Helpful Answers To Frequently Asked Questions
View the answers to the questions that people using this website to book or advertise a holiday cottage most often ask.
We endeavour to provide a comprehensive description of everything you need to know about finding, booking or advertising a holiday property on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. However, if you have a question that isn't addressed here, feel free to ask. We'll endeavour to get an answer to you ASAP.
1. Do you charge a booking fee?
No! My Favourite Holiday Cottages does not charge a booking fee to anyone booking a property on this site - or to the property's owner.
2. What are the arrival/check-in and check-out/departure times?
These can vary. By far, the most used arrival and departure times are: Arrivals: After 4.00 pm. Departure: Bedore 10.00 am. However, check the specific times when booking. If you arrive early, bear in mind that you are unlikely to be admitted if the process of cleaning and preparing the cottage for you has not been completed. Some owners will agree on an arrival time to be there to greet you and show you around. Others will provide you with keysafe codes so that you can arrive at a time of your choosing after the specified earliest arrival time.
3. Is car parking available at my chosen holiday cottage?
If parking facilities are not mentioned in the cottage information, then do ask when enquiring.
4. Can we bring our pets with us on holiday?
Many cottages welcome pets. You can search for cottages using 'pet-friendly' or 'dog-friendly' as one of your search words. Some properties will limit the number of pets permitted or may have some criteria regarding their care. Ask about these before booking. The majority of cottages will make a small charge per pet per booking to cover the additional cleaning time required to remove dog hairs etc. Such terms should be displayed in their terms and conditions.
5. Is the cottage accessible to people with disabilities?
Click here to view a range of accessible cottages on the May Favourite Holiday Cottages website. Facilities will vary, but owners will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. You can also use the 'Visit Website' button within an advert to obtain further information about a property's accessible features. In addition, most owners now display an access policy on their sites.
6. Are cots/highchairs provided?
For baby-friendly properties, cots and highchairs should be listed as available along with other facilities such as changing mats, baby monitors and stairgates. If details are not included in the description, click on the Visit Website button or email your questions to the property's owner/manager.
7. Are towels and bed linen provided at the holiday cottage?
It's rare these days for towels and bed linen not to be included in the price. However, if this information isn't included, do ask before booking. Please note that when towels are provided, they are for use in the house only. You should always bring your own beach towels, although some properties may have beach towels available to rent.
8. Are holiday cottages accredited?
Where a holiday cottage has an accredited rating, e.g. from Visit England or Visit Scotland, then this information will be included within their description. Alternatively, use the Visit Website button for further clarification.
9. What is a refundable security deposit? How does it take to be refunded?
Some properties apply a refundable security deposit which is payable in advance. Unless you have broken or damaged anything in the property during your stay, it is usually refunded within a week of your departure (provided you have supplied banking/contact details).
It's always worth reporting anything you may have damaged or broken. Owners will be grateful. For small items such as a wine glass or plate, may even waive the charge. However, if you find that something is broken or not working when you arrive, you should report it immediately. Otherwise, you may be charged for it. If a deduction is going to be made, then, generally, you should be informed within 48-hours of this decision.
Some agencies will collect the refundable deposit through a pre-authorised payment from your card ahead of your stay at the holiday cottage.
10. Can I provisionally book a holiday cottage and pay later?
Most owners will try and be helpful land agree a period of time in which to pay your deposit. However, if you are booking at the last minute, this may only be for a few hours!
11. What's a short break?
A short break is any booking for less than 7 nights. Most properties will display the minimum number of nights a cottage can be booked for, e.g. 2 or 3 in their booking information. If not included within an advert, send an enquiry or click on the Visit Website button for further details.
Some properties may not offer short breaks during popular times such as school holidays, although they may suspend this policy for last-minute bookings. Please note that the price for, say, a 3-night booking won't be 3/7ths of the weekly rate. This is because there are fixed costs incurred whether you are staying for 2 nights or a full week. Typically, a 3-night short break is usually about 75% of the weekly rate, although this can vary.
Can I book a holiday cottage for more than two weeks?
Generally, yes, you can. However, you may need to check this with the owner or manager. Most cottages will allow bookings for up to four weeks. During peak periods, you are unlikely to get a discount for bookings longer than two weeks, but you should still get a weekly clean, fresh towels and bed linen.
13. Can I get a discount if I book a large property for only a few people?
Some holiday cottages do offer this facility, so it is always worth asking, especially if it is for an out of season booking. Click on the Visit website button to see if there is more information on the property's own website, or send an email enquiry asking if this discount option is available.
14. What are Booking Terms and Conditions?
These form part of the legal contract that you enter into with the owner or agent when you book a cottage. As well as stating what is and isn't included in the price, they cover your rights, responsibilities, liabilities and those of the owner/agent. It is important that you read these before you pay your deposit.
15. Do I get my money back if I cancel my booking?
Unforeseen circumstances do occur necessitating the cancellation of a booking. Your rights when this occurs will be listed in the Booking Terms and Conditions. This is why it is important to read these before making the booking. Generally, a deposit is non-refundable. However, balance payments may be refunded if a booking is cancelled before a minimum period ahead of the arrival date, e.g. 8 weeks. To mitigate this, it is always best to take out travel insurance so that you are not left out of pocket in the event of a cancellation. Any cancellation should always be confirmed in writing.
