To all you self caterers out there

[piebald]

I rent out a couple of self catering properties and wondered if i could get ideas from you kind mn folk
What is useful in a s/c house , is there anything that makes the holiday better?
I was wondering about buying slow cookers, would that be useful on holiday or do you just stick to take aways. What would you be pleased to find in the kitchen (apart from a maid-i'm not providing that!)
Anything else, games for the kids, dvds,

So many places have a Mish mash of kitchen stuff which has clearly just come from an owners chuck-out, for example blunt knives, no bread board, filter coffee machine with no filters, bun baking trays (??), no oven gloves. Go through and make sure it's all functional and take away random bits - no one needs a cupboard of vases!

Also is there room in the kitchen to store food? Most places have no space left to store the food shop.

And these are nice places with all other stuff needed it's just always the kitchen that's an issue.

Otherwise try not to have too many trickets and decorative bits about. That's just stuff you have to move and remember where it was to put it back when you leave

I'd second the comment about not having "too many trinkets and decorative bits". We always end up putting them on a high shelf out of children's reach, and then it's 50/50 whether we remember to move them back on leaving!

A hairdryer. Doesn't sound much but when you're travelling light it's nice to have one of any size.

The high-end self catering place we stay in every year (all linen and housekeeping included) has an "advanced cleaning box" for emergencies. It contains rubber gloves, bin bags, floorcloths, extra toilet rolls and paper towels and stays in a closed transparent trug to stop things looking cluttered. Housekeeping replenish it after every stay.

There's always enough washing up liquid, dishwasher tabs, soap etc. out to cover a week, but you never know when disaster could strike on holiday in the form of a broken bottle of wine usually.

Nothing too fancy, but a good set of kitchen basics-
Decent Chopping boar
Decent knives
Saucepans
Ovenware
Scissors
Matching crockery
Glasses
Wine glasses
Decent gas hob
Dishwasher
Utility with washing machine and tumble dryer.
Cupboard with salt, pepper, sugar.
Provide cleaning products if you want to encourage guests to keep it clean!

The best places I've stayed in had excellent beds, the owners had spared no expense on the bed linen and were generally beautifully decorated (not necessarily new, but in v. good taste). I'd say comfort of beds was the most important thing for me.
Otherwise, nice touches I can remember include:

• Welcome pack of naice local produce/ soap etc.
• good and broad selection of books
• Netflix subscription
• games
• torch (if in country for night walks)
• telescope (if decent views/ wildlife to look at)
• bath robes & slippers
• dog bowl/ dog bed

I cant be doing too badly, have most of these things but i am taking note as the ideas come in
NOW how about this-- i hate waste and know how annoying it is to be buying little bags of flour etc when you are on holiday so if people leave behind non perishable goods ie ketchup , oil, herbs ,tins, shampoo i leave them in the cupboard. Always have a good clearout at the end of the season, but is this a good thing to do or not?

Looked up about Netflix but to do that we would need smart tvs so maybe as they are replaced will look at that but not yet.

Make high chairs etc optional extras on request. We stayed somewhere recently that had stairgates which we had to remove as they were in the way, a travel cot cluttering up the bedroom and a highchair cluttering up the dining area.

I don't mind finding oil, herbs, ketchup etc left by previous holidaymakers; and if I have to buy, I tend to leave part-used packets or bottles behind myself.

However - please date-check them at the handover. The last holiday, we found a wonderfully stocked store cupboard. It wasn't so wonderfully stocked by the time I'd checked the BBF and Use By dates, and had flung half of them out

I'm not fussed about having a welcome tray. Invariably we find it's a brand of coffee or tea that we don't actually like. So we take our own "on arrival" supplies to make the first brew.

Last place we stayed had a help yourself cupboard and it was great... but I did check all dates.

Extra pillows and blankets.

Really annoys me when self catering kitchens seem to assume people aren't going to ACTUALLY cook. We go in big groups. I'm the cook. Cooking for 10-16 on each break so the first thing that happens is a kind of batch cook which gets added to over the week like a running hot buffet - so I bake cakes, tray bakes, loaves of bread, big pots of pasta, soups, and roast big meat joints, etc etc.

The amount of places that accommodate a larger group but don't expect you to cook for a larger group is astonishing. Proper cooking, not reheating and takeaways - cake tins, baking trays, spatulas, whisks, Yorkshire pudding tins, serving dishes, large pans, trays, flan tins, and cling film/baking paper/foil as well if you can.

Oh and the pet hate, don't advertise your house as accommodating 12 when only 8 fit round the dining table. I don't care if there are 12 beds and a table for 4 in the kitchen, if the family can't eat together it's not suitable.

Aren't there H&S rules that say you can't leave opened packets and jars of food between lets?
Our place only has salt and pepper so I usually snaffle a few sachets of sugar from a service station on our journey.

I agree with lapharisienne about beds.

There's one place that we went to and loved, but I refuse to go back because the bed was so damn uncomfortable

Teapot
Cafetière
Knife sharpener (don't mind having to sharpen knives but hate blunt ones)
At least 2 chopping boards, one veg, one raw meat
Soap in the toilet and kitchen
Salt and pepper
Dishwasher tablets

I take my own nespresso machine if there isn't one but the last three places we have stayed have had them.

a favourite place of ours had a selection of opened alcohol left by previous guests, spirits and mixers as well as half used flour etc. All clean and in date. And proper cooking utensils.

Some spare light bulbs are handy.

FFS. I did not include that link....it's one of those skim words ads

Wifi.
Access to central heating controls.
(When had small DC) Curtains or blinds covering all bedroom windows, that keep light out (or else state in the advertising that they are thin/let light in)
"Welcome pack".

Can't bear it if there is barely any loo roll!