We stay in our place fairly frequently so I do notice when something is lacking. I put several good knives in our kitchen cos I have had the experience on holiday of trying to hack through meat with a blunt knife... and you always need a few good knives, not just one...
Frying pans... yes, we bought 3 different sized pans (one being a largish straight sided pan for doing things like bolognaise sauce etc) and provided a big pot of wooden spatulas but they are still getting scraped and scratched. We just work on the basis that they will get replaced every so often but I don't beat myself up about the fact that guests might have to use one that is no longer non stick because it seems to be impossible to keep them non stick for very long anyway...
We stayed in our place during a very cold winter and soon realised that spanish houses are built to keep cool not warm... we put in several wall panel radiators and I went out and bought hot water bottles for all the beds and fleecy blankets which are useful to cosy up on the sofa as well as on beds etc.
the house is now comfortable during the winter, not as cosy as a UK centrally heated house would be, but I do warn guests that whilst the daytimes are warm during winter, the evenings chill off and they will need dressing gowns and slippers etc cos the tiled floors can be cold. The few winter bookings we have had have not made any complaints about being cold and having tested it out ourselves, i think we have got it about right.
So it is very useful to stay in your own accommodation and use it as one of your guests would.
Why has self-catering got such a bad reputation...
We holiday in our place quite a lot and as an avid cook even on holiday decent kitchen equiptment is vital to me. For this reason I spent a lot of money on pots and pans and relace non stick frying pans each year. We have the lot cheese knifes, garlic crushers,electric juicers, weighing scales. Bascially if its in my kitchen at home then it's in the villa too.
I think it was money well spent all guests comment on the well stocked kitchen and we have a high repeat rate. I also provide lots of hangers a top of the range steam iron and multifunction hairdryer for the same reasons. I have stayed in places before where you get 3 hangers an iron that doesn't work and a hairdryer that is useless. I would hope that the forum is talking more about mass holiday self catering than the private kind like our good selves.
I think it was money well spent all guests comment on the well stocked kitchen and we have a high repeat rate. I also provide lots of hangers a top of the range steam iron and multifunction hairdryer for the same reasons. I have stayed in places before where you get 3 hangers an iron that doesn't work and a hairdryer that is useless. I would hope that the forum is talking more about mass holiday self catering than the private kind like our good selves.
Always Learning
I lived in the farmhouse for 9 months before our barn was renovated which is where I live now. I haven't tried the others, but my in-laws who are generally quite hard to please have stayed in them and thought they were great, they couldn't find anything that was missing. I know that they are all a lot cleaner and tidier than my own house! 
Same here.... I've never stayed in my house but it is really well equipped- everything that I would want on holiday,the same as at home !! We did go round for a meal last year which our guests cooked for us- they raved on about how well equipped it was. Do you know, the only thing I hadn't put in was a garlic crusher cos I don't like them. One set of guests bought an expensive one and left it there as a gift cos they said the house was so well done that they thought that just about completed it !! A couple of weeks ago some more guests bought 2 really nice fans. Bruce e-mailed me to say that he'd left them as a gift cos the house was so lovely it was all that was needed to make it absolutely perfect !! Do you think the moral of this story is "don't put anything in the house and let your guests furnish it for you ? " LOL 
www.thepetitmanoir.com
I've never stayed in my house but it is really well equipped- everything that I would want on holiday,the same as at home !! We did go round for a meal last year which our guests cooked for us- they raved on about how well equipped it was. Do you know, the only thing I hadn't put in was a garlic crusher cos I don't like them. One set of guests bought an expensive one and left it there as a gift cos they said the house was so well done that they thought that just about completed it !! A couple of weeks ago some more guests bought 2 really nice fans. Bruce e-mailed me to say that he'd left them as a gift cos the house was so lovely it was all that was needed to make it absolutely perfect !! Do you think the moral of this story is "don't put anything in the house and let your guests furnish it for you ? " LOL www.thepetitmanoir.com
What a great Idea.
At the bottom of the garden we have a log pile under a tarp, we use the wood for the fires in winter. One guest used some and couldn't find anything to cut it to lengths to suit the bbq, so they bought us an axe!
Thank goodness our caretaker spotted it before the next arrivals, and put it out of harms way. Nice thought tho.
At the bottom of the garden we have a log pile under a tarp, we use the wood for the fires in winter. One guest used some and couldn't find anything to cut it to lengths to suit the bbq, so they bought us an axe!
