Do you really want fluffy towels and new linens? What are your limits with country holiday lets?

[cottageinthecountry]

I'm about to renovate a cottage for letting out for holidays. It's in a very rural position and can withstand a lot of wear and tear regarding mud and wildlife. I'm letting it out on Airbnb which has been great but I'm quickly getting drawn into the competitive linen game.

It's a great place for children and pets to charge about in the mud and I'm almost certain this will be brought into the house on a regular basis - it's rural position is its charm. But how do I market something so that people don't expect it to be spotless as a spa resort and give me bad ratings and disgruntled reviews?

I would be grateful if you could tell me what you prefer - a bit of mud and insect life or a spotless haven? What are your boundaries?

Laminate gets really, really scratched and looks dirty fairly quickly.

Can you seal your tiled floor? We have one in our own home but it was painted with a clear seal that makes it wipe really, really clean.

Honestly, buy bedding from "Out of Eden" as they supply the hotel industry so are long lasting, good quality and cheap.

The market is really, really competitive and one bad review on tripadvisor can cost you £££. I would consider getting a free assessment from an agency as they will send you a checklist and also give advice, even if you go it alone.

Also, leave guests a bottle of wine or a cake. Do everything you can to help them with their holiday plans BUT keep out of the way once they are installed as no one wants an owner that hovers - we had one once who kept stalking us and it ruined the holiday.

Hard standing from the car to the front door will help (gravel, paving)

For goodness sake please equip the kitchen properly with proper knives plenty of crockery, some cake and roasting tins, basin, stiring/whisking utensils.

Decent broadband, Sky TV, clean and good quality linen. Comfy matresses.

Dishwasher and washing machine. Showers that are powerful.

I really do not want anywhere that is less good than my own home. Not absolute luxury but everyone has enough crockery and cutlery, most people have broadband and Sky now so why not on holiday.

Repair things. Don't leave broken lightbulbs and dodgy switches and damp plaster like the last one I went to Weymouth. They had an agency looking after it and it was clear they had not been in the place for months and when the agent did turn up to look after we complained she was wearing high heels and a pencil skirt. Not really appropriate for changing a light bulb.

I think I'm just nervous of charging huge amounts and finding people disappointed and the same time I don't want to price out people who will really enjoy it regardless of the level of cleanliness. It sleeps 10 (easily) which is scary as that's one heck of a lot of laundry to deal with. Also there is only one toilet.

I think I might put a bathroom upstairs and reduce numbers to 8. At the moment I'm getting a lot of enquiries for family get togethers and garden parties. So far I have just been very honest but I am really trying to get a picture of what we want to aim for as the renovations haven't been done yet.

We live in the country, surrounded by " nature ", have three doors and our floors are clean . I think you are forgetting that people who might be very tolerant of their own dirt at home are not tolerant of the dirt and dog hairs left by the last guests , especially when they are paying top dollar for it .

I wouldn't hire a sleeps 8 place with one toilet. How many families who can pay the kind of prices you want would live like that at home?

How many bathrooms do you have ?

We stayed in a rural cottage last summer where the owners had gone all out to be 'green'. Beds and bedding were very, very second hand, and I would never go back because they were so awful.

Polycotton, mismatching, faded and threadbare bedding, stained and lumpy pillows, mattresses and duvets. It makes me shudder to recall it.

If the cottage had been exactly the same, with lovely new comfy beds, new pillows with protectors on them, and matching cotton bedding, we'd be going back year on year. Especially if the main bed was big enough for all 5 of us to snuggle in (instead of barely big enough for 2!)

One toilet in a house that sleeps ten. No way.

Reduce to 8 and put an extra bathroom in for sure.

My house sleeps 10 and we have 4 WC and 2 showers and a bath.

I just dont think you can ask people to stay in a place that is less good than where they live. I just think there is no point in going on holiday in the UK to stay in a place that is less good than where I live and we are not talking about a palace.

I own a rural holiday let and it's always immaculate upon arrival, so says my reviews too! All the furniture is solid (oak), big comfy leather sofas stone floors that are washed between guests. Not loads of bric a brac but a couple of naice things higher up to make it interesting, early local postcards in frames, turn of the century oil lamp in an alcove type thing.

Bedlinen has to be decent quality, try dapw I like their 400tc stuff. I don't have notices or anything about cleaning but no ones ever left the place in a tip. I think people appreciate that they arrive and it's lovely and make an effort to keep it that way. Generally when they depart kitchen is clean, beds are made (obviously going to be stripped but I appreciate the effort), towels somewhere sensible, hoover been whizzed round.

Between lets I'd expect floors to be hoovered/ washed as appropriate, all flat surfaces/ skirtings to be wiped down, windows to be opened and frames wiped down, any marks on glass polished off, bathrooms must be immaculate a stray hair and your guests will be looking for faults all week, kitchen needs a thorough clean as well fridge, breadbin, check freezer. It takes the cleaner around four hours excluding ironing etc. Then I go around for twenty minutes and make sure nothing has been missed. It does sound like a lot considering the place looks clean before the cleaners even start but you really don't want corners of grime. Also if your going to have cleaners you need to be able to check as standards slip pretty quickly if you don't.

