Holiday cottage - what is important

lika_86

Just make sure you tell guests about anything unusual. We booked a holiday cottage with friends for new year and it was only on arrival that we discovered that the bedrooms didn't have doors. It wasn't something you could tell from the photos and there was no mention of it online, very odd.

GwylimT

We use the same cottage it has

Off road parking for two cars
Welcome pack. This includes, bread, milk, butter, tea, coffee, biscuits, scones, cream, jam.
The kitchen has had every utensil we have needed, they also provide dish washer tablets, washing up liquid, hand soap, dish cloths, laundry detergent, spray to clean the tops and kitchn roll.

The TV has freesat, there is wifi, a netflix subscription (good instructions for all), there is a pay phone (no mobile signal), and lots of relevant information about the area, e.g tide times.

Upstairs each bedroom has storage for a suitcase, wardrobe with plenty coat hangers, a choice of bedding and bath sheets instead of those tiny things claiming to be bath towels.

Bathroom had a bath and shower, rather than a shower over the tub, there is loo roll, hand wash, shower gel, bath soak, shampoo, conditioner and hand cream. There is always a bottle of loo cleaner as well.

Cyclamen

Clean and functional. Basic cleaning stuff for us to use.

Details of local shop and attractions. If near the coast a tide timetable and best place to see the sunrise/set sort of details.

If you are leaving a 'welcome hamper' some way of checking the main food intolerances would be good. I don't like alcohol in the house, neither of us drink and my husband is a recovered alcoholic. I would be most put off to find fresh baked goods when i'm intollerant to wheat and hate wasting food. I imagine vegetarians/vegans would be put-off by sausages and eggs.. etc..

Some simple 'accessibility options'.. if you are letting a bungalow.. perhaps think about the less mobile guests.. at the very least state clearly if it is suitable for those with disabilities. I have spent hours phoning cottages listed as accessible to find random things like 'level access throughout with ONLY two stairs to the bathroom' on properties labelled wheelchair accessible.

Mojisola

Cyclamen wrote: »

Some simple 'accessibility options'.. if you are letting a bungalow.. perhaps think about the less mobile guests.. at the very least state clearly if it is suitable for those with disabilities.

I have spent hours phoning cottages listed as accessible to find random things like 'level access throughout with ONLY two stairs to the bathroom' on properties labelled wheelchair accessible.

My sister took my Mum (and her wheelchair) away after making sure that the house was 'level access throughout' - the owners had failed to mention the flight of twelve rather worn stone steps from the road down to the front door.

It wasn't obvious from any of the photos - whether that was deliberate or just thoughtless I don't know.

Torry_Quine

I am surprised that people mention things such as toilet rolls, washing up liquid, cleaning cloths and bathroom/kitchen cleaner. These are basic essential items and we would be angry if we had to purchase them.

vikingaero

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I am surprised that people mention things such as toilet rolls, washing up liquid, cleaning cloths and bathroom/kitchen cleaner. These are basic essential items and we would be angry if we had to purchase them.

In the last dozen places we've stayed at we've had to provide our own toilet roll - ranging from £499 lodges to £2,000 palaces. Sure there is normally the odd 1 or 2 rolls already in place, but we've always had to supply our own.

We have a plastic crate that we keep all our kitchen and bathroom stuff in.

Torry_Quine

vikingaero wrote: »

In the last dozen places we've stayed at we've had to provide our own toilet roll - ranging from £499 lodges to £2,000 palaces. Sure there is normally the odd 1 or 2 rolls already in place, but we've always had to supply our own.

We have a plastic crate that we keep all our kitchen and bathroom stuff in.

The places we stay in are always less than £499 and that's for a fortnight. A couple of rolls and the one out is enough.

vikingaero

Torry_Quine wrote: »

The places we stay in are always less than £499 and that's for a fortnight. A couple of rolls and the one out is enough.

Well I have 3 daughters who seem to use a roll each per day!

isplumm

Hi

As someone who has a gite that we rent out in France, we have aimed to make the place a home from home - we have 10 5* Trip Advisor reviews.

We provide:

• Toilet Rolls
• Dishwasher tablets
• Tea Towels
• Towels (not swimming towels)
• Washing Up Liquid
• Welcome pack - wine / cheese / bread / milk / tea / coffee etc

We have also made sure that there are plenty of crockery -plates / glasses / mugs - it is a pain when you have 6 people staying & only 6 plates - always washing up. Saucepans / togs etc.

We have an all inclusive price, so no extra for elec etc.

Things like welcome packs are important to make the guests feel welcome.

I would suggest you need a website - look at something like https://www.promotemyplace.com. Get your own domain.

