Hopelessly out of date?

I always find lodges and cabins too expensive as they are larger than I want, ie sleep more people, and have hot tubs which I don’t want. I search for small cottages in the country.

I'm not sure, but I think a lodge possibly conjures up lifestyle that you don't have at home. So you really feel you are away on holiday, if you get what I mean.

I've recently booked a 3 bed apartment in very pretty seaside village in Isle of Man . All properties there seem to average £300pn to sleep 6. Sounds a lot but if you have 6 adults sharing it's cheaper than a hotel. Price is governed by location and supply.
BTW IoM well worth a trip (in summer using the catamaran )

SallyatBaytree

I've recently booked a 3 bed apartment in very pretty seaside village in Isle of Man . All properties there seem to average £300pn to sleep 6. Sounds a lot but if you have 6 adults sharing it's cheaper than a hotel. Price is governed by location and supply.
BTW IoM well worth a trip (in summer using the catamaran )

But add on food, drink, car parking, petrol, meals out and it’s not far off hotel prices.

Last year rented a beautiful, well equiped old farm house in Yorkshire for 3 nights. 7 adults, 2 children, cost £1300. Was this time last year. Thought it was a good find.

My friend and I are going to York in a couple of weeks for a week - it's called a studio but is a little cottage and has a hot tub (we like to have one ) - we paid just over £500 for it which we thought good. A couple of years ago we did a cottage in Cornwall - because we had paid the year before but it got cancelled due to the Covid lockdowns we had it for the same price of around £600, if we hadn't it would have been about £1700 for the same time (which we wouldn't have paid)!!

yellowcanary That's just greedy.

yellowcanary

My friend and I are going to York in a couple of weeks for a week - it's called a studio but is a little cottage and has a hot tub (we like to have one ) - we paid just over £500 for it which we thought good. A couple of years ago we did a cottage in Cornwall - because we had paid the year before but it got cancelled due to the Covid lockdowns we had it for the same price of around £600, if we hadn't it would have been about £1700 for the same time (which we wouldn't have paid)!!

I would never stay anywhere with a hot tub. More germs are picked up in hot tubs than anywhere else. I would not risk it, not knowing who had been in before!

They have to be kept scrupulously clean. I know a woman who has a couple of properties with hot tubs and it is often a battle to get it emptied, cleaned and refilled before the next guests arrive. She tells me they do it all themselves because she knows for a fact that some cleaners don’t do it properly.

There was a recent thread on Mumsnet about how trade for holiday lets and cottages (as opposed to hotels or B&B) was about 15% down this year. Some of the posters were owners of holiday lets and confirmed this.

The conclusion was that owners were charging ludicrous prices and imposing ridiculous extra "rules" which were not visible at the time of booking. Paying a hefty cleaning charge and still being expected to hoover and clean. People were worring that the owner would leave a bad review or keep their deposit if they didnt comply.

ALWAYS pay with a credit card - at least the deposit. This makes the card company jointly liable.

Rules imposed that are not visible (at least one click away) at the time of booking are illegal. All T&C have to be available for customers to browse before they click the final payment button

If they then keep your deposit for breaching some petty rule you can do a chargeback.

I'm a big fan of the Landmark Trust.
Their restored properties are quirky, simple and beautifully presented.
Not too expensive either. Value for money.
www.landmarktrust.org.uk

I've just looked at a week next year in a Landmark Trust property in an area where I've made a holiday booking for our family - in August sleeping 5 the LT property is £2335.

I think August is a mad month price-wise.

That seems a huge price (the Lodge) unless as people say you can take a whole tribe?

Cottages.com and Holiday Cottages both have offers at present, quite good discounts.

Also I've had emails from assorted 'park home' sites (Haven, Parkdean for just 2) with offers, both for caravans and chalets.

biglouis

There was a recent thread on Mumsnet about how trade for holiday lets and cottages (as opposed to hotels or B&B) was about 15% down this year. Some of the posters were owners of holiday lets and confirmed this.

The conclusion was that owners were charging ludicrous prices and imposing ridiculous extra "rules" which were not visible at the time of booking. Paying a hefty cleaning charge and still being expected to hoover and clean. People were worring that the owner would leave a bad review or keep their deposit if they didnt comply.

ALWAYS pay with a credit card - at least the deposit. This makes the card company jointly liable.

Rules imposed that are not visible (at least one click away) at the time of booking are illegal. All T&C have to be available for customers to browse before they click the final payment button

If they then keep your deposit for breaching some petty rule you can do a chargeback.

