I that Liberace's lost loo by any chance. ;)Ewwwww
I've noticed in the months I've been a member here that tents feature regularly, while cottages and other types of accommodation barely get a mention. Having stayed in a dozen or so self-catering cottages in the last three years, I’ll attempt to restore some balance by reviewing some here.
Please don't!!! :(Why ever not? Not everyone has to stay in a tent in order to go walking. I would be interested in reviews of self catering properties, particularly in the Highlands and Islands.
Why ever not? Not everyone has to stay in a tent in order to go walking. I would be interested in reviews of self catering properties, particularly in the Highlands and Islands.What is needed is a set of cheap places to stay along well used routes.
What is needed is a set of cheap places to stay along well used routes.Not everyone wants the same things. I am past the stage where cheap is the main priority. I would imagine the places that WhitstableDave has mentioned were not selected solely due to a low price, but that won’t be an issue for some. To me well used route means popular or busy. That is also not my cup of tea.
Ones with washing machines and tumble dryers.
Why ever not? Not everyone has to stay in a tent in order to go walking. I would be interested in reviews of self catering properties, particularly in the Highlands and Islands.Well I can't speak for the Highlands and Islands but here in Cumbria there are about 7.000 holiday lets, equivalent to a town the size of Kendal. I say 'about' because nobody really knows the true figure. Most of them are owned by people who don't live in the county and have bought them with 'city money' as an 'investment'. The majority of them avoid paying council tax by declaring themselves as small businesses and claim 100% business rate relief so hence pay nothing at all towards local sevices which include -
So, yes - please do resist the temptation to promote holiday lets as they are a scourge on the survival of local communities and village life in general.Down here, in Cornwall, they are the lifeblood of many places and bring in £m. The majority are services and maintained by local business.
Please don't!!! :(
So, yes - please do resist the temptation to promote holiday lets as they are a scourge on the survival of local communities and village life in general.Surely there needs to be a balance! Many areas rely on tourism.
What is needed is a set of cheap places to stay along well used routes.Not easy to get self catering places along LDWs if only staying one or two nights.
Ones with washing machines and tumble dryers.
Maybe rather than long reviews with photos just a cottage name, where it is and a link. Otherwise
I can see this thread being very long!
Any chance of putting links in for the cottages. We camp but have stayed in cottages over the years in various places so any recommendations are good O0
Price is a factor for many, Dave. Any chance of including a ballpark figure for a week?£1227 for the only free week in August. Sleeps 3.
So, yes - please do resist the temptation to promote holiday lets as they are a scourge on the survival of local communities and village life in general.
That's the same old argument always trotted out by the Holiday Home Owners Association. At least owners of second homes pay council tax. O0 Yesterday I saw the owner of a holiday let in a local village making preparations for re-opening on July 4th. She looked a little sheepish when she noticed me watching because she was actually committing a fraud with one of her actions, by doing so she was undercutting the running costs of her competitors who do do the right thing along with the pubs, hotels and other businesses in the village. Over the years that particular property/business, and the one fifty yards from it, have defrauded the council and its tax payers of thousands of pounds by receiving services to which they are not lawfully entitled. ???
I can't agree with your sentiments on holiday lets run as a business. Regardless of where the property owner lives, they provide jobs in the service industry and income from those staying spending in the local community. The simple economic fact is if a local village cannot generate enough local income to sustain it's population then the money either comes in from elsewhere or the village dies. Blaming the people buying and running the holiday lets does not solve fundamental issues. Second homes left empty apart from when the owners care to visit is a different if related matter. Those I do take umbrage with.
£1227 for the only free week in August. Sleeps 3.
and £30 extra to take Tess.
OUCH!
£1227 for the only free week in August. Sleeps 3.Assuming you're referring to Clogwyn Cottage, we had a week at the end of September 2018 for around half of that price.
Assuming you're referring to Clogwyn Cottage, we had a week at the end of September 2018 for around half of that price.I was. I just looked through for the next available date which was mid-August, which is always going to be their peak rate. I've no problem with them charging that price or with people paying it.