Also think about an online Welcome Book - I have used https://www.touchstay.com - but there are others around - oh yes WiFi is important as well as a decent TV.

Remember that people will often be browsing websites, so will be skimming adverts, so decent photos etc will be required to make your place stand out from the crowds!

Do email if you want some more advice.

Thanks Mark

isplumm

Pennywise wrote: »

For us, we like "hotel" standards in a holiday home. Decent WIFI is a must-have. Properly cleaned essential (no dust under beds, crumbs in drawers, hairs in bath, mould around the shower, etc). We stay at least twice per year in UK holiday homes - sometimes three times.

Totally agree - make sure the place is spotless - reviews are everything - you don't want reviews been seen that say the place is dirty!

Pennywise wrote: »

All equipment to be decent quality, modern, well maintained and instructions provided. Particularly TVs - I've lost count of the times I've had to re-tune the TV blind, because there are no instructions and others have tried and failed to tune it properly. I'm not impressed with the cheapest "own brand" toaster or kettle or fridge that cheap-skate owners have put in, nor their cast-offs when they've bought new/decent for their own home! Doesn't need to be top of the range, but cheap naff stuff can be awful.

Again agree - make sure everything is new & good quality. We have made sure that we have decent kitchen equipment - for example we have put in a fairly expensive range cooker - you can use it as a selling point.

Pennywise wrote: »

As for crockery and cutlery - plenty of everything please. Doesn't all need to match, but we really don't want all your old family cast offs either. If the home is to accommodate 6 people, then you need to provide at least 6 of everything. We've been in places for 6 that have only had a 4 place setting crockery set! Also, double up on things used frequently during the day such as cups, side plates, utility glasses, etc.

A good, complete range of cooking utensils, particularly bottle and can opener (often missing), a few cooking trays (and more than one shelf in the oven!), a range of pots, pans and bowls, etc, cling film and cooking foil, washing up brush and cloths, washing up bowl and drainer.

Things like pepper / salt etc can also be a good thing as well - make sure you provide plenty of decent crockery - not cast offs.

Pennywise wrote: »

I don't want to share the house with your granny's ornaments, furniture, curtains, pictures, etc! Even worse, I don't want to find myself living in the owner's own "home" whilst they've moved out for the season and left all their stuff in the drawers, their clothes in the wardrobe, etc. Urgh!!!

Have you stayed in places like that - sounds awful! To the OP - do make sure that there are pictures on the walls - but maybe local images - not of your children!

Pennywise wrote: »

If you're providing toys or games for youngsters, provide new/decent stuff, not old jigsaws with pieces missing! If you're providing an Xbox, then at least provide some games to play on it! If there's a dvd player, then a good range of dvds to watch. Some decent books - both general fiction and also local interest, maps, walks, etc.

Agree - but also think about games for outside.

Pennywise wrote: »

Don't forget a good range of "maintenance" items, such as a small tool kit, matches, spare light bulbs & fuses, torches, sewing kit, full range of cleaning materials for any eventuality, fly spray, etc.

Decent iron and ironing board AND a washing line! (We travel light so want to do a few washes whilst we're there!).

In terms of "maintenance items" I would be careful - you don't want someone injuring themselves when trying to change a lightbulb - get them to report all issues to the housekeepers.

Pennywise wrote: »

Where I have a choice, I'll always pick the homes with loads of pictures of every room, with a full inventory of what's in the house, with full details of what they include in the "welcome pack", full list of what consumables are provides, i.e. toilet rolls, towels, washing powder, kitchen foil, etc.

Pictures are VERY important - make sure they look good - no images with people / dogs etc beds made etc - no washing up / kitchen sides clean etc.

I don't tend to mention about a welcome pack - keen to surprise guests - also don't provide inventory list - obviously state there is a TV / DVD etc, what kitchen equipment there is in terms of dishwasher etc.

Pennywise wrote: »

Finally - provide lots and lots of local information, but please keep it organised and up to date. So many places just leave a random pile of takeaway or attraction leaflets, many of which are out of date, and often incomplete (i.e. people take the leaflets with them for directions etc). It doesn't take much to create a file with relevant leaflets organised into wallets/sections - the best we've seen was where the owner had glued each leaflet to a plastic wallet, with a few spare copies of the same leaflet in the wallet - handy for people to take the leaflet with them and also easy for the owner to restock once leaflets are taken as easy to see what's there and what isn't - by having the leaflet stuck in, the occupier can see the details and make notes etc if there's no leaflet to take with them.

It can be hard to keep this up to date - especially if you are not resident - that is why I am also going down the route of an online Welcome Book.

Fantastic advice by Pennywise - also think about signed t&cs.

Thanks Mark