Most owners include electricity and also logs for the fire in the rental price Tricia. I wouldn't consider a property that had extra charges. Linen and towels are also included, but not beach towels.
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AIBU
To expect a tumble dryer in a family seaside property?
(118 Posts)Have just got back from a week in a seaside resort in Dorset - 4 adults, one under 2 and a small baby. The property was very nice and in a great location but I'm not sure I'm BU to have expected a tumble drier. The place would sleep 6 plus a cot, in 3 double bedrooms, so you'd think it use mostly be used by families with children.
Th property is rated 4 star, so not one of the cheapest by any means. I will admit I didn't check before booking, but what with a couple of wet days, and just trying to dry all the beach towels, never mind the little ones' things - and DD had brought loads -it was something of a headache without a dryer.
I know some people have strong ecological objections to driers, and in fact I very rarely use mine at home, but I do think it's a bit different when you're on holiday. There were balconies but no washing line, and even if there had been it would frequently have been too damp for it to be any use. There was a drying rack, but it certainly wouldn't take everything and little babygros etc. were still not properly. dry after 2 days. One of the heated racks from Lakeland would have been an awful lot better.
I've just been looking in this holiday let agency's brochure and quite a few of the properties, however many stars, and those sleeping 6 or more, don't come with driers.
IMO this is just cheapskate on the part of the owners. I wouldn't expect it in a smaller place just for a couple of adults, but I'd have thought the agency would advise or specify it for any larger property evidently intended largely for families with children.
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Yes in 4 star I expect all mod cons and that includes tumble drier, washing machine, dishwasher and Internet. When my children were young we had to manage without luxury on holiday, because that was all we could afford, now I want the same convenience I have at home. We are away this week with baby GD and at the rate she is out growing everything there is no way young parents have enough to last a week without washing a few things.
I do not think cottage owners want wet dripping items over the back of chairs etc, so it is a much better option to provide proper drying facilities.
We've just had a smart meter installed at home and my drier costs 30p per hour-certainly not enough to prevent owners from installing driers in rental property. Not even £5 pw even if used two hours a day!
I've never done any washing on holiday except for the odd pair of knickers. When the children were small we didn't go away. Towels and swimming costumes were just hung out of the windows and hopefully dried over night.
I always used to keep the kids' clothes washing up to date on holiday.
Nowadays, I like to get some things washed, if possible, as then I come home with clean clothes ready to put away, instead of a pile of dirty stuff to deal with.
I wouldn't assume a washer and/or drier was provided. I'd check the description if I wanted to be certain of getting them.
Hung out of the Windows Deedaa? Didn't that lower the tone of the whole area?
In my youth, including all the years I had DDs 1 and 2 in terry nappies, I always travelled with a bucket. Even took it to a harpsichord festival in Bruges. No-one batted an eyelid or, if they did, I never noticed. Must've used the backs of chairs 'n' stuff as clothes horses, I suppose, but I can't actually remember. Even in NW Scotland, where it rains every week, stuff did get dry. Practical is my middle name.
Surely the point is that if these things are important to you, you check through the information before you book. Goodness knows, there is enough given! We've always enjoyed going to quirky places, but I always look for all linen and towels included, heating in winter, wifi, enclosed garden for dogs, and parking.
We rented a cottage this year's that cost over £2,000 for the week. It had four ensuite bedrooms which is why we went for it. It had a washer, dryer and dishwasher. What it didn't have was a vacuum cleaner. As it was close to the beach it was hard to avoid dragging sand in even when you took off your shoes at the door, so we had to ask the owners, who lived in an adjacent property, to let us have one. They said no-one had never asked for one before. I said we'd never rented a cottage that didn't have one before!
"No one had never"?? Where did that come from!
I live a stones throw away from the sea Witzend and have never owned a tumble dryer. My DGC are hardly ever away and we spend a lot of time on the beach all year round. As a favour to my DDiL I also wash and dry 3 lots of riding gear almost every week (shirts/jodhpurs etc.) not to mention school uniforms for three children twice a week. I do, however have a washing line in the garden which I use.
I would not expect a tumble dryer in a holiday let as I would expect whoever was using the property had brought enough with them to last for the duration of their stay.
A tumble drier would put the price up. Many of you say you would not use it but many would abuse it and they are very expensive to run. If I was a landlord I would be reluctant to supply one but if you are renting out a large family apartment I think it is essential. We use to have slot machine TV's so I wonder if you can get slot machine tumble driers.
When you go on holiday you don't want to sit in the laundrette even if you can find one.
I do expect washing machine, freezer and microwave. Don't worry about a tumble drier because we rarely use the one we have at home. HOWEVER we have just rejected a holiday cottage cottage because it didn't have wifi.
Can't say I'd put it down as an essential I only purchased a one recently its handy but I could live without it for a fortnight
I am the best dishwasher in the world <G> so we don't have a plumbed-in dishwasher or a tumble drier because my wife prefers the great outdoors for a good blow. Sometimes in the winter we use a local pay tumble drier for very large items but that's all.
I learned to check the details with a fine toothcomb when we once booked a fortnight in a cottage in the Scottish Highlands. It never stopped raining, & there was no washing machine. I'll just let that sink in for a moment ...
Add to this finding a long black hair in my bed (we are all blonde) & my son finding a used plaster under his bed, & we gave up after 10 days.
Never stayed in any holiday lets where they had a drier.
We rent a place in Pembs that is NEW. I think that helps if it's been newly fitted/remodeled/built.
They had the laundry room under the deck and it had two washers and a tumble dryer. So on breezy dry days, I could wash two loads at once and put some on the clothes line and others in the dryer. We had nine people and a baby, so it was truly necessary!
When you are advertising overseas, there are tourists who expect a dryer (Canada and US). Owners with large properties should be encouraged to install one. Dishwasher and American fridge are important, too, in large properties.
That said, I rated the hot tub over the dryer LOL! We paid £1000 as well for a full sea view 5 double-bedroom house with lots of glass!
gillybob that sounds idyllic!
ps, not all the washing, the beach and the riding the children must enjoy!
It all sounds so far removed from the tent we used to take down to Cornwall with us when the DC were small
The weather at this time of year is so variable it can be warm but overcast or rainy by turns especially on the Dorset coast where we lived for 20 years. this would mean that a paddle would be fine or even a dip,but towels are difficult to dry and take days, even in milder weather, my view is that if there is space for a rumple dryer or even a heated towel rail then this should be provided when the owner is charging such large sums of money!
In the eighties we went to a guest house in Looe. Our son was about two, so in the evenings I rinsed out his clothes and hung them on the clothesline in the garden. One day we came back from a day out and the damp clothes had been put in a black bin bag and left on our bed. A note told us on no uncertain terms that there was a launderette in town. I was furious. What a way to treat your guests.
We've stayed in some very disappointing holiday cottages in the UK that look nothing like the pics on the website once you get there, despite high prices and careful checking.
We've got one favourite that we return to - a fisherman's cottage on the harbour in North Berwick.
I'd expect a tumble drier in a 4 star holiday cottage with lots of accommodation.
I think we may be guilty of "tumble-drier abuse" but when you are paying a fortune for a week in a cottage why not?
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