Welcome to the new Holiday Cottages blog!

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Today is the beginning of a new era. An era of blogging that begins right here, right now.

From today onwards, the holidaycottages.net blog will be updated twice a week with news, useful information, tops tens, hints, tips and general information about holiday lettings and boat rentals.

So not only will the main site be the place to go if you’re looking for holiday accommodation anywhere in the UK and Ireland, it will also be the place to go if you want to know more about holiday lettings in general.

It’s all part of our commitment  to provide the very best service to all our customers!

Holiday cottages

Given the website name is holidaycottages.net, our speciality is of course, holiday cottages. Cottages and holiday lets are our main focus as they make up the largest proportion of holiday rentals within the U.K. But, we’re about much more than that.

Our strength is enabling you to tightly focus your search on a specific area or criteria. We cover all of the U.K. and Ireland and feature hundreds of holiday cottages spread across our green and pleasant land.

We also have a powerful search engine that allows you to set criteria such as pet friendly, cottages with a pool, near a pub, near the beach, cottages with tennis courts and much more. It’s a fast, easy way to select the perfect accommodation for your needs.

Boat rentals

We don’t just do holiday cottages, we also feature a number of holiday boat rentals too! Ever wanted to pilot a narrowboat around the Norfolk Broads? Ever thought of taking a cabin cruiser across a loch? Or exploring Britain’s thousands of miles of waterways? If you do, we can help!

The same search engine that powers our cottage searches can also be unleashed on your search for the perfect boat in the perfect area. We have hundreds of boats on our books of all shapes and sizes. No matter where you want to go or what type of craft you want, we’ll have something for you here.

We have designed holidaycottages.net to be lean, clean and simple to use. It isn’t cluttered with unnecessary noise or filled with irrelevant information. We have created it with you in mind and put the information you need front and centre.

If you have any questions about what we do or how we do it, if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the website, or ideas for features, please get in touch.

Over 15,000 new holiday cottages added.

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We have added another 15,000 Holiday Cottages including over 1000 in Ireland to our database. This makes us one of, if not the largest holiday cottage websites on the internet with over 17,500 properties in total.

To celebrate we are giving away 2 tickets to see One Direction in concert in Ireland. Stayed tuned for details of this exciting competition in the coming weeks.

Facebook competition is now closed

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Thank you to everyone for entering our Facebook competition. The competition is now closed and a winner will be drawn tomorrow afternoon. We were hoping to make the draw today, however we had a problem with our competition form from some browsers and we now have to enter some contestants manually to our database before the draw can take place.

 

Good luck and don't forget to check your inbox tomorrow.

Advantages of holiday cottages for new parents

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Becoming a parent for the first time is a daunting experience with all that dealing with a baby involves. So when it comes to taking a well earned break away you will need to consider many aspects as it is no longer as straight forward and easy to travel as it was, pre baby.

As you will be aware when travelling even a short distance with a baby it involves planning and taking everything but the kitchen sink with you. Therefore when considering your first break away with your new addition there are a number of points to consider that may persuade you to remain in the United Kingdom.

You will not have to incur the cost of a passport if you stay within the United Kingdom. Which could be an unwelcome additional expense, at an already expensive time.

Other hidden expenses can be involved when holidaying abroad. In particular the cost of getting to and from the airport. Transportation charges when you get to your destination. Or parking charges for when your car is left at the airport.

You will not have to worry about exceeding your baggage allowance bearing in mind a baby does not get its own baggage allowance with many airlines. This could result in the dreaded excess baggage charges.

In addition there is also the worry about baggage getting mislaid or lost on the journey.

Travelling with new babies and young children can be stressful on both you and the child. The hustle and bustle of airports can be daunting and scary for young children. There is the whole issue of the long waits for checking in where they will get bored and restless. Then there is the process of getting through security, where you have to take young children in and out of their pushchairs/prams as you go through the security procedures. The fact that you cannot take through certain amounts of fluids might mean that you may not be ableto take through ready made bottles or foods for the journey.

During take off and landing many young children can encounter problems with pressure in their ears causing considerable discomfort resulting in them becoming distressed and crying which, can also affect you if you are unable to settle them.

If you are holidaying in warmer countries you will have to be careful with young children and exposure to the sun. Under six months of age it is not recommended that you use any sun creams on their delicate skins. The heat can make them uncomfortable as their bodies cannot regulate their temperatures as we can as we get older. This may involve keeping them in the shade or in air conditioned environments.

The water in many foreign countries is not as clean as it is in the United Kingdom and therefore you will have to be very careful when making up feeds and bottles with regard to sterilising and boiling water for drinking purposes.

