how could we make self-catering holidays better for families?

[lapetiteanglaise]

Hello.

We moved to France from the UK about a year ago with our two small boys and are living on the Ile de Ré, an island linked to La Rochelle by a road bridge, whose raw natural beauty, picturesque cycle tracks and wide sandy beaches make it a popular family holiday destination as well as a great place for us to bring up our kids.

We are currently looking into the idea of setting up a holiday rental company to cater to the discerning UK traveller and particularly to families with young children.

The idea is to provide a hand-picked selection of upmarket properties of varying sizes well located on the island and to rent them out year round, whist also providing a service tailored to the family and designed to make life as comfortable and as easy as possible for those away from home with littlies.

So far, we have hit on ideas such as providing all child/baby equipment as standard for anyone arriving with children, organising babysitting evenings and lunchtimes, providing a welcome hamper, child age-appropriate, of useful goodies waiting which will include such things as milk, nappies, wipes, Ready Brek (cant be bought in France!), Hipp Organic baby foods and organic baby bath products, having toys, English kids' books and dvds in all the properties, providing the facility to borrow car seats, buggies, sun tents and more, calling French doctor on your behalf if necessary.

We would also like to try to provide a level of comfort which goes beyond the average self-catering holiday: fluffy robes in the bathroom (for all the family), regular cleaning, croissants or seafood platters delivered to your door, apéritifs on the house and local restaurants, massages and beauty treats in your home and more.

I would welcome any tips, comments or ideas from holidaying parents out there to help me work out how i could really make this work for people like you! thanks

Another good question springs to mind on that note: where do you go in general to find holiday accommodation? I assume most people surf the web these days?

Thanks again for all this valuable info - makes very interesting reading.

Poshwellies, thanks for your hands-on practical advice and encouragement.

How many weeks of the year would you say your property is let our for (is it coastal/rural/in a village)?

ps. anyone who mentioned Ikea has got the idea... it's the place that makes it viable to revamp a place stylishly and not break the bank . Where would we be without it?

Only just read this thread - we are slightly further north in Brittany and let out our gite for 33 weeks this year (yr2) - actually, we have our last week of paying guests in now (yippee!!)
I don't know Ile de Re at all, although La Rochelle is beautiful - I have heard Ile de Re is popular with the French too - would you market your holidays at them too? We don't, because I beleive they expect different things & have different priorities. Would also agree with previous posts about robes not being neccessary - do not underestimate the amount of washing and ironing!!
My philosophy when we started was to provide somewhere better than people were used to at home, but just as comfortable (& near the sea/attractions etc) at a reasonable cost, but to offer "add-ons" when people arrived...for example we have an aromatherapy lady in the village, we also have a mobile reflexologist who comes, then we offer American breakfasts in the summer - none of this is to make money particularly, but so that people remember their holiday for something a bit different...As to children, I have 2 step children, and DS1 (6) and DS2 who arrived in August - (fortunately not on changeover day!) so have, I believe thought of most things! Anyway, good luck, ask away if you want any advice - this is our website - www.gitegorvello.com

"believe" not beleive!! Am trying to cook roast dinner, entertain DS2 as well as type!!

I would like a kitchen with everything in it you need to cook a proper meal! I am on a gluten free diet and hate eating out as I find it so difficult to get the point across - even in my own country. I have been 'poisoned' many times, and it is not pleasant. I would hate to be ill for 2 days of my holiday. A kitchen with proper oven (decent size), freezer, fridge, blender, knives, small food processor etc. is what I would like.
Blackout curtains/blinds and nightlights. bath mat to stop children slipping. Stairgate. Toys.
Warm swimming pool.
sounds lovely - when do you open?

in terms of how we find holidays - its a combination of surfing the web but also getting recommendations - I find it overwhelmign trying to sift through accommodation sites just from a search, so tend to home in on things which have been personally recommended (often my mumsnetters as it happens!)
I also like to flick through brochures rather than trawl through acres of very similar accommodation listings on the internet. Just call me old fashioned

I agree that a kitchen you can actually cook even a simple meal in is essential and I would love to have the basics you've mentioned so we weren't always buying washing up liquid, a dish brush, olive oil etc etc. -We're vegetarian so paying for meals, or flat rates for platters etc - isn't usually such a great deal as we'd pay for expensive meats we didn't eat. Different babies and ages are all different so many people won't need all of things you've listed; you might be able to save yourself some effort by checking what they would want rather than trying to supply everything to everyone. Non-mobile babies don't need baby-proofing, non-sitting ones don't need highchairs, but then there's a phase where highchairs are pretty near essential, and so on.

Personally I'd love the dressing gowns, beach, pool, sandbox on terrace, reliable babysitters, a highchair, not having to bring a carseat or cot, a functional kitchen supplied with basics, the blackout blinds, toys that weren't broken ... And I'd be willing to pay more, but not so much more that it's hundreds of £ extra, or double what other places cost. I agree that you may want to look at your market and see if you can provide these things for what people are willing to pay! And can you link to your site if and when it's ready? All this sounds great and hopefully we can come one day :)