.......... Over the years that particular property/business, and the one fifty yards from it, have defrauded the council and its tax payers of thousands of pounds by receiving services to which they are not lawfully entitled. ???
If they have not paid council tax and are in consequence not entitled to certain services why are the council providing them?I agree. I pay my council to enforce their own interpretation of national legislation. This is not the same as someone committing fraud or a criminal act.
Would appear that the council need to get their act together
£1227 for the only free week in August. Sleeps 3.
OUCH!That is high season in an area that attracts visitors, per night per person it is £58-43. 10 years ago I was paying £35 ppn for B&B. The point must be that these figures are feeding into the statistics that prove that walking and other countryside leisure pursuits contribute to the rural economy.
If they have not paid council tax and are in consequence not entitled to certain services why are the council providing them?
Would appear that the council need to get their act together
That's the same old argument always trotted out by the Holiday Home Owners Association. At least owners of second homes pay council tax. O0 Yesterday I saw the owner of a holiday let in a local village making preparations for re-opening on July 4th. She looked a little sheepish when she noticed me watching because she was actually committing a fraud with one of her actions, by doing so she was undercutting the running costs of her competitors who do do the right thing along with the pubs, hotels and other businesses in the village. Over the years that particular property/business, and the one fifty yards from it, have defrauded the council and its tax payers of thousands of pounds by receiving services to which they are not lawfully entitled. ???
I'm afraid that posting reviews with photos is my thing. Surely you've been following my Completely Covering Kent (http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=39012.msg555013#msg555013) thread? ;)
But the great thing about threads is that you can ignore them at your leisure! :)
Most holiday lets don't pay any business rates as they are small businesses and qualify for 100% rate relief so local councils get nothing at all from them. O0
The reason they trot out that argument is because it is valid and true. O0 They Pay business rates not council tax as they are a business. Most of them are normal average people who have taken out bank loans and taken on risk. Some will be loosing money hand over fist at the moment,. I know a few of those and none of them are moaning about it, They are just looking forward to 4th July and trying to keep their businesses afloat.
OUCH!
If they have not paid council tax and are in consequence not entitled to certain services why are the council providing them?To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, - I don't know but I do know that they know about it. Perhaps their different departments don't actually communicate with each other or maybe they are just plainly inept and lazy. ::)
Would appear that the council need to get their act together
Most holiday lets have to pay business rates,albeit at a slightly lower rate than if they were paying council tax. If they are paying business rates rather than council tax they should also be a paying a fee to the council to have their waste taken away.
Dry Dock Cottage has a number of truly unique features, one being that you can enjoy coffee sitting in your armchair below canal water level with a spectacular view of the waterway and the Skirrid Fawr mountain beyond...
Most holiday lets have to pay business rates,albeit at a slightly lower rate than if they were paying council tax. If they are paying business rates rather than council tax they should also be a paying a fee to the council to have their waste taken away.That's true some councils do collect trade waste for a fee. But our local council does not - quote from their website - It is illegal to dispose of your waste by:
All that tax stuff is well beyond me, so here's our third and final Welsh cottage where we stayed just a few months ago - Dry Dock Cottage on a canal in the Brecon Beacons.
We'd climbed two of the Welsh Three Peaks (Snowdon and Cadair Idris), and only Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons remained. My wife still had seven days holiday for the year left, so we decided to find accommodation within easy reach of the mountain. After many hours of searching for something a little different, I found the perfect place - Dry Dock Cottage on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal.
Can't understand why any holiday let owner would want to choose that option, certainly not in the Lake District where the holiday let 'industry' operates for pretty much over the whole year nowadays. ;)
It's also very possible that were they to qualify for rate relief that they may opt to reduce the letting availability and instead pay council tax for regular collection, which is what is often done for properties with very high demand in high season but have a comparatively short season - a good example might be coastal holiday lets, properties in areas likely to deal with changeable weather and a short summer season, or those where owners prefer to attend the property off-season themselves for maintenance.
