Essential Holiday Homes

27/06/2014

Sue & Tony Pierce own the lovely Marsh View Cottage. Here they tell us their top 3 reasons why they love Camber Sands...

http://bit.ly/1jV3ETb

Perfectly located between the dunes,sandy beach and the protected marshes, the house offers not only the lovely beach a short walk away to the front, but also uninterrupted rural views from the cottage as well as its own private, rear, fully enclosed garden.

10/06/2014

Here's how to celebrate in style...

Our official champagne opening ceremony at Cortijo Uribe for special evenings and Birthdays!!

10/06/2014

We chatted with Hugo from The Garlic Farm about their unique business on the Isle of Wight which includes six beautifully converted holiday homes...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/five-minutes-with-hugo-from-the-garlic-farm/

22/05/2014

Rob and Jeanette Folwell run Greetham Retreat Holidays, five holiday cottages set in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds.

Here they give us their top three reasons for holidaying in the often overlooked heartland of the UK...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/3-reasons-i-love-the-lincolnshire-wolds/

…this means it is never overcrowded and offers visitors a real undiscovered gem with its wonderful countryside and some of the most beautiful, unspoilt scenery in the East Midlands. There are rolling hills and hidden valleys, gentle streams and nestling villages all within an area that has been desi…

18/03/2014

We chatted with blogger Jo Addison from Kiddieholidays about the best UK destinations to take the kids this Spring...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/taking-your-children-on-holiday-this-spring/

Spring in the UK is stunning. The trees start to wake up again, and start growing new shoots. The birds start singing and looking for places to build their nests.

05/02/2014

This week's '5 minutes with' interview features Gavin Matier of Cliburn Signal Box Holiday Cottage near Penrith.

This brilliant restoration has to be one of the more unusual holiday homes we've seen to date.

Now we throw the floor open to you... Do you own, or have you ever stayed in an unusual holiday home? We'd love to hear your story!

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/five-minutes-with-gavin-matier/

On the 1st October 2004, Gavin and Wendy Matier along with their two children Elliott and Jasmine moved into a Station House in Cliburn, Penrith.

28/01/2014

Our latest '5 minutes with' article features Jane Allan, owner of an eco-friendly holiday home in Argyll.

What's your number one tip for making your holiday home 'green'?

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-jane-allan/

Jane Allan and James Livingston run Seafield Farm Cottages, three lovely, family run holiday homes on the edge of Knapdale Forest at the head of Loch Sween near the small village of Achnamara.

22/11/2013

Kiddieholidays

Baby friendly holiday home owners, we'd recommend getting in touch with Jo, she runs a really insightful blog...

Baby friendly holiday home owners - contact me of you'd like to be featured on my site. Free of course!

22/11/2013

Karen Spencer of property styling company House Factor has written a fantastic guest blog for our site about decorating your holiday home for the festive period...

http://bit.ly/1e8AfTS

In this blog, I’d like to share with you some of my tips, as a holiday cottage owner (of Spring Cottage in North Yorkshire) and also as a Property Stylist and Director of House Factor, to ensure your cottage is in the best possible shape to welcome Christmas guests.

12/11/2013

Does your UK holiday home stand empty during the long winter months?

Here's a few ideas to get more off-peak bookings...

We'd love to hear your thoughts, hints and tips too :)

http://bit.ly/18nPx3b

As most family holidays are taken in the summer, advertising a property near a beach or with a large garden is a relatively easy marketing exercise.

18/10/2013

A really interesting insight by Nigel Shaw of Diggle House Farm into the installation of 'green technology' into his UK holiday home cottages.

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/environmental/

Both Abigail and I are keen not to damage the environment, and we wanted our accommodation to make as little impact as possible. We saw the development as an opportunity to “build in” green features which, whilst being initially more expensive to install, in the long term will be more economical to…

16/10/2013

Our latest '5 minutes with..' home owner interview features the stunning Gecko Villa in North East rural Thailand:

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-bongkot/

Bongkot and his family of 6 own and run Gecko Villa and Green Gecko – two full-board, private pool villas in rural northeastern Thailand.

