Are you fully booked for August?

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goosie
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Location: Cotswolds

Are you fully booked for August?

Post by goosie »

For the first time in seven years of renting we have two weeks left in August still available. Admittedly we increased our price this year but only in line with others in the area of a similar size. Is this a pure pricing issue or is this a general phenomenon for the UK market? We think that our house has been a second summer holiday for groups of friends or family to get together but I'm wondering if either people can't afford a second holiday this year as economy doesn't pick up OR people are going abroad more as the economy picks up :?

Anyhow considering a discount back to last year's prices or should I hold firm for May?
SandyBeaches
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Post by SandyBeaches »

We've been fully booked for August for a while, but I get the sense that for larger places the market is slower. I manage 5 cottages altogether (2 belong to us). If I could clone the sleeps 4 I would as it has just flown out the door this year, along with the sleeps 6 which was fully booked for the peak season by last October.

However the sleeps 8 and sleeps 10 have been much slower. Not sure why except that in my area there has been more competition in the last couple of years for that size cottage. Which made me sit up and work harder on selling those.

Is there more competition in your area now? I can't comment on your prices as I don't know your area, but your rates are a little bit more than ours for sleeps 10.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

I am fully booked until November, except for two weeks in August and a few 'gap' days I allowed to happen ( usually full week bookings only) in September. I am only sleeps 4. They are the first and last weeks of August. Possibly, the first week didn't get booked as I thought I was going on holiday myself then so took it off the market for some months. I guess the last week is because it is Bank Holiday week which is always slow to shift as a full week if it doesn't get booked up many months in advance by someone from abroad. I may give in and let that as a long weekend but I am not reducing prices. I may do, much nearer the time - probably about three weeks in advance.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

We've got space in August, but we are in a different area and I'm usually fairly relaxed about August until end of June.

Your market is different to some degree and you know it better of course; I'd resist dropping prices for a while, and keep in mind that we've only just been through an election and people may have been putting off planning expenditure until they could see the longer picture.
Just my 2p worth.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

Our Devon cottage is fully booked from 6th July to 4th September and has been for some time - I think that's normal for a Devon seaside town. Our Chester cottage is still available for the 1st week of August and from the 28th. That's also normal because it's more of a city break place and tends to get booked at shorter notice.

If you can hold your nerve and it doesn't hurt your cash flow then I wouldn't reduce rates until about 4 weeks beforehand. There will always be some people who have to book later because they don't know when they're going to get time off or are waiting to hear on hospital appointments, redundancy plans, etc.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
kg1
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Post by kg1 »

We have 1 week in July & 1 in August (BH week) unbooked but apart from that we are booked from now through to 12th Sep :)
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

We have lots of space left in August but won't discount. If people book late, then they have less choice if they are looking for somewhere nice.
Just got another booking today for later this month :D
goosie
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Post by goosie »

Thanks. We will hold our nerve. overall our bookings this year are significantly better than in previous years so it is just this anomoly and its not an issue for us but I was curious if there was a general phenomenon or just our area.
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Robin S
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Post by Robin S »

We're just round the road Goosie, but at a lower price point and slightly smaller lodge. We're chocker for August which we're delighted about as it's our first year of lettings.

How do other LME properties compare in terms of availability?

We're contemplating increasing prices for next year but as we're just starting out don't want to negatively impact bookings and have to make things up by discounting last minute.

If you've had success the last few years i'd hold your nerve. Lots of external events like elections etc could be affecting booking patterns?
annedab
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Post by annedab »

We have a 2 bed and a 5 bed. For the first 2 years it was the smaller gite which did really well, but this year it is the other way round and we could have let the bigger gite several times over whereas the smaller one still has a couple of August weeks free. Mind you, that may also be because we have got much better at declining unsuitable bookings instead of just taking everything and anything and sticking to our guns re pricing!
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Anne

If there's no such thing as co-incidence, then why is there a word for it?
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

that may also be because we have got much better at declining unsuitable bookings
That may be true for us too - we used to get several problem bookings in a year, then it seemed to be maybe one a year and OH recently mentioned that last year we didn't have any real nightmares. We've also become more relaxed about dates getting booked up later - I don't start to think about reducing rates until there's about a month to go.

Something I've also started recently is emailing previous guests with late availability offers at a special 'returning guest' price. They're a known quantity so less stressful for me if there isn't much time to sort out payment, etc.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
goosie
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Post by goosie »

Other LME properties also have some availability for August. We hav just had a possible booking for one of those weeks.

We are also fussier about bookings - we are most definitely not the pile it high, sell it cheap brand because it is our home and the income contributes significantly to the costs but it isn't the only reason we own it. If we don't rent it, we will use it !
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

The majority of holiday lets in Herefordshire and Shropshire are not yet fully booked in August. They tend to fill up more on short notice bookings, particularly sleep 2s.

Booking patterns vary hugely depending on areas.

(I just noticed, as I type in Herefordshire the spell check does not like it one bit. An alternative spelling given is 'Staffordshire'! Cornwall, Devon and Shropshire do not get the same treatment).
No web-site for now.
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minxx
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Post by minxx »

We have 1 week left in August, but I'm hopeful of this being filled as it's only mid May.

However we annoyingly also have 3 nights available in August as we decided to take a 4 night stay booking from someone who had already booked a week in June this year and wanted 4 nights with their grandchildren in August.

Not sure if we'll be able to shift a short break in August, don't families usually prefer 1 week stays during the 6 week holidays?

Our older guests tend to stay away during July/August and book in September when the kids have gone back to school
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

minxx - if you're finding the short August break hard to fill when it gets a bit nearer the time how about emailing some of your previous guests to let them know about it? Chances are they never consider a summer break because they just assume it'll be fully booked.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
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