Ideal room configuration

[zebedee]

In my view, if you want to provide anything other than a basic quality accommodation then the number of bathrooms / en suites is very important.
People will definitely expect them, and you would be better providing more bathrooms / shower rooms proportionally to your number of guests than going for maximum bed spaces.
This will allow you to price higher as well.

It is amazing how difficult it can be on holiday in a biggish group if you are waiting to use a bathroom, also, not much fun to find yourself using already wet showers etc with odd stray hairs (or worse) that do not belong to you or your loved one (yuk!)

Honestly, now is the time to make these changes, as it will be much harder to do once you start taking guests.

There is a reason why Visit England will cap the rating they give to properties that sleep 6 if they don't have 2 or more bathrooms - it is what guests expect.
Sorry if my view is not what you hoped to hear. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

[Nemo]

Just as an addition, the whole cottage is fully wheelchair accessible & we have a hoist bath (hoist chair can be removed so it's just an extra-large bath) and wheelchair accessible shower, which we hope may appeal to some people too.

A really important market, so absolutely use every tool at your disposal to embrace that market. Are you accepting dogs? I can't remember that being mentioned, but if not then I'd say you must. Ground floor, dog friendly accommodation is itself in demand, so to be disabled friendly an added bonus. Of course it's not surprising, based on its previous life.

I understand what zebedee is saying, the market does demand en suite wherever possible. However if your property is suitably niche, which it is, I think you can get round that. I hope it has some evidence of its past life and if not that you can point to it. It's a building that needs its background embraced. Until you mentioned the foot thick walls, I imagined something very utilitarian in the true care home sense.

[Bunny]

Just as an addition, the whole cottage is fully wheelchair accessible & we have a hoist bath (hoist chair can be removed so it's just an extra-large bath) and wheelchair accessible shower, which we hope may appeal to some people too.

Yes, this is definitely something you need to market. I can accommodate 2 guests max. with limited mobility but you could accommodate a large number of guests who use wheelchairs, with their carers. Whenever I get these guests, they always tell me they have terrible trouble finding somewhere suitable. Care homes are often looking to take their residents away on holiday (even out of season) so your place sounds ideal for them.

[delilah]

looking only at beds, we have two rooms where we have 3 ft divans so the rooms can be twin bed or super king. They join by simply having a strong metal latch our housekeeper can swing over at each end when she puts them together. To prevent the "hole" in the middle of the bed, I have mattress protectors then good quality (out of eden) waterproof mattress covers (this is on each single bed). These stay on all the time. When they are put together for a super king, she puts another mattress protector on top followed by a topper (I'm fussy about people having a comfortable bed). This works very well. There is no "sweaty" waterproof mattress feel. We consistently get the "huge comfy beds" mentioned in our reviews. Our third bedroom is a permanent double. One of our rooms was secondhand 3ft beds, so its easy enough to do. We have a super king at home, and really notice it if we get a double bed, even in a posh place, so we deliberately wanted to create potential for super kings in each room. Beds and good showers are one of the main things we decided were important. If people sleep well and have a great shower (they aren't power showers, but are roomy with good pressure), I think they come back (which we do now get lots of repeat bookings). Oh, and decent sofas…no springs in the bum!

[emmavix]

Thanks Delilah, that's useful. and yes, we would happily take dogs, we're on the edge of Exmoor so ideal dog walking (and general walking!) territory.

[Annew]

Thanks everyone. We're in North Devon, pretty rural and advice from the local tourist boards has been that there are very few large places in the area for groups. We'd envisaged weekly/short break hire rather than 2 - 3 days and probably family groups (as in 2/3 families staying together).

Hi Emma & welcome from a fellow rural Devonian.

Don't believe everything the tourist boards say.

Our best profit comes from the weekend market and we have many groups (adults, large families, hen parties, shooting parties etc) wanting to come for 3 nights! There's definitely a change afoot in the rental market in this part of the world and nearcations and short breaks have been making up a huge part of our bookings in the past 18 months. 15 years ago, it was mainly families - amazing how things change!

I've been doing this for quite a long time now and I get truly exasperated with Visit Devon on their opinions of the tourist market in rural areas. They know an awful lot about the coasts and moors, but that's really where it stops. Have you tried asking other owners in your area?

I'd be happy to have a chat with you and I may be able to put you in touch with a couple of holiday let owners near to you!

PM me if you like

[emmavix]

Thanks, Annew, I'll PM you now,