Booking a holiday at the last minute doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. Indeed many holiday makers enjoy the sheer excitement of finding and then booking, amazing holiday properties, at unbelievable prices. We’ve put together some simple but important tips to help you find a cracking late availability holiday cottage.

1 Be flexible and open to trying something new.

When looking for last minute availability, to be truly successful, you’ll need to be open to offers which perhaps weren’t what you had in mind originally. Why not embrace this as an opportunity to try something new, visit an area you haven’t visited before, stay in a different style of property or perhaps even taking a holiday in a country you haven’t visited before?

Being flexible also means being open to changing the dates of your holiday, sometimes being able to take a holiday slightly earlier or later, can open up a huge choice of fantastic properties and locations to customers. At Sykes Cottages our holiday advisers strive to offer as many options as possible, whilst meeting customer’s requirements but the more flexible customers can be, the more exciting the range of options our advisers can offer.

2 Be resilient and stay positive!

There will always be those lucky few who’ll find their ideal holiday, on their first visit to a website and within just a few clicks of their mouse. For the majority of us however it takes a little longer to find our dream last minute holiday. The good news is that if you’re resilient and determined in your search, you’ll often be rewarded with the very best deals and properties.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for straight away, don’t be disappointed, instead you should remain positive and have another browse later that day or the next morning. With availability changing rapidly, you’ll stand a much better chance of grabbing a great deal, if you keep checking for availability and offers regularly.

3 Don’t be afraid to ask!

Many people forget that their biggest source of help, in finding a last minute holiday, is the company itself! Any holiday company (ourselves included) with last minute holidays, would love to sell that availability to customers. Many of our customers find that a speculative inquiry by email or telephone, about last minute availability in a certain area, has led to them securing a fantastic cottage at an equally amazing price.
Don’t forget, even if the company has no last minute availability when you contact them, they may be able to give you an indication of where to look for their late availability, making your search that little bit easier. For example at Sykes Cottages we have a dedicated late availability page, which details all of our cottages allowing last minute bookings.

4 Find those valuable news feeds, tweets and Facebook posts!

Many companies use feeds, tweets and posts as a fast effective method of making their customers aware of any last minute deals. Look out for news or blog feeds appearing on the company’s website or an option to subscribe to their ‘latest offers’ feed.

With social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook being so fast to deliver news, many companies use these services to deliver their offers to customers even quicker. At Sykes Cottages we use our Facebook page and Twitter tweets to make our customers aware of the extra special offers we have available.

A word of warning, offers which appear via feeds, tweets or posts contain some of the very best offers available so they get booked very quickly indeed!

5 Don’t delay!

Many customers delay once they’ve found a perfect last minute break and end up missing out! Don’t delay, ask the company if you can book it straight away or reserve it for a short period. We’d always suggest securing a booking as early as possible however we appreciate that sometimes people sometimes need a little extra time…

With provisional bookings you have the peace of mind of knowing you have your fantastic last minute holiday at a brilliant price, without a feeling of being committed to the booking. At Sykes Cottages for example we offer customers the opportunity to provisionally book, any of our cottages, without commitment, for a period of 24 hours, giving you the time you need to decide if the holiday is right for you.

If you haven’t read it already, one of our earliest blogs ‘Holiday Cottages … Why?’ provides a fascinating polemic on the virtues of a self catering cottage as a form of holiday accommodation. We list 4 reasons/benefits as to why people stay in cottages – if you would like to add to the list, please get involved and leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you!

A few days away can be the perfect tonic when time is precious and stress levels are high. Think lazy days on the beach, walks in the countryside, alfresco pub lunches. Enjoy a day out, or chill out in your holiday cottage – what bliss to do absolutely nothing! We feature ‘short break’ cottages in all shapes and sizes across the UK and Ireland, whether you’re after a romantic retreat for two or a place to gather with friends.

All kinds of short breaks

Recharge those batteries and escape this weekend! We all enjoy a spot of spontaneity and the good news is many cottages accept last minute breaks, so you can whisk your friends or family away whenever the mood takes.

Beat those winter blues and plan a winter short break! From rambling farmhouses to cosy hideaways with crackling log fires, the winter months are especially popular for booking a ‘short break’ cottage – and reservations can be made at any time of year.

We also feature a good number of off season breaks, available at selected times of year and bookable within a month of travel.

We’ve hundreds of quality, hand-picked ‘short break’ cottages and value-for-money is guaranteed, leaving room in your pocket for lots of treats during your stay.

Tempted? Good…let’s get you booked!

Are there some friends who you haven’t seen in a long time? Are there relatives or members of the family who you don’t spend enough time with? If there is, catch up with your friends and family in a different way!

By booking one of our large properties, you can get everyone together under one roof for a great value cottage break. No matter how big your family is or how many close friends you have, we have a cottage big enough to accommodate everyone. Our largest holiday cottage – Shepherds Villa (ref 1591) in The Lake District – can sleep 23 people in 9 bedrooms. And when you’re splitting the cost of a cottage getaway between 23 people, things can get very cheap, indeed. For example, a 7 night Winter break in Shepherds Villa is £960. Divide that by 23 (the number of people) and then divide it by 7 (the number of nights) and it works out at only £5.96 per person per night.

If you’re going away with friends, you could organise a Facebook Event to invite a carefully selected list of long-lost acquaintances. For the boys, you could book a cottage with a games room or a swimming pool. For the girls, you could get some serious pampering at a cottage with spa facilities.

For those who are thinking about getting a number of families together for a cottage getaway, call us for multiple cottages in the same location. This means that each family can enjoy an outing in the day and their own cottage/privacy in the evening.