So shocked at cost of UK accommodation

[orangelotus]

Honestly I must be living in 1979 or thereabouts. My children young adults and I thought we'd get a long weekend away in Sussex for my husband as his Christmas present.
Looking at air b and b 3 bed places that look ok not amazing and for 3 nights in March looking like 1k!! Am I delusional or are these people just trying it on!
I went to Venice this year in a nice hotel for 3 nights with flights and breakfast for far less!

I really want to take my kids the wales in the summer but it’s cheaper to go abroad, I don’t understand how people are affording uk holidays!

UK holiday accommodation is ridiculously expensive. I also find most hotels are pretty shit too.

We rarely pay more than 1k for a cottage for 6 in August! I think it depends where you are looking and what you are looking for. It is like most things, if you go for the big brands you will see high prices. But there are plenty of options for smaller companies or sites that can be great value. If you want some suggestions let us know!

You can def do 3 nights in Sussex’s for less than £1k, whereabout do you want to go exactly?

Maybe they are trying it on or maybe their mortgage, gas, electric and water bills have gone up hugely and to make a profit and make the business viable they have to raise prices 🤷🏼‍♀️ everything is expensive in the uk.

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1211671566879575973?adults=2&children=2&enable_m3_private_room=true&search_mode=regular_search&check_in=2025-03-13&source_impression_id=p3_1734801987_P3qSudWP2U_3hbTH&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=d509e46f-06fc-48b9-8828-46783ddad943&guests=1&check_out=2025-03-16

That seems madly expensive. Have you tried Cottages.com? (You get a small MN discount)

We've recently had a couple of months of airbnbs due to storm damage to our house. Luckily the insurance company have been paying, because we've been having to pay out £2k a week for pretty average 3 bed semis, that claim to be luxury. This is for a pretty grim town in the midlands, nowhere particularly posh.

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/28062728?adults=2&children=2&enable_m3_private_room=true&search_mode=regular_search&check_in=2025-03-14&source_impression_id=p3_1734802186_P3WO8pWDD0OyeDMr&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=0ca267b4-1d2b-47f1-a958-412de9b3ef2b&guests=1&check_out=2025-03-17

It might be the three nights that’s your problem. Sometimes booking a full week in a self-catering cottage that’s aimed at a different market than the short-break airbnb demographic can bring your costs down dramatically.

https://www.cottages.com/cottages/crown-cottage-uk33654?adult=2&child=0&infant=0&pets=0&range=3&nights=7&accommodationType=cottages&sort=nosort&page=1&regionName=Sussex&regionId=21699&clickcd=21500&s_kwcid=AL23643598979720082pgsussex+self+catering51480850131401181975&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADsKANzcKej2Y2ANc-o2-TCExk_GC&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItbrY87W5igMVUpNQBh2QVzIUEAAYASAAEgIakvD_BwE&index=search&accommodationTypes=&features=&siteFeatures=&bedrooms=threebed&newflex=true

We paid £1,6k for 5 nights in Wales last August bank holiday, and the house was dirty. Really poor service for complaints never again

We were looking at going away in June in the UK with 2 small children before our eldest starts school- one last off peak holiday. It was so expensive to stay self catering in a decent location- around £250 a night. Abroad is just cheaper- easier to stay in country though as there’s no faff with travel, food differences etc.
I just don’t think we’ll bother and go on some day trips instead.

Yes we wanted to keep the travelling time at a minimum as there's a baby in the mix.
Looking at Rye
Think I'll just look at packages abroad instead.

Where have you looked? There are some decent deals, especially if you don't mind a caravan park rather than more expensive accommodation.

I've booked a couple of nights in a pub now! Still came to almost 1k for two nights in March but at least I'll get breakfast!!

Will the pub take the baby OP? B&B accommodation can be funny about under 3s being part of the party.

Depending on your location with little ones I'd book something like a Parkdean static caravan site for that. Much cheaper, and preschool kids will love simple things like kids entertainment and beaches.

It's been the same for years.

When our kids were young we looked at mobile home holidays for a fortnight in Cornwall and Devon.

It was always cheaper to go to southern Brittany or the Vendee, even taking into account the (long) western Channel ferry crossing and the cost of fuel.

So that's where we went.

Well you're looking at fairly pricey places but having been looking at holidays again over the recent week, I dont think we can afford to go abroad, once we factor in the additional costs for luggage which are never what the original price is, seat selections, then parking at the airport, cost of pentrol to the airport, then some of the flights are unbelievably early and of course they are the cheapest ones, the later ones are more expensive so easier to get up for but they get in too late for a decent check in at the apartment once you've gone through security, so in order to get an early flight at 6am in the morning you need to be there at 4am which in our case means leaving at 1am, not going to happen, so we book a hotel overnight near the airport, thats another 100 quid or so, plus parking at the hotel

By th etime its all added up, and nice places abroad arent that cheap either, its way way cheaper to go on a UK holiday even though the price per week his really bad these days.

Ive booked 3 holidays in the last week so have been scouring all sorts of places, all combinations of apartments and different airports and different destinations, Ive booked 2 abroad and one UK, now just about to book another UK as I think Ive found a fairly decent option

Ive been looking over the last year at ferries to go to those areas and the prices are through the roof, I dont know how anyone affords the ferry?

Self catering is prohibitively expensive, we stay in hotels, typically under £100 a night including breakfast for 2

@soupfiend

We grabbed early bird tickets for next year and it was cheaper than 2 years ago.

I live in East Sussex and often recommend the Claverton Hotel. You could prob get 3 rooms for 2 nights there for £500 odd quid. It's really good value.

I actually find small hotels much nicer and cheaper than Air band b. Breakfast included, often attached to a pub. Who wants to cook and clean on holiday!