If you like story-telling and want to harness its power in your holiday cottage marketing, you will love it.

The blog article itself is good, but when you can find an hour, I recommend you watch the video of Alan's presentation at a recent Vacation Rental conference. 

My Favourite Holiday Cottages is a big fan of Alan - his ideas and strategies for promoting holiday cottages don't just entertain - they work. No techno jargon. He's an excellent storyteller. You'll want to have a pen and paper handy, not because of what he recommends you do, but because you'll be inspired to come up with your own ideas. 

We've used his approach to 'sell' the experience of a local walk linked to a holiday cottage:

Rush Hour

Field of Dreams

Firewall

Hedge Fun(d)

 

To read and watch, make yourself a cuppa, grab that pen and paper - you'll need them!. It could transform the way you market your holiday cottage and lead you to generate more bookings than ever before.

 

Feel free to use the comments section below to offer your feedback. We'll pass the good ones on to Alan!

This video from Rentals United talks about the future of holiday cottages. Well, if you read the case study from Alan Egan on Vacation Rental Domination, you'll realise that the future is already here. The good news is that it doesn't involve buying a raft of technology or expensive furniture. In fact, for the immediate future, you'll just need to be good at story-telling.

Watch the video or read the transcript to find out how you can subtly adjust how you present your holiday cottage to make it the holiday of choice for all visiting your website while seeking their favourite holiday cottage to book.

According to Vanessa de Souza, it's mainly about creating and conveying experiences that a holiday in your property will deliver. It goes back to that marketing adage "sell the sizzle, not the sausage", which proves that the future doesn't always need to be new - just reinvented to fulfil a contemporary human desire.

However, the article goes beyond what you can do to your cottage to help it sell. It also considers where and how you will market it in the future. Although a chunk of this bit is essentially the advert part of the video, it is interesting nonetheless and does explain what the term 'channel management' means.

That is followed by a serious look into what might be coming down the line a few more years ahead. Ideas such as 'Haptic Technology' (feel that crisp bed linen on the screen and smell the roses) or face reading software that interprets your emotional needs to find cottages that will be good for your spirit, followed by Keyless doors and programmable dreaming beds. Well, you'd buy one for home, wouldn't you? So take a chip containing your favourite dreams and insert it in your bed. It'll be like taking your music library on holiday.

OK, this is drifting into what many would presume to be the territory of fantasists, but who knows? Once such an idea is out there, reality will follow!

Watch the video or read the transcript: The Vacation Rental of the Future.

If you haven't got a business card or need to replenish your stock, this is a 5-minute read with helpful guidelines to share with your designer or use yourself. 

Deciding what to say on your business card for your holiday cottage - and designing its appearance is probably something that didn't take a lot of thought - just slap on the necessary contact details in a readable way, hand them around and bish-bash-bosh in rolls the dosh.

Oh, if only.

Like the best things in life, simplicity is essential but never that simple. This blog from Lodgify outlines the information your card should contain while pointing out the role that 'white space' plays in ensuring people can and will feel encouraged to put your card to good use, i.e. to start a future conversation with you about your property. Read it: WHAT TO INCLUDE ON YOUR VACATION RENTAL BUSINESS CARD.

Remember, business cards aren't a bit of 'vanity ware' - they are a valuable tool in your quest for bookings and effective management of your holiday home. Even the choice of colours should play a part - as they help to stimulate the correct emotional response from potential guests (or suppliers).

If you have any direct experience of good and bad practices with business cards - especially for holiday rentals, then add your comments below.

All comments are moderated before being activated to ensure they are genuine and not a direct-sales promotion.

Love it or hate it - you cannot ignore the increase in the popularity of online booking software. It's been a while since the number of independently-owned holiday cottages booked online exceeded the number booked manually. 

These days, having a website with an enquiry address and phone number is not enough. And one thing we can all be sure about is that there are plenty of choices out there! People want to book straight away and, if they can't, look for another suitable cottage with that all-important online booking option.

My Favourite Holiday Cottages allows owners to display their online booking calendars to get bookings direct from their listing (without any commission charges or booking fees applied, I might add). 

If you are still managing bookings by hand, it's probably a reasonable assumption to say that you are now missing out and losing revenue. One of the benefits is that you get the full contact details of your guests, as addresses have to be congruent with their payment card details.

Where Do you Start?

If finding the right booking software is the first challenge, so you should see this report from Rentals United as a helpful starting point.

This is as good a place to start as any: The report entitled 'Top 40 Vacation Rental Management Software 2018' contains many Online Booking Software packages available to UK Holiday Cottage Owners.