16/10/2013

An interesting info graphic from Boshers Insurance about how to protect your holiday home from the most common types of insurance claim:

11/10/2013

Our FREE downloadable guides for holiday home owners cover areas such as tax, social media & photography. Help yourselves :)

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/freeguides/

Download our free holiday home guides packed full of useful holiday home information

24/09/2013

A big thank you to Tim & Ellen from Les Hiboux farmhouse and gites, France. who kindly took part in our latest '5 minutes with...' interview.

If you're a holiday homeowner and would like to be featured on our site, just get in touch with our Content Editor at: [email protected] with some info about your property.

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-tim-ellen-weir/

When Tim and Ellen Weir first started holidaying in France they may never have expected the impact it would have on their lives.

19/09/2013

Our latest '5 minutes guide...' features an interview with Kath Watson from La Belardiere, a set of two rural gites nestling in the rolling countryside between the Rivers Creuse and Vienne...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-kath-watson/

“I was a management consultant and Roger had been a doctor for almost 40 years. He was coming up to retirement and looking for a new challenge.

11/09/2013

We regularly talk to holiday home owners from across the UK and Europe to find out what makes their businesses tick.

If you would like to be featured (it's free!) just drop us a line simply telling us why we should write an article about your property.

You can email Ben, our Content Editor, directly at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/category/5-minutes-with/

Nigel Shaw and his wife Abigail run two holiday home cottages located in Diggle House Farm. Nigel’s family have owned the farm since the 1930′s when it was bought by his …

10/09/2013

Ok. I'm going to mention the C word - Christmas ;-)
Both cottages are currently available for Christmas week so gather your family and come and enjoy your festivities in the beautiful Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. Walks from the doorstep and plenty to see and do in the area. We'll be supplying all the logs you need for roaring wood burning stoves and a bumper welcome pack including beers from as well as the 'usual' home made bread, jams etc, smoked salmon and fizz plus lots of other goodies for your Christmas break. Enquiries to [email protected]

10/09/2013

7 top tips for running a successful rural gîte in France, from an owner who has done just that...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/top-tips-from-a-successful-gite-owner/

Don and April Baggs, owners of Les Coquelicots, reveal their 7 top tips for running a successful rural gîte in France.

06/09/2013

Calling all holiday home owners, our free download section is now open! You can download guides on photography, social media and holiday home taxation simply by following the link...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/freeguides/

Download our free holiday home guides packed full of useful holiday home information

03/09/2013

This weeks 'five minute with' guide features Nigel Shaw from Diggle House Farm in Saddleworth, Yorkshire.

Find out more about the farm which has been in Nigel's family since the 1930's...

http://bit.ly/1a2HpI7

Nigel’s family have owned the farm since the 1930′s when it was bought by his great grandfather. His mum and dad still farm the land and Nigel and Abigail live in the nearby Diggle village.

27/08/2013

We've written a short article on securing your UK holiday home Wi-Fi network.

Have you ever had any issues with guests and internet usage? Email [email protected] if so as we'd love to hear your experiences.

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/to-wi-fi-or-not-to-wi-fi/

In July 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron announced measures from the UK government to automatically place filters on ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) meaning that any home would have to ‘opt in’ to receive adult or illegal content.

23/08/2013

You can also follow us on Twitter. If you use the hashtag we'll RT your holiday home deals and late availability :)

https://twitter.com/essentialhol

The latest from Essential Hol Homes (). Essential Holiday Homes is dedicated to new and existing holiday home owners. We aim to share holiday rental top tips and and up-to-date travel news

21/08/2013

We chatted to Carrie King from Cornish Escapes about her holiday home business based in the beautiful town of Fowey in Cornwall. Read all about it here:

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-carrie-king/

If you'd like your property to be featured in one of our '5 mins with' features then get in touch with Ben ([email protected]). It's completely free!

