Would you expect these items in a holiday rental?

[hippospot]

Lemon squeezer?
Cheese grater?

I highlighted to a holiday host that these missing items would have been useful and she felt they weren't standard items.

What random items have you also expected but not had? Oven gloves are sometimes not provided. I've stayed in a place without a sieve.

I use my own house and like to cook. We find it not very relaxing eating out every night so having more than the basics is essential in my view. We have superb views of the coast so it’s a pleasure to be in the house and not worrying about parking!

Some of these holidays sound torture

Now I understand a bit better all these threads about how much people hate holidays and how hard they are. It all starting to make sense 😂

I wouldn't expect either.

I'd assume people on holiday would have better things to do with their time than squeeze lemons or grate cheese. You can buy grated cheese and lemon juice if you need either.

I often cook on holiday and once needed to make lemon filling for a tarte I was taking to a family member, brought my own sieve and improvised with what was there

It's torture trying to find food you can eat at local restaurants, that is a) vegetarian, b) suits your fussy child, c) isn't the same every bloody night, d) doesn't break the bank, e) isn't overpriced bought-in crap that I could cook myself better and cheaper, and f) doesn't involve a long drive.

Simpler just to cook.

I've heard it all now. I don't even use some of the things people take when I'm home but then I'm lazy 😂

I'm quite surprised by how many people don't want to cook on a self catering holiday. The cost of eating out every day plus the prohibitive price of holiday rentals must make it a very expensive holiday.

I'm surprised people are surprised that some people may want to do some cooking on holiday. And I'm surprised by how many people don't buy lemons 😄

I do have better things to do, but I enjoy cooking and my DC can struggle with noisy restaurants so while it’s nice to eat out, it’s also nice to make a relaxed meal and for that you need a reasonably equipped kitchen.

If Im going on holiday, I don’t cook and I don’t know anyone who would cook more than a light snack either . I would maybe prepare toast or cereal for breakfast but I cook at home almost every day so I wouldn’t consider it a holiday if I had to cook whilst I’m away.

I take my family on a SC holiday every year. The family includes five adults and two small children. So breakfast and the evening meal tend to be in our accommodation (though one night will be a takeaway). We take it in turns to cook, and it all works nicely. Even though I pay for the accommodation, eating out for every meal for a week, wouldn't be affordable or practical for my kids and the grandkids.

I always take my sharp knives (after a bad experience) but other than that, we just keep our fingers crossed (and deliberately choose accommodation that looks well equipped).

I like being “home” in the evenings, it was so hot on holiday recently.
and not immediately in a town so easier to eat at accommodation

tbh most of the things made were really easy.

Eating out every day turns out very expensive . You may as well go to a hotel.

We cook on a self catering holiday. Usually have breakfast at “home”, lunch out then make a fairly simple dinner at “home” in the evening. I love to come back to the house/villa, get a shower, into comfy clothes then pad about the kitchen with a glass of wine, making food, no need to go out or drive anywhere is bliss for us. It’s not a money issue, it’s what we prefer. DC are all grown and gone though so I’m not catering for a lot of children or differing tastes.
And yes, I would expect a cheese grater but not a lemon squeezer, because I can do that by hand.

I should add that DH actually does more of the cooking than I do. And that ready grated cheese is rancid shite.

I don't eat out at every meal on a self-catering holiday, that would be against the point. But no way in hell am I cooking the way I would at home. We eat well but in a very lazy manner 😂

I am not meal-planning, food shopping and spending any time in the kitchen on my holiday.

I don't judge, I am just a bit puzzled by people who have to take half their kitchen with them or enjoy cooking a full roast or something.

We stayed in a really basic caravan once. The rep was at pains to count out 6 egg cups and iirc brought us an extra one which we were quite bemused about as not planning on boiling eggs....but there was barely anything else. (I cant recall if there was a cheese grater) I think we mainly had bbqs or take away pizzas!

Really surprised (in the other direction) by some of these replies.

We always have a week in luxury SC accomodation in the north of Scotland. Due to its location, there isn't really the option to eat out even if we wanted to (we don't), so a functional kitchen is absolutely a requirement.

As standard, alongside all the crockery/cutlery, it has everything my own kitchen has. Variety of serving bowls and utensils, chopping boards, salad spinner, grater, ice-lolly moulds, several oven trays (for both ovens, what a luxury to have two!), coffee pod machine (with ten pods in the welcome basket), cafetiere, at least seven different pots and pans of varying sizes, a slow cooker, baking equipment including scales.

I never go out for my meals on holiday either.

I buy grated parmesan and a small bottle of lemon juice if I have a meal in mind that requires either one. No need for a grater or an actual lemon therefore.

Meals I've cooked when on holiday include spaghetti and meatballs (mince, breadcrumbs, egg, S&P, Italian herbs, crushed tomatoes, garlic, spaghetti, olive oil, ready-grated parm), chicken in a wine and cream sauce with mushrooms (self explantory), pork paprikash (pork tenderloin cubed, green peppers diced, onion diced, paprika, beef stock, S&P, sour cream, egg noodles), fried fish with steak fries (from a packet), chicken Caesar salad (bought cooked chicken, packet of croutons, olives, sliced onions, made dressing), salad nicoise made with fancy tinned tuna, boiled new potatoes, egs, tomatoes, onion, etc, and assembled easily.

I like a colander and a salad spinner in any SC place I go, but I definitely aim for quick and easy recipes using ingredients that are easy to buy almost everywhere. I also like to minimise the number of pots I use because who wants to spend their time in the evening washing pots and figuring out which ones can go in the dishwasher.

I usually take a cooked chicken and a large prepared salad and find that it does us all week.

Yes, I begrudge paying £80 for 4 people for food that I could make for under £15. It's OK now and then but not for every meal.

But it doesn’t have to be particularly expensive, unless you’re somewhere very isolated with only an expensive option. It wouldn’t be any different for us staying jn a hotel as we only ever book bed and breakfast. A major part of our holiday enjoyment is exploring new restaurants every day.

it only lasts a week? Perhaps you are being a bit extravagant?

I'm coeliac so cooking on a self catering holiday is the only way of getting a decent variety of food. We tend to go to a couple of places a year and have done for the past 15 years and have never not had a cheese grater. It's definitely something I'd feed back if it was missing.