Holiday Rental Companies

Sykes Holiday Cottages * Sponsored
Sykes Cottages evolved from rather humble beginnings to become one of the largest cottage rental companies in the UK. Founded more than 20 years ago, it features more than 10,000 holiday homes including cottages, barn conversions, cabins and holiday lodges. Sykes’ range of properties is almost unmatched in the industry and the company continues to grow and expand its portfolio. User reviews have also been included for most of them which is a great way to get a feel for a particular holiday property. As far as additional fees are concerned, Sykes requires a deposit that’s 30% of the rental as well as a tiered booking fee – a bit of a shame but certainly not out of the ordinary when it comes to the major rental agents.

Booking.com
Booking.com is one of the foremost holiday rental companies in the industry. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it features somewhere in the region of 30,000,000 accommodation listings in almost 200 countries. It also does a decent line in UK cottages offering more than 50,000 holiday properties. These include apartments, lodges, chalets, character cottages and country houses. Unlike many of its competitors, Booking.com does not charge booking or deposit fees, nor will it cost you anything to make a cancellation. Its website is intuitive and easy to use, with numerous filtering options provided to hone down property searches. User reviews are also available for many of its accommodation listings.

Classic Cottages
Classic Cottages has been in the business for around 40 years and has built a solid reputation for itself within the industry. Specialising in West Country holiday properties, it offers apartments, barn conversions, cabins, cottages and holiday lodges. Each property is regularly inspected and has to meet exacting requirements before being included on the website. Although unable to match the extensive portfolios offered by some of the major rental companies, Classic Cottages’ range of 1100+ is still pretty respectable considering that the company focuses on just one UK region. A flat non-refundable booking fee of £34 (inc.VAT) applies to all properties – not great, but fairly typical of the industry.

Coast and Country Cottages
Coast and Country Cottages is part of the Sykes Cottages family and specialises in Devon holiday cottages. Its collection of 400 properties is sourced from the Sykes database and includes apartments, barn conversions and character cottages. These can be filtered down using the same search facilities found on the Sykes Cottages website, with visitors able to adjust their searches according to property type, ratings and specific features. Coast and Country also shares the same fees as its parent company: a 30% deposit and non-refundable, tiered booking fee. Despite this, its association with such a respected holiday rental company should be of some reassurance to those looking for holiday cottages in Devon.

Corncott
Corncott, which trades as Cornish Traditional Cottages, was established in 1984 so it’s been around for some time. It’s website, which is intuitive and easy to use, offers over 200 holiday properties of which most are character cottages. Each one is regularly inspected by a dedicated property department with owners required to complete questionnaires and consent to the occasional re-inspection. On-site search results are accompanied by a map displaying the location of each property – a helpful addition if you’re unfamiliar with Cornwall. However, filtering options are limited to number of bedrooms, pet-friendly properties and price. In terms of fees, Corncott requires a 25% deposit of the total rental and a non-refundable booking fee of £28.

Cottages.com
Formerly known as Cottages4You, Cottages.com has forged a solid reputation for itself within the holiday cottage sector and is one of the leading holiday cottage rental companies. Owned by Awaze UK it features over 21,000 inspected holiday properties including apartments, barn conversions, cabins, cottages and lodges. It’s also a member of ABTA – a respected travel organisation which offers advice and guidance to travellers and holiday-makers. The Cottages.com website provides an elaborate search facility that allows visitors to adjust their searches according to a wide array of features. In addition, verified reviews are provided for each property. As far as extra fees go, Cottages.com requires a tiered deposit and booking fee, both are which are dependent on the rental cost.

Expedia
Expedia is a global travel booking service which operates in the area of flights, car hire and hotel accommodation. It also features an expansive range of holiday properties including apartments, barn conversions, cabins, cottages and lodges. Its website is easy to use offering a flexible search facility with a reasonable number of filters to help refine searches. Although not a holiday cottage specialist per se, its meta-search functionality enables it to offers properties from a variety of companies. This can prove rather useful in tracking down hidden gems. While Expedia doesn’t charge booking and or deposit fees, many of the holiday properties found on its pages have been sourced from third parties who apply their own – worth keeping mind.

