I'm trying to book a holiday - how it feels!!!

[enid]

We have to go to the Isle of Man at the end of June beginning of July to get Kevin set up in his new job there. We are going for 9 days - I used to holiday in the IoM so am very excited to return. But booking a self catering pad - not easy.

1. Everyone is booked up - just thought that might interest you if you were looking for another spot to have a holiday home

2. The IoM government has a very good web site and comes up first by a long way in any search for holiday accommodation. So I put in my dates and they bring up all the places with availability or unknown availability. Yes you've guessed there are only a few with availability showing so then you have to ring up and ask - more time. The last guy I spoke to told me rather haughtily that they had been booked up for ages! Pity your availalbility isn't updated then to avoid timewasters like me said I

3. Choosing a cottage is difficult - if there were no internal photos we didn't bother.

4. Other off putters - coin op electricity, very dated furniture, no garden (just our opinion of course°

5. Many didn'thave their own web site and whilst this didn't put me off I was more attracted to the ones that did as I felt I could get a more in depth feel of the place.

So just some personal experiences that back up many of the observations we have made on this forum.

Still looking for somewhere I'm afraid but off to have another browse now - wish me luck! None of you guys have a place in the IoM I suppose - well if you did you're all so good you'd be booked up and showing that on your availability calendar

[Big Sis..]

Hi Enid ..

Good luck
Im sure you will persevere through....Its nice to see the other side of the coin isnt it and makes us all more aware what the renters are looking for....

Let us know how it goes ..

[Hells Bells]

Enid, I tried to book a cottage in Staithes, North Yorks, for a long weekend recently, and had similar problems. One owner (or rather agent), sent me an email three weeks after my initial enquiry. Others didn't even respond to answerphone messages. I found one gorgeous cottage with availability, got a reply and asked for the booking form, which I am still waiting for. We're going to Montreuil now.

[Alan Knighting]

Enid,

Is it all down to supply and demand?

In countries like France and Spain there is probably a sufficiency of supply so owners have to work hard on what they are offering and how they deal with enquiries.

Maybe the opposite applies in the Isle of Man? Maybe they’re all fully booked and don’t give a damn?

Fluffy

[Fil]

Enid,
Thank you for sharing. Much useful.

[Nivels]

I find it surprising how many people don't give details of their location in respoect to the distance of the local attractions / towns etc.

I was recently looking to book somewhere in Rome for my husband's birthday and in the end I gave up and booked a hotel as I wanted to make sure that I was central. Having never been to Rome, the suburb names meant very little to me.

The lesson for me is to make extra effort in the location descriptions and don't try to be too lazy by copying the local, non-descript tourist info on the area.

I'm sure I won't be the only one who finds it frustrating

[enid]

Maybe they’re all fully booked and don’t give a damn?

Could be Alan - still it's got us thinking about where to buy our next property!!!!!

Have booked somewhere now - it did take a long time though and I am def a supporter of availability calendars now. Also speed of response made a difference - even those that were booked were added to my future reference list if they replied quickly and warmly.

Of course I had no bookings for this week but now both our gites are booked!!! Thank goodness for friends and neighbours

[Giddy Goat]

Thanks for the insight Enid, and I'm very glad you're sorted now. Here's hoping s/he's an 'owner who cares'!

[Alan Knighting]

Enid,

Could be Alan - still it's got us thinking about where to buy our next property!!!!!

It’s funny you should say that.

For a variety of reasons Joan is becoming disillusioned or disinterested with running self catering cottages in the heart of the French countryside. She has set her sights on selling up and moving to somewhere very near the sea. I don’t mind one way or the other but it looks like a move is on the cards.

Without doing any research at all Joan has in mind either the north side of the Gironde Estuary or the southern coast of Brittany. I wonder, does anyone have any suggestion or does this subject deserve a thread of its own?

Fluffy – who hates moving house.

[Partridge]

No suggestions Alan but just because I'm nosey, can I ask how long you've been in France now ?

Partridge (hoping TC is ok as Enid has now sorted her accom)

[Alan Knighting]

No suggestions Alan but just because I'm nosey, can I ask how long you've been in France now ?

We've been resident in France since the beginning of the year 2000.

Alan

[Partridge]

Quite some time now then. Ah well, good on Joan for having such an adventurous spirit in thinking of moving again

[Alan Knighting]

Quite some time now then. Ah well, good on Joan for having such an adventurous spirit in thinking of moving again

I'm not so sure it's adventurous. Rather, I think it’s just having a practical approach to life. If things aren’t quite right then change them. If you are not living in the right place then move.

When we first moved to France a number of our friends said “Oh! You’re so brave�. We thought “No! There’s nothing brave about it, we’re only moving house�. I suspect one or two of the died-in-the-wool Brit friends were actually saying “You’re stark raving mad�. One friend went as far as saying “Alan, the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill�. You know what? He was absolutely right.

Putting all that aside for a moment, Joan is now looking at the next episode of our lives together. No more does she want to be involved in lettings or Listing Sites or hand-over days or cleaning or laundry; she doesn’t even want to be involved with Nigerian vicars. No! She now wants to have a life of her own; a life by the sea.

If anyone can give her any pointers she will be eternally grateful. If not she will still find her own little “place in paradise�.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

Alan, hubby was brought up by the sea (Percy Gdns, Tynemouth), and still misses not seeing it every day.

[Alan Knighting]

Helen,

Alan, hubby was brought up by the sea (Percy Gdns, Tynemouth), and still misses not seeing it every day.

In which case hubby lived very near the Grand Hotel. In which case hubby was a neighbour of one of my co-directors of M J Liddell & Son Ltd – John Liddell, who became the owner of the Linden Hall estate.

Small world isn’t it?

Alan