What makes the perfect cottage holiday rental for you?

[SunshineChatter]

I am new in the holiday rental market, with this summer being my first proper season letting my cottage in Somerset.

I am trying to make it as well appointed as possible. Soft cotton sheets, fluffy white towels, complimentary mini toiletries, champagne flutes, kitchen scales, baking stuff, wi-fi, Netflix, beautiful garden furniture, BBQ, welcome hamper, dog treats, etc.

But I'm sure we all look for different things when we rent a luxury holiday cottage. Could you please share what you feel would make a cottage stand out were you to rent it for a week's away with your OH, family, friends, etc? It sleeps four in two bedrooms. TIA.

[haggisaggis]

A tray to carry drinks etc to the living room or outside table. And yes to an empty cupboard to store food. Been to a few places where there are plenty of cupboards but they are all full of stuff! Not really bothered about a welcome basket. If dogs are allowed but there are restrictions (ie not allowed upstairs or to be left alone at all) would prefer to know before I book. Clear instructions on checkout process - to strip beds or not, run dishwasher and leave it or whether it must be left empty etc.

[WoodenPot]

Easy parking for more than 1 car
Flexible beds eg two singles that can become a super king when pushed together
Pure cotton bed linen
Plenty of nice towels, actually I'd say not white as white towels are everywhere
Dishwasher, washing machine and separate tumble drier (the holy trinity)
Great WiFi
Plenty of plug sockets
Microwave and well equipped kitchen
Washing up liquid, sponge and dishwasher tablets and tea towels
Big fridge and freezer so don't have to shop very often
Cake and small supply of tea and coffee and milk on arrival
Windows that open
Fans if it gets very hot in summer
Toilet cistern that fills up quickly
Decent shower
Nice toiletries that are not Cien, we all know that's Lidl own brand
toilet roll

Not much really.

[kennycat]

A washing machine (and tumble dryer if possible but definitely a clothes horse)
We are going away next week and I’m not too thrilled about having no washing machine

Things like flasks, lunch boxes and cool bags Are a nice touch. As are sandwich bags, foil etc.

Good luck! I’d love to rent out a holiday cottage x

[SimonJT]

@BustPipes

Am agog at the amount of laundry other people seem to do on holiday. Each to their own though!

Talking of which - we always take pizza trays when we go away.

I have a five year old, nothing remains clean enough to be worn twice, most days as soon as we get home I have to change him into new clothes. I’m not packing 14 outfits for a seven day break.

It also means when we get home the only dirty clothes are the ones we are wearing so everything can be put straight away.

[ArtemisBean]

Easy parking big enough for a large car and not too far from the door for transferring luggage. Somewhere to store bikes securely and out of the rain. No random knick knacks lying around (toddler would destroy them). A clean highchair (not just put away in the cupboard with the last child's mess still all over it). Windows that open and heating that can be adjusted. Secure fire guard if there's a fireplace/wood burner/hot faux fire. Stair gates. No leather sofas. Blackout curtains in bedrooms. Enclosed, private outside space.

[passthemustard]

@SunshineChatter
Loving this thread, thank you.
I have a very small, very basic 2 bed holiday flat that I let out on Airbnb.
I have learnt that I need to up my game in the kitchen department despite never having received a complaint! I just assume that people will eat out. We are 5 minutes walk from a busy harbour with lots of great restaurants cafes and bars.
I supply lots of cleaning products, bin bags, tea/coffee, biscuits, milk etc. Kitchen isn't big enough for a dishwasher or washing machine though.
The beds are small, one double and one small double because the rooms are tiny. I'm thinking of replacing the small double with bunk beds. But I do get a lot of adult couples using separate rooms and 2 friends sharing etc which I might put off with bunk beds.
I don't have books or games as in my experience in holiday lets I've stayed in they are all rubbish. I do have a smart TV and Blu-ray player with over 80 Blu-ray Discs of classic and recent films though. And great Wi-Fi.
Parking is rubbish too, we don't have a designated space so it's on road parking and near the town centre it can get busy but guests are forewarned and I've never had a complaint.
This is all reflected in the price. We barely make £60 a night and a week is only £400. People only average a 2 or 3 night stay most of the year with longer stays only in the summer.
I always get 5 star reviews for cleanliness and I'm pretty much fully booked year round. Cheap, cheerful and clean for the win!

