Refurb- what are guests looking for?

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Cattle farmer
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Refurb- what are guests looking for?

Post by Cattle farmer »

We have finally found a property that ticks all our boxes. It has an up and running fhl which lets well with Sykes . The interior is boring and slightly dated, four ticks on the Sykes scale. I would probably not book it myself. The question is what do people want from their holiday let?
Farmer hoping to diversify
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

Savoy standards and Premier Inn prices!

Others are more current with customer demand than I am, but a good rule of thumb is “what would YOU like to see in your holiday home?”
You’ve already touched on it when you said you would not book it yourself, so take it from there, what could you do so that you would happily book it?

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Whatever you do, the property must always be spotlessly clean, so always have this in mind when renovating - how easy will it be and how quickly can it be cleaned??

Eg If you will allow dogs, then carpets may not be the best option in every room, and choose leather couches and chairs rather than fabric which will get dog hairs stuck in them (the dogs don’t read the terms and conditions so sooner or later one will jump on your furniture even if you don’t allow it).

Don’t add nice touches that will just become dust magnets and never, ever put anything in the property that has sentimental value for you as the guests won’t share your feelings.

Guests want a well equipped property that is easy to use. Particularly a well equipped kitchen.
High speed WiFi, decent TVs, dishwasher, big fridge freezer as a minimum.

Don’t skimp on the amount of dishes you supply or on the quality of bedding and towels.
(Dishes and glasses you can probably skimp a bit on quality for some of them as they will get broken, but choose styles that you can easily add to.)

No one expects to pay extra for heating or WiFi. If your property is in the UK you will need to have some form of heating and proper central heating is a must (no more storage heaters)

Think about who is your target market, and what prices can a good property in your area reasonably attract. Just go on line and look as though you were going to book yourself. That will give you an idea of the local standards then decide where you plan to fit in.

If you have not stayed in a self catering property in the last 5 years then book yourself in for a few days or a weekend somewhere and see for yourself what it is like from the other side.

Where abouts will the property be? Best of luck with it.
Cattle farmer
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Post by Cattle farmer »

Thank you for all that. The property is in the North York Moors National Park, handy for Whitby and the northern coast. It is well appointed but lacks style. For example, all the furniture is golden pine and looks decidedly ‘last century ‘. I was wondering if upcycling it would be an option. I am handy with a paintbrush!
Farmer hoping to diversify
AndrewH
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Post by AndrewH »

Cattle farmer wrote:Thank you for all that. The property is in the North York Moors National Park, handy for Whitby and the northern coast. It is well appointed but lacks style. For example, all the furniture is golden pine and looks decidedly ‘last century ‘. I was wondering if upcycling it would be an option. I am handy with a paintbrush!
Yes, go for it Cattle farmer. There's nothing worse than pine gone yellow with age. Just a personal opinion, but I would suggest a muted neutral colour is easier on the eye than a strong bright coloured paint. As an alternative to painting, I have heard that back in the UK you can buy proprietary paint washes that will do the job for you. Where we live, our pine-clad vaulted ceilings went from a nice whitish colour to a nasty yellow over a period of 10 years, but that was remedied with a mixed water and white emulsion paint wash. You have to experiment, but there was a bit more water than paint in the mix.
SW31
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Post by SW31 »

We keep walls, bedding, towels etc all white, using a good quality white paint as well. Colour is provided by rugs, curtains and light furnishing touches. I’m glad we did. Walls often get marked so it’s either a careful rub off or a paintbrush job. Towels and bedding are ‘nuked’ in the washing machine if badly marked.

If they can damage it they will. We’ve found that if you keep to this maxim and keep your decor to a high quality uncomplicated finish it will be appreciated by guests.
Sandra J
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Post by Sandra J »

Upcycling will look good at the beginning but remember your furniture will take a lot of knocks and scratches so could quickly become tired looking without regular paint touch up. Another consideration is whether you will accept pets and children then easy clean furniture is essential. Good luck with your new venture. We have a holiday let on our farm in the NYMNP.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Sandra J wrote:Upcycling will look good at the beginning but remember your furniture will take a lot of knocks and scratches so could quickly become tired looking without regular paint touch up.
Here in France it's called shabby chic and is a godsend! I deliberately sand down / introduce bare patches right from the word go. Trying to keep paint looking pristine is an uphill task, so I set out to make it look deliberately aged. Seems to work. :) Means I can buy a lot of my furniture secondhand and then turn it into something special.
I think the minimal look needs a lot of skill to stop it just looking bare / functional. If you are not doing ornaments etc for reasons of cleanliness, how about interest on the walls. We have a mixture of orignal pictures and some lovely wall metalwork. Tiling/mosaics can interest as well.
If you have any outside area, I recommend outsize plant pots - they look classy and more dramatic than small pots.
Cattle farmer
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Post by Cattle farmer »

