Find your ideal holiday cottage in Scotland

New website page about Highland Castles

2011-12-12T17:27:00.000Z

Robert the Bruce, who captured Dunstaffnage castles from his enemies the MacDougalls, and gave it to the Campbells in the 14th century.
This new page in our website needs a link from her for Google to find it.
Scottish castles in the West Highlands.

John

New page in our site about driving on snow and ice
Masses of information about the area in our Site map
This is about Fort William
Appin is beautiful
Bed and breakfast and hotels from Oban to Fort William
Walks around our cottage
Autumn short breaks in Glencoe
Ben Nevis walking is a slog, but worth it
Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
The highlands of Scotland
Find holiday cottages anywhere
Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe
Hill walks in Glencoe
Munroes in Glencoe
Port Appin
Barcaldine
Accommodation in Lochaber
Kentallen
Ballachulish
Onich
How to find cottage owners self catering websites

February £100 off Glencoe cottage, Scottish highlands

2010-12-12T18:48:00.001Z

The 2nd white cottage on the right is ours. October is not let yet for three weeks. For the first two we will do short breaks if you ask, and you can have £100 off a full week. Click on the title to this post for the prices and cottage details. Sleeps 4, near Glencoe, very pretty as you can see.

John

I just want to give Google a nudge to index our new Jazz website Festivals page. Nothing to do with cottages, or holidays, or self catering at all. Sorry. At the Brighton Festival the Jazz Smugglers band is to play on May 9th

Christmas in our cottage in Glencoe, Scotland

Information about the area in our 60 page Site map
About Fort William
Appin is beautiful
Oban to Fort William hotels and B+Bs
Walks around our cottage area
October, November, December short breaks in Glencoe
Ben Nevis walk
Cottage holidays Scotland in the low season
Highlands of Scotland
Find Holiday cottages anywhere
Great photographs of Glencoe
Hill in Glencoe
Mountains in Glencoe
Port Appin and Lismore
Barcaldine village
Accommodation in the West of Scotland area
Kentallen village
Ballachulish village
Onich village

Find cottage owners self catering websites directly

Pretty lochside cottage, West coast available for New Year, sleeps 4. £595

2010-11-07T14:06:00.000Z

The cottage is now is now available again for Hogmanay. It is wonderful for the New Year celebration. We have a good hotel just 300 yards away, with a very fine restaurant and bar. The location is glorious. All mod cons, wifi etc.
The cottage price is £595. From Dec 28th until the end of the 1st week in January.

Just go to Prices and cottage availability page in website

You can contact us directly. Click to email us

John

Masses of information about the area in our Site map
This is about Fort William
Appin is beautiful
Bed and breakfast and hotels from Oban to Fort William
Walks around our cottage
Autumn short breaks in Glencoe
Ben Nevis walking is a slog, but worth it
Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
The highlands of Scotland
Find holiday cottages anywhere
Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe
Hill walks in Glencoe
Munroes in Glencoe
Port Appin
Barcaldine
Accommodation in Lochaber
Kentallen
Ballachulish
Onich

How to find cottage owners self catering websites

HISTORY PAGES.
The story they don't tell you about the Glencoe Massacre
History around the cottage in Appin
Did the Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch in Lismore
West of Scotland millions of years ago
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The story of the MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
Glencoe, the 4th Wonder of Scotland
Castles in the Glencoe area

GLENCOE OUTDOORS
The best walks in Glencoe
Ben Nevis, go climb it
Munros are over 3,000 feet
Some Munros are easy
Glencoe rock climbing
Skiing in Glencoe is excellent again
New cycle tracks around Glencoe
There are lovely beaches and bays around Glencoe
Accommodation Fort William
Golf on the West coast
Tour the Highlands
You can cruise the West coast

Scotland cottage price reductions. £100 off September, £50 off October, £200 off November

2010-09-06T15:31:00.000+01:00

Picture by Jan Hamilton of Duror. Thank you Jan for its use. You can ask her about her wonderful photographs at janshamilton@tiscali.co.uk

Our off season price starts in October at £395 for a week. But we have reduced this by £50 for October, and no less than £200 off for November. We will also give a £100 price reduction for the last two weeks in September. Cottage is very pretty and sleeps four, fully modernised. In the low season we are probably the cheapest in the area.

