In just over a decade self-catering has changed from a niche market for those economising to a mainstream form of holidaying... it offers freedom and flexibility that often isn't available from hotels, and a window on living local life that cannot be achieved being dependent on others.
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When we looked for ourselves we found a big hangover of self-catering accommodation from the old days. Quality was compromised because it was simply assumed that those staying in self-catering accommodation would be undemanding in their standards. Each of our houses fulfils one criteria only, that it has to be somewhere we have loved visiting, equipped to the standard we wanted for ourselves.

Some of our guests had been put renting accommodation by memories of poor self-catering experiences in the past. The proverbial damp cottage with inadequate heating or holiday home that is little more than a mobile home lingers on. We provide an alternative that is reasonably priced, not the “super luxury” that only the very rich can afford, but a long way from the old style of 'make do or else'.

We first realised hotels that hotels just weren’t flexible enough to meet our needs when our kids were small . Suppose a child wants spaghetti, not on the menu, at 6.00 in the evening when the hotel restaurant is still closed? What about warm milk at 10.00 at night? We tried a few specialist childcare hotels. They were astronomically expensive and the standard of the accommodation itself was often poor. The self-catering we tried was frequently very basic. In the end the only solution was to buy our own holiday home. Our kids are grown up now, but still regularly stay at the houses they enjoyed as children.

Our properties have proven popular with others such as friends on holiday together, or families meeting up. All of the properties are set in areas of natural beauty that has encouraged many to go walking. Often two or three sets of friends want to travel together. They want enough space to give each other room, but still be together. Our properties are perfect for that.

Our first holiday home was the chalet in Switzerland. We love skiing and it doubles up as a fantastic summer holiday too – two holidays for the price of one. To help fund the purchase we started to let it, and discovered rapidly that a lot of other holiday makers found themselves in a similar dilemma. Short of huge luxurious villas for the rich, luxury self-catering just didn’t seem to exist. Many guests book from year to year.

Since then we have added two English country cottages and a house in France. The Cotswold cottages that have won a Trip Advisor Excellence Awards. Based in the beautiful Cotswolds they are just 90 minutes from London but  convenient for a whole section of central England including Oxford, Stratford and Bath. The cottages are in villages mentioned in the Domesday Book, complete with 11th century churches and 16th century pubs. Our latest property, the French one, is an1860 French village house in the South Eastern Languedoc region of France. In a medieval village amongst vineyards it has been restored to its former glory as a house of wealth gained from wine making. It has a large heated pool even though it is in the middle of a village, just a short walk from restaurants and cafes.

Holidays are a big item for all of us, and we all travel with high expectations. We want to deliver on them!

Have a great holiday.

‍Mark

I never intended this to be a business! Each of our properties was bought in response to my own family needs. I began when my children were small, now they have grown up and I have retired from my 'day job'. I have kept the properties because I love visiting them, and I still get a kick our of helping other to enjoy their holidays. Like mine, some families have literally grown up, returning year after year. Some of our guests have returned fourteen years in a row. There are always new people to meet as well, which is fun as well. I like being part of a business that's about helping others to enjoy themselves.