Advice for last minute booking holiday cottage

cardiff_boy_2

Hi There,

I would be interested to know if anyone has experence or advice please on last minute booking for a holiday cottage in Cornwall.

I plan to go go out of season, in Oct this year for a week.

What I dont know, is it possible to get deals by phoning holiday rental Co's direct and stating the prefered cottage and the price I am prepared to pay?? Or is this not the polite and correct thing to do? I would have thought that if the property is empty they would prefer to have something than nothing.

Would be intersted to hear if anyone has experence on the best way to go about this.

Many thanks for any help.
Cheers

greenface

Worth a try . You might not get the best cottages around but there will be some somewhere that are prepared to take you money last minute. October except the kids hols is a quiet time for holiday bookings always worth a try. Have a back up though to aviod disappointment and not getting away . Welcome to MSE

Broadwood

Ebay is always worth a look for last-minute bargains, but as previous poster said, it's wise to have a back up plan to avoid disappointment. I've been lucky enough to win auctions as late as 10pm on a Friday, and been on the road at 6am the next day on the way to the accommodation. A bit of a last-minute panic to get stuff together and get the car packed, but it can save a small fortune. It's a buyers market at quiet times of year......it's called supply and demand. They are fighting to get our money.

Someone should start a website where people state what area and dates they are after and quote a maximum price, then providers make offers of accommodation to match those requirements. This type of set-up used to exist on www.assc.co.uk (Association of Scotland's Self Caterers) but they scrapped it a few years back probably because it led to the lowering of prices achieved for bookings. Does anyone know of other websites where this facility still exists?

Hope this helps, and good luck.

saving-mad

As a holiday cottage owner I am scouring the net for potential guests, I often tap in 'holiday wanted' to google the first site that comes up is under construction and has been for over a year, this looks like the kind of site you talk about.(and one that i would use)
There is a page on netmums of mums looking for cottages.
However with regards to the OP this year is particularly bad for bookings so you may well get a good last minute deal, I know we are dropping prices by 15-20% for last minute bookings.

sutty1966

Chycor is an excellent website for last minute bargains in Cornwall. Well worth a look http://www.chycor.co.uk/

cardiff_boy_2

Hi all,

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.
some really good points, and I never knew that ebay is an option!
Should have done, they sell everything else!!

So thanks again all.

Cheers

lagoslife

If you go onto the book by owner direct sites - holidayrentals, ownersdirect, holidaylettings they have a late deals/special offer section. Try these as these owners are open to offers.