Advice on Choosing Your Self Catering Accommodation Unit

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A Second Home In New Zealand.
Unique guide reveals insider secrets on how to migrate, live, work or invest in New Zealand the smart way.

Author: Iain Williams

Article source: http://www.whistlerbreak.com/. Used with author's permission.

Self catering holidays are easy to come by, but at what cost, not just financially but emotionally. Let's face it, we go on self catering holidays because they are cheaper than the holidays we would really love to go on. Cruises, hotel holidays and full board holidays in the Bahamas are all what we want - but they are expensive and the cost is generally per person not per accommodation unit as is with self catering holidays. Self catering holidays have gone up in price of late but you do get far more for your money these days than ten years ago. What you can expect from a self catering holiday these days are quality mobile homes, chalets, villas, farmhouses and Gites. With the exception of the last two all of the other accommodation units are normally in a holiday park or have swimming pools or children's play area to keep your little ones occupied, and this is what you are paying for - not just the accommodation.

We expect a lot for our money and when we arrive we want it to be fantastic, well to make your dreams come true here is some handy tips and advice on how to choose the right accommodation unit.

When looking on the Internet or browsing through your local paper for a holiday you will come across three types of advertisers.

1. The single proprietor of an accommodation unit
2. The small to medium sized business with a handful of units
3. The large company that has an abundance of units

The 1st option can be great and will be better priced than the other two, but it comes with the problem of quality, parting with your money to an unknown person and also the chance that the proprietor can cancel at any stage without offering you another unit in its place. Also the picture of the accommodation unit, how is it? The unit may look lovely but that was 6 years ago.

The 2nd option will be dearer but comes with generally a better selection of accommodation units, money can be taken safely through credit cards and if the company do have a problem then a second unit will be on offer. The service will be better than the other two options and the standard of accommodation should be far superior.

The 3rd and final option is the big boys, they will have a huge fleet of units, they will be dearer than the 1st two put together but you know they will always be there even if you are unhappy. The company will treat you as a number not a person but you do know where you stand.

Tips

Your holiday is a purchase that cannot be taken lightly, it may have taken you months to have saved up for.

I recommend that you do a lot of research first, try ringing the company and finding out about your accommodation unit or read there website thoroughly, look for hidden extras, ask or see what age the accommodation units are, where are they situated, if you have a choice of location within the park then do choose well (on a number of occasions customers are happy with the unit but not with the location), look to see if bedding is included and finally once you have decided and have arrived on your holiday give it a day or so to recover from the journey before you complain if you do have a gripe, issues don't seem as bad the following morning.

These may seem simple and obvious steps to take when searching for your family holiday but it's the not knowing or the first time abroad customers that we have to assist.