Kitting out a holiday home

[SunnyUpNorth]

I’ve got to kit out a holiday home from scratch. Have a pretty detailed list compiled of what to include but now trying to decide where to get it all from. In particular beds, mattresses, sofa etc. We want to strike a balance between being hard wearing and good quality but not so nice that if it gets spoilt we would be gutted.

Beds in particular I’m struggling with. I’m guessing hotel contract style? Medium mattress to suit most people?

If anyone has any good tips in general too re finding a good agent and cleaner that would be most helpful.

Maybe get mattress toppers for the beds. Might make them last longer.

When you have kitted your holiday home out its worth looking at making sure you have the right insurance in place for when you have paying guests stay at your home, as a lot of current home insurance policies exclude for paying guests.

You want to make sure your stuff is covered for any eventuality.

Argos / Ikea are your friends. Crockery that is plain and dishwasher friendly. We got Denby sets from Argos that we’re on offer and bought four sets, so that there was enough without doing the dishwasher.
Plain colours are best so you can mix and match serving dishes.
Cutlery from Ikespa, again multiple sets. All still going strong after 10 years. Good quality pots and pans. Cheap ones are a false economy. Same with utensils and cooking knives.
Washable fabrics for cushions etc.
Leather sofas, ours are off white, but respond well to flash kitchen cleaner to remove marks! ( who’d have thought it).
Cordless vacuum cleaner, guests are likely to use it for small crumbs etc.
Good quality white bed linen, it can be boiled and bleached.

We don’t supply bed linen because it’s hired in via the agent. Ditto towels. We have M&S beds and mattresses. Decent beds and mattresses are a must with toppers and protectors. Ditto for pillows. All bedrooms have chests of drawers and a mix of built in wardrobes and free standing - all M&S. All beds have high quality bedspreads (for photographs) and cushions. Rugs too as we have limestone floors in part of the house. All bedrooms have side tables and lamps for reading. Two bedrooms have smart TVs. Kit out bathrooms with mirrors.

The dining area has a glass table we had spare. It’s rectangular. The cleaners dislike it but it’s lasted well and no ring marks! Provide place mats. We have coloured “butterfly back” chairs for dining similar to the Christine Keeler one! We have a sideboard from a local shop and various wall art, mirrors and lamps. In the sideboard there is info about the house and the area plus local guide books.

In the lounge we also have leather settees. Big squashy seaside type cushions, an arching lamp and a rug. We have a driftwood style coffee table and it has ring marks on it. Painted might have been better. Latest smart tv and we used to have an iPod dock until they went out of fashion! We have wi fi.

I agree that all kitchen utensils, pans, cooking equipment should be serviceable and decent quality. Buying cheap is false economy. Again, the whole lot from M&S. Cutlery, glasses, plates, chopping boards, knives everything is sturdy and dishwasher safe. All was M&S. We have a kettle, nespresso machine, toaster, food mixer, cafetière, built in microwave, fridge and freezer and dishwasher and washing machine.

Think carefully about window treatments. Guests seem to have problems operating blinds! We have just changed one set of blinds to curtains. Yes to a small plug in vacuum cleaner. Don’t forget dustpan and brush.

Try not to get annoyed when guests break things. I found it incredibly annoying and they don’t always tell anyone. We also provide a picnic set and things disappear regularly. Provide outside seating. Have enough spares of everything!

Good luck.

Hotel Contract Beds for beds. We get so many compliments on the comfort of the mattresses.

I use John Lewis for plates, mugs etc. They are commented upon a lot.

TK Maxx for homeware and pots and pans, knives etc.

Out of Eden, King of Cotton and Soak And Sleep for bedding. Excellent quality.

Thanks all, this is really useful advice. I had looked at Out of Eden as my aunt had a holiday let and recommended them. Had also looked at hotel contract beds. When we bought our own bed we tried so many mattresses out so the thought of picking a random one off the internet feels like a gamble. Do you know which mattress you went for Movinghouseatlast?

I’ve bought some crockery, utensil bits, cutlery etc from ikea but the nicer ranges as I figure it is easy to replace as necessary.

I’m not really a fan of leather sofas but accept they are more practical for a holiday let. Shall have to try and look at them.

Was also going to try TK Maxx for pans, knives, some accessories etc.

Can I ask how much you all pay for cleaning and bed linen being washed?

How about getting the beds that they have in Premier Inn. They are made by Hypnos and have a link on the Premier Inn website I believe.
They seem to be a good quality well liked bed.

