buying a holiday chalet to let

[Brains]

We’ve just booked a week in August in a Cornwall cottage right on the beach. It works out at £175 a night for a family of 4 in the middle of the school holidays which is a good price in my opinion. We much prefer the casual nature of self catering rather than the fuss of a hotel.

I'd call that a bargain

If fact such a good bargain, where is it ?
(As long as it's not next to the Hells Angels Heavy Metal festival)

 

[Brains]

I googled a hotel in Cornwall that I fancied. Was gob smacked at the price.....in June.
Bed only £225.00
Breakfast £25.00 pp
AND....staggering.....£x for bed sheets**
**no explanation given for that.

For £25 I'd expect a very full English, with all the trimmings. That is the upper end of restaurant prices for breakfast.

The sheets thing, odd they mention it, it's normally something you would find labeled in your room on arrival, like raiding the minibar.
But it's a genuine cost to the hotel of at least £20 per change over.
The advantage is you only pay it once if you are staying a few nights and it's normally built into the bill.
But I know some people expect clean sheets every day when staying at a decent hotel.
When I stay at 4 and 5 star hotels I always ask them not to change sheets and towels unless I'm there more than a few days.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

£175 / 4 = around £44 per person... even by my stingy standards, that's OK.

I can only conclude that Cornwall is way more expensive than the Scottish regions that I’m used to.

 

[Beebo]

I'd call that a bargain

If fact such a good bargain, where is it ?
(As long as it's not next to the Hells Angels Heavy Metal festival)

It’s near Holywell Bay.
The local static caravan park is charging £1800 for the same week! They say the van sleeps 6 but that involves 2 sleeping in the living room.

 

[Brains]

It’s near Holywell Bay.
The local static caravan park is charging £1800 for the same week! They say the van sleeps 6 but that involves 2 sleeping in the living room.

Ahh yes, south of Newquay, it's got a decent pub (well it was last time I was there at least a decade ago)
It all statics around there, but Newquay and Perranporth are nearby. head south to roseland for some real bits of Cornwall

 

[Brains]

I can only conclude that Cornwall is way more expensive than the Scottish regions that I’m used to.

Cornwall does not have Midges
Cornwall has sunshine
You can swim in the sea in Cornwall without a wetsuit
The temperature in Cornwall does not fall into single figures between April and October
The Cornish 'weird food' is the Pasty, which is actually edible

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Surprised to read in today’s Scotsman that staycation bookings for this summer are “non-existent”.

 

[vickster]

I always thought a staycation was taken at home? Hence stay...

 

[Beebo]

I always thought a staycation was taken at home? Hence stay...

I think it’s one of those words that has changed meaning. It now seems to mean staying in the UK.

 

[vickster]

I think it’s one of those words that has changed meaning. It now seems to mean staying in the UK.

Seemingly so...or at least in Scotland

 

[Dave7]

It's not profiteering, it's supply and demand, exactly the same as your local pub or bakery.

If you want to rent my seaside house right now, end January, bottom of the season, then the cost will be £200 per week.
To rent the same property end July, top of the season, then the cost will be £200 per night.

How much do you think it should cost to borrow an asset worth upwards of half a million quid with a running cost over £1,000 per month?
(For your calculations typical occupancy is around 150 night a year, more of which are in the summer, less in the winter)
A hotel or B&B has far greater costs, but same rules apply,

I think it’s one of those words that has changed meaning. It now seems to mean staying in the UK.

We have had a few of what we call staycations. We choose eg 2 weeks and plan days out to maybe Chester, Liverpool, New Brighton. Throw in a few pub meals and a few "special" BBQs and a few days chilling in the garden.....its quite enjoyable.
Of course bit of good weather helps.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

The odd thing is that the English BBC story is talking of a staycation boom, complete contrast to the Scotsman story
UK holiday boom: Bookings 'coming in thick and fast' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55826646

 

[Electric_Andy]

Bookings are up, some of those had to be honoured by companies for previous bookings cancelled due to Covid. I expect people are still unsure about future lockdowns or restrictions. As soon as Boris says the holiday season is open, I think the internets will be jammed up with bookings

 

[Broughtonblue]

Some great replies and interesting thoughts, thank you.
We only live 7 miles away so will manage it ourselves and do the cleaning and handovers. Im a very practical person so the maintenance side of things wont be an issue. It is coming with the maximum lease given by the site owners, 99 years as it will be renewed by the sellers before completion.
We actually looked after a chalet on the same site last year for an owner (cleaned and maintained) and got to know a couple of other owners of chalets they let, and turn over of customers seemed very good, lockdown permitting!
i think air bnb may well be the way to go, there are 4 on the site from our location and looking at the availability they all seem to fill up well, obviously standing out from them will be our priority, which we have some ideas on, but not forgetting it is a holiday let and not our main home. Site fees are pretty reasonable at £2100 so compares favourably with some of the bigger sites around. As for depreciation, looking on rightmove of previous sales, since 2015 prices have actually increased by some margin, so hopefully depreciation wont be too much of a problem.
At the moment we are living off savings, so although we dont expect it to repay us a 'living' wage, a few hundred here and there will be most welcome to suplement our savings.

Please respond with any more thoughts, positive or negative. And if any of you fancy a few nights in North Norfolk, it is only 7 miles from Cromer, and 15 miles form the beautiful broads, you know where i am.

 

[fossyant]

We managed a Tier 3 staycation (when pubs could only open with a meal). Booked a hotel in Manchester - we're only 9 miles away. Got son to drop us off (avoided public transport). Went for 'brunch' at a cocktail bar, checked into the hotel and chilled out watching the world go by from the window, then went for a walk, found another cocktail bar and ordered take in (which we took home), then back to hotel to change, then went for an evening meal. Next day was another walk, another meal, then home. It was as 'fun' as you could get for late October.