Should I book direct with the owner?

A B S O L U T E L Y !

It’s important to understand that we are in this together when we share our holiday homes.

I’m trying to offer good value with the property, and agents' fees push-up costs and expectations. Agents add-on very significant fees which change a good deal into a bitter pill.

Peak season is quite short and agents do not provide cleaning or maintenance or turnaround services. They simply take a fee for a booking.

Let's be transparent and look at an example:

I have a listing with a well-known on-line conglomerate. They are not clear, even to me, about their charges as computers decide the final bill!

They take money in 3 ways from your booking:

They take up to 20% of the booking price. (This varies depending on the mood of a computer algorithm - so they cannot even tell me what they are charging you)

They then charge me 3% on top direct to me.

If you pay them online, they charge another 3% for the transaction.

Let’s looks at a calculation based on your £100 :

£100 - 20% = £80 £80 - 3% = £77.60 £77.60 - 3% = £75.27

Cleaners for the cottage cost me £71.20 £75.27 - £71.20 = £4.07

This leaves £4.07 to cover council tax, heating, toilet rolls, repairs, maintenance !!

So you see why we don’t do one night bookings, and why a lot of people close the cottages down and don’t make them available for people to holiday at all which leaves the village quieter out of season. I don’t want Robin Hood’s Bay going the way of Cornwall with cottages unused.

In short, email me to book direct at HolmedaleCottage@gmail.com.

You will get the best deal.