People are booking late it is true. but it would be wise to contact us quickly at lochsidecottage@yahoo.co.uk or at our website.

Lochside cottage in Appin beside Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

John

Port Appin holidays
Barcaldine holidays
Accommodation in the Appin Duror area
Kentallen accommmodation
Ballachulish B+Bs
B+Bs in Onich
Late bookings Cottage holidays Scotland in Ocotber, November December, Winter, Spring
Hotels in the West of Scotland
The marvellous highlands of Scotland
Holiday cottages can be found anywhere
These show photographs of Glencoe
This is beautiful Appin
Walks, Glencoe
Hill walks, Glencoe
Walk up Ben Nevis one day?
Do the Munroes in Glencoe

August availability in a lochside cottage in Scotland, £100 off

2010-08-04T11:44:00.000+01:00

Cottage in Kentallen, Appin, near Glencoe is still available for the last week in August 2/4 people beside the loch near the most famous Glen in Scotland.

Lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William £100 off available last week August 28th
Glencoe is the most famous and most beautiful glen in Scotland. Fort William is the home of the renowned Ben Nevis.

Lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William £100 off available last week August 28th
The self catering cottage is equipped with full mod cons, new kitchen, new bathroom, everything you could want

Lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William £100 off available last week August 28thThe wild life outside the cottage is spectacular, there is a wonderful nearby, and the famous Glencoe massacre took place just up the road. There are 20 locals walks of all kinds in the self catering cottage area

Price reduction 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William
The usual price for August is £595, but we have reduced this by £100 because the children have gone back to school and it is all going quieter then.

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the heart of Appin Scotland
or email us direct at kentalleninfo@yahoo.co.uk

John

Short breaks in Scotland, Last minute cottage holidays Scotland, Autumn, winter, spring

Weather month by month Scotland summer

Weather month by month Scotland Autumn

Weath in Scotland Winter, month by month

Misunderstandings about Scotland's weather

Scotland's rain

Location of speed cameras in Scotland

Honeymoon cottages in Scotland

Scotland for Christmas and New Year

Th Scottish tourist Board

Cottages in Scotland permitting smoking

Cottages in Scotland welcoming pets

Driving in Scotland. Don't let speeding fines and points spoil your Scottish holiday

2010-06-03T16:16:00.000+01:00

There are not many speed cameras in the Highlands. A few going into Inverness, and the occasional one on the road from Crianlarich to Oban.

But if you get caught in the many traps speeding in Glasgow, speeding in Edinburgh, or speeding in Dundee go to this page to get advice.

People have got off before now, following this advice on avoiding fines and points on your licence.

Holiday travellers get off those speeding fines on Scottish roads

John
20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Easy hill walks in Glencoe
Why not walk up Ben Nevis one day?
Easier Munroe walks in Glencoe
Rock and Ice climbing in Glencoe
Cycling and fishing Glencoe
Spectacular wild life around our cottage
Golf in the Highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Cruising the islands, using Glencoe as a base
Safe, beautiful beaches and bays in Glencoe area
Touring the Highlands by car from Glencoe,
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Winter breaks, Jan Feb March in the cottage
Autumn breaks November December in the cottage

The little villages of Ballachulish, Duror, Kentallen, Onich and port Appin covered in a new blog

2010-05-15T22:15:00.000+01:00

The photograph is of the old pier at Kentallen, one of the best spots for fishing in the Appin area.

Liitle hamlets in Scotland often have people looking for accommodation but they find difficulty in finding websites. This is because most property owners use the bigger centres for describing their websites because they want more site visitors. So this blog has been set up just to help visitors to find accommodation providers, such as B&Bs, small hotels and self catering cottages in the area of Appin in general. Ballachulish is the biggest, there are little shops in Duror and Onich, a good hotel in Kentallen, and one of the finest hotels in the area at Port Appin.

