Hot tubs and axe-throwing: How British holiday lets are raising their game to survive

All the recent rain seems to have put a dampener on UK holidays. Accommodation providers say bookings were slow at the beginning of the year, though they’re gradually picking up. And Visit Britain’s latest domestic travel sentiment tracker, a survey that measures intent regarding overnight trips, found that our weather is currently the second biggest barrier to a night away on home turf – beaten only by the rising cost of living.

A quarter of those surveyed for the report plan to switch to cheaper accommodation this year, though that might be easier said than done. According to analytics firm AirDNA, the average nightly rate for a British short-term rental was £184 over the last 12 months, up 12 per cent year-on-year. In France, Italy and Spain, it was €149 (£128), €172 (£148) and €171 (£147) respectively. Add a significantly higher chance of sunshine and the idea of heading overseas becomes very tempting.

Despite all this, the number of short-term lets in the UK continues to grow. According to AirDNA, they’ve risen 19.4 per cent over the last 12 months when compared with 2019, despite only reaching pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

“The market was getting overly full – too many agents, too many properties – before Covid,” says Ken Aylmer of Tregulland & Co, which has four West Country holiday lets. “And then, after Covid, everybody put a glamping site in their back garden or hid their stuff under the bed and rented their house out on Airbnb. I think this year has probably come as a bit of a shock to people because things have dropped off and some people have spent quite a lot of money. There’s too much choice really.”

Faced with an oversaturated market and dwindling demand in some of the UK, owners have been forced to up their game, adding amenities and activities designed to separate them from the competition and turn a UK self-catering stay into a much more enticing prospect. Some of these have quickly become de rigueur.

“Superfast Wi-Fi is the most commonly asked-for amenity in 2024,” says Andy Easton of holiday rental company Beach Retreats. He also cites electric car charging as important. “Travellers can find themselves in an unfamiliar part of the country with the dreaded range anxiety”.

Clean living

British holiday homes often used to be rather dusty (witness the dilapidated Crow Crag in Withnail & I), but guests now want to turn up and find things pristine. “It’s their home for the week, so they expect the walls to be free of scuff-marks, a fully equipped kitchen and spotless bathrooms – as if they are the first people to stay there,” says Easton.

Taking a Crow Crag approach to interior decoration won’t cut it either. “Interiors need to be professionally designed and professionally shot as there is a huge amount of competition and your imagery is key to winning guests,” says Ashley O’Leary of Kent-based Deal Holiday Lets.

Then there’s the humble hot tub. Formerly a bit of a novelty, it now features in everything from shepherds’ huts to grand mansions across the country. Research by Lake District specialists Lakelovers in 2023 revealed that its bookings for properties which had one were up 104 per cent.

Some places to stay are going even further, by adding more eccentric ways of communing with the great outdoors. At Architects Holiday in Sussex, the Chinese pavilion-inspired outdoor sauna has proved a huge hit with guests.

Meanwhile, at Blackbird, Tregulland & Co’s houseboat bobbing on a private lake in North Devon, Aylmer and his wife Illona have taken bathing to another level. At the end of 2020, they converted a lakeside shed into a luxurious bath-house, complete with roll-top tub.

“It’s good to have a USP and, if you’re a couple going away, being able to have a long, lazy bath is a really nice thing. We did think about putting a tub on the foredeck but there wasn’t enough room. Then, once we hit on this idea, it was a no-brainer and it has proved very popular. No need to light a fire, just turn on the tap,” he says.

As many families welcomed the patter of tiny paws during lockdown, accepting pets has also become the norm – even if it does mean more damage to the floors and soft furnishings. In its research, Lakelovers claimed that 34 per cent of its current bookings were from guests planning to take a pet with them.

Five-star service

Holiday lets don’t just pit themselves against each other, they have to compete with hotels too. As a consequence, many are now offering extras to rival – or even beat – the local five-star.

Tregulland & Co puts cosy bathrobes and posh toiletries in all its bathrooms, while Deal Holiday Lets prides itself on its unexpected extras. “Some of our cottages have a breadmaking machine and guests arrive to warm fresh bread,” says O’Leary. Others get home-baked cakes.

At Westbrook Court, a large country house near Hay-on-Wye, the long list of available activities runs the gamut from axe-throwing to belly dancing, via spa treatments and chocolate-making. Owner Kari Morgan acts as a concierge, introducing guests to the region and helping them get as much from it as possible.

“All the activities make for a wonderful Herefordian experience. We can book different workshops for everybody – all ages, on and offsite,” she says.

Price wars

Owners and agents are also embracing creative discounting to get more guests through their doors. It means there are bargains to be had – especially in regions where demand is falling (AirDNA lists London and Surrey among the places where bookings are down).

“We used to have three-night weekends and four-night weeks,” says Aylmer. “But we’re now doing two-night stays in our smaller properties. People don’t necessarily want to have Monday off work, so they might now do Friday and Saturday, and we might offer a late check-out on Sunday for them.

“Then, in the large properties, if there’s just a couple of months before the date of the visit, we’ve been offering under-occupancy rates. Guests might take two bedrooms and we leave the other ones unmade: you get all the luxury and facilities of the big houses and the place all to yourself; we get less laundry and cleaning charges and less wear and tear.”

If all the bells, whistles and discounts still don’t bring in guests, or during shoulder season when things can get really quiet, owners are finding ways to diversify. You can get married at Tregulland & Co’s largest property, while Westbrook Court is launching group retreats for 2024.

“I started to think about retreats last autumn,” says Morgan. “I’m from Melbourne where doing them is the norm, but I wanted to offer ones that aren’t just sound baths and yoga. I’ve launched three for this October: one for creative entrepreneurs, then women and DIY and then the last one is a mother and daughters’ retreat.”

Morgan notes that, unlike some other areas, Herefordshire seems to have largely escaped the downturn. Occupancy is up in the Highlands, Perth/Dundee and Aberdeen too, according to AirDNA. And, of course, some properties book up fast regardless of the weather, trends or hot tub situation.

Plentiful ensuites help, as do USPs such as private footpaths to the beach. And there’s one thing that will never go out of fashion according to Easton, O’Leary and Aylmer – a prime sea view. It may be modestly kitted out and hot-tub free, but Sea Wall Cottage in the Cornish seaside hamlet of Porth is always in high demand according to Easton, thanks to its position – just metres from the sand.