Your other option is to look a the sites of some of your competitors and see what options they are using (and how well-filled their calendars are). You'd be surprised how many people continue to use software they are not completely happy with because they haven't gotten around to searching for a better one! If you look at properties further afield, in areas where your cottages will not be considered competition, you can even call an owner to ask for their feedback.

Here at My Favourite Holiday Cottages, our personal software favourite is SuperControl, although this is more expensive than other options. If you own multiple cottages, it is a much more viable option, especially as the financial reports it produces will help keep your accountancy bills down! It's the all-singing, all-dancing option with a friendly and experienced support team waiting in the wings to offer free advice whenever required.

Here's what it looks like on a listing: Sunnycliffe House, Woolacombe.

If you already have an online booking function or want to ask questions about it, then use the comments section below to find out what others have to say. NB: We moderate this to ensure that replies are relevant and not simply an excuse to advertise!

 

Click Here to View Advice on choosing the right online booking software.

 

Don't Be a Priceless Holiday Cottage

We have reintroduced the option for cottage owners to include their rental price list. It's always a good day when we can introduce an improvement to the My Favourite Holiday Cottages website, especially when it is in response to a suggestion from a cottage owner or potential booker. So, step forward, chief persuader Penny Thompson who deserves the credit (and we mean credit  - not blame) for its appearance. Penny, by the way, is the owner of the beautifully furnished Little Bothy in Shropshire, where there is an excellent Mistletoe Festival that makes for a perfect winter weekend break).

Anyway... We've been surprised by the number of people who use My Favourite Holiday Cottages (My Favourites), stressing the importance of prices - even if only as a guideline. So many of you looking to book a cottage said you were reluctant to send an enquiry if you weren't sure a property was within your budget.

It appears that displaying a price list puts you further ahead in the food queue than a property without.

So, we have now given property owners the option to upload prices and will encourage them to do so, as their presence benefits everybody. It takes less time than listening to a midweek episode of The Archers to upload them. 

We've made the price table as easy as possible to upload, giving owners two choices:

1. The Summary Option:  To display seasonal price guidelines, e.g. from the 4th of January - the 3rd of April, prices range from £350 to £475

2. The full monty: the date range and price for each price band over a year.

Good news for all parties involved!! Armed with this information, it means that as a potential booker, you can despatch your enquiry in the knowledge that the response won't come with any price shocks. As an owner, you are less likely to receive an enquiry that wastes your time.

 

Online Booking Options

Quite a few properties on the site already display prices because they have their own online booking software, which My Favourites allows them to display. This gives you an up-to-date availability calendar and prices. It also means you can book a cottage online from its listing on My Favourites. Even better news, nobody - guest or owner gets charged for using this service: No booking charges. No commission fees. All payments go straight from the booker to the owner - we don't touch a penny.

Upload your prices now. Don't wait for The Archers to start. Their are potential guests waiting!

 

 

What Can You Expect to Find in An Eco Cottage?

From humble, earthy beginnings to luxury chic, in terms of living standards and comfort, eco-cottages have come a long way in recent years. Staying in an environmentally-friendly holiday cottage these days is as much a pleasure as it is gratifyingly satisfying to be kinder to the planet than most kinds of tourism. Try one – it’s a pleasure and an education!

My Favourite Holiday Cottages invited Chris Burton, the owner of two enviously beautiful and award-winning Cotswold eco-cottages, to write about what makes them such a light touch on the environment without compromising on luxury.

Over to you, Chris…

 

How to Have an amazing holiday and tread lightly upon the earth.

When we opened The Chestnuts holiday cottage just over ten years ago, Eco Holidays had a touch of the worthy about them. ‘Eco cottages’ as they become known were often dimly lit - using as few lights as possible, swaddled in thick dark curtains to keep the warmth in and the cold out. Extra layers were often de rigueur just to keep your core temperature up. I remember one eco-holiday where I barely took off my bobble hat - inside! But we knew the ethos was right, we just needed to do it differently.

Holidays are a special time – time to relax and indulge yourself, they shouldn’t be about giving things up (such as comfort) or having to wear extra layers.  

 

The Chestnuts - a Cotswolds Luxury Eco Cottage in Burford

The Chestnuts and its sister cottage, Culls, deliver just that, and the majority of our guests don’t start off looking for an Eco property. As far as we are concerned, all properties should do what they can and when they can to tread lightly on the planet.

We don’t have any high-tech ground source heat pumps or even solar panels. Both of our properties are heritage listed, and Culls dates from 1670 - so structural changes such as double glazing are not an option. But we work with what we have got, and by the ‘Small Steps approach’, you can holiday in Luxury whilst helping the planet. 