Carrie King and her partner Graham live in Fowey, Cornwall where they run their holiday cottage letting business, Cornish Escapes.

19/08/2013

Something for the adventurous...

We have just had a late cancellation for Hoppus the Tipi for tonight and tomorrow (tue) night if anyone is feeling spontaneous. Live availability and booking can be found on our website or email the office for a last minute booking.

16/08/2013

Garlies Lodge, a 100 year old Scottish hunting lodge, is the latest property to be featured in our '5 minutes with...' interviews.

Read our interview with the owners Karen and Roger McMeikan here...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-mins-lodge/

Karen and Roger McMeikan, form part of the family group who own the beautiful Garlies Lodge. The couple grew up in the area, Karen five miles down the road from the lodge and her husband in the County Town of Wigtown.

15/08/2013

HSBC have compiled a survey regarding holiday home trends. There's been a significant upturn in UK retirees looking to buy abroad.

Here's where they are looking...

13/08/2013

There seems to be odd things going on in the world of holiday homes this week. Here's our top three stories from across the globe...

http://bit.ly/146JP3j

The unauthorised 800 sq ft craggy complex of rooms, rocks and trees, balanced on top of a 26 storey block of flats looks like the base of a Bond villain. It is said to be owned by a man who has made his money in Chinese herbal medicine.

08/08/2013

This week's Twitter round up features tips for the budget traveller, great deals for those holidaying in the England's glorious North East and baby holiday ideas fit for royalty!

If you'd like to follow us on Twitter we can be found . We'll retweet your latest deals and news :)

http://bit.ly/18cWvcd

have some great summer time deals lined up for those holidaying in the North East: “From Hadrian’s Wall to coastal castles – get free child entry at any English Heritage property in the North East with our Discover Deals.”

07/08/2013

The latest of our '5 minutes with...' guides features Christine and Paul Hartfield who provide horse riding holidays in the beautiful Cortijo Uribe, Andalucia.

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/five-minutes-with-christine-paul-hartfield/

Originally the Spanish home of Christine and Paul Hartfield, Cortijo Uribe has evolved into a horse riding holiday experience with a difference.

06/08/2013

New research from HSBC shows there is a dramatic upturn in UK retirees looking to buy a second property abroad...

http://bit.ly/1csSyFl

The number of people approaching retirement who are considering purchasing a property abroad to enjoy during retirement is now higher than before the economic downturn, according to research from HSBC.

02/08/2013

We caught up with travel writer Iain Mallory about life on the road and, of course, his thoughts about the holiday home industry...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/5-minutes-with-iain-mallory/

After leaving the army Iain Mallory decided that his wanderlust was too strong to permanently settle down in the UK. Here we have a chat with him about his love of travel, his writing heroes and, of course, his thoughts on the holiday home and tourism industry.

29/07/2013

Croatia, Turkey and Romania feature in our rundown of upcoming holiday home markets. Do you own a property in one of these countries? We'd love to hear your story!

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/europes-upcoming-holiday-home-markets/

Uncovering Europe’s upcoming holiday home markets

26/07/2013

A great way to advertise your holiday getaway is to create a video about your property and the surrounding area. Here's an excellent recent example from Two Rose Cottages Bed and Breakfast. Great stuff!

Luxury Bed & Breakfast Accommodation in Midhurst, West Sussex Charming and truly comfortable Midhurst accommodation close to the South Downs: a luxury Bed an...

25/07/2013

Last week a beach hut in Dorset sold for £200,000 despite having no running water or toilet facilities.

It quickly got us thinking about some of the UK's more unusual holiday homes...

http://owners.essentialholidayhomes.com/britains-most-unusual-holiday-homes/

Taking a closer look at three of Britain's most unusual holiday homes