Are the days of the amateur numbered?

[charles cawley]

Three new cottage owners came through the door today representing five holiday lets. These new cottage operators appear radically more professional and willing to listen than the chintz, busy clashing patterns, corn dolly, cast-off and the 'multi colour inexpensive brown funiture' crowd.

In this economic climate, the days of the amateur cottage operator could well be numbered.

[la vache!]

In this economic climate, the days of the amateur cottage operator could well be numbered.

Maybe, but can everyone afford to rent high end luxury cottages?

[Nemo]

Well it would be nice to think that our hard work trying to deliver a good product will pay off.....

I certainly would not be prepared to book somewhere that looked dated and tired. However if a nicer looking product means a guest has got to dig deeper in their pocket, then maybe there is still a place for these properties if the price is low enough?

You just got there before me LV!

[wallypott]

I am not high end but think I am a professional, so perhaps this is partly a good thing. Market forces are going to make it harder for the chintz crowd.

[charles cawley]

It's not necessarily about high end... it's to do with feeling that holiday money has worked as hard in spending as you have in earning it.

Whether you call it value or something else, a low cost but sound cottage makes money work just as hard as top quality but well priced holiday lets.

I think I was wrong... the future is in offering good value.

[la vache!]

I'm finding that some people expect high end luxury for non high end prices. Especially from certain listing sites. If you have a newly refurbished place in a fashinable location, that's great, but if you don't, it can be very costly to upgrade standards constantly. Especially when the property itself (due to average location, area etc.) will never lend itself to being 'high end' in any way, shape or form. If this is the case you will never be able to charge high enough prices to get enough ROI to invest in this sort of thing (especially if you have a mortgage to pay too).

[Margaret]

When it is a new build or renovation, with luck you can furnish from scratch and do it the 'right' way. When it is your own home, throwing out all the existing furniture and redecorating rom scratch is simply not viable as it would take years to just recover the cost of doing that, let alone make a return. If you are in the second category, I agree that you are not quite as professional as those in the first category but that does not actually make you an amateur, in my opinion.

[la vache!]

When it is a new build or renovation, with luck you can furnish from scratch and do it the 'right' way. When it is your own home, throwing out all the existing furniture and redecorating rom scratch is simply not viable as it would take years to just recover the cost of doing that, let alone make a return. If you are in the second category, I agree that you are not quite as professional as those in the first category but that does not actually make you an amateur, in my opinion.

You put is so much better than me, thanks Margaret!

[Big Sis..]

Yep!! well said M!!

[Jimbo]

In this economic climate, the days of the amateur cottage operator could well be numbered.

Doesn't seem to be the case in my photographic world where amateurs with low overheads, little expertise and cheap cameras have made huge inroads into the professional market. Mostly because a lot of clients only want to pay rock-bottom prices and don't really care about the pictures. Not everybody is willing to pay the going rate for a professional product - for many clients, pretty much anything will pass muster. And experienced photographers, with years of investment in themselves and their equipment, stack shelves at Tesco.

I suspect the same to be true for holiday rental properties. In a recession, with a shrinking client base, the professionally-run establishment with high investment and overheads may be more vulnerable than the amateur stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap chintz and brown furniture brigade.

Jim

[Marks]

....the future is in offering good value.

I couldn't agree more. In the cut and thrust of 2 bedroom Costa Blanca apartments I try to offer as much as possible to keep me a step ahead of the others. This autumn the bathroom will be completely ripped out and something far more modern fitted. I've just upgraded all bedding, towels and lighting plus added extra patio furniture and installed high speed Wi-Fi yet my peak prices cannot increase any more. Guests staying with me get excellent value for money.

[Margaret]

Certainly, as regularly commented in this forum, the old extras continue to become standard. It is a continuous move up market.

[la vache!]

I've just upgraded all bedding, towels and lighting plus added extra patio furniture and installed high speed Wi-Fi yet my peak prices cannot increase any more. Guests staying with me get excellent value for money.

But for all this extra expense, you can't increase your peak prices. This is the dilemma I'm facing - all the extra 'upgrading' work and adding facilities isn't cheap, but I can't increase my prices, so the profit margin becomes even narrower.

[Margaret]

Exactly. I bought new coffee tables in dark wood, which match each other and go with the other pieces of furniture in the room, which the old one did not. Now I am supposed to replace the coffee tables with oak, which means either they don't match the rest of the room or I have to get rid of/replace: a dresser, a double height corner cupboard and side tables. There comes a point where the cost considerably outweighs the possible benefit. Especially now that the room matches almost completely. Oh, I forgot, I am also supposed to throw out the 2 remaining armchairs with pleasant chintz covers, which also match the room. My environmental conscience kicks in too! So should we give up? (I am referring to our Welsh house of course, not Bavaria). I repeat, a new build or total renovation is one thing. The alternative does not have to be Laura Ashley and grandma's cast offs. Professionalism is more than just bland furniture?

[Nightowl]

Exactly, how far can you raise the bar (and therefore guest expectations versus a market where prices are going downwards not upwards) ....