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?

Me again. We use a stainless steel cafetiere. It's lovely, cost about £60 but totally worth it because it will never break, keeps the coffee nice and hot and is much more environmentally friendly than those horrid pods.

I like EspressoButler's suggestions: bang on.

This may have been said already but if you're going for environmentally-friendly I'd avoid the Nespresso machine and have cafetière etc

A fire pit for evenings outdoors. Local produce or the advice of where/what to buy. I was looking at one property in Wales where they had a small shopping list that you could pre-order from. So you'd arrive to a lightly stocked kitchen, which was a nice touch.

Excellent local "insider guide" and connections e.g. local guides, restaurants, boat hire.

MumofBoysx2 - there will be good fencing and as child friendly as we can make it, including games, books etc for children. And yes, we will have mattress protectors and extra blankets. We will leave feedback forms and a visitors' book and respond to consistently occurring comments.
SkinnyForSummer - we will provide vert (and doctor!) info in the guest information pack. There is a great shop in the village which sells dog food, poo bags etc. There will be on outside full height shower and a 'microphone' shower for dogs and sandy/muddy feet!

DH has just bought me a stainless steel cafetière as I've smashed so many. It's ace.

I personally look for amazing duvets, brilliant water pressure in the shower and decent wine glasses and mugs. I take my own mug if I travel in the UK incase I'm faced with the dreaded glass mug.

When staying anywhere in England for a luxury break, I won’t book unless it has a bath! So I’d say a bath in one of the bathrooms, plus some fluffy towels/robes/fancy toiletries.

Definitely a firepit outdoors, and I also like the sound of a BBQ or pizza oven.

Board games are always good in rentals for rainy days. I would say these over a PS4 personally, if you want to put a games console in what about something more suitable for a group like a wii console?

We recently stayed at a lovely little cottage in the Lake District, and the host left us a list of local takeaways, shops selling local produce, recommendations for nearby walking routes and things to do, restaurant reccomendations etc. It was very thoughtful of her and was lovely to have something tailored to the specific area we were in.

I also second what PP have suggested about a lightly stocked kitchen- things like bread, butter, cereal, milk for the morning. If you want to go for the ‘luxury’ feel you could use local/organic produce for this

Personally, I prefer a coffee machine when I stay somewhere. Not sure about nespresso but there are definitely some companies out there who make environmentally friendly coffee pods so maybe worth looking into that?

This might be very costly/inefficient/a bit of a faff but If the cottage has a garden, what about planting some fruit and veg for guests to pick? Of all the exotic foreign holidays we’ve been on, my 4 DD’s are adamant that their favourite was when we spent a weekend staying in a welsh farmhouse where there were pots full of strawberries for guests to pick! Seems like something that might fit in well with the type of thing you’re aiming for

It sounds absolutely lovely! If you are dog friendly, then a crate and id tags with the cottage postcode on so people can add them for the stay would be great.

Oh op I love that you're taking dogs. Please say you're providing a decent vacuum cleaner!
I would definitely be interested in staying there, it sounds lovely.

Cleaning products
Local produce welcome gift in kitchen
Bowls of chocolate biscuits
Box of nice biscuits
Shower gels and shampoo.
Bin bags
Stuff for a cuppa on arrival
Laundry room and products
Btw and products
Fully equipped kitchen
Plenty of linen and towels
Good Wi-Fi
Sky package
Blue tooth speakers
Huge table and large fruit bowl filled with fresh fruit

We tend to have holidays in Spring and Autumn, so a log burner is nice if the evening gets chilly. You may not have one for environmental reasons but, if you do, a decent supply of logs is a bonus. (Or at least directions as to where logs can be bought; we spent hours of a holiday one day looking for logs...)

Dog friendly - not all dog owners are responsible. You need rules and consequences so when the puppy someone brings chews everything and poos all over the carpet so badly you cant let it for the next let then you need a plan AND consequences for the owners.

I would say stay in it with a group for a few days and see how it is to live in. Where do you hang coats? Where do you air towels? How easy is it to get rid of rubbish etc. Is there a big jug for water (there never is for some reason!)? Sleep in the beds/lounge on sofas to check they're comfy. Is there an easy place to store shoes and muddy/wet outdoor stuff? Things like that.

More oven space as if your going to have a full 8 adults you would need to be able to cook for 8 at once.

Eden project does biodegradeable Nespresso capsules

Please make sure the dining table can sit 8 adults, also adequate outside seating for 8

Thank you all again for your comments and input. Good to know that we are on the right track as so many people are requesting a nice welcome food hamper, posh smellies, guest info (we will include appliance and house info, local area info including what to do on rainy days, where shops are etc, restaurant recommendations, as well as 'services' such as GP, hospital, vet etc), barbecue, good quality bed linen etc.

We will make sure the kitchen is well equipped with lots of (nice!) mugs, glasses, jugs, serving dishes etc (but probably not more than two ovens mrkaykay). There will be plenty of storage space, including hooks in the hall to hang coats (the utility room will be big for storing wellies etc), two airers for towels (plus towel rails in the bathrooms). Knittedfairies we will have a log burner and a stash of logs. The table (inside and out) will comfortably seat 10, so plenty of room for 8! We will make sure the hoover is a good one for dog hairs!

I know it sounds obvious but currently looking at holiday rentals and many say 6 but pictures of the table show only 4 seats and not a lot of spare space...

Sounds wonderful! Oh and a decent first aid kit!

Oh oh and stuff incase of a power cut!

Lifeaback two of the bathrooms will have baths in, the third will have a walk in shower. Unfortunately, the garden will not be big enough for a fruit/veg patch as well, as lovely as it sounds. Plus it is right on the coast so salty and windy, so I don't think much fruit and veg will like growing there!

It sounds heavenly. When can I book?

My bugbear Is cottages with cheap kitchen equipment - we stayed in one that had every single gadget you could think of but all of it poor quality. Not a sharp knife to be had nor a decent size mug.

We had a games room in one we stayed in last year and it was great fun. That one had a pool table but table tennis would be brilliant. Also had a PS 4 which was great in the evenings for the teenagers.

Thanks. We will put in good quality things, including kitchen equipment. All holiday cottages seem to specialise in blunt knives, so we will provide a knife sharpener (as well as new, good quality knives!). Unfortunately, there isn't space for a games room (unless we sacrificed a bedroom) but we will have a PS4.

Re power cuts, there will be torches in each room (plugged in with rechargeable batteries) and some big torches. Apparently candles are too much of a fire hazard and not encouraged!

King size master bed, air conditioning, en-suite, big tv, dishwasher.

Torches sound fine! And a brilliant idea.