It is also worth taking extra baby formula in case you should run out or be delayed on your return journey. You may not be able to get your particular brand of baby formula where you are.

The added bonuses of travelling in the United Kingdom are:

  • You can load up the car with everything you might need and not have to worry about carrying it/checking it in. Just go and unload at your destination.
     
  • The children can be comfortably placed in their car seat/carry cot before you travel and they may sleep for most or perhaps the entire journey. Older children can be settled with their handheld entertainment devises, colouring or other activities to keep them occupied.
     
  • You do not have to worry about airport strikes or delays if you are holidaying in the United Kingdom.
     
  • You can choose from a number of holiday options from relaxing seaside breaks, staying on a farm, camping in the woods or in a dedicated site with all amenities. You can then select from staying in hotels or in holiday cottages which, will probably be the better option with young children as it will offer you the convenience of being home from home with all the necessary amenities and room to spread out and make yourself comfortable.
     
  • There are no language barriers to overcome, making your holiday a simpler process.
     
  • There is no time difference for young children to adjust to.

The United Kingdom has so much to offer from stunning scenery, a wealth of activities and attractions many of them free.

It is no wonder more and more families are choosing to staycation, as it is increasingly referred, in the United Kingdom. Perhaps it is time to see for yourself the benefits of a staycation.

Holiday Competition

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As you you know we are running a competition for a £500 holiday voucher. The draw will take place when we have reached 10,000 likes on our Facebook page or December 31st, whichever is sooner.

Mid-term is fast approaching and we were hoping to have reached 10,000 likes by then so we can make the draw for the £500 holiday voucher. It's still not impossible, if you all forward this to a good friend and ask them to forward to a good friend and so on, you get the idea, we could still be in time for some one to be enjoying a nice cottage holiday with their family during mid-term.

So come on Guys and Girls what are you waiting for.

Like Us and win a £500 Holiday Voucher

3 Simple Reasons You Need To Book Your Autumn And Winter Holiday Cottages Now

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With the school holidays now over and most children having been back at school for at least a week or two, we’re sure there are plenty of you out there who are relieved. Keeping your kids entertained for a weekend can be difficult enough, but for those who have had the full ‘joys’ of the summer holidays with your brood, you deserve a medal!

Most of us at HolidayCottages.net are parents ourselves, so we really do know just how challenging it is to keep the kids entertained during the holidays – and also how expensive.

With the October half term only six weeks away for most (and Christmas less than 100 days away!), if you’re planning on booking one of the many holiday cottages around the country for a family getaway, it’s important you do so now, for three simple reasons.

1. You could save a fortune

Let’s just get straight to the point – if you book any type of holiday as far in advance as you can, you’re almost always going to get the cheapest price possible.

You’ll of course be able to get some cheap last minute deals with most holidays, but there’s a huge risk factor involved. Imagine you waited until the weekend before you wanted to go and it turned out everywhere was fully booked. Then what do you do?

Chances are there’ll be something available somewhere, but nothing that fits in with your budget or suits your needs, which leads us perfectly onto the next two points.

2. You’ll be able to choose exactly where you want to go…

It’s a simple point, but it’s one that a lot of people forget about.

Just like the further in advance you book, the cheaper it will be, if you book at least a month or two before you travel, you’ll be able to choose exactly where you want to go (whether that’s in a rural area away from it all or close to the local attractions) and get your choice of which type of cottage you want to stay in – how about a cottage with a hot tub or swimming pool?

Everyone likes choice. No one wants to put their details and requirements into a website or search engine and find out that there’s only one or two cottages for them to choose from. It’s disheartening having to settle for second best!

We really do try to offer the widest selection of quality holiday cottages we possibly can, but there’s only so many available to offer (and with a particularly small window to book at peak times, the longer you leave it, the more chance there is that everything will have been snapped up).

3. …and when you want to stay

When you’re booking a break with restricted dates – the half term holiday is a perfect example – one of the most frustrating things about booking late is that you can’t often get to stay exactly when you want (or more importantly, need).

Linking back to your choice of cottages and destinations, you might be able to find somewhere that suits your needs, but what if it takes nearly a full day’s worth of driving just to get there? A three night stay could give you just one full day before you have to start thinking about getting ready to drive all the way back home.

Not really a relaxing break with the family, is it?

Sometimes you won’t be able to book holiday cottages in advance, we understand that. You might not know exactly when you can go, for example. You might not even know yet whether it’s a possibility if you do have dates.

But if you have your dates already worked out, the simple fact is, book now and you’ll be able to choose exactly where you stay, when you go and most importantly, all for the cheapest price possible.