I’ve tried to get them! I rang Out if Eden as they’re a stockist for Hypnos but they said Hypnos are really strict with selling their hotel contract beds to trade only. When I asked how I would prove that they said they would need to see a link to the holiday home being advertised on a website etc. I explained I can’t photograph it to advertise until I have furniture so it’s a bit chicken and egg. Can’t see a way around it!

Hypnos are excellent Mattresses. Vi Spring and Relyon are also good.

I’m not sure I would buy leather settees now and I don’t have them at home. I think they have stood the test of time but there are some hard wearing fabric ones now available at John Lewis and I would probably have them now. If you have a cottage, make sure they go through the door!

Agent takes 20% for everything. Advertising, cleaning, taking bookings, managing any issues, key collection etc. We live over 4 hours away, so not going to do this ourselves.

Clients can hire linen and pay extra. King size bed set £25.75, 2 towels pp £8 plus bath mats per bathroom are extra. It’s all per week and it’s extra to get the beds made up.

Many rentals we have booked include linen but where our house is, some don’t. The agent didn’t make it clear enough what the price included when we did include the linen and we lost bookings because we looked expensive when compared to others. So we decided to revert back to hiring and ask clients to decide. Look at what happens in your local market.

20% to include cleaning/key holding Bubbles? That is incredibly good. Our agent charges 17.5% plus VAT just for advertising/bookings, and they aren't even the most expensive!

Let me look back at my emails with Out of Eden to see how I got around the chicken and egg scenario you mention Sunny

Do you have to be Trade to use Out of Eden (for non bed stuff?)

Thanks both. I’ll have a look at hard wearing sofa fabrics.

Do you think a fabric headboard and base is a bad idea? We won’t have much storage space there so I am going to get an ottoman style king bed and then zip and link singles with one side ottoman and one side a spare bed underneath.

I like this one for practicality:
www.happybeds.co.uk/phoenix-pearl-grey-wooden-ottoman-storage-bed

I have the Panache zip and link. Also the 3000 double mattress.I bought them because of lots of recommendations.

For a 3 bed house I pay £95 laundry and cleaning.

But like this one for style:
www.happybeds.co.uk/wilson-grey-fabric-ottoman-storage-bed

Sunny I just registered for a trade account online, and put my intended agency web address down where it was required. The confirmation of account set up email came through and we started ordering goods a good month before we actually had our cottage listed on the agency website I had provided.

Breakfast no, i've just seen in their FAQs that you now don't need to be trade to buy from them (a recent change).

No you don't Breakfast anyone can buy from them. I really rate them we get lots of towels/ linens etc from them for our holiday lets.

With fabric headboard you'll get yellowed greasy head marks over time (and worse...). I'd play it safe and go for a conventional wooden headboard. We have a iron bedstead which suits the character of the cottage, but IMO divan beds are more comfy. We bought matress from Mattisons beds (another trade-only supplier).

Please get a super king bed! Does my head in when holiday let's have small beds. Could probably cope with a king for a couple of nights but would rather not. I'll avoid let's that don't explicitly say what size the bed is

100% go for the biggest bed you can fit in. A standard double isn’t really acceptable in anything other than the most budget of accommodation.

Do have plenty of useful hooks like on the back of the bathroom door.

Do have useful space in the bathroom to set down your wash bag and other items.

Do have drawers as well as hanging space.

OP, my top tip is ... when you have fitted it out, live in it yourself for a week or so, just to see how it all works and how it feels. I think so many people don't do this.

The other thing I'd say is that it's all well and good and very sensible to make everything bomb-proof, but that can take some of the joy out of it. We have a few things in ours that are not that sensible, but they are beautiful ... and we've been going for two years so far, and we haven't had any disasters.

And in answer to one of your questions, we pay £100 for a changeover/cleaning, but we are in a very remote area, and the cleaners have to come a long way to do it.

With fabric headboard you'll get yellowed greasy head marks over time (and worse...)

Well, we've had one for two totally booked-full seasons, and it looks absolutely fine so far.

Mattison Contract Beds. Our mattess is 'Hotel Cosmopolitan'. Seems comfy to me; no one has complained (but only one guest has actively complimented!). As previously mentioned, i think the mattress would be even more comfy if paired with a divan rather than iron bedstead. A good mattress topper gives that 'hotel feel'. And you'll want to protect it with a waterproof protector (out of eden ones are good and not at all crinkly).

Big bed
Sharp knives

DH will not even consider s holiday in anything less than a king size bed.

As a frequent guest in holiday lets /bed and breakfast places, I'd prefer a bigger bed at the cost of less furniture. You don't really need an enormous wardrobe plus a chest of drawers for one suitcase of clothes.