Willow Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Hi Just wodnered if anyone on here has tried house exchange for holidays and what their experience has been like ? Particualrly in light of chickens in garden - did you swappees cope ? Now the downstairs of my house is largely complete and all floorboards are down (much to the cats disappointment) I was wondering about giving this a try but a bit apprehensive about strangers staying in my home when I'm not there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickendoodle Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Oooh don't think I would like it - I can't bear anyone messing with my kitchen things! One of the travel reporters was talking about it on TV a little while ago and he said that they work very well if you deal through an agency. Advice is never to try to arrange things privately or just one to one via the internet as there are absolutely no safeguards. Would you include the use of your car in the deal as you might find that the Insurers charge a hefty whack. How about posting on the Omlet US site for another chicken lover ? you could always then arrange things through an agency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busybird Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I haven't done this myself but my in-laws did a few years ago. They registered with an agency and chose a retired couple (like them) in Australia. They focused on a good match of people rather than house, i.e. they could have got a better located house with a pool but chose to exchange with people they thought sounded like them. In particular they didn't want unknown children in their house. Use of the car was included. Before the holiday they spoke several times on the phone and via Skype (which let them see the people and part of their house). They emptied wardrobes (to give the visitors storage space), put valuables in the roofspace and gave keys to a trusted neighbour. The preparation was time consuming (they wanted to leave the house pristine). The swap was for 3 months. The visitors put a lot of miles on their car and burnt one pan beyond further use but otherwise they had no gripes. The house in Australia was lovely and the couple had told friends and neighbours about their visitors which resulted in my in laws being invited to several BBQ's in the neighbourhood. It all went well and they are still in touch with the couple they swapped with but I don't think that they would do it again due to the preparation required beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 we've done loads of these - all successful! I signed up with the NCT house-swap register when the kids were small: all the other swappers were families so you knew that they would have all the 'kit' you'd need (highchairs and cots, duplo and the like). We had the most fantastic holidays and the cats (pre-chook days) were really well-looked after. My house was never as nice as the ones we swapped with, we're not great with the decorating and having lovely things (twin boys always put a stop to these fantasies) but as we live in York we were a popular destination for swappers. It got to a point where we had lots of holidays in Cockermouth because our swappers told their friends about our house so we kept swapping with different families, all in the same area. At least they knew what they were getting The only draw back was having to have a huge tidy up before we went on holiday to make it bearable for our swappers (but it was good motivation!). We only ever swapped in the UK, but friends who signed up with international swapping agencies have had fab holidays on the continent and in Australia. I'd recommend it hugely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