[Climbingallthetrees]

We stayed somewhere a few weeks ago where we were supplied with four dishwasher tablets in a bag. For a week long stay for five people. It was a slimline dishwasher and didn’t really take even a day’s dishes. Stop dolling our tablets and accept the risk of someone taking a box (have a spare box somewhere just in case).

I’d like a washer dryer. It’s not that I enjoy washing while we’re away, but stains on young kids’ clothes won’t shift after a week. Somewhere to put things in the bathroom, like a shelf for toiletries and a hook on the back of the door.

[Chestnut23]

Food scales are really handy if they want to cook by following recipes found online etc. I ended up buying my own when last away.

[DobbyTheHouseElk]

So long as it’s spotless I’m happy.

Check all the crockery is clean. We stayed at a v expensive place once and there was remnants of a previous guests cereal in a bowl in the cupboard and the cheese grater was full of grated old cheese in the cupboard. Letting agents said “oh our cleaner doesn’t open the cupboards”.

Hand soap in the sinks, dishwasher tabs, 2x per day if you have limited crockery.

Make sure things work and aren’t broken or dirty.

[CountessFrog]

Second or third bedroom with twin beds rather than a double (my kids don’t want to share a double bed).

Agree re king size bed. Also a dryer.

Comfy seating rather than knackered sofas where you can’t sit comfortably. Sitting room arranged so the TV can be seen.

Twice the number of towels. Double the number of bathmats!

I’m currently on the last day of a cottage holiday. The owners have thought carefully about what to provide.

[topcat2014]

Interesting to see what everyone expects for little more than the cost of a Premier inn room per night

[HeronLanyon]

topcat I fully agree ! I’d be expecting to lay a lot more for things being mentioned here as ‘essential’ in standard rental cottage !

[HeronLanyon]

I also don’t ever expect a rented U.K. Holiday cottage used by lots with short turnover time to be nicer than my own home !? Unless it’s really special and very expensive.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Me neither Heron! I would expect a nicer location because that’s kind of the point but not top end everything. And I have never stayed anywhere that provides toiletries.

[wfh2020]

Currently staying in a holiday cottage. Things we've really appreciated this week; torch and spare batteries (long power cut on Wed), soft towels, kindling for BBQ.

[DianasLasso]

@passthemustard sounds like my sort of place!

I'm a "cheap date" when it comes to rental cottages. Must have wifi for the pre-teen.

Decent kitchen basics - dishwasher, selection of pans (and their lids, please), sharp knife, bread knife, chopping board.

Decent bed linen.

And ideally a shelf with an eclectic set of books previous visitors have left.

I always bring my own toiletries. (Now marvelling at the insight into other people's lives that they don't. )

For me it's largely about cheap and cheerful in the location I want to be in. (My last trip was a flat above a 7-11 in Croydon, just up the road from the station. I wanted a cheap base to do London from, that was the cheapest way of doing it. It was really clean, comfortable, had all the stuff we needed. Scenic it was not - but it was perfect for what we wanted.)

[Thighdentitycrisis]

Most important to me is an honest description of what is provided and decent photos.

Recently stayed in a cottage that a tall person could not stand up in the kitchen most of the the bathroom and the back bedroom.

[ANutAsBigAsABoulder]

I fully expect to have to bring my own toiletries, laundry and dishwasher tablets and washing up liquid. It’s good to have a starter toilet roll in each WC, but then I expect to supply my own.

[NotMeNoNo]

Decent long bed (DH tall), good mattress and duvet. Wifi. Big mugs.

