounding massively spoilt but I’m really disappointed with my holiday cottage.

the main thing that annoyed me from the outset was the welcome pack, or lack theereof.
There was a little packet with
2 teabags
2 coffee sachets
4 uht milk sticks
2 sugar sachets
4 lotus biscuits

not even a pint of actual milk in the fridge.

what would you expect as a minimum? I’ve never had this small amount if
aruff. I was rather hoping for at least a small bottle of wine and/or a little pack of supermarket own biscuits.

am I being a spoilt brat?

ih and the internet is utterly hopeless, the telly needs reboot g on an hourly basis and the oven is at least 30 years old. It’s not as wide as a frozen pizza!!

If the cottage isn’t booked out back to back and the owner isn’t next door, it’s quite possible it gets cleaned and prepped a while before you get there, which would make fresh milk impossible.

It does seem a bit odd to rent out a cottage for 4 and leave supplies for 2 though!

We don't leave alcohol in our cottage as local licensing laws don't allow it. I do provide crisps, biscuits, coffee, tea, herbs/spices, olive oil and enough loo roll that they shouldn't need to buy their own, plus directions to a couple of local bakeries that are a short stroll from the house.

We were away recently in a large holiday home with family. One loo roll per bathroom for a week, no hand soap, no welcome pack. 2 bin bags (there were 15 of us staying in this house). It had been done to a very high standard (high end appliances etc) but those little things really irritated me when we had paid a lot of money. We did a shop after arrival so a cup of tea would have been most welcome. We had to go and buy washing up liquid, bin bags and sink cloths as only one provided. Really odd, and I did provide feedback afterwards so hope they might take it in board.

Another one asked what milk we would like, we said skimmed please so didn’t bring any . We arrived to semi- skimmed so was wasted! Better to bring your own !

Aside from licensing issues I really don’t think welcome packs should include alcohol, too many people have problems with alcohol.

Tea bags, milk (long life sticks are ok) and pack of nice biscuits (ideally local that you can take back for a neighbour that has been keeping an eye on your house if you don’t eat biscuits)

A voucher would be a bit odd, they might as well just knock £10 off your bill? The idea is more so you've got something to get started before you go to the shop, so leaving a voucher would mean you still had to go to the shop!

I've stayed in places that leave nothing, others that leave loads. We once stayed somewhere that left a basket full of mini boxes of cereal! But I always pack the basics and we generally arrive early enough to go to the supermarket so whilst they're a nice touch we never need them.

I’ve stayed in several self catering places in France and none of them had a welcome pack at all. I wouldn’t even expect this. They also charge you a cleaning fee and in one case a huge deposit in case you used the phone, which you only got back after three months when they got their phone bill.

Host here of a small two person property. It doesn't have cooking facilities (too small) but does have crockery, cutlery, toaster, kettle. I leave a welcome pack of bread, Dorset cereal, good cookies, butter, milk, jam, marmalade, teas, ground coffee. I think a good welcome pack feels like a nice start to the visit for guests.

We just came back from somewhere and we got nothing- no tea bags, coffee milk etc the pack made no mention of WiFi, bin/recycling info etc. was not massively impressed

I’d prefer milk in the fridge and tea and coffee 😂

I don't really see the point of wine, especially expensive wine. A fair percentage of people dont drink, if they do, they might not drink wine, if they do drink wine, the bottle left might not be something they like.

Fresh milk, tea, coffee, bread and butter will be things that most people will make use of. Jam, scones etc always a nice surprise.

The mist welcoming thing of all is to arrive at a fresh smelling house with the heating on if it's cold.

Staying in a cottage at the moment and our welcome pack was milk and some tea cakes.

However what has impressed me the most is they've provided dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, cleaning products, laundry tablets, toilet rolls in every bathroom and hand soap in the kitchen and each bathroom.

The kitchen is also really well stocked with pots, pans and utensils that we can cook meals from scratch without a problem.

Also the place is super clean which in my experience of renting holiday cottages seems to be rare these days!

I don't really see the point of wine, especially expensive wine. A fair percentage of people dont drink, if they do, they might not drink wine, if they do drink wine, the bottle left might not be something they like

We get lots of compliments and thank yous about the wine, and I don't think a bottle has ever been left behind. Maybe the type of people who rent our cottage are unusually keen on nice wine?