The villages of Ballachulish, Onich, Duror and Kentallen, and Port Appin blog

If you are still looking for school holiday self catering holiday cottages, then you would be advised to go now for the bigger complexes with ten or more properties. These are not yet sold out for August, but most of the smaller ones are full. Just put the area you want to stay into Google maps, add the words "self catering" and google will find them for you.

John

Here are some walking sites in the area of our holiday cottage

20 brilliant walks around Appin
Easy hill walks around the north of Appin
Walking up Ben Nevis one day, is that for you?
Easier Munroe walks in the area

Vacancy for April 16th week in Glencoe cottage

2010-04-08T20:35:00.000+01:00

This is the lovely little, dry!, golf course almost next door to the cottage

The week of April 16th is available at the moment. But people are booking later than ever, so it will probably go. The cottage is fully modernised, all mod cons, new kitchen and bathroom, sleeps 4. No smoking, and no pets please, sorry.

We've upgraded the pages in our website for Wild life in glencoe, and for Golf in the Scottish highlands, and for Walks around Glencoe. You can find links for them below.

John

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Spectacular wild life around our cottage
Golf in the Scottish highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Scotlands weather misconceptions
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
The Clachaig Inn - great atmosphere in this world famous climbers pub
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B&Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website
Essential information for holidaymakers in Scotland, in one page
Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain

Christmas Available Fort William Glencoe cottage overlooking the loch

2009-10-04T16:42:00.001+01:00

The photo is of Ben Nevis, above the village of Corpach near Fort William. This is the famous Loch Eil, country of the Clan Cameron.

Our pretty cottage overlooks the Bay at Kentallen, 20 minutes south of Fort William and close to Glencoe. It is ideal for up to 4 people, with 2 bedrooms, fully refurbished to the highest standards, new kitchen, new bathroom, small kidney shaped bath.

You need to see the website for details.

Christmas is available at the moment, any day after the 18th December until 29th at £495.

John Winkler

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Fort William and the accommodation to the South
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Several cottages in the Fort William, Glencoe and Appin areas
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Cottages Scotland and Coastal cottages Scotland, how to find them

September cottage price down by £155. Bargain break Scotland

2009-07-21T15:29:00.006+01:00

September is brilliant in Scotland, one of the best months of the year.

We have reduced the price of staying in our pretty self catering cottage in Glencoe, by £155 for each week in September. Four people, staying a week that is only £15 or less per head per night. Where will you even find bed and breakfast for that?

Our cottage is so pretty, beside the loch, surrounded by mountains, and with all mod cons.

Contact us through the website and e-mail.

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre

John
ps These are the Right Angle Falls in the river Etive, nearby. Just go and watch.

Special discount for Self catering in Glencoe cottage

2009-05-13T22:48:00.004+01:00

We are offering a special "credit crunch" discount of £20 from all bookings at our pretty lochside cottage near Glencoe this year.

We have three dates available before the school holidays start.
May 30th, one week at £395 less £20
June 6th, one week at £450 less £20
June 27th, one week at £495 less £20

The cottage is the one you can see by the side of Loch Linnhe. Glencoe is just around the corner, Fort William is a short drive up the road, and Oban is a short drive the other way, going South. You can explore the remote country at Ardnamuchan with a very short ferry crossing at Corran, nearby.

The cottage sleeps 4, and has been fully re-furbished. It has a new kitchen and new bathroom and all the furnishings are new. Everything you need on holiday is there.

Look at the website first, just to check the date you want is still available.
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

John
ps the Walks in the area are wondrous, no finer area in the country for walking of all kinds.
Here are other web pages which may interest you.
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays

NEW METHOD TO FIND YOUR HOLIDAY PROPERTY ON THE WEB

2009-01-01T17:01:00.003Z

Photograph taken in November of the Pap of Glencoe. It is stunningly beautiful there, all the time, but none more so than right now. Just look at it.

We have put up a new website covering holiday accommodation on the West Coast of Scotland.

I pretended I was a normal holidaymaker and tried to search for hotels and bed and breakfasts in the chosen area.

The results I got were a mess. The first few pages were taken up by Directories.

