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Cornwall Far West Holiday Accommodation Website

 

Tips for visitors booking self-catering holiday accommodation.

The Cornwall Far West website accepts advertisements from self-catering holiday accommodation owners to advertise their property using material supplied by the owners. This is simply an advertisement service and Cowloe Productions, which runs the website, can accept no liability whatsoever for any inaccuracies in the advertisements, or any shortcomings in the service provided by the property owners.

The intention of this page is to offer visitors some basic advice for use when booking properties, which might help to avoid disappointment at the time of the holiday.

We cannot emphasise enough the importance of Holiday Cancellation Insurance - this is relatively cheap and easy to obtain and should cover the cost of your holiday should you need to cancel at a late stage for whatever reason.
We can recommend Schofields service - click here for more information - and World First - click here for more information

A lot of property owners have their properties inspected by agencies such as the English Tourist Board. A logo is included in the property entry on the CFW site if we have been notified of such an inspection and rating. Links to owners` websites will likely give more information for each particular property.
Such inspections tell the customer that at the time of the inspection the property`s facilities reached a certain standard. They offer no guarantee that the property will be clean and fully equipped when you arrive for your holiday.

Lots of owners operate their own websites - often linked from the CFW website. These usually carry much more information than the standard entry on the CFW site. Some owners` websites include an automated booking system with an automated email reply thanking you for your booking (!). There have been recent instances of several customers believing they have booked the same week at a property in this fashion and - on its own - this really is not a very good way to run a business. If you book in this way, always follow it up with a telephone call - if you cannot contact the owners then be very dubious of the `booking`.

When you have chosen your potential holiday property - contact the owners by phone and have a chat with them.
Ask who carries out the cleaning - do they clean themselves or do they employ a cleaning agency ?
Ask what arrangements are in place should there be a failure at the property whilst you are there - no electricity or water or similar.
Also ask if the owner or agent is always contactable - you do not want to find yourself in trouble with no help ..
This sort of approach should give you a reasonable idea of the people you are planning to deal with at an early stage.

If you decide to book, see how efficient the paperwork flow is - when you have the details, try the `emergency contact` phone number.
Poorly run self-catering properties are uncommon, but disappointments do occur.

As a customer, you should be sent a booking form for the property for your holiday. Once completed and signed, this usually becomes a legally binding contract and the customer should be sent a copy together with information on the property. Usually, the booking is not considered confirmed until the booking form has been completed and any required deposit paid.

If you are unfortunate enough to have a problem with your accommodation, notify the owners or their agents as soon as possible.
It is extremely frustrating for owners to be told of problems after a holiday, without having been told during the holiday and therefore having an opportunity to correct things.

We intend to set up a `positive feedback` system whereby the customer can email to say what a lovely time they had at their particular property - this information would then be added to the property entry on the website.
We would not include negative reports as this could be disputed and it is not our intention or place to become involved in any such dispute.

We welcome any further positive ideas for this list ! - please e-mail here