The Cottage Company

 FAQ | Owner comments | Get in touch

The Cottage Company is a selection of specialist holiday cottage web sites, each one a boutique agency for beautiful, hand-picked holiday venues in unspoilt locations.

Each web site is designed to cover a particular holiday sector or geographical area. We specialise in having lovely big magazine-quality photographs and really informative text, so as to allow guests to choose exactly the right property for them. We are full-service agents, which we believe gives guests an efficient service and consistent experience, and relieves the property owner of the considerable administrative burden of dealing with bookings and payment collection. 

A total agency service

10
years online experience		 131,000
unique site visitors per year		 4
great websites		 105%
annual growth		 85%
average annual occupancy

A few key questions

 What does it cost to advertise on one of your websites?

There is no charge to be featured on any of the web sites. We take a competitive commission from guest payments (we discuss this directly with you when we know more about your property). If we select your cottage to be on one of our websites, we don't charge you anything for the considerable set-up costs, which are:

  • A visit from us
  • A photographic shoot by a professional photographer
  • The design of your web page by our website designer
  • Bespoke web site text
  • Search engine optimisation
  • Set up and integration with our full online booking system

  What do I need to do if I want to join one of your websites?

Please email some interior, exterior and location photographs of your property to caroline@blackmountains.biz along with a brief explanation and your contact details.

  I'm doing up a cottage with a view to renting it out as a holiday let - can you help?

We are really happy to give general advice in advance - do call! But we do also recommend a holiday cottage consultant who can give specific advice by separate arrangement. However we can't make a final decision about a property until it is completely ready.

 Is my property suitable for one of your websites?

We are looking for special places in special locations. If you think your properly fits that criteria, we would be very interested in seeing some photographs.

  What does 'special' mean?

Special doesn't have to mean luxurious (although comfort and cleanliness are crucial), but it does mean that there is something beautiful, special or unique about the property.

 Do you ask for exclusivity?

No, but we feel that we can do a much better job if a property is exclusively with us; and we offer lower commission rates for exclusivity. If a property owner uses more than one agent, we do make a promise to our guests that we are not undersold.

TESTIMONIALS

"After several disappointing years, we moved from a large national agency in September 2009 to Blaentrothy Cottages, and Blaentrothy Cottages have increased our monthly returns by 300%. We are now almost fully booked for the rest of 2011. It has been an amazing turnaround. I think our lovely house benefits from being part of a collection of places hand-picked for their quality, rather than being a diamond amongst lesser gems."
Cottage owner, Brecon, Wales

"We have our cottage with a number of listing sites, but after enlisting Blaentrothy Cottages our monthly and annual income has more than doubled."
Cottage owner, Herefordshire, England

"Great to see so many new cottages on the website. It looks like your business is going from strength to strength. So glad about that. We are enjoying the benefits of being with you so much that I am not planning to renew my subscription with a listing-site next year. I would much rather just go with you -- it would be much simpler. You are so efficient and good at marketing and so good at communicating with owners and supporting us. Blaentrothy is an absolute Godsend! Why be anywhere else?"
Cottage owner, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire, England

"Whilst writing, I would just like to commend you on your business. I had almost given up hope of finding a decent cottage in which to stay in Wales. The large cottage companies only seem to deal with cottage owners who let out 1970s museums. However, all of your cottages seem to provide discerning holiday makers with what they look for in 2012."
Sally from Eastbourne, cottage guest

"We have just booked our 5th (I think!) holiday with Blaentrothy Cottages. We’ve been back to the delightful Pontescob because it’s always nice to return to, knowing your way around helps. We’ve had shared holidays with friends in other houses of equal quality, but it’s not just the houses, it’s the personal service, being able to email questions about bookings, places or things to do that really encourages us and no questions seem too trivial. The service they give us as customers is so much more than the average. We have been thrilled to find a new selection each time we start to look and look forward to more. In a world of automated everything it’s lovely to find something with a personal touch. "
Deborah Richards, cottage guest, Cornwall