Based in Porthmadog and established in 1976, we let over 150 self catering properties within the Snowdonia National Park, the Llŷn Peninsula, along the Cambrian coastline to Barmouth, as far as Dogellau, Conwy Valley and Anglesey.

Our contracts are commission based, which would vary depending on how much of the above you want us to help you with. They range from 18% to 23% (+VAT) You can choose whichever level of service best suits your needs.

Here’s Our Guide for
Prospective New Owners!

We’ll go through:
What we can offer you.
Why should you choose us?
The process of bringing you on with us.
Getting ready to accept bookings!

1. What We Can Offer You
Booking Agents. Processing and dealing with all aspects of the booking and accounting process.
The number of weeks your property will let varies according to the type of property, its location and price. There is no doubt that guests prefer better quality properties in special locations and will pay for the privilege. More modest properties will also book well, as long as they have a smaller price advantage. Our aim is to fill all new properties for 15 weeks in their first full year of letting.

Marketing and Advertising Agents. Our national and international advertising and marketing campaign is wide ranging- from thorough and successful Google & Bing advert campaigns to active social media accounts- and it continues throughout the year in order to obtain those elusive out of season bookings.
Our website offers live availability with 24hr secure online booking. Your property will have its own full web page with an extensive portfolio of photos, availability calendar, full property description, location map, access statement as well as guest reviews.
We still produce an annual brochure as one of our shop windows, promoting our properties to those who can’t access the internet. Including a concise description and a couple of photos, it gives the guest a clear idea of what to expect and what we have to offer.

Visit Wales Inspections.  Our prestigious Accredited Agent status for Visit Wales (formerly the Wales Tourist Board) opens the door to many marketing opportunities as well as having the backing and support of the Welsh Assembly Government. These inspections greatly contribute to achieving a competitive industry in Wales and provide a quality grading system for holiday accommodation. Once a property is officially graded, it is valid for 2 years and is advertised by the Visit Wales web site.

Property Management. Looking after all aspects of your holiday property, including arranging a cleaner and attending to any issues during the guests’ stay.

2. Why Should You Choose Us?

✓ We have over 40 years of experience in the self-catering industry
✓ We are a small professional team with a wide range of expertise
✓ No registration or annual fees.
✓ No charges for owner / personal bookings
✓ Free listing on our website & in our brochure
✓ No charges for professional photographs and 3D Tours
✓ Choice of managed or un-managed service
✓ Cheaper Visit Wales gradings
✓ Property advertised with Visit Wales’ official website
✓ STS Holidays are a Visit Wales approved self-catering holiday letting agency.

3. The Process of Bringing You on with Us:

Consultation in-office appointments are £20 charitable donation which is refunded to you if you let the property with STS Holidays. You can discuss any questions you might have for 45 mins up until an hour.

Property consultation appointments are £50 charitable donation which is refunded to you if you let the property with STS Holidays. Your property will be visited by a member of the STS team, who will offer advice regarding the best way to promote your property.

The Next Steps…
Once the Letting Agreement has been signed, we will proceed to write a
description of the property and our photographer will visit to take photos and 3D Tours for the website and brochure.
We would need all paperwork to be completed, such as the Property
Information form, Access Statement and Fire Risk Assessment.
Before letting, you would need Public Liability Insurance and for all landlord gas certificate, electrical fixed wire test and any PAT tests to be up to date.
What to Expect:

Bookings: Once a booking is confirmed, we’ll send the guest the details for the
property, including your details (or not, should you wish so) and also send
yourselves (and your cleaner/deputy if applicable) the details of the guests and of the booking.

Rent: STS will collect all the rent due from the visit and will be paid to you in arrears
at the end of that holiday month.

Cancellation Protection: Our bookings are protected against cancellations. If a
guest cancels a confirmed booking and you do not fill those dates with an Owner
Booking, 100% of your rent is guaranteed.

Secure and Confidential Service: For security reasons, no owner names or
property addresses appear online or in our brochure – we use marketing names for
the properties and do not hand over the correct address until they have paid in full.

Local Economy: Our office is based in Porthmadog and our bi-lingual staff have
an intimate knowledge of the area. We are committed to supporting local businesses
such as electricians, plumbers etc and see investing in the local community as vital
to the prosperity of the area.

4. Getting Ready to Accept Bookings!

We would recommend reading the following:
Read Visit Wales Self-Catering Guidance Booklet

Property Preparation
Prepare the accommodation and surroundings to a suitable standard for guests.
Provisions
Bed linen and towels, WiFi and gas.electricity charges should be supplied if at all possible, otherwise guests might look elsewhere.
Occupancy.
Normally between 3:00pm on the day of arrival, until 10:00am on the day of departure. Usual changeover day is Saturday, although a Friday or Sunday changeover day can be arranged.
Be flexible- mini-breaks are a great way of filing empty weeks and still provide 0% of the rental price.
Owner Bookings.
We accept that many owners like to stay in their holiday properties during the season. There are no limits to the number of owner bookings, but the last week of July and the first 3 weeks in August (peak season) are open to STS for bookings.
Pet Rules.
Accepting pets is an advantage to increase bookings as over 70% of self-catering guests bring a pet with them. We will charge guests £20 for each pet, to help you with the extra cleaning required. We fully respect owners that do not wish to accept pets, and some guests to specifically search for properties ‘Not Accepting Pet’s to account for allergies.

What we say to customers about our ‘Pet Policy’

This is a common question with prospective owners so we’d like to reassure complete confidence.

Here’s what we say in our terms and conditions:

“The charge for pets has not been automatically included in the competitive rents of our properties, however, many of our owners welcome dogs at an extra charge of £20/pet for the holiday. The Guest is responsible for declaring all pets at time of booking. Cats or any other pets are not accepted without prior permission.
For the benefit of all guests, pet owners must observe the
following common sense requests:

a) Pets must be kept under control at all times
b) Pets must not be left alone in the property or outside the property for extended periods
c) Please bring a basket or box for your pet to sleep in – pets must not be allowed on the beds or furniture
d) All fouling of lawns etc, must be removed immediately and all pet hairs must be cleared up before leaving
e) Please ensure that your pet has been wormed and is free of fleas
f) Any damage caused must be paid for in addition to the £20 pet charge”

Lastly, Something to Note!

The modern guest is well informed, and has usually trawled through dozens of
properties, usually on different websites, so our aim is to deal with their questions
and inquiries in an efficient and professional manner, be it by phone, e-mail or in
person.

By having someone on hand from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm weekdays and 10:00 am to
6:00 pm on weekends, we are in place to confirm availability, prices and any other
information the guest requires. It is essential to provide such a service or the customer will look elsewhere.

If you would like to get in touch to make a consultation appointment or request a copy of our owner pack with more information,
please get in touch with us via
phone or email:
+44 (0) 1766 51 38 29
[email protected]

We hope you have found this information useful.