Blessed with naturally thick stone walls, most Cotswolds cottages are naturally insulating. But we have added to that great start with curtains that are thermally lined, and floors and ceilings are packed with added insulation. Our underfloor heating heats the buildings slowly and softly, and padding around in bare feet on warm flagstone floors is one of life’s small but eminently memorable pleasures. 

From the start, it was important to us to be accredited, and we have been a member of Green Tourism for over ten years - holding their prestigious Gold award, as well as running as a Carbon Neutral Business. We are audited, and we like that it keeps us on our toes chatting with the auditor is always a great source of information. To use a cliché, ‘being green is a journey, not a destination’.

 

We are big on natural fabrics – crisp linen sheets, sumptuous woollen throws and sheepskin rugs. Bamboo chopping boards and bowls in the kitchen and reusable shopping bags. We buy only Eco-friendly toiletries and cleaning products that are kind to the environment but also to you, the guest – there are no parabens in our shampoos or conditioners that we leave you to enjoy.

 

Living the Holiday Life Your Way

Holiday cottages are all about living life your way - in a super new space that, for the weekend or the week, is your very own, and although we don’t supply you with food, we have a number of staples left for you to enjoy – Tea, Coffee, sugar etc…but you can be assured even these are all either locally sourced, Fairtrade or organic.

Where possible, we buy in bulk, lessening the need for unnecessary packing. But we all end up with some paper and glass waste, and so we have made recycling at our cottages super easy – no rummaging frantically in a shed down the bottom of the garden on the night before you leave. We don’t like chores as much as the next person!

Our cottages may be hundreds of years old, but our attitude to technology isn’t. Arrive in your electric car at The Chestnuts, and you can plug it into the PodPoint charger. With the help of the Nest learning thermostat and Smart electrical meter, we can keep our cottages humming along at the most economic but comfortable temperatures. Plus, we have the very latest in electrical appliances - Smart TVs, sound systems and A+-rated kitchen equipment.

We would love solar panels, but until we can get a solution that isn’t at odds with our beautiful Cotswold stone roofs, we buy 100% green generated electricity so we can sleep easy knowing we aren’t depleting the fossil fuel bank.

 

With A Little Help For Our Friends

Giving back is part of our ethos, and with our guest's help, we support a number of charities that help our wider environment, including The Barn Owl trust and Caring for the Cotswolds.  Our Bit Bob soft owl toys, purchased by guests, help raise awareness of the plight of endangered species, and we support Three Barn owls at the Barn Owl Trust. You may actually be lucky enough to see one of these majestic birds in the wild in The Cotswolds (especially near Culls Cottage). 

Eco-friendly living is now the epitome of cool, and enjoying a holiday in an Eco Property is a real alternative for everyone. You don’t have to sacrifice style or comfort to take care of the environment. We truly believe our cottages are where Luxury and Sustainability meet.

Thanks, Chris!

 

One thing Chris doesn’t mention is how an eco-holiday experience changes your life when you return home. From installing Smart technology, green energy, or simply seeking out paraben-free products (I had to look up the name – they ain’t nice!), you may find yourself making a few life changes back at home!

 

Useful Eco links:

• Culls Cottage, Lechlade-on-Thames
• The Chestnuts, Burford
• More UK Eco Cottages To View
• Green Tourism 20 years of caring for People, Places and our Planet.
• Carbon Offset your travel miles:
  • Co2Balance
  • The Energy Revolution Trust (if booking tickets for Festivals)
• Earth Hour
• The Barn Owl Trust
• Green  Motion (for sustainable energy car & van hire)
• Caring for The Cotswolds

Here's the thing. According to Rentals.com, 82% of guests are more likely to complete a reservation for your holiday cottage if your listing or website displays evidence of Smart Tech items in your holiday cottage. Even better news, 60% will be happy to pay more for holiday homes using Smart Technology. What's not to like?

Of course, it's necessary to get to grips with what Smart Tech items you can install in your property (start with ones that will encourage better energy efficiency to keep those bills down). And then, of course, your guests will need to know how to use it...

So, read this handy guide from Rentals.com, which covers all you need to know about installing and managing Smart Technology in the home and ways to ensure your guests can use them properly. It's not simply a list of smart items but a perfect plan for managing your inventory without causing problems once in place.

Even (Holiday) Cottage Industries Need Plans to Be Successful

 

To have a successful holiday cottage business, you need more than just a holiday cottage and adverts on My Favourite Holiday Cottages and other leading self-catering directory sites. Your success will heavily influence how you market and manage your holiday rental business. For that, you need a plan.