But there is a much better way - here it is

Go to Google search and click on MAPS at the top left. Enter HOTELS IN and the location you want, or BED AND BREAKFAST and the location or SELF CATERING or COTTAGES in...
Eg HOTELS IN OBAN or BED AND BREAKFAST IN OBAN

A list will come up showing hotel name, address, telephone number, location map AND REVIEWS by customers.

The list is not comprehensive but it will include the best organised premises who have put themselves on to Google Maps. Some will lie outside your chosen area, though.

John

Here are the details of the new website.

Our own cottage website is first, obviously.

The little lochside cottage near Glencoe sleeps 4 people and is very pretty and very cosy
HOW TO FIND YOUR HOLIDAY PROPERTY ON THE INTERNET
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION ON SCOTLAND'S WEST COAST
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION AROUND OBAN
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION AROUND FORT WILLIAM
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION AROUND GLENCOE
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION AROUND APPIN AND ARGYLL
HOTELS, BED AND BREAKFAST ACCOMMODATION IN ARDNAMURCHAN AND LOCHABR
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
HOW TO SAVE ON YOUR HOLIDAY COSTS, REALLY GOOD TIPS
THE TRUE STORY OF SCOTLANDS WEATHER
TRAVEL HOLIDAY AND TOURIST INFORMATION ABOUT SCOTLAND

In Scotland you are surrounded by history, wherever you stay

2008-05-08T22:38:00.004+01:00

This photo is of a re-constructed Crannog. These are little island dwellings , just offshore in inland lochs - this one is at Loch Tay, in Perthshire. People lived in them for 1,000 yars or more, originally importing them from Ireland then they spread all over Scotland.

Whereve you stay in Scotland you will be surrounded by fascinating stories, of clans, of battles, of castles, of revolts and rebellions, of great clashes between whole tribes of Britons in Strathclyde, to the Picts of the North and East to the Scots of the West and the Isles. The imagintion can run riot.

Here are just a few historical pages in a self catering website.

John

The lovely crannog picture is shown in Flickr Mig R took the pic and gave us permission
How did the MacDonalds become the Lords of the Isles?
The mystery of King Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan priory
The Knights Templar in Argyll
The battle of Bannockburn, helped by Argyll men
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
news and stories of Glencoe, Appin and Lochaber

Here also is another page of assistance in finding your holiday cottage.
Holiday cottages and the best way to find your cottage on the internet

Take care if you travel on the A82, from Glasgow to Inverness

2008-04-15T17:32:00.004+01:00

We are going to tell you something that the Scottish National Tourist organisation, called VisitScotland, will not tell you.

All the trunk roads in the Highlands of Scotland need treating with care. To get from Glasgow to Inverness there are only two roads to choose - the A9, fast and safe, past Stirling. Or the slow and dangerous A82, up past Loch Lomondside, through Glencoe, around Fort William, past Ben Nevis, alongside Loch Ness and Nessie, to Inverness.

The A82 is bad news at several spots, particularly in the upper end of Loch Lomond, and the stretch from Corran ferry to Fort William and alongside Loch Ness. If you want to go the Skye, or Mull you have to choose the A82 really.

There is no political will to alter the A82. But a special campaign is now at work to get Msps interested so that we get it on the next transport budget.

The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

This is our own blog site about the road. The A82 tragedies, and accidents.

John

New pages added to bayview site

2008-04-06T23:23:00.005+01:00

We find that visitors often want particular information related to Scotland, or the Scottish Highlands. If we supply this in the website, then they often book with us.

So here are the latest pages we have added to the website for our cottage.
the lochside cottage near Glencoe in Appin on the west coast of Scotland

mystery of king robert the bruce and ardchattan priory
the knights templar in argyll
the battle of bannockburn
tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
how to lower your holiday costs
events and entertainment in glencoe and appin
facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
the best way to find your holiday cottage on the internet
news and stories of glencoe, appin and lochaber
how to avoid getting speeding fines
the viking battle in glencoe
the true story of the glencoe massacre

Sorry, folks this is just technical

2008-03-15T22:13:00.002Z

I want to get this blog site listed with Technorati. Adding this bit of code is one way to do it.
Technorati Profile

