Your ideal holiday house

[Molecule]

As part of my divorce settlement I have become the owner of a rather hideous house in a wonderful position. I am now in the middle of major renovations which hopefully will transform it into something far more desirable. I plan to run it as a holiday let.

It is six double bedrooms, so will sleep 12 with ease, with sea views, close to a pub and shop, and within walking distance of the beach and cafes, but on a quiet residential road. It is in an elevated position and has a large (approx half and acre) garden.

So, what is truly needed, what is desirable, and what would give a wow factor?

So far I have thought of the following:

Kitchen: large range cooker, with good selection of large pans, roasting tins etc (what about bakeware, do people bake on holiday?)
American style fridge/freezer with water and ice
Dishwasher
Microwave
Coffee machine? I’ve been told that bean to cup can be temperamental so should there be a capsule one, or just have plenty of cafetières?
Plenty of crockery and glasses
Sharp knives
Large table able to seat 12
High chairs if needed

There will be a small seating area (two sofas) taking advantage of the sea view and opening out onto a patio area, plus a wall mounted tv.

Sitting room: wood burner, large sliding patio doors onto patio, (again with sea views), enough comfy seating for twelve, tv. Is it good to have a selection of books and games? Obviously WiFi, smart tv. Does it need Sky as well?

There are 3 bedrooms downstairs. One has an en-suite shower room, in the downstairs family bathroom I plan to do a walk in shower type of arrangement so if anyone has mobility issues it is more accessible.

Upstairs are the other 3 bedrooms, one en-suite bathroom and one family bathroom. Because of limited headroom these will have to have baths and not showers.

I plan to have good quality cotton bed linen and white towels.

There is a large garage for storage of boats, bikes etc and the washing machine and tumble dryer will be in there as well.

There will be plenty of outside furniture, and a BBQ area. Is a BBQ necessary? I’ve heard they get incredibly mucky and can be almost impossible to clean on change-over day.

What is the best change-over day?

I plan to leave a welcome pack. What should be in it? I will leave dishwasher tablets and detergent for the washing machine, plus some basic cleaning stuff and also access to a mop and vacuum, not that I would expect my customers to use them, but some might like to keep up standards.

I’m not keen on allowing dogs, what is the consensus on this? I have a dog which happily cocks his leg wherever he goes, inside or out, so the thought of other people's dogs doing the same in my newly decorated the house is not appealing.

I am planning on decorating in a sophisticated seaside manner. Amtico type flooring in the living/kitchen areas with rugs, carpets in the bedrooms.

So what else would you like? What is essential?

Please, I do know about the sins of second home ownership, but I plan to run this as a business, and hope, if I get it right , it will be occupied for most of the year, thus bringing something to the local economy. It had been on the market for over three years (it was truly hideous), so this must be better than an empty house.

Somewhere to store suitcases in the bedrooms, nothing more frustrating than tripping over the damn things all week.
Board games are good, even if it's just scrabble / monopoly / draughts / crib.
Maybe an electronic dart board in the garage if no room for a table?
It's great to have maps of the local area (OS do personalised waterproof ones so you can specify the centre of the map area which is really good if like us you're in the overlap of four different standard areas).
Also, my pet hate is loads of out of date menus / tourist attraction leaflets.

We have three dogs who come on holiday. We now have favourite places to stay. An outside kennel to dry off after a walk is good. Many places ask they are kept to kitchen, halls, garage, I've never upstairs or in bedrooms, fine.

We take cages for ours so we can pop out to shop and leave them settled and safe. One place provides them.

Most charge a hefty refundable deposit, or sometimes additional cleaning charge. I've always found once we become regulars we don't pay it anymore as they know us and dogs, good incentive for repeat booking.

I like a local tips or guest tips book. Walking local guide. A library shelf where you are encouraged to take a book, leave a book.

Silly things like tea towels, oven gloves, dish cloth, kitchen roll, bin bags. Really annoying if you forget to pack and not there.

Clear easy instructions for things like cooker if it's particularly unusual. One place didn't tell us you had to unplug the sky tv to get a DVDs to play.

@Molecule
Synthetic bedding is better because of allergies.
Get the duvets as luxurious as possible. NEXT do a great range of super soft, lasting fullness and anti allergy duvets.
And get mattress covers.

Hi OP
Good luck in your venture! I would say work backwards... who would be looking for a large 6 bedroom seaside property in the UK?

