Used to have a holiday place and really I wouldn't go overboard on little bits and pieces. They become more hassle than they are worth sometimes.
It's self catering for goodness sake and I certainly wouldn't leave bleach . If they buy it themselves or bring it fair dos but some muppets are bound to use it in an inappropriate place.
Yes to good beds and good quality bed linen it I wouldn't go mad on fancy pillows and fussy bed runners. We stayed somewhere like that and had to find somewhere to put them in a small room.
Yes to mattress protection . I hate staying anywhere where there isn't a waterproof on mattresses and pillows.
Yes to a well stocked kitchen . DH takes own knives and pans....abroad!
A DVD player so they can bring their own DVDs or maybe a connection so they Can bring their own Xbox whatever
Wifi is essential
Wouldn't go mad with toys. It's not up to you to entertain them just provide good quality accommodation that they will want to return to again and again.
Decent tv/ radio
Nice clean uncluttered lines. Nothing fussy . Easy to clean and maintain.
If you do go down the accessible for all route then you will need grab bars that can be moved back near the toilet. A toilet that's about 20 ins high so it's level with most chair seats.a wheel in shower. A shower seat that folds up and looks like a little chair. Got one of those for my mum in her wet room. Wood or laminate floors are best for chairs. I never had tile as I was worried about people slipping in the kitchen...and my grandson did slip and broke his front tooth. That was without tile.
Dishwasher is good. I had washer and drier as that was what the cleaning team needed but in a uk let it's not essential and will eat Into your profit.
You have to have your business head on at the end of the day and it's all about turning a profit.
Which is why I would do my own bookings. My friend's cottages are with one of these companies ( think its the one youre going to) and they cream off about £150 per let. They take all the easy to let weeks which you can easily do yourselves . They were charging £700 per week for summer and my friend was getting £500 to £550. When a customer decided he didn't get his £700 worth he took my friend to court and the company didn't lift a finger.
My property was my responsibility and I kept control. There loads of places on the Internet you can advertise without losing such a huge sum of money.
So basically you've got about 28 weeks of lettings. That means you are going to,pay that company somewhere in the region of £2800 at just £100 per let week.
Of course you can't rely on them to book every week as they have thousands on their books . I know my friend can put her own bookings in as long as they are not peak weeks. For a little bit more effort you can do the bookings yourself, keep the profits and know who is going to be turning up to rent. As I did everything and would speak to the guests directly I found I had very little damage . In fact the only security deposit I kept was when someone had been smoking in the house and I found out as we followed them in.
I was furious!