That’s what I heard too.Friends of ours booked a cottage in Summer last year and said the owners, who lived next door, kept fussing about what needed doing all the time and expected when they left at the end of the week, all the rubbish to be emptied, all the beds stripped and bedding placed in bags and the house vacuumed. That’s the owners job not the customer.Our friends didn’t do any of that but left the cottage clean and tidy.They said no more holiday cottages, back to B&B’s or small hotels.

I really don't like B&Bs.
I've stayed in them a few times with my mother-in-law who likes them. But I don't want to holiday where I'm in someone else's home. I'm just not properly relaxed.

Where we are going next year there are only B&Bs, campsites or holiday cottages - no hotels.
It has to be a cottage as far as I can see.

Not many B&Bs theses days the hotel chains like Premier Inns undercut the market in many areas, we’re not bothered about breakfast all we want is a clean room and a comfortable bed.
Airbnbs are usually a small annex, quality varies greatly, low season they can be budget priced. We do clear the rubbish and leave the place tidy but would never clean or Hoover.

Value for money is all about satisfaction, at £50 a night you expect compromises on everything and usually get them, at £500 a night you expect perfection, sometimes everything is right, if it’s not then it’s a big deal.

Is it just me who doesn't have a spare £ 500 per night?

We looked at hiring a narrow boat for a long weekend with friends, it’s was over £1k for 4 days ,

Our son and his partner are treating me to a holiday for my 81st birthday in a lodge in Windermere this summer for a few nights, the one they have booked sleeps three people and all rooms have en-suite. I have no idea of the cost but I do know they are not cheap.

Tenko

We looked at hiring a narrow boat for a long weekend with friends, it’s was over £1k for 4 days ,

That sounds great. I guess you're paying for the whole experience.

zakouma66

Is it just me who doesn't have a spare £ 500 per night?

LOL the most weve ever paid is £150 it was a 1 night stop in high season and it wasn’t great. There are plenty of “posh” places at £500 a night and more, they are not really the people I want to mix with thanks.

biglouis

There was a recent thread on Mumsnet about how trade for holiday lets and cottages (as opposed to hotels or B&B) was about 15% down this year. Some of the posters were owners of holiday lets and confirmed this.

The conclusion was that owners were charging ludicrous prices and imposing ridiculous extra "rules" which were not visible at the time of booking. Paying a hefty cleaning charge and still being expected to hoover and clean. People were worring that the owner would leave a bad review or keep their deposit if they didnt comply.

ALWAYS pay with a credit card - at least the deposit. This makes the card company jointly liable.

Rules imposed that are not visible (at least one click away) at the time of booking are illegal. All T&C have to be available for customers to browse before they click the final payment button

If they then keep your deposit for breaching some petty rule you can do a chargeback.

This is true. We have a holiday let but from our experience it’s not greedy owners, it’s greedy agencies! The past two years we have been very busy but this year it’s dropped right off. We know loads of other holiday let owners and they are all well down this year.

The agency takes 20% off our fee and all they do is take bookings and pay us minus their chunk. Obviously we pay water, electricity, TV licence, WiFi, everything. We do all the cleaning. We replace stuff that visitors steal like two very nice brand new throws, kitchen utensils etc. We charge £20 for a dog because that does involve extra cleaning but the agency even take 20% off that! A few weeks ago we had people washing their car with a hose my husband forgot he had left in the shed then went away leaving the garden tap running and that house is on a meter so we wait to see how much extra that costs us!

The only thing we ask visitors to do is put the bins out once a week. There are no other rules. We are very flexible and I always text people to say they can get in earlier or leave later if it suits them. We have won Customers Choice the last two years for excellent reviews.

Anyway, I have just given 6 months notice to end our agreement with the agency so we finish with them early Oct. September is actually fully booked! So we either go back to long term renting or stay as we are but use another agency.

I have noticed a number of ‘successful holiday lets’ in the area coming up for sale Primrose.

Holidays either in lodges or on water were always more than we could afford. We camped in Scotland mostly when ours were young.
Later when the DGP bought a house in France we gratefully took to going there.

I am out of date with peak prices even with Landmark so I am no use to advise!

Germanshepherdsmum

I have noticed a number of ‘successful holiday lets’ in the area coming up for sale Primrose.

Yes thanks GSM, I wondered about selling it as it is, as it has everything needed and ready to go but husband doesn’t want to sell it.

I've never let in this country. To me, the terms seem far more stringent than in lax bend the rules France.