Like many people, holiday cottage owners can prove amazingly resilient to the idea of setting aside a reasonable amount of time to prepare a business plan. And yet, it's equally amazing to hear people who have committed to designing a plan commenting on the increase in bookings and revenues they have achieved as a result. They also say that having a plan to stick to makes managing the business much easier and simpler.

When working on a task managing or marketing your holiday cottage, ask yourself why I am doing this. What will it achieve that is important to the success of my business? If you say exactly why your actions will help you achieve a key benefit (more bookings, increased rates, saving time, lower maintenance time/expense etc. then you need a plan written down with critical aims, objectives and tactics.

Read the Lodgufy article, as it identifies the questions you should ask to help you draft your plan. In addition, this 12-Step Business Plan for Vacation Rentals template from Lodgify addresses the obvious and not-so-obvious things you need to consider on the road to economic success. 

Don't be put off by the jargon-like feel of the titles. The 12-Steps are:

1. Executive Summary
2. Company Analysis
3. Industry Analysis
4. Customer Analysis
5. Competitive Analysis
6. Operations Plan
7. Marketing Plan
8. Distribution Plan
9. Revenue Management Plan
10. Financial Plan
11. Key Milestones and Business Future
12. Appendix

READ MORE

 

You're Welcome! Mouth-Watering Cottage 'Welcome Packs'

That's the title of a forthcoming blog article featuring images of inspiring welcome packs for guests. There's nothing better than arriving at a holiday cottage after a long journey and finding a little basket of snacks and perhaps something grander to get the holiday off to a cracking start. 

 

Your Photos Wanted

If you provide a welcome pack that goes beyond tea, biscuits, milk and possibly a loaf of bread, send us an image. We'll display the best of them together with a photo of your cottage and a link to your listing on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. 

Include a list of contents as well as examples of anything else you do to make your guests feel truly welcome on arrival. 

 

Email them to The Holiday Homefront, and we'll do you proud.

 

Image Credit

Thanks to Claire Franklin at The Cottage Gillamoor for supplying an example of the rejuvenating goodies greeting guests as they cross the threshold of her North Yorkshire Holiday Cottage.

 

Links to More Good stuff from the Holiday Homefront - June 2018

How To Market Your Holiday Cottage By Thinking of it as a Shop

6 Surprising Stats to Help Advertise Your Vacation Rental

What Holiday Cottage Upgrades Will Your Guests Soon Consider Essential?

Boost Your Holiday Cottage's Website Rankings & Traffic with Google My Business Reviews

Is Google Chrome About to Block Your Holiday Cottage Website?

HomeAway To Stop Charging Guest Fees And Start Charging Owners 

HomeAway News: Hotels and Booking Fees

 

Holiday Inspirations From My Favourite Holiday Cottages

Our Favourite Small Theme Parks For Days Out With Small Children on Holiday 

Holidays For Walkers: Our Favourite UK Walking Festivals and Holiday Cottages

 

Read these articles for more information on Welcome Packs for Holiday Cottages: 

 

1. Ways To Ensure Your Holiday Cottage Guests Feel Welcome

2. Ten Ways to Ensure Guests Feel Welcome and Cared For

3. Ideas for a Wow Factor Welcome Pack For Your Holiday Cottage

4. What Should You Include In A Holiday Cottage Welcome Pack to Impress Guests?

When summer comes, the UK seems to go festival crazy. Across the country, tents, wellies and sleeping bags are thrust into cars, ruc-sacs and the occasional supermarket trolly for a 2-3 night shindig somewhere in the country with thousands of others.

But don’t think festivals are all about high-decibel music. There’s a growing breed of absolutely wonderful family festivals with events and activities for parents and children of all ages, from the tweenies to teenagers, to run alongside the music.

Most festivals have campsites, but if you don’t fancy sleeping in a sea of mud if it rains, let alone investing in a carload of camping equipment likely only to get one use, then why not combine your days at a festival with nights in a comfortable holiday cottage with clean loos, hot showers, fridges and Wi-Fi.

Here are our Top Ten Favourite Family Festivals with a suggested nearby holiday cottage in which to stay for the weekend.