John

New pages in Last minute site

2008-03-06T16:49:00.006Z

We have prepared this other website just for folks who want to book late. Lots of information about travelling in Scotland.
These are the new pages we've added

The main site index page is at

last minute, self catering holiday breaks scotland

No Smoking self catering holiday properties Scotland

Smoking allowed in these self catering Scottish holiday properties

Pets Welcome in these Self Catering Scottish holiday properties

Pets not allowed in these self catering Scottish Holiday properties

All the facts you need about Self Catering Scotland

The facts about Scottish rain

How to find your ideal self catering property on the internet

The Vikings in Scotland, the Terror, the Battles, Vikings in Glencoe

Have a look.

John

Our own site is at

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

Forcing owners into the arms of VisitScotland

2008-02-23T20:42:00.002Z

We called personally on Visitscotland, the national tourist agency, when we started. We found them patronising and buraucratic and expensive. We are normal everyday people and they treated us with disdain.

I found out later that their inspectors are often ridiculous in their demands, "the walls are not quite perpendicular" - this in a Grade 11 listed property! The system is not based upon guests needs at all. There was such an outcry about their website for owners that a petition to the government about it has finally succeeded in forcing changes.

If we do not join VisitScotland then none of their offices can send guests to us. Even if the area is full, they will turn away visitors even if we have vacancies.
Our nice little Association of Self Caterers was forced to insist that all their members had to be members of VisitScotland as well. In return they would get the Assc booklet distributed in the big London Tourist Office in Lower Regent Street. Then they shut the London Office! We left the Assc.

The owners we know who are in membership get about three guests sent to them each year. For this they pay over £100 for a re-visit, plus 10% margin on the bookings, and the guests also pay a fee.

VisitScotland's own market research show that it only works well for 4 star and 5 star properties. There are only a handful of these. The stats show that normal properties do far far better for themselves in terms of total occupancy if they do not belong to VisitScotland

For visitors I would say that VisitScotland works quite well in giving you general guidance about the mechanical features of a property - i.e room size, ensuite etc. People I know who use it have been satisfied. But less than 1 in 4 owners belong to it and they give out all the information for guests on their websites. I think that more people are leaving VisitScotland each year than are joining.
.
VisitScotland is funded by the Scottish government, and makes a huge loss each year.

For owners, I would say avoid VS. For guests, yes, go for it, but look for other cottages as well.

John

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe

We have a new page on our website about the Vikings in Glencoe. This link helps Google to find the page.

The Vikings in Glencoe, the Terror, the Glencoe Battle

Owners availability not kept up to date - big problem

2008-01-07T21:34:00.001Z

Guests are very frustrated with spending hours looking at web sites and then finding their ideal property is booked for the date they want even when the web site says they are free.

Yes, agreed, big problem. Don't quite know what to do about it. It will not help you to know how and why it comes about but I'll tell you anyway.

Many owners just let out a couple of their family properties so they do not become too much of a financial burden. It is good, they argue, that their properties are used and the running costs are covered. It is not a proper money making business for many of them.

The income is not huge and if they do not know their way around doing their own website then that is a bigger problem.

They sign up with a Cottage directory on the internet and get their property listed with others, but forget to update their availability every time they get a booking. Very few owners do their updates on other peoples websites.

If they use the national agency, such as VisitScotland, then they just rely on them for bookings despite the fact that they do not get many bookings this way. They still don't keep their availability up to date.

The better ones have their own websites but most of these are run by commerical webmasters. It is a fuss to advise them every time there is a booking, and they get charged for it each time. Even though this only takes a minute or so to change the dates a fixed rate charge still takes a lump out of the revenue. Times 30 a year and no wonder owners only update a few times a year.

We do our own site and it costs nothing to keep availability up to date every time we send out a confirmation. Three minutes, that's all, but not many owners will do this for themselves, except for the bigger professional sites, with many properties.

This results is circular mailings.
So what happens then is that visitors send out several circulars to many properties just on the offchance. Owners can see these a mile off and take little notice of them. We ourselves just send out an automatic response to people who are asking us questions that are answered on our website. We get four a week or more.

