One or two bedrooms

[Phil in Cornwall]

Hi , I am in the process of converting a small barn in Cornwall to a holiday let. My problem is do i go for one double bedroom with a nice kitchen and aim at couples or do I put a bedroom where the kitchen is and aim at families?

The footprint of the building is only 60 m sq
and is one storey only.

Has anyone had problems filling properties that have two person occupancy? southwest UK or any where rural.

p.s. we are 10-12 miles from Padstow , Newquay and Eden.

Thanks for any help.
Phil

[Giddy Goat]

Have just voted - we had a property of much the same size, and I think you could comfortably create 2-bedroom guest accommodation and still have enough kitchen/sitting/dining space. Much depends on the shape of the sitting room and where doors need to be of course, but our downstairs was a rectangle, with hall (stairs to second floor and washer-drier housed underneath) at one end plus an 'American kitchen' - it had its own door from the little hall; the front door end had a window, with the sink below it, the opposite end had waist high cupboards, work surface of course and was open in all other respects and effectively part of the living room. The fourth wall (at right angles to the sink end) had cupboards above and below the work surface, and housed the cooker and fridge-freezer. Hope you can make sense of that description! So the kitchen did feel separate without being entirely so, or losing light from the sitting room, which had French doors opening onto a terrace.

I think that being able to offer 2 bedrooms gives you greater letting appeal. Yes, our sitting room was small, but if you are able to introduce plenty of light, that helps, and we still managed to fit a round table which could seat six at a squash, a sofa seating 2 comfortably or 3 at a squash, plus 2 compact armchairs, an end table and a set of bookshelves to take books, TV and CD player. Oh, and there was a small fireplace!
Will be interesting to hear from others.

[Ju]

I agree with Jane; for 60 sq metres you should be able to do both. We have very nice double bedrooms that are 15m2, and some other rooms that are 12m2, so together that makes 27m2. A decent bathroom can be done for 8m2, so that leaves 25 m2 for an open plan living, dining, kitchen area. Easily possible. Obviously the dimensions and layout of your barn will change things a little.

Don't however then be tempted to put in a sofa bed, that would be too crowded.

Ju

[Giddy Goat]

Don't however then be tempted to put in a sofa bed, that would be too crowded.Ju

Absolutely Ju!

[Bellywobble]

I have a one bedroom apartment which appeals mainly to couples. I would love to have another room and be able to have children too, unfortunately the apartment just doesn't lend itself to another room.
I agree entirely that having a second bedroom will give you much more flexibility.

[la vache!]

2 bedrooms definitely - there are more searches done for properties which sleep 4 people than any other. It won't stop couples coming, but you will have a far greater market potential with 2 bedrooms, even if the second is small.

[Sue Dyer]

We have 2 bedrooms, most often let to couples or like this weekend, guests + mum. We get some families in the summer holidays but even couples like to spread out.

There is another thread about couples wanting separate beds/rooms for snorers etc. I recently had a couple, one with orthopedic problems who wanted a separate bed.

Def 2 bedrooms!!

[Ciapolin]

I have a two bed that is 95 msq and 2 1-beds that are 45msq, so you are somewhere in between. My two bed is large, so I don't see why the 2-bed plus kitchen/lounge wouldn't work for you.

[Phil in Cornwall]

Wow ,
thanks for all the replies. This was my first post here an it was great to see so much interest..

The building is a single storey, rectangular with an extension for the double bedroom. it looks like Im going to have to contact the architect to get the drawings re-jigged. I had a feeling that having the extra beds would be the way to go but its interesting to hear it from others.

Phil

[cromercrabholiday]

Bear in mind that your income will be a good sight more with two bedrooms, so as long as it doesn't feel pokey (which previous responses suggest should not be a problem), it is the way to go.

We have three bedrooms and can sleep seven, which is good for families with grandparents along but does limit our market. Economically, we would probably be better with two bedrooms, but we liked the village, house, beach when we were buying!

John

[Fraise]

Out of interest John- why does it limit your market? We are exactly the same, 3 bedrooms ,sleeps up to 7 but we often just have a couple in the house ( no, I don't discount either!).Sometimes we have 4, we have had 3,also 5,6 and 7 !! It doesn't seem to be a problem. Do you think it's a geographical thing?

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[Nightowl]

yep, we have 3 bedrooms as well, but sometimes only have one couple staying (but peak summer weeks/top price band are usually families...). so I don't find in our case it limits our market, and we don't usually discount for under occupancy either. We also had 3 blokes staying one time - playing golf I think - and they were all glad to get a bedroom and bathroom each.

[Fraise]

It's interesting isn't it? I think I said before that we've also had couples who like a bed each so they've used 2 different bedrooms as well as a bathroom each and they are prepared to pay the full rental to achieve this. They didn't want to use the 2 beds in the same bedroom either! Horses for courses eh?


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