Seaside holiday let with toddlers/young childen - what would you want?

[SeagulllikesIcecream]

Looking to equip two holiday cottages on the outskirts of a nice seaside town. They need a lot of work done, but eventually will each have 2 double bedrooms, one single, enclosed garden, off street parking and within 10 minutes walk of the beach. We're mainly targeting families with young children since we're in that demographic and will be using them frequently so are going to set them up to our requirements.

So they'll have:

• Folding stairgates on the (fairly steep) stairs (bottom and top) and over the entrance to the kitchen.
• No sharp-edged or glass furniture. All sturdy second-hand stuff (except brand new beds and mattresses, of course).
• Large wall-mounted TV.
• Completely enclosed gardens visible from kitchen/living area. Mostly lawn/stones, but with small patio area.
• Carpet upstairs but wood/tiled floors downstairs.
• One of those dyson cordless hoovers wall mounted in a cupboard for cleaning up sand/messes (as well as a proper hoover for deep cleaning on changeover day).

In addition, we will equip with highchairs, booster seats, plastic plates and cutlery (as well as plenty of nice stuff for parents), travel cots, toddler bed, bed guard. Also a big toys and games cupboard with (our surplus ) toys in age-sorted boxes, box of crayons and colouring books). Lots of kids DVDs for when the parents just need a break. We're going to turn part of the garden of each cottage into a gigantic (shaded) sand play area since that's what our kids like to do. And put a small paddling pool in each garden (not filled) in case the parents want to use this. Also have beach stuff in a cupboard which guests are welcome to use (old coloured beach towels, buckets and spades, beach chairs, wind break etc.).

We're going to outsource cleaning and management to a professional company that comes very well-recommended locally. They're also going to do welcome packs for us and we'll leave some non-perishable essentials (coffee, tea, sugar etc. plus washing and dishwasher stuff) in the cupboards.

This will be our first time doing this, so just thought I'd post in case we're missing a trick. Is there anything else we should be thinking about adding? How would you set up the bedrooms? Our current plan is to have one king-size, one with zip-link twins and one bunk beds. What do you look for when you're choosing a holiday cottage?

Washing line or drying rack. washing machine, kids DVDs, Wi-Fi (essential for older kids) not too many ornaments around as a magnet for lil hands, stool for sink so lil ones can reach,

Thanks, they will have WiFi and TV package (just working out which would be best). Also washer dryer and outside line. Hadn't thought of the stool but of course a non slip one would be really useful!

We weren't ornament people pre DC and sure as hell aren't now .

What would really put you off?

We have three lets and use proper cots which parents appreciate.

Microwave

Cupboard locks

Rubber mat for the bath

Why are there two double bedrooms?

Stairgates that don't have that annoying bar across the bottom - a trip hazard for anyone but especially older relatives if they are likely to come on holiday. We liked the roller style ones that hide out of the way when not needed.

Highchairs - IKEA Antilop. Easy to clean and easy to use if you're not familiar with them. When we had toddlers I hated holiday let highchairs with a passion. They often had dirt in all the nooks and crannies, filthy straps and complicated reclining seats with a mechanism that required an engineering degree to figure out.

A stool in the bathroom for littles to reach the loo / sink is helpful.

Jacklocs on any opening windows, especially upstairs.

Single beds fairly low to the ground (not super low, but most are ridiculously high that the kids couldn't get in and out of them!).

Blackout blinds / curtains in any bedroom likely to be used by a child.

Nightlights in hallways / bathroom so littles can get to the loo safely in the night when they don't know their way around.

Yes to a mat for the bath!

A teapot.

A short typed laminated local guide to the parks and other free things that are available but not found on touristy attraction leaflets.

Black out curtains/blinds.

Sounds great! Sounds like somewhere we'd love to visit once they're done up!

Blackout curtains would be good, but I always bring a travel stick up one with us anyway.

