Do you give your address to enquirers?

[Joanna]

We seem to be getting more enquirers asking for the cottage address - some have said they want to find it on Google Earth etc. My husband doesn't want to give it out until after they've booked, I'm undecided.

On the 'for' side we could appear in Google maps if I put our address in, as most of our competitors do. Also, when I book holiday accommodation I always try to find it on Google Streetview so I can get a good idea of the sort of area it's in so I feel guilty not allowing our guests to do this. It could also help reassure guests that the cottage exists (although it doesn't confirm that we actually own it).

On the 'against' side we're anxious about strangers knowing exactly where the cottage is and being able to guess from our availability calendar when it will be empty. Also, about people disturbing guests by turning up uninvited and wanting to look around. Many of our guests have relatives living locally who they could send along to check the place out.

We're not on-site so we can't manage unexpected visitors.

Some enquirers have gone ahead and booked anyway, others haven't, so I don't know how much of an issue it is for them.

I'm curious to know what sort of experiences other UK property owners have had from giving out their addresses.

[goosie]

I agree its a fine balance, but my personal view is that I wouldn't give the exact location until they've booked - especially as you say people can work out when the property is empty from looking at your calendar.

I do look at properties on google earth for the summer but I don't think I wouldn't book if someone gave me a legitimate reason about not wanting people to work out where it was in case it got burgled.

[Margaret]

Our address is all over our website for our UK house. So far it has never been a problem.

[Wonkeye]

I totally agree with goosie and for the same reasons.

[la vache!]

If I rented a house I'd want to Google earth it too, to make sure it exists, and to check that the owner wasn't telling lies about proximity to nearest town/village/beach etc.

[Annew]

Our cottages are in the middle of nowhere in Devon. I would be happier if guests knew our exact location before they booked, as not everybody wants to be well off the beaten track. I have a Google map on my website and full address details and I've never had any untoward problems. However, I live on site so don't have the possible problems that you might anticipate.

Personally, I would want to know exactly where I was intending to spend my well earned cash on a holiday rental, after having (many years ago) rented a cottage backing onto a funeral directors that was busy all day and night and next door but one to a 7 -11 (remember them!!)

[Londoner]

I have had a number of guests asking for our address, I give them the street name and tell them that full address details will be forwarded once the booking is confirmed and the deposit received.
I also explain that for security reasons it is not possible to give out the full address prior to a reservation being confirmed.

I am really not comfortable with giving out the full address to anyone who just enquires.

[stevem]

We use an agency and they list the address on their website, however it would be easy to identify from the photos and street name. Most of the agencies also have their advertising signs outside each property.
I think all the holiday brochures (of course it would be web sites now) I have seen clearly identified their properties location. In the past on holiday we looked at the outside of other holiday properties so we had alternatives (this was when children were young and we were tied to school holiday dates).
I think that location is a major factor in selecting a property certainly in a coastal area. Maybe if you are in a remote rural location (and marketing it as such) it is not so important.

[Joanna]

Food for thought. My OH is adamant that we don't give out the address until we've received a booking. Even the street name combined with the photos on the web sit would make it easy to find. At the moment we're doing OK for bookings so I think I'll play it safe until it looks like we might be losing potential guests because of it. Thanks for all your input.

[kendalcottages]

I don't give out our apartment's address until people have booked. I feel it ought to be sufficient just to tell them we are in the town centre (yet in a tranquil riverside location, I might add!).

It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to delve a bit deeper and work out which building. It'd be a little difficult to establish which one within the building, but by no means impossible. The apartment building requires a keycard to gain entry to give me a bit of added peace of mind, plus we thankfully having caring, vigilant neighbours. What's more, I plan on having it occupied most of the time.

[kg1]

I never give out the full address 'till a deposit has been received & I have a guest's contact details. I will give them the first part of the post code so they can tell where the area is but that's it. To my knowledge I have only lost 1 booking because of this, compared to the risk of being burgled because the calendar shows when the house is empty.

[Ben McNevis]

I'd like to turn this question around and ask if anyone thinks they have been burgled or have had any attempt made due to giving away exact location inforamation?

Personally I think that fear of burglary is out of proportion to the risk. I embed streetview iframes within my web pages for the Canarian properties and as soon as the streetview camera ventures down our lane in Scotland, I'll add it to that one.

I can't see that adding Streetview would make any difference to the risk as we already name the village and show a picture of the cottage. Any local burglar would know exactly where it is.

[CSE]

Some folks think that burglars do not have a brain cell between their ears. Unfortunately some do, they will do some homework all they have to do is ask a few odd harmless questions around the neighbourhood to find and potential targets.
On the plus side. For example, if someone is searching your area on a Google maps for their up coming vacation they could find your property much easier. Maybe your adversaries are doing that already.

[harcourtv57]

We do the same as Londoner - being in a big city and most houses looking pretty identical, we just give out the postcode - and the locatgion maps on the listings do show location but not the exact property.

[Phil Schofield]

I can see the renter’s point of view that they would want to research an area before going ahead. Some holiday rental sites now show maps pin pointing the location of the property.

However, I would be wary of giving out too much information to ‘strangers’ until they are a confirmed booking or you have some details of who they are – landline number, address etc. A postcode of the general area and photos may be enough for them.

Most break-ins seem to be carried out by opportunistic burglars, but if someone wanted to specifically target a property, it’s relatively easy to gather information from photos, availability calendars (and other methods I wont post here). If someone is determined they will usually find a way. All you can do is make it harder for them and hope they choose an easier target.