Does a holiday home need a washing machine?

[Teenyliving]

I’m fortunate to have inherited a tiny flat in an increasingly popular holiday place. Short/medium plan is to use it myself and then holidayboetnit when I’m not there.

Just looking at works that need to be done - does anyone have a view on whether a holiday let MUST have a washing machine? It’s the kind of place most people will come for the weekend - a week at most.

Im reconfiguring it from a studio with separate kitchen to a separate bedroom with kitchen/living together. It’s is teeenny! And wouLd be a real stretch to get washing machine in the new configuration!

thank you

Tbh I wouldn't stay anywhere where there wasn't both but if I had to make a choice then a washing machine is more important.

Even for a short break? I would far rather spend time on a short break exploring an area, walking, sighseeing, eating and drinking than doing laundry.

How on earth can you not manage to do any washing for 3 or 4 days?

We stayed in a serviced apartment recently that had this amazing tiny dishwasher that was basically a drawer under the sink. I'd try to fit one of those over a washing machine.

@butterflymum oh that twin tub DOES look interesting. I might put one of those in a cupboard as available for “emergency washing” thank you!

If you make it clear and the rental price is good I think you'll be fine. I would never discount a holiday let because it didn't have a washing machine or a dishwasher.

I wouldn't put a washer in. The clothes will need drying so will need a dryer too or they will dry on radiators and create damp property. A dishwasher would be more useful.

Why on earth would you want to wash clothes on a holiday? Beats me.

Because not everyone has multiple outfits for every person for the length of stay? Because shoving clothes into a machine, turn dial and press button is 30 seconds. Not that difficult to think of a few reasons.

Not for this flat though, by the sounds of it.

I have never found it traumatic to do laundry on holiday. It takes seconds to put a load on before we go to bed and then a couple of mins while coffee is brewing to hang it up.

I would generally rather do that than lug a suitcase on the train or around town after check out - if you're driving door to door this might be different for you

I don’t go on holiday with the thought of doing a laundry, however having experienced (not me thank god) an explosive gastric 24 hour bug I can’t imagine the horror of there hadn’t been one. That was a short break. Definitely get one!!

Don't get a washing machine if there is nowhere to dry washing.

I’d like a dishwasher more - look at fisher and paykel single drawer or a counter top dishwasher (Bosch does one for £450).

DH and I went to a place for two for a week that did have a washing machine but no means to dry anything. It basically just mocked us! Didn’t need to wash but probably would have done one load just so I could take things home clean.

Every person? Did you miss the bit where OP said the property is tiny and most suitable for a couple?
A family would choose a different property.

As a couple, unless one of us is ill, we are unlikely to generate any washing during a short break. We take enough clothes to wear and provide options if for example we manage to pour wine or gravy on ourselves.

But we will generate washing up. When I'm on holiday I don't want to do washing up. I have a dishwasher at home and I certainly don't want to doing more washing up on holiday than I do at home. If we are mostly eating out and are out during the day that doesn't generate much washing up. But I still don't want to do what there is. I'd be very pleased to have a slimline dishwasher but with enough crockery and cutlery to have several breakfasts, snacks and cups of tea before needing to put it on. Several places I've stayed in have a full size dishwasher but only say 4 mugs, 4 bowls etc. I don't feel good about running a dishwasher three quarters empty. But the alternative is either to wash up as I go or look at the pile of dirty crockery accumulating in the sink which I don't want to deal with because I'm on holiday FFS.
So yes to a small dishwasher but plenty of crockery and cutlery. At least 6 of everything.

Definitely forewarn people in the description, not just as an absence in the list of amenities!

I recently made the mistake of accidentally booking a 1-bed flat for 8 nights via AirBnB, with adult DD on the sofabed (space was for up to 4 people). It was in a small mountain village so no launderette for miles around. The problem was that the stay came in the middle of nights spent in other places (DD was actually on holiday for over 3 weeks) so we actually needed to wash some clothes in the middle of it. I had brought some liquid for a handwash. What I hadn’t reckoned with was that there was only one towel per person, and a nasty, thin, cheap one, which really needed a wash after four days (thicker towels can usually last a week between washes). So I ended up handwashing towels on holiday, and that annoyed me a fair bit. Other AirBnB hosts who don’t provide a washing machine have had a cupboard of spare towels so you could fetch a spare one half way through a longer break.
So the key would be to phrase it as ‘ideal for couples for a short stay or weekend break’ and provide extra towels, just in case. I think most guests will only use what they need.
If there’s no dishwasher, I’d emphasise the kitchen as a handy place for preparing breakfast or simple meals/snacks, rather than as a fully functional kitchen for fancy catering.

Oh easily, I don't plan to do any washing on holiday but after a day at the beach I want to bung towels and swim stuff through the machine. I just think it's an essential part of kitchen equipment.

Isn't staying in one of those small flats like staying in a holiday caravan somewhere, they don't all have washing machines and dishwashers.

And did you miss the bit about "Not for this flat though"?

I can't even begin to imagine wanting to wash a load of beach towels every day on holiday. But even if I did, I'd need the space or means to dry them before going back to the beach the following day. Fine in a hot country with a balcony, garden or outside space of some sort. A teeny town centre flat in the uk, not so much.

Yes, essential IMO. I can't imagine having enough clothes for a weeks hols. I'd always wash.

Not a necessity if the place is really tiny and mostly used for weekends or a week or less.

I can't imagine having enough clothes for a weeks hols

Do you really own fewer than 7 T-shirts/pairs of underwear/socks etc?

I don't think I know anyone that doesn't own enough clothes to last a week without washing.

I have never washed clothes while on holiday so no it's not necessary. Personally I'd prefer a dishwasher. But if even a slimline one is impossible in the space. I don't think it matters in the type of let you describe

I just wish people would stick to comments about this flat - a tiny 1 bed where obviously guests could easily manage without a washing machine because a couple wouldn’t need one for a long weekend or even a week really. Lots of people are talking as if it is a family apartment which clearly it isn’t.
A slimline dishwasher would be a more useful addition as that would be used at every booking and would fit more easily into a small kitchen.

Yes. I don't think that people read the OP's updates. She doesn't say if it is at the coast, so swimwear and towels might not be needed.

The solution is easy. Just buy the next flat over, knock through, redo the entire kitchen and add a utility room complete with a separate washer and dryer and dishwasher so MN families can stay there.

Frankly I think a couple with no kon a mini-break unlikely to be spending much time in their clothes