Thank you SPJ ( and other posters)! It looks like we are on the same wavelength.
Farmer hoping to diversify
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Really good lighting can make a huge difference. Directional spots, occasional soft lighting, good reading lights. I always make sure I have at least one light on in each room when guests arrive - including the lights over the worktop in the kitchen and the small wall lights over the beds - adds warmth and atmosphere.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Another thought - if you can, be generous with books, CDs, DVDs, games, welcome pack, etc Some people here will say guests don't notice / don't say thank you / it's a waste. I disagree. Often my guests comment it's like coming home and these are the sorts of touches that contribute to that feeling.
Sunbeam
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Post by Sunbeam »

Highly recommend keeping "easy-changeover-cleaning" as a priority/focus when thinking about reforming a property.

Specially bathrooms - if you avoid basin pedestals (so they are fixed to the wall with nothing underneith) and lavatories are flush to the wall it's easier to clean the floors and removes spaces for dust and dirt to collect.

I know some people don't like shower curtains - but for us we have very simple tiled shower units and curtains - very easy to clean and no sliding doors that get wobbly, damaged or hide dirt or impossible to rid of limescale (if you are in an area with hard water).

Furniture that is easy to move around - including beds so they can be easily cleaned underneith and behind.

For us, our holiday rental house is different to our own. A rental gets a deep clean every week/changeover. Am ashamed to say that our own house is deep cleaned significantly less frequently.

Finding a balance between simple and stylish can be tricky - there is a risk of being too bland. But as others have mentioned - interesting tiles and artwork can lift simply furnished rooms.

But do it in a style that you love. Your property will be mainly booked for what it looks like (after the basics like number of bedrooms, etc) and for us, I think it's important that we love our house - though we know some people won't - but we attract guests who we hope love it too so least you've got something in common - it's likely to be the only thing. Not put this very eloquently, but hope it makes some sense.

It's an exciting time :-)
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

Painting the furniture sounds a good idea...

I was lucky to be given some attractive paintings and some mirrors by a cousin whose father (my uncle) - had just died.

I used these, added some prints I wasn't using at home and bought more mirrors I really liked from IKEA.

My cottage was actually painted in magnolia - it works I kept it . The one exception is now the bathroom (pale grey)

Neutral curtains in the 2 bedrooms came from charity shops. I bought fabric and made curtains in the living room .. and had cushions made to match.

I made a big effort in the kitchen with equipment and nice crockery etc. I have bought lots of books on the local area, laminated maps for walkers etc. I bought good quality mattresses. All appreciated by guests.

Typically guests describe my cottage as:beautiful, comfortable, very clean

Good luck .. let us know how you get on.

Jenny
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

A bit late probably but things that I consider very important are good wifi (that has already been mentioned) and a good quality shower. We bought our little place in Sheringham three years ago as a finished totally refurbished flat with really nice fittings throughout........apart from a plastic shower tray. From day one it got on my nerves when we stayed as it creaked as you moved around. Everything else about the shower was top notch. I never could understand the logic as decent solid trays are not that much more expensive in the great scheme of things. This Winter I forked out over £800 to get a lovely solid Matki tray installed with a new surround. Soooooo much nicer!
If you are not in a hurry to do everything at once you can save huge amounts of money buying perfect condition used good quality furniture. There is plenty of it around. It helps if you have a big car or van though! We decided to go for M&S Sonoma range. We got a large sideboard, large wardrobe, chest of drawers and a pair of bedside tables for well under £1000 that would have been £2500 new. You honestly couldn’t tell them from new. They will last for many years. I hired a van to pick up some big bits, but they are only £50/day.
Resist the temptation to have loads of nick-nacks all over the place. It will just mean that cleaning will take you longer if you are doing it or it won’t get done properly if others do it.
Cattle farmer
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Post by Cattle farmer »

We have finally exchanged contracts and will be proud owners of a farm based holiday cottage in a months time. We have agreed to take on the current bookings and will need to sign up with Sykes, ( the previous owner’s choice) to do so. At the moment Sykes seem very accommodating. Any bear traps in the contract I should be aware of?
Farmer hoping to diversify
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