Comments for Self-Catering-Online

Comment on Self Catering Damages Deposits by Moira Taylor

Moira Taylor — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:38:35 +0000

I always take a £200.00 security deposit and have never had any complaints from guests. I do return within 7 days of departure. This is
also written into my Terms & Conditons which I send out once I have a confirmed booking

Comment on Self Catering – 10 Steps to manage Guest by TadWinett

TadWinett — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:13:22 +0000

really good article…

I must say, its worth it! My link:http://vdftrsz.posterous.com/ ,many Thanks….

Comment on The Census by Susan McNaughton

Susan McNaughton — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:08:46 +0000

Thanks for the tips! It was helpful, and the Census only took a few minutes to complete.

Comment on Self Catering Damages Deposits by Lenore & Janet

Lenore & Janet — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:10:17 +0000

We do appreciate getting a customer’s perspective, but would like to point out that the landlady of this property has had many bookings from us, and this is the first ever concern that has been bought to our attention.

Comment on Self Catering Damages Deposits by Kate

Kate — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:11:23 +0000

We have recently stayed in one of the apartments, found through this website, and would like to offer a customers perspective-

firstly, the land lady did not provide us with any receipt for the damage deposit- which if you consider yourself to be running a business, this should be a given. When asked for a receipt, she became very defensive.

Secondly, if you are taking a damage deposit, one would expect to be signing some sort of agreement and have an inventory checked off by the land loard and the tenant/customer- this also never happened.

Lastly, when a bedside lamp was accidentally knocked over and broken, we readily informed the land lady, and offered to replace the broken bedside lamp. She did not reply to us until 2 days later (the morning of our departure). She informed us that she had a spare replacement lamp, and for us not to worry about buying a new one. It was only when she returned the damages deposit 2 weeks later via paypal, that she informed us of the deduction from for the cost of replacing not 1, but 2 lamps, plus light bulbs. She maintained that the secomd bedside lamp had also been cracked and therefore needed to be replaced. I happened to have taken a photo of that lamp when we were trying to buy a new one to replace the broken lamp, and have proof that the second lamp was never damaged during our stay.
Dissapointingly the landlady has been very unprofessional throughout this process. This experience has made us re-question ever using a website like this one again.

Don’t always assume that the customers are the ones out to do the wrong thing, landlords are equally responsible

Comment on Keys and Meeting Times by Stuart McAlpine

Stuart McAlpine — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:42:13 +0000

I Have 2 flats centrally located near the grassmarket i have an arrangement with a local shop that provides leys up till 6pm mon to Saturday, after 6pm i have an arrangement with a restraunt that is open till midnight and they hand over the keys they produce an e mail from me in order to confirm who they are.
My other flat is on the other side of the city and by luck i have a mate who stays just round the corner and he is quite happy to let guests in.
I Have a 4th flat just coming on line near to which i have not as yet made any arrangements but i have found that local businesses get to know you i do the changeovers myself so being at the flats regurarly people get to know you and i have found them to be very helpful.
As for midnight check ins or any time out of normal hours i charge a fee which no one has complained about as yet.

Comment on Tax Turnaround – Great News for Holiday Let owners by self catering cheap

self catering cheap — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:11:31 +0000

Every year thousands of people enjoy getting away from it all with a self catering holiday that is preferably cheap and well within their tight budgets. Self catering holidays can come in many forms be it a 3 or 7 night stay in a caravan at popular holiday parks such as Haven or Butlins, a fortnights holiday stay in a private holiday home, cottage or apartment in Wales, even a short break aboard a boat on the Norfolk broads can be classed as a self catering holiday. These are of cause just a few examples of self catering holidays available all with varying degrees of expense and finding the cheapest prices use to be quite a chore, but since the creation of the Internet and various holiday companies and even private individuals with holiday properties to rent gaining access to website space to advertise their availability, never has it been easier to effectively search and compare prices from a whole range of self catering properties making sure people can truly get their self catering cheap.

Comment on Self Catering Damages Deposits by Susan McNaughton

Susan McNaughton — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:26:04 +0000

Bookings for Craigwell Cottage are completed by means of on-line payment. A damage deposit is taken 6 weeks before the let starts, or on booking for last minute deals. Deposits are returned by means of a refund to the card on which payment has been made, within 7 days of departure. Definitely no cash deposits, and rarely deposits by cheque these days either.
In 10 years of letting in Edinburgh, we’ve had two people who have decided not to book because of the deposit requirement, but our view is that if they don’t meet our conditions for let, then it’s best not to do business with them.
Returning the deposit is mainly a reason to be in touch with the guests after their stay and to ask for a
review, and encourage them to return again.

Comment on Keys and Meeting Times by Cate Farquharson

Cate Farquharson — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:01:07 +0000

While I would always prefer to meet guests, there are times when it is just not possible. I have been considering a key box for sometime now – but am still undecided. Seeing a key box tells anyone walking by that there are keys sometimes in there and it could be worthwhile coming back with tools if they are that way inclined!
In practice I say will meet until 9pm, but then if late it could be anytime. I have “hidden” keys several times and recently the keys which were posted did arrive in the second post yet the guests did not tell me, nor did they look for the keys which I had hidden for them,. Those keys were “out there” for eleven days! I think that any insurance company would take a dim view on this obvious lack of security. Asking around about key boxes I’ve had a mixed response someone even said no late entries at all – they cannot get in so need to make other arrangements eg Travellodge for that night! He has been in business for many years too.
I have had folks come from the airport by taxi to my own house very early and very late to collect the keys. This will only work however if it is not too much of a detour.
I like folks to phone when they are 40 minutes away or at the airport. This also reaffirms to them that there is no reception or anyone on call and you are going out especially for them. Getting their flight details is also a good idea so that you can track the flight online.
Check out times we try and accommodate as far as possible too – unless folks are wanting to leave late and others come in early on the same day! I have a store room and garage so can give guests keys to these to leave luggage. I do not check guests out personally but do take a damage deposit which seems to work well.
Doubt if there is one answer to suit everyone. I have had guests leave by 11am, only to keep a set of keys and come back around 3pm to use the apartment again!

Comment on Keys and Meeting Times by Sam

Sam — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:48:18 +0000

As we don’t live locally we have a key box outside our flat. It is hidden behind a plant pot so it is only visible if you know you are looking for it. Once our guests have paid the balance we send them arival instructions which includes directions etc but also the code for the key box.

We have found this works really well. A couple of times we have had guests struggle to find the entrance and it would have been handy if we had been there, but I have always been able to talk them through getting in over the phone and they were happy enough with this. I think our guests appreciate the fact the box gives them complete flexibility about when they arrive without having to call us if they are held up etc. Although I can see it is nice to be able to greet people directly, this is just not practical for us and this solution has worked really well.