COVID 19: Many properties will have a specific cancellation clause relating to cancellations arising from the introduction by the Government of laws and restrictions that prevent you from taking your holiday as planned. Please ensure that you check the terms and conditions relating to this issue before booking.
16. How do I book and pay for my holiday cottage?
Payment options will vary, so check with the owner or agent before booking or visit the booking page on a property's own website for further information. These days, most properties can be paid for by bank transfer with other options, including card payments, PayPal and by cheque. If you are booking from overseas and paying by international bank transfer, then make allowances to pay this option's cost.
17. If we arrive a day later or depart a day earlier than our booking, do we still have to pay the full amount?
In short, yes, you do. A property will have been held in good faith for you in accordance with the contract and made ready for your arrival at the agreed time. If you change your plans, then you shouldn't expect the owner to be out of pocket as a result.
18. How do I send in a review or provide feedback (good or bad)?
Many holiday cottages will have a visitors' book in which you can write a review. Some will also provide a feedback sheet in which you can note things that might need to be addressed, e.g. a lightbulb that needs changing or batteries for TV remotes needing to be replaced, which owners will find very helpful. You can also write reviews on sites such as Trip Advisor or email them to the owner or property agent.
You have 3 choices: by phone, e-mail or by clicking the website link to a property’s own website. All 3 contact options are displayed on a cottage’s main listing page. To open that, click on the thumbnail listing which appears in any search you
Many holiday cottage owners have chosen to display an availability calendar which they keep up to date, although use these as a guide rather than rely upon it, as some calendars may not show all the latest bookings. Some calendars are the ones displayed on an owner’s own website. These tend to be fully up to date as every time the owner updates their calendar, it is automatically updated on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. Some calendars will even give you the option to book online using the calendar. If you cannot see a calendar, click the button to visit a property’s own website to check out availability there. Finally, you can contact owner's direct by phoning or emailing them. The phone number will be on the main listing together with an Enquiry Button that will open a self-addressed e-mail for you to add your request for information and availability.
That would be nice, as this site has some lovely holiday cottages! However, no, we don’t. All cottages are either individually owned or managed by a small family agency that operates around the cottage, so it is likely to know it well. Use the contact details provided to get in touch.
Sometimes! It depends on whether a cottage has an online booking facility on its own website. If it does, it can display its calendar on My Favourites. Select the dates and follow the instructions. You’ll be pleased to note that, unlike some other sites, you won’t pay a booking fee or an inflated price to book a cottage online using My Favourite Holiday Cottages. Owners are not charged a commission for bookings they get from their listing on this site so they won’t be paying any more than the advertised price on this site and/or the property’s own website.
It is because we ask guests to share their favourite things about a cottage – what they really liked about it and why it worked for them. This site, after all, is all about ‘Favourites’.
That is an excellent question to ask! We display the date a cottage began advertising on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. The older the date, the more you can be sure the cottage is genuine, as it only takes a few weeks, i.e. until the first ‘scammed’ guests arrive, for the scam itself to be exposed. That doesn’t mean all cottages with only a few weeks on the site are suspect. The following safety check is its website link.
As you know, website owners are more easily trackable (which scammers don’t like). They also take a lot of time and a fair amount of money to create, which makes them far less appealing to those looking to make a fast and naughty buck. If in doubt, visit the website and check its owners. If you are still concerned, when searching for cottages, select the ‘Agency Only’ option, which will display only those properties advertised by an agency.
We've gone to great lengths to make uploading a cottage as easy as possible! First, register to the site by clicking 'sign up' and creating an account. Once you've done this, you can access your member's area and add a new cottage - you can stop at any time, and we will save your progress automatically for you to return to. Once you've completed your listing, you can click 'save', and you will be taken to the payment page. You can always add another cottage if you only want to make one payment, but don't worry; the multi-cottage discount will apply anyway. Once you have paid for your listing(s), we will receive a notification message. We then check your listing is complete and up to the site standard and put it Live. You can see the progress of this moderation from your cottage management page, where you can edit your cottage and manage your listings. If you get stuck at any time, click the "help and feedback" button in the bottom right of your screen, and we will get back in touch ASAP.
Every holiday property advertised on this site has a link to a Map facility. There will be a button on each listing for you to see this. Use this and select the ‘Satellite’ option to obtain an aerial view of the property. You can zoom in or out as required.
All the holiday cottages on this site are in the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Easy! When you upload details of your holiday cottage, you will be asked to manually enter the name of the town or village in which your property stands. If you are the first person to name a location, the site will automatically generate a page in that name, so for a while at least, it will always be on Page One! As soon as possible, we will write a 400-word description of the location outlining its merits and appeal to visitors. If you’d like to have a go at drafting a description or would like to suggest some places to go, see, do etc., then email them to us. If we use it, we will give you a month’s upgrade to a ‘Featured Favourite’ listing to help generate more traffic to your advert.