A little help about a new holiday rental

[Giulia da Urbino]

Hello, I need your point of view.
Pauline, Hope this is ok to post here!

We may be able to renovate a house to rent it to guests and I have some questions if I may
1) there will be 4 doubles + 2 to 4 extra beds (including children toddlers and or babies), so 12 people maximum.
is 4 complete bathrooms enough or would you expect to have one for every double bedroom + 1?
2) the house has two floors, a very large terrace on the first floor and of course plenty of private outside space where we will put a small swimming pool.
Would you rather find
a) kitchen and sitting room on the ground floor with access to the garden (with pergola table chairs etc.) and the 4 bedrooms upstairs (2 of them will have access to the terrace too) or
b) living area on the first floor with access to the terrace (with pergola table chairs etc.) 2 rooms upstairs and 2 downstairs.
I'd love to hear from you, experienced and slow travelers!

 

[joe]

Hi Giulia and congratulations on your project. I have no experience in accommodating people, so these are just some thoughts :
Four complete bathrooms is really enough.
I think that it might be a good idea to have one bedroom on the ground floor, this in case there is a couple with a baby or very young children, and they would like to be close to them (hearing distance) after putting them to bed in the evening, but still wanting to be where the "action" is (on the ground floor). An additional (second) bedroom on the ground floor would be good only if you get a lot of families with children who can sleep by themselves, or if there is plenty of room on the ground floor to allow two couples to sleep there, with enough privacy.
One toilet on the ground floor (without necessarily a shower/bath, etc.) would definitely be a good idea, in any case.

 

[Giulia da Urbino]

Thank you, Joe and thank you for your insights!
I also thought that one bedroom near the living area could be a good idea, but the only way to do that is keeping the living area on the first floor since there's not enough space on the ground floor. I guess that the problem can be solved with a baby monitor.
The two plans are either 4 bathrooms upstairs + toilet on the ground floor or 3 bathrooms upstairs and a full bathroom downstairs (that can be used by the occupants of the 3rd and 4th bedroom that would share a bathroom.

 

[joe]

I'd go for the second option : 3 bathrooms upstairs and one on the ground floor.
I hadn't thought of a baby monitor. I guess these are becoming "mainstream".
Good luck!
(And hope to visit Umbria one day...)

 

[JustTravel]

On the other hand, bedroom(s) on the ground floor is a good idea for people who have mobility issues.

 

[artnbarb]

(And hope to visit Umbria one day...)

Just so you know, @Giulia da Urbino is in Le Marche!

 

[joe]

Just so you know, @Giulia da Urbino is in Le Marche!

Wow, right! Forgot about that...thanks for the correction!
(Hope to visit Le Marche one day, too!)

 

[chachalaca]

I think one bedroom and one bathroom on the ground floor is a great idea. It allows for mobility challenged travelers and for extended families to enjoy your place. PLEASE post photos and the link when it is ready to reserve. It sounds amazing!
What a great idea to ask travelers for input. Often for us if the terrace is well-equipped with comfortable furniture, it becomes our "Sitting room" - even in off season, as long as it is dry.
"Small pool" = BIG relief in these ever increasingly hot summers. Good choice.

Laura

 

[Fletch]

Last September we rented a house near Goult in Provence for a family holiday and the layout of the house was perfect for us.
It had 4 bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom with en-suite downstairs near the large kitchen and living area.
I could imagine this being reversed if the terrace upstairs was large with table and chairs large enough for everyone to eat at and relax.
The house we rented had 2 outdoor areas with table and chairs to use depending where the sun was.
The bedroom downstairs was used by my daughter as she had to work with Australian hours, thus overnight. She didn’t disturb anyone.
Two upstairs bedrooms had en-suite and 2 bedrooms shared a bathroom.
There was also a seperate toilet near the living area, handy for the pool.

Here is the website for the house to get an idea of the layout and I did a review on the France forum.

Fontaine de Faucon - The Luberon

High-end Luberon rental house with pool and a/c, country views, and walkable to the restaurants, cafés, bakery of Goult. Sleeps 12.

www.theluberon.com

I look forward to hearing what you decide.

 

[Giulia da Urbino]

Thank you Fletch for your input! The house in Provence looks fab!

chchalaca thank you! I'll surely keep you informed, unluckily this looks like a medium term plan...

Following your suggestions I think I found some space on the ground floor for a not-as-big-as-the-others bedroom with en-suite bathroom.
So this is the new plan:
Ground floor: kitchen with dining area and access to large outside porch with table and chairs, sitting room with chimney, double bedroom with bathroom, tiny toilet (also for pool use).
First floor: 2 doubles with en-suite bathroom, 1huge twin room with room for a third bed with its own bathroom along the corridor, sitting room with access to the terrace (with sofa bed or bed sofa for 2 extra people), when used as a bedroom it will have to share the bathroom along the corridor (or the toilet on the ground floor for emergencies )
Sleeps 8 + 3, 4 full bathrooms and 1 toilet

 

[chachalaca]

Sounds wonderful!