After 10 years of using Airbnb as our main platform for guests to book our holiday homes, in January 2024 we made the decision to start allowing guests to book directly with us too. Whilst Airbnb on many levels is fantastic for both hosts and guests, we wanted to make the experience of staying with us, more personal, a bit more like when Airbnb first started out many moons ago. 

Guests' Experience

Whilst my background is in luxury travel, my strengths lie in enhancing a guests’ experience of enquiring with us, booking with us and finally, staying with us.  I’m at my happiest when I can   deliver the unexpected for our guests, there isn’t a better feeling when I get that What’s App message from a guest who has just arrived saying “WOW WOW WOW thank you so much”. 

Making the decision to introduce booking directly also aligns with our personal briefs of supporting independents and self-employed businesses. It is allowing us to offer a more individual experience, enabling us to showcase our own personality in the way that we want to, rather than in an increasingly formatted platform that larger companies now offer. 

We can display those experiences we’ve had as a family, having lived in most of the properties ourselves or growing up, and in the localities. Since setting up FJ Holiday Retreats, we’ve focused on supporting fellow independent businesses surrounding each of our holiday homes, some of which you’ll see when you stray with us through our household provisions such as coffee from Jaunty Goat in Chester, to Jaspels Cider and Llandwyn Fudge both being produced on the Isle of Anglesey.

Furthermore, we are able to personalise our ‘Must See and Do’s’ and give the best advice on trusted restaurants, coffee shops, shops, pubs and places to visit, which we’ve developed relationships with as customers ourselves over many years. 

This, we believe, sets us apart from the other holiday let offerings out there.  We want to stand away from the larger holiday let companies, many of which have hundreds of ‘featured’ properties but who don’t necessarily have the depth of local knowledge we have, or who can apply such a personal touch.  Your well-earned holiday should never be seen as a ‘transaction’ but rather than an experience, whether it’s in the UK or overseas. 

Why Our Holiday Homes Are Different

We also acknowledge through our travel experiences, that apart from the fact that the homes have to be truly remarkable and not your ‘run of the mill’ property, they also need that cliched  ‘wow factor’.  In our opinion, as standard the beds needed to be uber-comfortable, the sheets and pillows divine, the house spotlessly clean, the baths and showers hot and powerful, the towels something you long to be wrapped in, plus all the extras we provide to be so comprehensive that you mutter the words “…they’ve truly thought of everything.”

We pride ourselves on subtle, unpretentious luxury. The minutiae; the tiny ‘insignificant’ things that collectively make the difference that are in fact, anything but ‘insignificant.’ The garlic peeler, the pans, the cups, the cheese grater, the coffee machine, the complimentary coffee, (as a converted coffee snob, the coffee has to be exquisite), it has to be so good you’re asking us where we get it from so you can take some home with you.

Many of our guests stay with us year after year. And that means the world to us. It shows that we’re doing something right. It shows you love our properties, their inners, the small touches, the histories, the stories, the locals, the customs, the quirks - that you love it all as much as we do. 

Proof Is In The Pudding

Words are easy. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as my Naini (Welsh for grandmother) used to say. Come and stay with us. Let us know what you think. And if there’s anything which you can think of to improve your stay let us know as there’s always room for being better, for improving. 
 
Choosing a destination for a trip can be tricky, time-consuming. We hope this website has helped you make your decision a little easier. If you book with us, we’ll do everything to make your stay so good, next time it won’t be tricky at all, that all you’ll need to do is come back to us, again and again and again.  We are honest and genuine and we want your trip to be remarkable, unique and something that will long stay in the memory.