• Those wanting a family celebration - think parent's 60th and adult children/GCs
• A couple of families with small kids who don't fancy/don't have budget for a holiday abroad
• Families who can't get dog sitters
• A couple with 3 plus kids
• A group of girlfriends away for a 40th

Therefore, I wouldn't rule out all dogs, but I would charge a hefty deposit and make clear that you don't want dogs on furniture. I wouldn't expect baking, but I would expect dinner parties. I'd plan for poor weather and guests who wish to make the most of the property. I'd also ensure enough space for clusters - ie when we go away with family there are usually 3-4 couples of different ages/generations and sometimes a few of us fancy a game of cards and a few fancy TV or a quiet corner for a read.

Hanging in eaves...a couple of these might work

Mattress toppers are good too, make a mattress even more comfortable and an extra layer of stain protection.

Good quality waterproof sheets also a good idea to go under normal sheet on kids beds...

Plastic tumblers and plates (Ikea style) for the toddlers. We had to buy some once and left them for the owner.

Mirrors in all the bathrooms to enable shaving (these were also missing in the same house).

You need a bbq- and a big one for a sleeps 12.
We have a gite and the bbq is always used, and has never been left filthy, I just stick the grill through the dishwasher. Some people have two sets of grills and rotate them to save time on change over day.
A disposable won't cut it if you are selling the place as "luxury ".

People like the idea of cooking on holiday even if they don't- so a well equipped kitchen is a must.

Lots and lots of plates and mugs and glasses- nothing more annoying than having to wash up before you have a brew.

You need good quality waterproof mattress protectors on all the beds...nothing worse than an unidentifiable stain

And it's not just children who wet the bed.

Enough comfortable seating so the whole group can sit together in the sitting room.
Several high chairs and cots for a large house, stair gates, toddler plates etc, potty, changing mat ...

A large enough table and chairs for everyone to sit and eat comfortably.

Just seen you only plan to have 16 of everything- you need at least double of everything plus serving plates and bowls.
The man who did the inspection for our classification said that was vital.
Bedrooms do need hanging space - we have sloping ceilings and have fitted in built in wardrobes, they don't have to go full height to get hanging space.
Each bedroom needs hanging space, chest of drawers, bedside shelf/table and bedside light. A mirror and a chair. Plus sockets- enoughto plug in phone charges, hairdryers and the like.

Ooo some brilliant ideas. Love those hangers @sleepwhenidie, and shall order them now.

I shall capitulate on the bbq and get a decent one. Two grills is a brilliant idea @averylongtimeago.

Yes to toddler plates and tumblers. I still have some bought from Safeway 20 years ago when the holiday cottage didn’t have any!

Will get good quality synthetic duvets/pillows, plus the mattress toppers and protectors. What type of mattresses? Would memory foam be ok?

Definitely assumed all bathrooms would have mirrors, probably ones that are wall cupboards so there’s somewhere for people to put things.

I like the idea of outside kennels and crates for the dogs. What sort of deposit is asked from dog owners?

Once finished I might have to rename the house Chez Mumsnet.

Agree with lots of the above.

Would also suggest if you are buying beds go for zip and link so that it can be flexible with double and single depending on set up. We've been away with multiple couples before and some poor sods always end up in the single beds. Equally we've been away and had to have 2 of our kids share a double which results in lots of fighting and not much sleep.

Go synthetic on the bedding to avoid allergy annoyances.

Otherwise sounds lovely.

You'll need more plates.
For families - Stairgate, proper cot, bed guard, Hand blender (for making kids meals). You can always pick these up cheaply
If you are by the beach one of those trolleys they can wheel their stuff on, spare windbreaker, beach chairs.
BBQ is key. Disposal ones are crap. They cook food unevenly. If you wanted to go Uber luxury, I'd suggest a pizza oven. Most glamping sites have them and your builder should be able to knock them up. It'd be great to feed 12 easily.
Pegs. Always pegs. I hate taking laundry home dirty and it dries so nicely in the sea air.
Dishwasher tablets or powder and bin bags for the whole week.
Games and DVDs. A pool table or hot tub would put me off to be honest. When we go away I like the kids to engage with us - so board games.

We stay in one lovely house that has twin beds with trundle beds under in one room, so the possibility of four in a room without resorting to bunks. All four beds are full size with proper mattresses. We’ve stayed there a few times and have used that room as a twin and also for four when teenage DD brought friends along. You do need a mix of doubles and twins in a big house, I think. It’s more likely to have more than one family than six couples. My in-laws prefer a twin in holiday houses for some reason.

