Hotel or Cottage, where would you prefer to stay and why?

Cottage or villa. I have more control, more privacy and more space, for less money. We usually travel as a family of four so a villa allows us to keep costs lower in regards to food (esp. breakfast) and gives us a way to relax and slow it down. When the children were young, it was almost mandatory.

Where are you planning to go? I think the decision should be based around the destination, as some places lend themselves better to one or the other.

Apartment if staying in city center, villa or house if staying to explore a region. Hotel only if business travel....

Depends on where you are and the configuration of the group.

We always do hotels since we want full services (concierge, 24 hour room serice, breakfast in bed etc). I don;t cook at home - why ever would I do it on vacation But I do like having a mini fridge so we can have unlimited iced drinks at any time - without waiting a half hour for room service. (We buy small szes of what we like best and keep in the hotel's fridge.)

As owner of a rental property myself, I'm probably biased in my view but I generally prefer to opt for a self-catering property (or vacation rental as many of you will call it). Same reasons as mentioned already - more space, more privacy and better value, and great for travelling as a family.

I agree that there are probably some locations that lend themselves better to a hotel stay but generally speaking, I'll tend to favour a house/villa/apartment or similar.

Hi, all thanks for your valuable replies. What I get is we should prefer to stay in hotel if we have a short term vacation plans. If we have long term travel plans we must opt for vacation rentals because of privacy, budget etc. Am I right?

The important issue isn't the length of your holiday. It's the length of each stay (few rental properties in Britain are available for less than a week, though chain-operated serviced flats or suites like Citadines or Staybridge Suites are often available for shorter periods).

Outside London, you can't take it for granted there'll be self-catering in the middle of a town or village. It'll often be far enough from the centre for most people to require a car, which can create problems both in finding parking if you come into the centre and in one diner having not to drink.

Though it gets dark late in a British summer, even a 1 km walk home in the dark (even on June 21, it's dark when the pubs close) might faze some people.