Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
I love travelling so much, whether that’s abroad or in the UK, and hopefully next year I will get to do more of it with my family.
I haven’t been abroad for nearly five years now and I so I would really love a holiday in the sun next year if we are allowed to travel and it is safe for us to do so. I’d also really love to get to Cornwall again – it’s one of my favourite places and the last time we went, Ava was two and a half! We always seem to be lucky enough to get amazing weather when we are there, the beaches are incredible, we can bodyboard and enjoy gorgeous food; I love it so much and really miss it.
When we go away as a family, we tend to try and find accommodation that has enough space for us all to stay comfortably for a week or two but that also has at least some kind of kitchen area so we don’t have to eat out all the time and so we always have snacks available and a fridge to chill the wine!
When we’re away we, of course, want a break from cooking meals every day but that doesn’t mean that we want to go to a restaurant for every single meal or not be able to relax at our accommodation and enjoy dinner together there.
So we love to stay in a villa when we’re abroad and find a house to rent when in this country if we can – it gives us so much more flexibility and all of the comforts of home without all the ‘stuff’ to do and enjoy a new place. When we went to Portugal with our family a few years ago we rented a villa together and it just works so well when there are lots of you and especially with young kids.
We can all help each other out and give each other a night off, take it in turns to cook (the built-in barbeque was used a lot!), we had a brilliant pool and large outdoor area, and we just got all of the benefits of a home away from home but with the privacy, space and amenities that a hotel just doesn’t offer. Quite often a house or villa doesn’t cost you any more either as you can split the cost between you all and you don’t have to pay to eat out for all of your meals and snacks.
It’s something we would always choose where possible when we go away now and thankfully there are more and more amazing places becoming available to rent for a holiday or even slightly longer-term.
I hadn’t heard of GuestReady before, but it’s a brilliant service, both for those looking to rent as well as those who have a property they want to rent out without any of the hassle that usually entails.
GuestReady is a short and medium term rental management company who fully manage the properties on their books to provide a brilliant, high-quality service to their guests and an extra income to property owners.
If you’re a property owner you can choose to rent out your own home whilst you are away yourselves to earn a bit of extra money, or if you have a second property that you want to rent out GuestReady can handle that for you as well. Whether you just want them to do the online management for you or arrange everything – from toiletries for your guests to laundry, bed lined, check-in services and housekeeping – GuestReady can do it all, making it a really convenient and straightforward way to rent out your property, whether short or long-term.
They operate in many countries including the UK, France, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Malaysia, with around 3000 properties currently. They also do Airbnb management so if you already rent out a property on there but don’t want the faff then GuestReady can do it all for you.
I think it would be a great way of pretty much paying for your own trip, particularly if you, say, wanted to go away for a few months with your family over the summer. You could rent out your house whilst you’re away, whether it’s in Birmingham, London or Dubai, and GuestReady could manage the whole thing for you so you wouldn’t have to worry about advertising to find renters, getting keys to them, cleaning up after them or anything! You could just go on your travels knowing that everything is being handled for you and you’re making some extra money for your own holiday!
For those looking for a property to rent, whether for a shorter holiday or for longer GuestReady is a great place to look for a place to stay. Brilliant customer service is so important to them and they work hard to provide exceptional experiences to their guests.
I love the idea of staying in a proper house or apartment on holiday so that you have your own space and privacy, but can also choose to get your laundry done if you want and have premium toiletries provided for you so it’s like staying in a high-end hotel but with all of the benefits of staying in a private house and having a place to cook meals whenever you want to and a fridge so you can have cold wine and beer!
You can book directly on the GuestReady website, just like with a hotel and that’s where you’ll find the best discounts too.
It would be great to use if, say, you are wanting to go away with a few friends or your wider family for a few nights, and you can get a proper bargain if there’s a few of you. I loved Porto so much when we were there for our honeymoon in 2015 and you can get some amazing apartments to stay for such brilliant prices. It would be brilliant to know that the place is all yours but you have the property management team available 24 hours a day if you need anything, even if it’s just some information about the area. I spent far too long browsing all of the beautiful places available to rent once I started looking and now I’m desperate to go away!
Seeing the great prices and beautiful places you can rent, I’m very tempted to book a couple of nights away for me and my husband for his birthday next year. They offer exactly the type of places we love to stay and the privacy we prefer plus everything we need for a comfortable and enjoyable stay.
I really like that you are shown the full price straight away – you aren’t shown one amount and then with loads added on when you finally get to the total. It does show the price breakdown for cleaning for example but it gives the overall cost immediately which is unusual! There’s a wide variety available for different budgets too so you can find bargains or something more extravagant if you’re booking for a special occasion.
I think GuestReady is a brilliant service for both renters and people who have a property to rent out and I will definitely go there to look for a great holiday home to rent, both here and abroad.
This is a paid partnership with GuestReady. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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