Self-Catering Holidays and Holiday Homes – A Brief Guide

Thanks to the increase in cheaper air travel, family holidays have steadily grown in popularity. It’s now very simple to take an entire family across the English Channel to Europe at a manageable price. Along with their growing popularity follow improving standards that help to keep families safe, relaxed and entertained for the entirety of their visit. Wherever such a holiday is organised via a package or a self-catering deal, there are plenty of ways for an entire family to enjoy a holiday without worrying how it will affect their bank balance.

The Idea and advantages of Self-Catering

Self-catered holidays differ from package holidays as they leave the entire organisation aspects in the family’s hands. Once they get to their holiday home, they have the freedom to design their plans as they see fit – just as they would look after themselves in their domestic home (if they really wished to replicate their normal domestic routine in an unfamiliar location). This approach has many advantages – it’s a great money saver for a start. Meals can be pretty expensive and can easily spiral out of control if a family is not careful, so control over how much they spend on food would be very advantageous. They can also prepare their own meals instead of dining out every day, which will do wonders for their expenditure bill on medium-to-long holidays.

What to Look For in a Family Holiday Home

Assuming they have a specific choice of location for a holiday home, they can choose to have a quiet remote holiday (suitable for couples) or an activity-rich tourist holiday (suitable for families). There is very little that could spoil a holiday than planning for a quiet holiday with either a family or a partner and getting caught up in the bustle of package holiday goers.

The first thing a family should look out for are holiday homes that are suitably furnished. An unfurnished living room or bedroom are both pretty essential if plans are made beforehand to spend a majority of their time within a location. It’s not something that can easily be rectified on arrival and potentially can ruin a holiday. More importantly, an unfurnished or unsuitable kitchen could eliminate the choice in either storing food or preparing meals.

A washing machine and dryer on site would also make their stay much easier. Checking if the holiday home provides either one or both should also be high on their list (especially if they plan a holiday exceeding two weeks).

If the family is planning to travel with a lot of luggage (which would be quite likely if travelling in potentially such a large group), making sure the location has enough space to comfortably accommodate everyone should always be pre-determined well before they actually set out..

If travelling with children, the family should always remember to ask about the surrounding area i.e. the safety, how large and/or populous, etc. They will perhaps want their children to enjoy their stay, but that shouldn’t be considered over the chances of them wandering into places they could easily get lost or injured.