However what has impressed me the most is they've provided dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, cleaning products, laundry tablets, toilet rolls in every bathroom and hand soap in the kitchen and each bathroom

Yes, I totally agree. We leave all this, along with tea bags, sugar, salt, pepper, cooking oil, foil, kitchen paper, etc, etc. I absolutely hate the mean attitude of a lot of cottage owners - it's dispiriting to arrive in a place and have to buy every single bloody thing.

Do you have an alcohol license? A few cottage owners near us have had a slap on the wrist for providing wine as part of the package. The local authority had someone checking the reviews on the booking websites to find mentions from guests about wine being left.

https://www.stewarthindley.co.uk/when-do-you-need-an-alcohol-licence/

Bakers Cottage in Lympstone near Exmouth most certainly has.
The bread was timed to arrive just after we did.

Do you have an alcohol license? A few cottage owners near us have had a slap on the wrist for providing wine as part of the package

I didn't know about this, but I've never heard of anything so bloody ridiculous. I won't be getting one - I'll just risk it until I get that slap on the wrist!

I echo this. We’ve stayed at a lot of holiday cottages and the welcome pack has completely varied. Best one we experienced was a loaf of fresh bread, milk, butter, tea/coffee and some delicious fresh cakes from local bakery. The cottage owners lived two doors down and I guess the logistics of being so close meant they could give more of a personal touch. The majority of places we’ve been to though have have had nothing apart from basics (such as bin liners, loo roll, washing up stuff) so we always take our own tea bags, coffee, milk etc. with us. I don’t mind, as like the above PP said everyone has different taste, also maybe allergies etc. so I can understand why the owner wouldn’t supply food/drink.
The only time I was disappointed was with a cottage that didn’t even supply a dishcloth! The cottage was really lovely, but wow, it’s bloody stingy for the owners/management company not to supply the basics. I had to buy a pack of dishcloths from the shop (and I left the pack for the next guests so they wouldn’t have to do the same!) 😊

We went to one in France (English owner) and there was nothing. We arrived late at night and paid extra for that and there was literally nothing.

I don't like homemade stuff (one place left a dozen homemade scones) and we got left a walnut loaf once which I thought was a bad idea.

Couple of weeks ago we stayed in a fairly expensive holiday let: welcome pack was large bag of crisps, bottle of wine and pack of biscuits from Aldi, small glass bottle of milk in the fridge that must have been decanted from a full bottle we assumed but no indication of type or age (luckily we don't drink it) - and a bag of mint humbugs.

We are in a wee holiday house atm and the owner has really thought about what his guests need. To our delight there is a library of books and loads of toys for the DGC. There wasn't a welcome pack as such but we are very happy with the amenities. Bonus points for guessing where we are!

We never expect anything.
One time we had something ( which was a nice gesture) wasn't our taste.
Full fat milk ( we don't like).
Cheap ordinary tea bags..( we only have decaff). Cheap packet of plastic ham...eggs not free range and a 3 day out of date loaf.
I'd honestly rather not have anything.
Also wine???? Not everyone drinks alcohol and l wouldn't expect it.
Self catering is in the name.
We take our groceries or call at supermarket on way.

We did a week recently at an air b n b - cost £600.

No instructions for anything and the oven was complicated. Internet did not work for a whole week. No one to meet or greet.
2 tea bags, 2 coffee sachets - 2 loo rolls. No washing up liquid or sponge - one black sack. two saucepans charred black and 2 tea spoons. It was clean and tidy but 🤷‍♀️DH just wanted some alone time so it worked but I’ve said from now on we take tea, coffee, washing up liquid etc

I stayed at a very cheap apart hotel and there was wine and water. Nothing open at 11pm so that changed my whole evening from terrible ( flight delays) to relaxed.
You can leave the wine if you don't drink.
I don't do milk or tea but I can see why it if you did it makes a difference.
Bread is cheap but a godsend if there's nothing to eat. Otherwise I avoid baked goods.

I think stingy offerings influence my feelings of the property. Leave a box of tea bags or coffee pods.

I would never expect wine (what if the guest turned out to be an alcoholic in recovery?), and I prefer it if they don’t supply a pint of fresh milk as we are dairy free so it just goes to waste. I would expect more than 2 teabags and coffee sachets though, that is so stingy!