Gorgeous Cottages
Gorgeous Cottages specialises in Yorkshire holiday properties. Part of the Travel Chapter Family which includes brands such as HolidayCottages.co.uk, it features a relatively modest range of properties. With that said, its portfolio is dominated by character cottages and luxury holiday homes of the highest standards. Being able to offer such a concentration of quality properties usually indicates that many, if not all, have been hand-picked, which is always a bonus. However, the extra costs attached to bookings are rather chastening for those with limited budgets. Gorgeous Cottages requires a deposit of 1/3 the rental cost plus a booking fee, both of which are non-refundable.

Holiday Cottages
HolidayCottages.co.uk is a family-run business that’s been in operation since 1989. Headquartered in North Devon, the company was originally known as ‘Farm & Country Holidays’ and offered around 100 rurally-located properties. It has since grown to become one of the major accommodation providers in the United Kingdom and is now owned by the Travel Chapter – the same people behind Gorgeous Cottages. There are more than 5000 holiday properties to choose from including apartments, cottages, log cabins, lodges, huts and yurts – each one is inspected by a dedicated property team. And as with stable-mate Gorgeous Cottages, a 1/3 deposit of the total rental is required for all bookings and a tiered booking fee which is calculated according to the rental price. Both are non-refundable.

Holiday Lettings
Launched in 1999, Holiday Lettings is one of the more well-known holiday cottage rental companies. It began life as a small, specialist outfit before expanding its portfolio of properties to become the largest independent rental company in the UK. In 2010, it was acquired by travel giants, Trip Advisor. As a result, user/guest reviews now feature prominently on the Holiday Lettings website and are available for the majority of its UK properties. There are more than 60,000 holiday homes available including barn conversions, cabins, castles, chalets, cottages and lodges. Although fees are attached to bookings, they only amount to 8% – 16% of the total rental cost – a decent rate in comparison to many of its competitors.

VRBO
Formerly HomeAway, VRBO has been around since 2005 and was founded by Brian Sharples and Carl Shepherd before being sold to Expedia in 2015. The company has an excellent reputation within the industry and among holiday-makers, offering more than 300 UK holiday homes including cottages, lodges, apartments and barn conversions. Its website is easy to use and comprises plenty of filters to refine holiday property searches. In fact the search results layout bears more than a passing resemblance to Corncott and includes a map for each holiday property. Booking fees range from 5% of the rental cost.

Hoseasons
Hoseasons is a respected brand within the holiday rental industry. Established in 1940 by Wally Hoseason, this award-winning company originally made a name for itself by offering boating holidays, riverside holiday homes and short break accommodation. Over the years it evolved to eventually include holiday cottages as well as standard self catering properties. Today the company is owned by Awaze (formerly European Vacation Rentals) and has become a giant, letting out properties to an estimated 1.75m holiday-makers. Its portfolio comprises more than 65,000 properties including barn conversions, character cottages and holiday lodges. A variable booking fee and tiered deposit are applied to all holiday rentals.

Independent Cottages
Independent Cottages was launched in 2006 and is owned by husband and wife team, Sarah and Sarah Jarvis. Using their own experience as holiday letters, they set about creating an online advertising resource for property owners which enabled them to promote their holiday homes independently. Their company has since made considerable strides within the industry and features an ever-expanding portfolio of more than 15,000 properties which can be found throughout the UK. Unlike many other holiday cottage rental companies, Independent Cottages doesn’t allow for on-site bookings. Instead, a contact form is provided for each property which allows holiday-makers to get in touch with the owners directly. This of course means no booking fees.

Manor Cottages
Manor Cottages specialises in Cotswolds holiday homes and offers around 200 properties which range from character cottages to modern holiday homes. Although there’s no mention on its website, Manor Cottages is a white label operation that’s affiliated to Sykes. As such it features the same search functionality found on the Sykes website as well as many of the same holiday properties. With that said, it’s become a successful holiday rental agent company in its own right while enjoying the benefits of such an association: each property is inspected regularly and has to meet certain standards before inclusion. As with Sykes, a 30% deposit of the holiday rental is required as well as a tiered booking fee.