I always find it a bit annoying having to move bedroom furniture around to fit the travel cot in with enough room to move around, so thinking about layout would be a good idea.

Yes to a stool for the bathroom/kitchen.

Little step/stool for the bathroom so kids can reach the toilet or sink is very useful
Other than that it sounds pretty amazing!

@AuntieDolly. There are two big bedrooms and one good size boxroom in each house (could fit 2 singles in but there wouldn't be much floor space). They both have essentially the same floor plan but reversed. We're thinking about whether bunk beds/small singles best in the little room.

Sounds great!

Blackout blinds and/or curtains are a must.

I would also appreciate a travel cot mattress in the travel cot (often these are not provided and the travel cots can be a bit hard).

Sounds as if everything else is covered!

I'd say a small twin would be better for families. You don't need much floor space in a holiday rental bedroom.

It sounds amazing though. Somewhere I'd love to stay. Where is it roughly? Are you aiming for it to be ready for next summer?

Black out blinds definitely. Word of warning anything nice will go missing.

Just to say on the stairgates, we have the folding babydan ones so they're not irritating/obvious when not in use...So planning to do those ones.

Will add blackout blinds to the list... It's lovely when the little ones sleep in on holiday so will definitely try to help parents achieve that bliss 😁!

Yes, totally agree on travel cot mattress...We always take one for our son so will definitely be providing a decent mattress. There would be space in one of the big rooms for a proper cot that would be better.

Mat for bath a must...Will definitely add that (another thing I always take).

Definitely blackout blinds, even the groblinds removable ones to use as needed...I used to tape black bags to the windows of holiday lets .

You've really almost thought of everything tbh, maybe a couple of baby monitors? When mine were small it would have been a relief not to have to bring my whole damn house on holiday with us! Make sure in the listing to include absolutely everything that you provide so guests don't have to second guess and bring extra crap "just in case"

What you are providing sounds great.

What I appreciate is a list of what is there - or an invitation to check before you go.
When the dc are little, the car is packed so it is actually a bit frustrating to pack things from home then find they are already there (buckets and spades, windbreaks, body boards etc).

I wouldn't provide a baby monitor as they are easily broken and people have their preferences as to which type they use (some like a video monitor that's connected to their smartphone). We have a pretty small and portable one anyway.

Dishwasher, washing machine (both with supplies provided), a dust pan and brush, broom, airer, iron and ironing board, books, bucket of toys, pegs and washing line...the best places I stayed at with my DCs had these and it made it so much easier and the holidays more memorable!

A selection of kids books, games, toys in a basket. Kids are always more entertained by other peoples toys than their own!

Waterproof mattress toppers on all the beds. My DC once wet the bed at a B n B. I apologised to the owner and was relieved to hear that the mattresses were waterproof. She was very nice. Apparently most people leave without saying anything

Window locks on upper windows.

I’d stick with two doubles but put a bunk bed in the single room - that way you could have parents, 2dc and grandparents. Or if you had up to 4 dc you could have parents and DC.

Thanks for the list idea... Yes, we'll make sure to provide a detailed list (and useful photos) so guests are clear on what they need to bring.

Hoping they'll be ready to go next summer, but it's looking unlikely as they need quite significant work that we may need PP for ... Safety is paramount for us so definitely won't be hosting any little ones until everything is as safe as we can make it! So I'm being a bit premature posting here but am just very excited about the whole project... it's the first time we've ever got to do something like this!

Personally I wouldn't like a sand play area. If I'm on a beach holiday i'll be using the sand there!

What I'd love is somewhere outside to wash down and keep sandy shoes/toys and swimwear. Maybe an outdoor sink and small pull down drying rack?

I hate sand indoors!

Sounds lovely.

Only one suggestion of maybe a blackboard wall with some chalks for kids to draw on?

They have them at centre Parcs and my kids loved them.

Also very handy for leaving each other messages and writing up any shopping we needed