I want...

a charming cottage, sympathetically restored and furnished
a really comfortable supportive ideally king sized bed
with soft 100% cotton bedding (no polycotton please!)
a powerful shower and plenty of fluffy towels
well equipped kitchen. I might want to make a nice dinner or bake a cake. I definitely want to be able to make proper coffee and a cooked breakfast. It's also a nice touch if there are dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, J cloths etc
a decent sized table and enough chairs for us all
for more than a long weekend a washing machine is a must and somewhere to hang it all when it's wet
a nice comfy sofa to relax on by an open fire when the dcs finally go to bed. some books to borrow are always a nice touch as I always run out of books

local info, including some personal recommendations of things to do/places to eat (not just a folder crammed full of leaflets thanks)

Oh and everything must be utterly spotless when we arrive. That goes without saying. and yes I'd say definitely put a welly rack near the front door!

Ah... I want to go on holiday now!

Excellent I think we are just about on the right track then.
Gravel is planned, as is a large patio
Laminate is scrapped
Ikea towles or Out of Eden to be investigated, possibly taupe or beige
Outside boot rack as well as indoor slipper area
An extra toilet and bathroom if possible
We have the power shower but need to waterproof everything
Have new kitchen, bathroom and toilet room
Tumble drier on order, we have a washing machine
All old beds are getting chucked anyway and the charming 1980s sofa
Extendable table in the shopping list
As is extra crockery
Silly side tables are going in favour of bigger sofas We have a cracking 1960s sofa but it's shabby. Can we call that the dog sofa?
Got the wood burner
Kitchen is new but there is not much storage but there is a utility room which stores baking tins etc I might set up an extra fridge in there, alongside the tumble drier and washer and there is a mini freezer which we can offer for people to plug in if they need to.

Regarding the linen - I think I will offer a 'bring your own linen' option and offer a discount of £5 per person? Or will that just make life complicated?

Just seen you only have one toilet! No way is that enough - you would need at least 2 bathrooms, maybe 3 I would say?

If you're going to do it, please do it properly.

The thing is that we have nice bed sheets here & sleeping under scratchy 180tc (yes I got up and checked the label) is just uncomfortable.

Sleeping under 600tc cotton sateen is much better.

I need a dishwasher too, I won't rent anywhere without one.

last year we stayed at a place that had 'only' 6 bedrooms but easily accommodated my siblings and families (6 dc + 8 adults).

4 bathrooms (all fully tiled) with powerful showers
1 large living/dining room with space for everyone to sit around a table and on the sofas plus an extra 2 tv snugs with sofas. sauna + washing mashine in an outhouse.

apart from not having wifi and being at the arse end of nowhere it was nearly perfect.

Extra bathroom is an absolute necessity, maybe an extra ensuite too or wc if you can squeeze it in. We have three beds/ three bathrooms. Most people who are doing rural want something lovely. I know it's a bit of a balancing the books thing but if you renovate you could rent out long term instead. You do need to be realistic about costs/ income. Your average holiday let isn't going to make more 12k a year profit and that's managing a lot yourself.

I would never rent a place for ten people with one toilet. Ever.

OP, are you really seeing this as a business, because that means you need to work! Yes, laundry for 10 people is a lot, but 10 people will be PAYING you for that work. 10 people will beAYING for you to keep the place in good repair and properly supplied with working equipment and furnishings in good repair. You need to budget for cleaning and repair and replacements.

You need to compare what you intend to offer with similar lets in the area. Granted you can make it clear that it is a rural, cosy unmodernised let, to distinguish it from a high spec modern refurb or conversion, and it should be priced accordingly. The price should certainly reflect that it has only one bathroom, but you will probably make much more money by converting at least one room upstairs to one bath room or two ensuite loo and shower room.

Regardless of the cost the place must be spotless when your guests arrive. No discusssion. I wouldnt rely on your Crouch End friend for advice..cast your net wider.

Perhaps one of the three downstairs entrances should have a large bootroom to contain the mud, and maybe one of the other entrances could be closed off to accomodate a downstairs wc?

a nice touch was that the owners left a folder (a naice arty one) with copies of all instruction manuals for everything in the house. from the extendable dining table to the sofa bed to the travel cot to the microwave.

Gracie aren't the leather sofas cold-feeling?

Any ideas for realistic sofa covering - I guess removable covers are the thing.

And what do you think about 'eclectic' - I like eclectic, does anyone else, really?

Good quality linen/furnishings but not too fussy or fancy. For me, needs to be easy to clean. I hate doing housework but can't relax if it needs to be done e.g. muddy footprints. Don't mind mismatched plates but can't stand broken things or things that don't worj very well, like ancient vaccuum cleaners or pans with wobbly handles or curtains that don't close.

I don't like any ornaments or personal touches. The odd arty print or objet d'art is OK.

Leather sofas are fine - they feel cleaner. Agree with someone upthread - a dishwasher is a must.

10 people? You need a bathroom per couple imo.

It sounds like you're looking to do this on the cheap (and nasty). "Eclectic" sounds like you mean a mish mash of left-over furniture from previous homes, or a varied collection of second hand stuff.

One person eclectic is another's jumble sale purchases