We started letting out our 8 berth holiday house 12 months ago and have learnt loads. Are you going to use a holiday letting agency? Might be worth speaking to them, ours takes 18% but they sort everything other than the cleaner. They will tell you what you need.
You need to find a wonderful cleaner who can also sort any niggles.
We have travel cot with a proper mattress, highchair, stairgate and a large dog cage if anyone wants to use them. Key safe for guests. You will need a locked cupboard for cleaning products and spare linen etc. We also have another locked cupboard for our own bedding etc when we want to use it.

We were advised not to have a BBQ as it wouldn;t be cleaned in the 5 hours turnaround (unless we had 2 cleaners). I wished I'd got different coloured fitted sheets as when they come back from the launderette I can't tell which are single or king size without opening them up. Also second getting multiple sets of the same design, we have 3 sets per bed. I regret getting the thickest bath sheet towels, they take so many loads of washing. We have books and loads of box games. We also had to get wooden hangers, not plastic, to get 5 star rating.
We are investing in a Nest thermostat so we can turn the heating on/off over winter if empty or guests arriving. Our bill was extortionate. We removed the kids slide to remove liability issue.
We originally said no dogs but didn't get many bookings, have now said 2 dogs and bookings have increased. Can honestly say there has been no damage and can't tell dogs have been in there, fingers crossed this continues.
We have also put another hidden key safe in case guests lock themselves out and put emergency bedding in a box in case of sick kids etc. My husband had to drive 200 mile round trip because of the above! (it's a bit of a learning curve, but income is good now it's running smoothly) good luck!

I'm looking at holiday lets at the moment for a group booking and one of the most frustrating things is how most of the rooms have double beds, instead of twins. I think couples would be happy to sleep in twins, but non-couples wouldn't want to share a bed. I'm having to rule out lots of properties because of the inflexible sleeping arrangements.

I also can't always see that there's enough dining space, ie chairs at the dining table, for the number of people that the properties are supposed to be able to accommodate.

Sounds lovely so far.

Id supply one full unused loo roll for every toilet, one place left the half used rolls and that's all. Very cheap for an expensive holiday let.

Also we've had to buy an indoor door mat for the kitchen back door, the floor was getting filthy.

Extra pillows.

Assuming no AC, some fans available for hot weather.

First aid kit.

You definitely need clothes storage in every bedroom.

Sugar in the cupboard.

Flowers on changeover day.

Sounds amazing! Would love to know where it is 😂
Stair gates if no one has mentioned. A life saver for us with a toddler when we stayed in an Airbnb as it's something we wouldn't think about living in a flat!

Thank you all so much for your replies and comments, especially @SPARKLYSTARSHINESBRIGHT. I’m just back from staying in two separate holiday lets for two different occasions and have learnt so much.

The first one was pretty much just how I envisioned mine will be, except there were too many ornaments everywhere, the odd useless mirror with no where for make-up, and no waste paper baskets in the bedrooms, and not enough comfortable seating outside.

The second one seemed to be an object lesson on how to piss off your customers. No loo paper; no soap on the basins so couldn’t wash hands after the first “I’m desperate for wee” dash to the loo; bobbly, mismatched poly/cotton bedding; no towels; one stove top kettle that didn’t pour properly and took an age to boil; one small cafetière (the house slept 27) and teapot; super cheap cutlery and mismatched crockery; no comfortable outside seating, just two picnic tables; an aggressive welcoming email detailing exactly how the house had to be cleaned prior to leaving otherwise the £500 deposit would be lost; broken vacuum cleaner; and an owner who let herself in unannounced. All for £3000 for 3 nights.

So in my house there are going to be plenty of cafetières, decent sized teapots, soap, loo paper, tea, coffee, sugar, yes to welcoming flowers (I’ve already bought the vase), nice towels and bedding, stair gates when needed, cots, high chairs, good oven gloves without holes (yes I did burn my hands at the weekend), tea towels, dish clothes, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, detergent, cleaning stuff (but no one is to feel obliged to use it), and I’m going to make sure my guests feel welcome and appreciated!

The renovations are continuing apace and I think it’s going to look far better than I anticipated, helped by my truly lovely builder coming up with brilliant ideas, most of which he just implements and tells me about later (with a “well it wont cost you any extra but will be so much better”). Even my slightly cynical dd3, home from uni, was impressed.

I’m really very excited, which is ironic as I was truly pissed off at being landed with the house as part of the divorce settlement. Any other ideas let me know!