What would you expect in a luxury holiday cottage in Cornwall?

[Alamindah]

We are building an environmentally friendly holiday cottage on the north coast of Cornwall and deciding what equipment should go in there, and wondered what you would expect to see if you were visiting. It will have 4 double bedrooms (with zip and link beds, so that they can be doubles or singles), 3 bathrooms, a large kitchen/diner, a large living room, utility room, patio, roof terrace and small garden. We will provide a washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, double oven, 5 ring hob, microwave, kettle, toaster, smart TV, soundbar, American style fridge freezer, wine fridge, DVD player, PS4, wireless speakers, barbecue, garden games, outside shower, books, games, DVDs.

Is there anything which you would expect? We have decided not to have a hot tub, for environmental reasons! Would you expect there to be two dishwashers? Would you want a Nespresso machine? Or would a cafetière suffice? Would you expect the fridge to dispense cold water and ice. Would you want the PS4 in the living room or a separate room (ie one of the bedrooms)? Would you expect a PS4, or do you think this is not necessary on holiday?

That's not a cottage!!

If you are truly trying to make it environmentally friendly, then I think you need to research the impact of some of the "luxuries" and be able to evidence why you've made the decisions you've made - I'd be seriously unimpressed with somebody paying lip service to the eco agenda and, by contrast, really impressed if an explanation were given in the welcome pack.

So personally to me a tumble dryer goes against the eco image (unless you can claim green energy I suppose, but even then) and I would instead make sure there were really good airers in a suitable space.

Ditto the coffee - even if Nespresso pods are recyclable, it's still better not to use the plastic in the first place - so cafetiere or stove top would be better.

I'd want to see consistency - so organic cotton sheets and towels, like a pp has said decent eco cleaning products, fair trade or organic or local products if you're leaving things like wine, coffee, milk etc for guests. I really appreciate things like that left in a cottage, not just the single roll of loo paper and the dregs of a bottle of fairy liquid.

In terms of luxuries, if you want to pass my father's test, you need champagne glasses. And my father in law would insist on a toast rack 😀. All I need is a teapot.

I'd go for a PS4, personally, as I have one at home and I like the odd bit of gaming as part of a relaxing week off. I like the on-request idea.

But I'd not bother with a DVD player and DVDs - very 2005 - if you're putting in a Smart TV, as people will just be able to log into Netflix or Prime or iPlayer or whatever. And if you do have a PS4, they play Blu-rays and DVDs anyway.

I think a Grindr, bean-to-cup machine and some nice Fairtradey coffee beans is classier than Nespresso, and probably more environmentally friendly (even though you can recycle Nespresso pods, most of your guests won't won't be arsed and you'll end up finding 300 pods in next door's dustbin).

Nice bed linen - the basic White Company stuff is usually a good shout.

Decent, yet tough, crockery and cutlery. IKEA 365 is your friend as it's plain enough to look OK but cheap to replace. I go to a lot of high-end self-catering places and they all have 365 in the kitchen.

Does all that electrical equipment stack up with your environmentally friendly claim? Just because some smart-arse is going to comment, so it'd be good to say it's all powered by solar panels or wind turbines or the breath of angels or whatever.

Oops

Coffee grinder. Not Grindr, which is terrible in rural areas. (More )

A mop. A bloody mop.

The amount of times I have gone away (to nice places) and have had black feet within 10 minutes.

I like being barefoot in the summer.

Sounds like it will be an amazing place. Can we have details ? Please pm .me if you'll have a website. Would love to stay there. We live in italy but always holiday in uk West coast. Id add blackout blinds a must.. board games and a few books ? Magazines? And a welcome pack..a photo album with local places to visit leaflets in. When I was a holiday rep we always kept the villas visitor books up to date. Also a visitor book... Reading comments from past guests can be really so helpful.

I’ve been to places that offered a DVD player and tbh none of us bothered with it. Logging into the smart TV for Netflix and Amazon Prime is sufficient. One dishwasher is fine too. Are you setting up a compost heap? Water butt?

You need to decide about dogs! It would be a deal breaker for me, I would not want to stay in a place where dogs were permitted but equally there are many who would want to bring their smelly mutts.

Bean to cup coffee machine.
Teapot and strainer for loose leaf tea.
Organic toiletries (hand soap a necessity but shower gel, hand cream, etc, also nice).
Eco food containers (tempered glass or stainless steel) for picnics and left overs.
A picnic hamper.
Wood or stone chopping boards instead of plastic.
High thread count sheets.
Natural fabrics for sofas and rugs.
A charger by the parking place for electric cars (will be very useful in a couple of years’ time).

Hot tubs are gross but a sauna and outdoor shower would be nice.

Cooking equipment big enough to cook for the number of people staying. I have 2 hungry teens - the number of times I have tried cooking enough pasta for the four of us in a pan meant for boiling eggs, or trying to use a frying pan the size of a saucer is unbelievable.

A cast iron boot brush scraper for the outside of each external door
A wooden valet stand for the master bedroom
nutribullet juicer
Links with local wine merchants to order, deliver & stock the wine fridge (sommelier recommended local list to inform order)
Links with local fresh food producers to deliver fresh & healthy basics.
Ice bucket
Eco advice on how to best use the household appliances
WIFI for multiple devices
Option to hire additional cleaning services, pick up bag of clothes washing & ironing 24 hrs service.
Optional high quality throws for the sofas if needed
Decent Lighting, warm light with day & night options, good choice of free standing lamps which are functional.
A small office desk if work is still needed to be done (but not an office space.)
Decent links to a reputable taxi service which names a driver.

