Lay My Hat

Thanks Norfolk Canary - that's very interesting. I obviously need to revise my views on DPCs! I would still say that, in my experience, most damp problems can be sorted out by doing simple things - e.g. raking out debris from walls or lowering the ground level to below the level of the floor. Maybe ...

I may well be wrong, but I have been told by various people involved in conservation of old buildings that damp-proof courses are generally bad news. There seems to be doubt whether they work at all, even in modern buildings:

http://www.heritage-house.org/managing- ... dings.html

I agree with the others about 'damp specialists' - I think chemical damp-proof courses etc. do more harm than good in period buildings. A damp wall in my last house was fixed by just taking off the skirting boards and raking out the rubble that had built up behind them over the last 100 years or so ...

Yes, I had that problem too - there are lots of reviews for portable electric heaters by Which etc. but I couldn't find any for radiators. I suppose it would be difficult to compare them - they'd have to install them. Guarantee - oops, to be honest I hadn't checked this. I'll be interested to hear h...

Hi Jenster In the end I went for Dimplex Q-Rad radiators - they are just panel/convection radiators but I am very happy with them so far. They give out good instant heat and are simple to programme and use (this was my priority - didn't want anything complicated). Guests have liked them. Not sure ab...

Nothing useful to say here - but I would like to know this too! It seems a waste (and unnecessary expense) to supply new everything each week, as what is left is usually too much for us to use ourselves (although one lot of guests got through an unbelievable amount of tea!).

Gosh, I am behind the times - remotely controlled systems were available 20 years ago?! I am still getting my head round the concept...

Celsia Multizone sounds great! Thanks for all the details, Robin.

Yes, I love the whole concept of walkhighlands. I like how they randomly rearrange the order of the listings each day.

aasta - I think I should be congratulating you! Great to hear that you have had success with this route!!

Hi John! It's good to hear what other relative newbies' experiences have been. Really interesting that you've had good experiences with the big listing sites. And also that the guests who've booked through them have been well behaved! It suits me at the moment not to be fully booked, but I will revi...

And after we thought they were good guests too! Really sorry you're having these hassles. So... Rather than pick up an oven from 3 miles away, they would rather sit and watch the food they've brought (although they knew beforehand that the oven wasn't working) rot, and calculate how much compensatio...

Glad it's all worked out! Plus you can now say on your website that the cooker is brand new. Re compensation - I think I maybe would offer them something. If they are nice uncomplaining guests, they are maybe the kind you want repeat business from. Also, I like the idea of rewarding good behaviour r...

Ooooh! I was excited enough about the ordinary microcloths, but now I can't wait to order one of those mops and the whole range of special e-cloths. The microcloths seem to wash a lot cleaner than ordinary cloths too. One of the unforeseen benefits of having a holiday let is that I'm learning (at lo...

Very interesting points and suggestions! I will add a field to the entry form and also try to set up the cookie and/or analytics (might take me a while though! I am very much trial and error at the moment...) The cookie sounds like some sort of black magic. Niche market - yes, I think mine is maybe ...

And forgot to say I also have a Facebook page, set up about a month ago.

Thought you might be interested in my little newbie experiment. I have a new holiday let which is a bit of a work in progress, and have decided to avoid the dreaded listing sites (OD etc.) after reading all the negative comments on here, and also because I don't want to expose my less-than-perfect p...