There is a particular stillness to a holiday home in winter. The terrace furniture is under cover, the guest book has its last entries from autumn, and the house sits quietly between bookings. For owners, it is tempting to treat these months as a pause. In practice, they are when a property is quietly won or lost for the year ahead.
Damp settles into soft furnishings. Pipes in an unheated utility room tighten with the cold. A forgotten bowl of potpourri gathers dust that will take an afternoon to lift in March. None of it is dramatic, and all of it is avoidable. What follows is the approach our housekeepers take when preparing a holiday let for the colder months, whether the house will host guests through Christmas or rest until spring.
Begin with a slow walk-through
Before anything is cleaned, the house is looked at properly. We walk every room with a notebook, the way a guest would arrive: front door, hallway, the first view of the sitting room, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen. We note anything worn, chipped, loose or tired. A wobbling towel rail, a lampshade beginning to yellow, a sash window that sticks in the cold.
This list becomes the winter plan. Some items are for the housekeeping team, others for maintenance, and a few are decisions for the owner. Addressing them in November, rather than the week before an Easter arrival, is the single most useful thing an owner can do.
Textiles: wash, rest and store well
Winter is the moment to give soft furnishings the attention a busy season does not allow. Throws, cushion covers and curtains are laundered or professionally cleaned according to their fabric. Mattresses are vacuumed, turned and given fresh protectors. Duvets and pillows that have seen a full summer of guests are assessed honestly; most benefit from a deep clean, and some are simply due for replacement.
Spare linen deserves particular care. Stored damp, even slightly, it develops the faint mustiness that guests notice the moment a bed is turned down. Everything going into a cupboard for the winter should be completely dry, folded loosely and kept with breathing space rather than packed tight. Cedar blocks or lavender sachets are a pleasant addition; a sealed plastic box is not.
Keep the house breathing
Older properties, and especially the stone cottages and farmhouses of the Cotswolds, were built to breathe. Shut them up completely and condensation finds the coldest surfaces: the backs of wardrobes against outside walls, the corners of north-facing bedrooms, the inside of window frames.
A low, steady background heat is kinder to a period house than long cold spells broken by sudden warmth. Internal doors are best left ajar so air can move. Wardrobe and cupboard doors can be left slightly open. During each winter visit, our team opens windows for a short while on dry days, checks for any bloom of mould in the usual places, and wipes it away before it can take hold.
The kitchen and bathrooms
These are the rooms guests judge most closely, and the rooms that suffer most from a season of use. Ovens, extractor filters and fridge seals are deep cleaned. Limescale is removed from taps, shower screens and the inside of kettles. Grout is checked and refreshed where needed. Drains are cleared and run through, and any toilet in a room likely to be cold is checked so that water in the trap is not left to stand.
Cupboards are emptied and wiped. Anything opened and half-used, from olive oil to washing-up liquid, is either replaced or noted for restocking. A guest who opens a cupboard to find a sticky ring where a bottle once stood forms an impression that no amount of fresh flowers will undo.
Outside matters too
The approach to the house is the first thing a guest experiences, often in the dark on a winter evening. Paths and steps should be clear of leaves and moss, which turn treacherous when wet. External lights are tested and timers set for the shorter days. Doormats are cleaned or replaced, and boot scrapers and a place for muddy wellingtons make a country house feel properly considered.
If guests are staying over Christmas
Winter bookings carry a different set of expectations. Guests arriving for a festive week want the house warm when they walk in, not an hour later. Heating should be on well before arrival, and log baskets filled with dry, seasoned wood. Extra blankets in the bedrooms, a hot-water bottle in each, and a clear note on how the heating and wood burner work all help guests settle quickly.
Decoration is a matter of taste, but restraint rarely disappoints. A wreath on the door, greenery on the mantel and good candles say more than a crowd of ornaments, and they are far easier to keep immaculate between changeovers.
Regular visits, even when the house is empty
An unoccupied house still needs to be seen. We recommend a visit at least every two weeks through the winter, and after any spell of hard frost or heavy rain. Each visit is short and practical: check for leaks, run the taps, look for any sign of damp or pests, collect post, and report back to the owner.
It is unglamorous work, and it is precisely the kind of care that means a house is ready to welcome guests the moment the season turns.
A note for owners
If you would like your holiday let prepared for winter, or looked after through the quieter months, our team works across the United Kingdom from our home in the Cotswolds. Each property has a dedicated housekeeper and a named account manager.
Request a consultation and we will arrange a walk-through at a time that suits you.