 

1. Sail away to Lakefest

When: Mid-August Where: Eastnor Deer Park, Herefordshire

Lakefest’s activities tent promises family-friendly fun with pirate-themed crafts, yoga for all ages and a place to relax in their chill-out zone whilst the kids are distracted with storytelling. Discover More

Where to stay: The Coach House. Sleeps 4

From Eastnor Deer Park to your own little garden of delights at this quaint Herefordshire Cottage

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2. The Big Feastival for Little Beasties

August Family Fun in The Cotswolds

When: Late August Where: The Cotswolds

Whether you want to brush up on your circus skills, treat yourself to a My Little Pony Makeover or explore the ‘Little Dudes’ shopping Village’, The Big Feastival has a whole host of activities waiting for the entire family to enjoy. Discover More

Where to stay:**Yarrow Cottage.Sleeps 4

A little touch of Cotswold bliss calms you down after each Feastival day.

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3. Shambala

If Shambala followed by bedtime stories in a country cottage  = Utopia, then this is it!

When: Late August Where: Northampton

After a busy day of sandpits, performers and crafts, get ready for bedtime with a cup of cocoa and story-time in the family yurt. This whole funky, utterly creative festival is family-friendly, with plenty to explore. Discover More

Where to stay:**Stable Cottage. Sleeps four**

It’s a little over the border into Oxfordshire but still within easy reach of Northampton, and it is so lovely it is hard to resist.

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4. An Early-bird shout-out for Elderflower Fields

Entering The Lazy Glades at Elderflower Fields

When: Late May Where: East Sussex

This is one of the best family festivals around, with a lineup of activities and performers that always keep the younger ones in mind. With mountain boarding, fairy preservation walks, and a big family picnic being just a few items on the schedule, it’s definitely worth checking out what’s on! Discover More

Where to stay: Stable Cottage Sleeps 6

Sleep like a Log at Big and Comfortable Stable Cottage After a Day in Elderflowers Fields

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5. Valley Fest

When: Early August Where: Somerset

Whether it’s having a go at driving the vintage tractors or catching a performance in the theatre tent, this festival doesn’t need a kids’ area because there’s something for them to enjoy around every corner. Discover More

Where to stay:

Cedar Lodge in Cheddar Sleeps 4

Chill out in your private hot tub after a day at Valley Fest

. Sleeps 4

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Wish You Where Here?

 

6. 3 Wishes Fairy Festival

When: Mid-June Where: Torpoint, Cornwall

Set your true magical self free at this fairy, unicorn and mermaid-themed festival. Full of fancy dress and fairy school activities, it promises to be a fun-filled weekend for the whole family. Don’t worry; Pirates are also welcome! Discover More

Where to stay: My View, Cawsand

Get together with another family in this large seaside holiday cottage with all the sea views you could wish for. Sleeps 11

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7. Curious Arts Festival

Whatever it is...they are all smiling!

When: Late July Where: Hampshire

Film workshops, special performers and bedtime stories are what we’d love to kick our summer holidays off with. Luckily Curious Arts Festival has all this and much more, making it a great summer festival for families.

Where to stay: Inglewood Cottage, New Milton in Hampshire. Sleeps 6

Inglewood  - A Coastal Cottage in Hampshire. Curiously handy!

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8. Y Not Festival

When the family have reached an age when there’s a crossover in musical tastes - Y Not go?

When: Late July Where: Pikehall, Derbyshire 

Just look at that lineup for 2018. From toddlers to teens, everyone’s included here. With free entry for Under 12s, Y Not believes in good music, books and entertainment for all. Join in the sports day or burn your energy off at the disco; this one is not to be missed! Discover More

Where to stay: Robertswood House, Matlock.

Y Not book Robertswood House for a dual family weekend at the Festival?

 

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9. Into the Trees

When: Mid-September 

Where: Ashdown Forest, Sussex

From the team behind Elderflower Fields, Into the Trees is an excellent way for kids to learn how to play, live and interact with the woods. With tree climbing, rope swings and wildlife shows, there is plenty to keep them entertained whilst you discover the yummy food tents. Discover More

Where to stay: Stable Holiday Cottage, East Sussex

Come back to earth - but not with a bump at the comfortable Stable Cottage in Sussex

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10. Blue Dot

See the Stars - Reach for the Stars at Blue Dot in Cheshire

When: Late July 

Where: Cheshire

Calling all future astronauts! Blue Dot comes with their own family-friendly scientists, ready to explore the great unknown with you through talks, games, live experiments. Or take advantage of the fresh air we have here on earth with a picnic and music by the play area. Oh, and the likes of The Chemical Brothers and The Flaming Lips line up on the main stage. Discover More

Where to stay: Gwenoldy - Swallows Rest

Between Cheshire and the North Wales Coast - spend a day at Blue Dot and another on the Beach recuperating.