Lay My Hat

Have just taken out cover for a Cornwall holiday for £20, which is for 3 adults and 2 children and gives up to £2000 in cancellation cover as we have paid more for our holiday on this occasion than we normally do. I looked at the small print and couldn't see anything about any weather conditions. Th...

I'm not sure about cover for flooding; have to admit that I also switch off with the small print. I tend to take it out to cover for any unforeseen incidences such as an accident/illness that would prevent any of us from being able to actually go on the holiday, rather than weather conditions. I'm j...

I routinely insure my own UK holidays with no problems and find the best deal through sites such as Go Compare. It's usually no more than approx £10.

I pay the same for our 3 bedroom cottage, although that is based on 6 staying so will be slightly less for the laundry if less stay. I also pay for them to empty the refuse/clean windows. I don't pay a retainer as I only live an hour away so pop to the property every 1-2 weeks to check on garden/LPG...

I think some of the insurance companies go a little overboard on thermostat ranges and often ask for the property to be no less than 13 or even 15 degrees! As I've got remote heating, I simply turn it on to frost setting (have a combi boiler so no loft to worry about) and just monitor the temperatur...

All sorted now!

Apparently they had sent out a new direct debit mandate back in July, which for some reason I didn't receive. It would have been nice if they had chased it up though!

Owner's Direct online payment system seems to be in a real mess. I started receiving payments from my bookings back in July. However, I've noticed today that payments from guests since August, even though they are showing as paid on my dashboard, have never reached my account. I have also not had an...

We've also got a retractable stairgate at the top - can't recommend these enough. We offer a pressure-fitting stairgate at the bottom but leave guests to put this up if they so wish. It's a Victorian staircase and is narrower than usual so don't want to leave it up all the time as could be irritatin...

I bought some wonderful pillow protectors from Soak & Sleep that are totally waterproof on the inside but have a velvety soft outside, so are really comfortable. This prevents anything from getting on the pillows. There's always the risk of a spilt cup of tea or coffee when in bed and these woul...

If you are planning to let at Easter, then you would definitely need some form of heating accessible for guests as it can be quite chilly around that time. Even during summer, guests will want access to heating during chillier periods, especially in the bathroom. Wifi is definitely a must. I wouldn'...

If you have somewhere to leave spare linen then I think that's a great solution. Our linen cupboard is locked away from guests and I'd worry that if I left spare linen lying around, it might get dirty even if they didn't use it. So I just put this message in the pre-arrival info: "For stays in ...

I enjoyed that too. Very clever and unfortunately all too true!

Like Gardenboy, I didn't feel comfortable with an open fire and had a log burner installed. It cost £1600 and I also spent £160 on logs/kindling for approx 2 winters. I'm lucky we have an attached barn to store it all in, so is easy to top up the log basket for guests. I get bookings throughout the ...

This issue has been on HL for about 18 months now. I first noticed it just over a year ago and there have been many rantings over this on their FB page. I'm not sure how it works now if you are on subscription as I am now on commission but it used to be that if you googled Holiday Lettings and click...

I'm very fortunate that our cleaners have an arrangement with a local baker and bring along a freshly baked cake/biscuits/dog treats when they do the changeover. Each booking receives a freshly baked cake and if they have dogs then they receive home made liver treats. These go down very well and are...