Mulberry Cottages
Mulberry Cottages is a trusted holiday accommodation provider that set up shop in 2006. Founded by estate agent Sarah Wood, its primary focus is on short break holiday destinations in Southern England although it also features holiday homes in Northern locations such as the Lake District. Its portfolio currently comprises more than 700 self catering properties including apartments, barn conversions, cottages and holiday lodges. The Mulberry Cottages website is well set out and intuitive offering a welcome departure from the cluttered lay-outs found on many competitor sites. Its search function also includes plenty of filters to refine searches. Currently, bookings are subject to a £35 booking fee.

National Trust
As well as conserving our heritage and championing the UK’s many regions of outstanding natural beauty, the National Trust also features a solid collection of holiday properties. There are more than 450 to choose from including cottages, bothies, bunkhouses and barn conversions. However, unlike some of the companies listed on this page, the National Trust’s range of holiday homes is dominated by traditional properties that offer characterful, quirky self catering accommodation – its selection of thatched cottages is particularly impressive.

Premier Cottages
Premier Cottages is an award-winning company that features only properties that have attained independent ratings of at least 4 stars. In contrast to most holiday rental specialists, it’s not actually an agent but a collection of small accommodation providers who’ve joined forces to market their properties. As a result, Premier Cottages is able to offer an extensive range of character cottages, barn conversions and contemporary properties that numbers well over 800. Judging by its portfolio, these properties are of a consistently high standard and are located all over the United Kingdom. Because of the nature of its operation, Premier Cottages does not charge any additional booking fees.

Rural Retreats
Headquartered in Gloucestershire, Rural Retreats was launched in 1983 and offers holiday homes in locations throughout the UK. Purchased by HPB (Holiday Property Bond) in 2004, the company also operates a collection of smaller sites which specialise in specific locations such as Norfolk, Suffolk, Cornwall and the Cotswolds. At present, the Rural Retreats portfolio includes more than 500 character holiday cottages and contemporary properties. Its website also features a useful search facility that includes a large collection of filters to hone down searches. A 1/3 deposit of the total rental is attached to all bookings and an additional booking fee.

Sally’s Cottages
Sally’s Cottages is an award-winning cottage company that specialises in Lake District holiday cottages. Set up in 2003, its offers more than 450 properties including character cottages and luxury holiday homes. Featuring a search engine that’s reminiscent of the old Cottages4You search facility, its website is intuitive and easy to use. Detailed guides have also been included for a wide variety of locations in the Lake District which is particularly helpful for those unfamiliar with this beautiful region of Northern England. A 1/3 deposit is attached to all holiday bookings which is extremely competitive when you consider the charges applied by some of the bigger rental companies.

Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is the largest travel website in the world. Founded in 2000, it operates 25 travel brands including Holiday Lettings. Its UK rentals section comprises more than 20,000 holiday properties such as apartments, barn conversions, apartments, cottages, holiday lodges and luxury properties. One of Trip Advisor’s stand-out features is its user reviews which have become a significant trust indicator for millions of holiday-makers the world over. Indeed, they can prove extremely helpful in forming a more accurate picture of a holiday property. Although not a booking agent per se, Trip Advisor charges a fee that ranges from 8% to 16%.

Wales Cottage Holidays
Wales Cottage Holidays is a family-run holiday rental agency that’s owned by The Original Cottage Company Limited. It’s been in operation for a number of years and is a respected name within the industry, especially when it comes to Welsh holiday properties. There are more than 1000 holiday homes to choose from including barn conversions, cottages and lodges. These are situated in in numerous picturesque regions throughout Wales such as Anglesey, Pembrokehire and the Brecon Beacons. There are also numerous guides and information about visitor attractions and places of interest. Bookings are subject to a 1/3 deposit of the total rental costs as well as an additional booking fee.