If you include all the essentials needed for babies/toddlers (changing mat, potty, stair gates, high chair etc) you can advertise as being baby/child friendly. It's great to go somewhere that has loads of baby equipment so you don't have to bring your own. One place we went to asked the age of our child so they could provide age-appropriate toys.

Please don't make it costal decor, washed up wood, blues and whites, nautical theme etc. We have so many of them already here in Cornwall.

A high standard finish including kitchen and bathroom fittings. Good quality bed linen. Clean, must be clean! Good quality furniture, comfortable sofa etc. Decent crockery. Good outdoor seating with a nice BBQ area.

No PS4 being in Cornwall lends itself to being outside and enjoying the beaches etc.

Thank you all for your positive and helpful comments! I'm pleased to say that we have thought about most of the suggestions raised.

There will be decent WiFi. We will also provide all the cottage details (equipment manuals, house info, local info etc on a tablet so that it is easy to keep up to date). We will be providing a nice welcome pack continuing locally produced, organic food (but not wine - I understand there is an issue with licensing law and providing alcohol), including tea, coffee and milk. We will provide basic cooking essentials such as salt, pepper, oil etc, as well as foil etc. We will also be providing nice smellies from a lovely Cornish company (St Kitts herbary) and in refillable bottles so there won't be lots of half used little bottles. Similarly, we will provide sufficient amounts of environmentally friendly cleaning products and equipment etc.

We will have a separate washer and dryer (we don't want a dryer but realise that a significant proportion of people will want one!) but also provide an airer, Shiela's maid and retractable outside washing line.

We will have outdoor hooks, a hot outdoor shower and space to dry wet suits in the utility room. We will provide body boards, windbreaks, picnic stuff, buckets and spades etc (with an outside shed to store them in). We will have comfy outdoor furniture, both on the roof terrace and patio.

The beds will all be super king size with nice bedlinen and towels provided. We will have blinds, with blackout blinds. There will be spares of bedding, in case of accidents.Would you be willing to pay extra for beach towels? They are not normally provided and obviously would incur and extra laundry charge! And yes to torches too - there are also plug in ones which you can get for each room which will do too.

You can request a housekeeper/cook/concierge service/beautician etc (at extra cost).

We will provide a travel cot, stairgate and high chair and some children's toys (and children's books and DVDs).

We plan to equip the kitchen well with lots of crockery, glasses, mugs and sharp knives (and a knife sharpener), utensils - all of which tend to be a bit lacking in our experience! Yes, we will provide a barbecue.

Good suggestion to put the PS4 away but let guests know that it is there. We will be providing a selection of games, books, DVDs. The TV will be 'smart' and will have Netflix.

We will be dog friendly because we have a dog!

We are aiming to have very high standards of cleanliness, as we know that really makes a huge difference when you first arrive! We are also aiming for high quality fittings, furniture (but comfortable, practical and not too 'precious' too!) and nicely decorated.

How about a heated airer, rather than the tumble drier?

Im sure they are around 4p an hour. I have one and love it.

Handy coffee table type books in the bathroom... the dark is rising series by susan cooper, the History of Cornu-English, local surroundings photo books, walking guides etc.

Whatever you decide on, try to make sure that it's all detailed to customers before arrival - it's annoying and to take lots of extras 'just in case', only to find that you needn't have bothered.

^ this

I like nice serving dishes and table linen ( not paper napkins). Big water jugs. A couple of cookery books relevant to the region. An ice bucket.
Not plastic garden furniture.

I meant to add we will have a MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery) system and solar panels to make it as carbon neutral as we can but still provide 'gadgets'! It will all be triple glazed and so will have very little need for heating (which will be underfloor), even in the winter (we will also have a log burner but that will be more aesthetic effect than for its heat!

Allthekingsshoes we will have lots of cookery books, and definitely not plastic garden furniture because it will blow away!

Iron
Hairdryer
Outdoor tap to get mud/sand off shoes/dog

We stayed in a beautiful cottage last Christmas. They provided us with an amazing local produce welcome hamper that included bread, milk butter, jam, Sausages eggs and bacon. There was also some bottles of beer and a bottle of wine. There was also tea bags, sugar and coffee. They provided a great selection of baking trays.
Downstairs was all hard wood floors and the kitchen tiled but they had underfloor heating which was amazing.

Just read bit about dogs. In that case several metal crates and vet bed (such a pain to pack for holidays), bag of sensitive stomach food in case someone has forgotten food, details of local vet, spare poo bags, lead, perhaps even a collar with the holiday address on.

The main things for us as a family of 4 would be for it to be child friendly, so baby gates, no sharp corners, etc, also a folding highchair and maybe travel cot? One dishwasher would be plenty. Good wifi a must. No pond, and good fencing. A BBQ as someone else has suggested, I wouldn't put a games console in. A board games cupboard with good classic family games like Scrabble/Junior Scrabble, Chess, Snakes and Ladders. We bought my sister in law a lovely multi wooden games set from Jacques. Good quality bedding, definitely mattress protectors! I always think beds in hotels and B&Bs are gross without those! Perhaps some extra blankets/throws.

Feedback forms to include: 'what would could we have provided to make your stay even better' - get lots of ideas relevant to that property.