'Once, I booked three different families in for the same weekend'

How did I get involved in holiday lets? When I was a kid, my granny owned a seaside flat in Filey, North Yorkshire, where we’d spend every single family holiday. Years later when I was editing magazines she said to me: “Put something aside and buy a holiday flat and it will make you money for life.” 

I sold my publishing business in the mid Noughties, took her advice and bought a small white clapboard cottage with an outdoor bath, near Rye, East Sussex. It was situated between a shingle bank, a nature reserve and a picturesque beach. It was – and is - incredibly pretty, with pure white walls inside and vintage European leather sofas, and the same instant attraction that prompted me to buy it also made it very attractive to future guests.

Initially I hadn’t any intention of letting the house out. But friends saw photos and asked if they could rent it, and word-of-mouth recommendations snowballed from there. One of the guests eventually reviewed the cottage, Pebbles, for the free morning paper Metro.. The interest generated by that review lasted for a decade - and by then, Instagram had come along to help promote it.

By far the most challenging scenario is when you have bad things happening in your own life, and there’s no buffer… if people have booked, you can’t take a few days off. When my former father-in-law was dying I had to leave his hospital bedside to take a call about “a cracked glass, the side gate hanging off and bird poo on the deck”. I just wanted to scream.

But the biggest problem I’ve ever faced was when my ex-girlfriend and I were splitting up. I was all over the place, and I managed to book three different families in for the same Bank Holiday weekend. It was a total nightmare. I’d just finished a frantic call with the first double booked guests offering them their money back AND a free stay when the third set of guests arrived after a tiring rush-hour drive from Essex. Neither they, nor I, could comprehend what was going on. The wife was on the verge of tears, the husband furious, the kids were waking up, and food was defrosting in the boot. I called every single establishment within a 20-mile radius to see if they had a family room for the night and finally found two small rooms. I paid for them, refunded the guests, promised a free future stay, and contributed to the cost of their groceries. Then Covid hit and and they couldn’t come for another 18 months. Thankfully, when they did, they enjoyed themselves.

The key to making it work? Sensible pricing (think the orange streets on Monopoly – mid price for a nice quality house); being ‘always on’ and having good communication with guests; and most importantly, support staff. I very quickly learned the value of a brilliant, reliable, hard working cleaner and I’m lucky enough to have good neighbours who have helped me look after the property and garden.

Dealing with guests is interesting. The best are ones that book quickly, stay a long time, look after the place and return regularly. The worst? People who ask loads of questions, sound like they’re a bank transfer away from booking and then say they’ll check with their husbands or partners. Any time they haven’t checked this in advance, they’re unlikely to stay. This happens quite a lot and is mildly annoying.

Sadly, some people like my house so much they take things home with them – new bedding, a vase, a beach basket, a ceramic garden bowl, a paperback of Jaws with ‘please don’t take’ stamped into it and an Adidas cycling poncho have all disappeared.

There’s a suggestion in the media that some locals don’t like holiday lets but there’s a big difference between rarely visited second homes and 90% occupied places offering people breaks and holidays. Every week my guests use the local shops, galleries, coffee shops, gift shops, cafes, vineyards, pubs and restaurants that we recommend and even the brilliant local cinema, The Kino in Rye. All the taxis know the house because they take guests there from the station, and we have year-round work for local tradespeople from gardeners to carpenters and beyond. Our guests are on holiday; they spend money on meals out and treats.

The huge majority of people who stay are really nice and appreciative. One woman who’d holidayed in the cottage in the 1960s got in touch; she sent photos and mentioned the children she’d played with, who are now my grown-up neighbours. Another guest sent us sound recordings of the nearby field; one took stunning photos of the sky at night.

It's not all plain sailing, but having a holiday let is actually a really nice way to make money. You’re helping people have a good holiday, and when they’re pleased and happy, that feels great. Plus, importantly, you also get to go on holiday yourself whenever you like.

Visit pebblesbeachhouse.co.uk; @pebblesrye