Thank goodness our caretaker spotted it before the next arrivals, and put it out of harms way. Nice thought tho.
We lived in our villa for 18 months before renting. When we moved out we left everything, (apart from personal items) in the villa, so the villa was fully 'stocked'. One of our guest mentioned that they needed a needle and cotton to make emergency repairs and were suprised to find a sewing kit in the kitchen drawer. Alot of our guests have said the villa 'was home from home' which is a nice compliment.Has anyone moved into their rental accomodation for a couple of days to test the renters experience ?
We have spent unbooked weekends with family and friends and must admit, apart from not having a pc and internet access, I've not missed anything!
Yes, we had some French guests who told us the'd very kindly left a few oyster knives in the house as there hadn't been any -they are essential when the French celebrate Christmas and New Year in Brittany!Fraise wrote:Do you think the moral of this story is "don't put anything in the house and let your guests furnish it for you ? " LOL
The villa that we rent out is actually our home. The house has an apartment that we move into in the summer.
So our house is furnished and equipped as a home and we are often being complemented on it - guests compare it to other places they've stayed which were poorly equipped or say that it was obviously a 'rental' property.
Having said that - it still doesn't always get the respect it deserves.
Mind you - we do remove lots of items or replace them with other (i.e. dining chairs are replaced with Ikea ones) and it is crazy when we are moving out of the house!
Mouse
x
So our house is furnished and equipped as a home and we are often being complemented on it - guests compare it to other places they've stayed which were poorly equipped or say that it was obviously a 'rental' property.
Having said that - it still doesn't always get the respect it deserves.
Mind you - we do remove lots of items or replace them with other (i.e. dining chairs are replaced with Ikea ones) and it is crazy when we are moving out of the house!
Mouse
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cromercrabholiday
- Posts: 797
- Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:24 am
- Location: North Norfolk
- Contact:
While we have never lived in our cottage, we regularly get comments saying how homely it is. We have lots of prints and a few modest original pictures and various bits of brass that we picked up in an auction - cheap and close to indestructible!
The other regular favourable comments on our feedback questionnaires are the well-stocked book shelves (adults and kids) and the notice board with local tourist attractions.
John
The other regular favourable comments on our feedback questionnaires are the well-stocked book shelves (adults and kids) and the notice board with local tourist attractions.
John
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
Dear All,
I think the answer to the original question is a simple one.
Over the years there have been far too many owners supplying extremely low standard and poorly equipped properties; elsewhere on this Forum they have been described as “coal holes� and “white-washed barns�. Those same owners priced their properties as though they were of a high standard and were well equipped.
Now that we are in a more competitive market place my hope is that these “cowboys� will have to be honest about their properties and realistic in their pricing otherwise they will go out of business. It will be good riddance if they do!
There is room for all sorts of properties, at all sorts of prices, but they should all be honestly presented and realistically priced. They should all be owned by “owners who care�; care about their properties and care about their guests. Those who don’t qualify can go bankrupt and I don’t care.
Alan
I think the answer to the original question is a simple one.
Over the years there have been far too many owners supplying extremely low standard and poorly equipped properties; elsewhere on this Forum they have been described as “coal holes� and “white-washed barns�. Those same owners priced their properties as though they were of a high standard and were well equipped.
Now that we are in a more competitive market place my hope is that these “cowboys� will have to be honest about their properties and realistic in their pricing otherwise they will go out of business. It will be good riddance if they do!
There is room for all sorts of properties, at all sorts of prices, but they should all be honestly presented and realistically priced. They should all be owned by “owners who care�; care about their properties and care about their guests. Those who don’t qualify can go bankrupt and I don’t care.
Alan
We seem to acquire new gadgets every time someone stays in our house be it friends or family - it's great. Some Belgian cousins stayed at Easter and bought us 2 oyster knives and a guest towel for every room, friends bought us very smart salt and pepper mills, more friends bought an hors d'oeuvre tray and the nicest ones were our first paying guests who bought us a present of a Visitors Book as they said it was just too nice not to have somewhere to leave their comments!
I think you're right Fraise, let your guests equip it for you - I suppose you have to have impressed them in the first place though for them to feel so generous!
Kathy
I think you're right Fraise, let your guests equip it for you - I suppose you have to have impressed them in the first place though for them to feel so generous!
Kathy