Otherwise, to save themselves the problem, some owners do not put availabilty on their sites at all and this causes visitors to ring them and e-mail them. They also lose out on a lot of contacts when people go off. It wastes so much time and the internet is supposed to be efficient.

Do know what to suggest, really. Think the problem is going to be with us for a long time to come. It is not a professionally organised market, that's the prob.

John

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

This is a new page we have added to our site.

The Vikings in Glencoe, the Terror, the Glencoe Battle

Some owner's sites offer agreat deal of information about their area, but most just keep it simple with a few links, a bit of description and their prices and details

Winter breaks January February March in Glencoe

Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe

Travellers Tales from the Highlands of Scotland

last minute, self catering holiday breaks scotland

excellent Scottish holiday properties offering short breaks and special prices

Help for holiday home owners for their Web sites

A few Scottish properties still available for Christmas and New Year

2007-11-26T13:32:00.000Z

Don't lose hope there are still some absolutely top class self catering properties left for Christmas and New Year. But you should not leave it too long to book. One or two of them can accomodate a large family.

This particular site Still available for Christmas and New Year Scotland has seven holiday properties remaining available for Christmas or New Year, all different sizes, in different parts of Scotland. But they are all very well run, top class properties and not expensive, either.

John

If you use an Internet Directory of self catering properties take care

2007-11-20T23:54:00.000Z

This is for those folks who are trying to find a self catering property on the web. It can be confusing.

When you enter a search term such as Self Catering Edinburgh, you'll get a mass of Directories of properties covering the whole of Scotland and they will crowd out the first pages. You'll have to go to page 6 or more to begin to find owners properties.

For the moment I'm just going to review one kind of Directory, the Agency, and to put up some warning signs.

Some Directories are really sales agencies. Owners pay to have their properties sold for them, they may or may not be inspected by the agencies, their details are put on the internet, and the agency takes the booking.

Seems fine, but all is not what it seems. You'll be paying absolutely top prices if you use the agencies and most owners will charge you less if you can find their own sites. Sometimes a lot less. And the relationship will be very much warmer.

We used an agency at the start. They took 30% of our revenue, they then added a big charge on top of our usual rates to the visitors. In exchange they took hold of a section of our prime dates in the summer (didn't want to know about the off season, left that to us). Then out of 16 prime weeks or so they sold 7.

Wow! What a rip off for everyone concerned including the visitor. Not surprisingly we took it over ourselves.

Yet not all directories are agencies. The other kind of directories are fine to use, ones where they put you through to the owner direct. No problem there, and they also have more properties on their books. I'll write them up in a later blog.

Don't use an agency. The only exception to this, might be the Vscom site which is a very controversial offshoot of the Scottish Tourist Board. Their sites are all over every search term you can think of. They carpet bomb the web with their sites. They are an agency. Very expensive for owners to use. While their commission rates are only 10% or so, quite affordable, they make heavy fixed charges for inspections. These also are controversial in that they only measure physical features, such as the amount of wool content in the carpets (I kid you not) and not the view or the location or the warmth of reception. Their sales people on the telephone do not know the properties themsevles, they are separate from the inspectors.

But they are the people giving you official grades, of one star to five star. Owners with these grades then use them to get up their prices in line with other graded properties.

So take care with agencies. We'll deal with how to do it properly later.

John

Here are a few owners sites you can reach directly. They all have fine properties, well managed.

last minute, self catering holiday breaks scotland

This is our own cottage. We would be pleased if you would take a glance at our web site.

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

Late availability for Xmas and New Year

2007-11-18T17:19:00.000Z

There is availability still at Haus saron in Largs in South West Scotland. It is a large house with three bedrooms and there are cottages in the large grounds, with a golf course to one side and the sea to the other.

Try them

Late availability, Self catering house and cottages at Largs in Ayrshire, for Christmas and New Year bookings

John

Several properties with Xmas or New Year availability

2007-11-08T07:23:00.001Z

If you want to find a self catering cottage in Scotland for Christmas and the New Year it is quite late. But we know of four of our friends with very good properties who have vacanies at the moment. Nov 8.

Try them at this page

Last minute availability for Xmas and the New Year self catering in Scotland

John