If you found us through Airbnb or VRBO, welcome — we’re genuinely glad you did. Those platforms do a brilliant job of helping people discover places like ours, and plenty of our lovely guests first stumbled across the hot tub at Alsop Moor Cottage or the private garden at Lorash while scrolling through one of them. There’s nothing wrong with that at all.
But once you’ve found us, we’d love you to know there’s an even better way to book — and it’s worth two minutes of your time to understand why.
The platforms are the introduction, not the people looking after you
Here’s something many guests don’t realise: when you book through Airbnb or VRBO, you’re not actually booking with them. You’re booking a cottage that’s cared for by a local team here in the Derbyshire Dales — the platform simply sits in the middle, passing messages back and forth and taking a fee for the introduction.
That works fine most of the time. But it does mean there’s a layer between you and the local team actually looking after your stay. If a question comes up, it might route through a call centre before it reaches us. If plans change, the platform’s policies — not ours — often decide what’s possible. And the platform’s booking fees add a chunk to the price you pay — often 15–20% — without adding anything to your actual stay.
When you book direct, all of that falls away. You’re talking to us from the very first message — the same local team who’ll have the log burner laid, the beds made up, and the welcome pack waiting when you arrive. We’re not a call centre; we’re the people who clean, prepare and care for these cottages week in, week out.
Clearer communication, quicker answers
We pride ourselves on quick, personal responses — it’s one of the things our guests mention most. Booking direct means your questions come straight to us, and our answers go straight back to you. No relay, no delay, no “please allow 24–48 hours.”
Wondering whether the cottage suits Grandma’s dodgy knee? Whether there’s room for the travel cot? Whether you can squeeze in a late checkout on the Monday? Ask us. We know every beam, every stair, and every quirk of these cottages, because we look after them ourselves. Often we can say yes to things a platform’s automated system would never even consider.
Accountability you can put a name to
There’s real reassurance in knowing exactly who is responsible for your stay. When you book direct, you have our names, our number, and our word. We’re the team on the ground — housekeeping, maintenance, guest support — so if anything isn’t right, you speak to someone who can actually fix it, usually within the hour, not a support ticket queue on another continent.
That’s not a dig at the platforms; their support teams do their best. But they’ve never set foot in the Derbyshire Dales, and they can’t pop round with a spare key or point you to the pub that does the best Sunday roast. We can.
Better value, and a few extras besides
When you book direct, you avoid the booking site’s service fees — typically 15–20% on top of the cottage price. Same beds, same hot tub, same welcome — just without the extra fees. And you get something the platforms can’t offer at any price: a local team on the end of the phone who actually know the area, from the best family walks to which pub to book for Sunday lunch.
And returning guests — we have many, which makes us enormously proud — find booking direct far simpler second time round. You know us, we know you, and your favourite cottage is only ever a quick message away.
A relationship, not a transaction
At the heart of it, this is what booking direct really offers: a relationship with the people who look after your cottage, rather than a transaction with a website. These are traditional, characterful places — homes with walls that could tell a hundred stories — and we want your stay to feel like visiting friends who happen to know a rather lovely corner of the Peak District.
That starts before you arrive. Tell us it’s a big family get-together and we’ll suggest which cottage suits three generations best. Tell us you’re keen walkers and we’ll point you to routes straight from the door. Tell us you love a bit of history and we’ll send you to Haddon Hall and Crich Tramway Village before you’ve even unpacked. That sort of care doesn’t come through a booking algorithm — it comes from people who live here and love it.
Come and see the difference
So next time you’re planning an escape to the Derbyshire Dales — whether it’s a soak in the hot tub under the stars at Alsop Moor Cottage, a quiet morning in the garden at Lorash, or an evening by the log burner after a day on the hills — come to us directly.
Visit www.welcomeholidaycottages.co.uk, give us a ring on 01629 709660, or email bookings@welcometeam.co.uk. We’ll reply quickly (we always do), answer honestly, and make sure everything is taken care of before you arrive. All you need to do is turn up, settle in, and relax.
We think you’ll find it feels less like booking a holiday, and more like coming home.
