Cottage for Rent But Bring Your Own Pillows & Toilet Paper

Sometimes I despair of getting the message across, particularly in my part of the world.

Traditionally, cottage rental was simply an alternative to camping – with walls and a roof being the difference, and an inside toilet an absolute luxury. Over the past 5 years, it’s been a slow move to the realisation that ‘renters’ should be respected as ‘guests’, and that the expectations of a vacation rental are rising.  I am still called out to inspect vacation cottages that have not seen a vacuum cleaner for years (if ever) where the owner’s overriding perception of vacationers is “It’s just a cottage, what do they expect?”

So, I wasn’t really surprised this morning, on my daily trawl through rental listings and web sites, to find a cottage advertised with the following limitations:

DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Linens, Towels and Pillows
• Condiments or cooking oils
• Paper towel, toilet paper or napkins
• Blankets or sleeping bags
• Aluminum foil or plastic wrap
• Garbage bags
• Hair dryer or iron
• Coffee

The biggest shame of this is that it’s a brand new cottage with tremendous scope to create an welcoming space.