Can't understand why any holiday let owner would want to choose that option, certainly not in the Lake District where the holiday let 'industry' operates for pretty much over the whole year nowadays. ;)
Thanks for your explanation. :)
Well, I don't want to get this thread more derailed, but in short many people don't actually make a huge amount of money in the low season months due to static changeover costs on a per week basis - costs which have increased with Covid. On top of that you're still dealing with dilapidation and deterioration of the fixtures and fittings at a fairly standard rate the more weeks per year you let out, often at a faster rate in winter months due to wet conditions meaning guests are in the property for more time and using everything more, greater heating and electricity costs etc - also some things like soft furnishings needing more rejuvenation than you'd like due to carelessness. In many ways there are a lot of hidden costs which aren't immediately appreciated to the tenant but are there and need budgeting for.
Many owners decide instead to let the 139 days allowed whilst keeping under the small business tax requirement rate to switch you to estimated rated value (which works against luxury properties), whilst still paying the council tax bracket to give them the convenience of being able to visit themselves. If it was purely about making money you'd be able to find a conservative investment fund which would give you a better return at far less work, but for many it is a lifestyle business with a significant return to the local areas - particularly when running luxury properties which often have six figure capital expenditure on improvements which allow for local building and services jobs to flourish as well as gardening, cleaning, laundry, letting and admin services to actually manage the process.
All that tax stuff is well beyond me, so here's our third and final Welsh cottage where we stayed just a few months ago - Dry Dock Cottage on a canal in the Brecon Beacons.This on is my favourite Dave. O0
We'd climbed two of the Welsh Three Peaks (Snowdon and Cadair Idris), and only Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons remained. My wife still had seven days holiday for the year left, so we decided to find accommodation within easy reach of the mountain. After many hours of searching for something a little different, I found the perfect place - Dry Dock Cottage on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal.
In the description, I particularly liked this bit:
The cottage was absolutely amazing. Not shown in the photos is the 'cinema room', which is down a few stairs in the centre of the open-plan cottage; it has electric reclining chairs, a big screen and a thundering sound system! Another thing worth mentioning is the hi-tech electrical system where everything can be operated by a tablet.
(http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/coppermine/albums/userpics/10054/Dry_Dock_Cottage_collage_1.jpg)
(http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/coppermine/albums/userpics/10054/Dry_Dock_Cottage_collage_2.jpg)
The front windows open fully and it was great fun watching boats come under the low bridge and try to make the turn without hitting the bank... :)
(http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/coppermine/albums/userpics/10054/IMG_20191019_315015B15D.jpg)
This cottage, another cottage of similar size and a house (centre of photo below) are near each other and are operated by a major narrow boat company based a few miles along the canal.
(http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/coppermine/albums/userpics/10054/IMG_20191019_225295B15D.jpg)
It's a fantastic walking area and, except for the Pen y Fan horseshoe, we did all of our walks that week directly from the cottage. O0
This on is my favourite Dave. O0
What a place to stay for the night after a walk on the tow path. MrsG would love it.
Where exactly is it? I took a look at the website but I still could not pin down the exact location of the cottage.
Find Llanfoist on the OS 1:25k map. Follow byway south to a kink in the Mon & Brec Canal where it has Boat Houses / Tunnel / Glebe Wood.
The cottage is at the kink - the tunnel (for a path) runs under the canal right by the cottage. :)
(We had terrible trouble finding it!)
Perfect that is where I thought it must be from the walk description in the web site, where they mentioned the mountain Blorenge behind it. O0
Who needs grid references when you can have a treasure hunt instead. ;)
One of our favourite cottages is also in Snowdonia. We stayed in Ty Hebog (sleeps 2) at Perthi HolidayWe passed quite close to where you stayed. We took the train (Welsh Highland Railway) from Rhyd Ddu to Nantmor and walked back via Beddgelert and Beddgelert Forest. An excellent walk in a fantastic area!
Cottages just outside Beddgelert. There’s also another cottage and a lodge but they’re not right next to each other which is good. Perthi is a working farm. From the patio we had wonderful views all round including across to Moel Hebog. We walked up Snowdon via the Rhyd Ddu path so it was an easy drive to the car park. The farm is up in the hills but has a short cut walk into Beddgelert giving the best of both worlds. Plenty of walking from the door.