Otherwise it's more about the location we don't care for places stuffed with luxuries like champagne flutes. The place we go back to is basic but they include a starter pack of bread/milk/cake and tea/coffee and there is washing up stuff. That is really nice.

[Jemenfouscompletement]

I'm quite shocked by the list of 'wants' by renters. I thought that everything stated is standard in holiday lets. They are in mine. I'm lucky to have fibre optic internet even though the cottages are very rural. But no mobile signal in the houses themselves so maybe I should make guests aware of that. I don't supply smart TVs either, but I'm in France so the Netflix offerings aren't quite the same as the UK even with a UK account.

[lljkk]

I'm shocked because a lot of the requests sound sound like fussy unnecessary frills! We are struggling to find somewhere at < 1.5x cost that OP quotes, and yet few/none of the places we are looking at (to sleep 4 people) will have most of this stuff. (shrug)

[Pipandmum]

If you go through an agency they will have a huge list of what you need to provide, and it's pretty exhaustive (egg cups, toast rack etc).
What I look for is: a spotless home.
Really good quality sheets and towels with mattress protectors - not the plastic kind.
A good shower and bath, and make it clear if one or the other is not provided.
Decent furniture, not just mismatched cast offs.
Matching dinnerware. More than one of each - if you sleep four people, provide 8 of everything.
Good quality cutlery - not cheap stuff you get at a diner.
Wifi and cable.
Downstairs loo.
Washing machine and dryer.
Basic foods: tea, coffee, sugar, salt and pepper.
Washing up liquid and cleaning things. These are relatively cheap.
A welcome basket is nice, but just do the minimum and maybe just feature something local. A homemade cake and local juice and some milk is wonderful.
Fresh flowers are lovely too.
Clear instructions on how to operate appliances, when rubbish day is, local pub and restaurant recommendations etc. The wifi code. However do not leave little notes attached to everything.

If there are any peculiarities please spell that out in your description. I rented an otherwise lovely cottage but there was a low beam straight through the kitchen and if I managed to avoid hitting my head it was still soooooo annoying to have to duck constantly and I would not have booked it had I known.
Finally - leave your guests alone! If you greet them on arrival fine, but do not 'check in', do not turn up to 'water the garden' or 'service the fire extinguishers' (which required a visit to remove them and another to replace them). You leave a number if there is a problem, but other than that let them be.
Good luck!

[lynsey91]

Well I guess all the posters wanting so much from a cottage can afford to pay the price they are likely to charge.

I don't expect luxury and want to be able to afford to rent somewhere for a week without spending a fortune.

I do expect a bed as comfortable as my own one but double is fine. I guess all the posters demanding king size beds have them in their own homes. They are nice but hardly necessary. Our bedroom is big enough to take one but we don't see the need.

I also don't need a washing machine although I can understand those with young children wanting one. I have never done any washing when on holiday.

A dishwasher is nice although often when there is one we don't use it

[Cottipus]

Check out time in the info folder. Didn’t state it in the last property and then owner was messaging me at 9.30 to ask when we were leaving.

No microwave in last place, would have liked this, even if it was a microwave/oven combo. Definitely champagne flutes in addition to wine glasses (lots of people drink prosecco these days) nothing fancy, IKEA or cheap supermarket ones would do. Ice box and fridge fine for smaller property, but would expect fridge freezer as a minimum in 4+bed property.

Definitely plenty of cutlery and crockery, I would say 3 x sets per person and lots of teaspoons. Again doesn’t have to be fancy just functional. I would expect enough toilet roll, washing up liquid, bin bags, tea towels etc to last the holiday. I would allow 2 x dishwasher tablets per day- can’t believe people steal these!

DH has just said a shelf or worktop in the bathroom next to the sink to put wash bags on so they don’t have to live on the floor.

Things that were nice touches but not expected were coffee machines with pods, welcome hamper or bottle of fizz, shower gel and smart TVs.

Good luck- I love trying out new holiday lets!