It’s hard to believe we’re already well into February. It feels like we’ve only just come out of the seasonal break, and yet the February half term is approaching very quickly.
We were extremely fortunate to enter 2026 with more forward bookings than we have ever had at the start of a year. Despite the team’s continued efforts, January sales were very slow. After speaking with the resort, other private owners, and Supercontrol, this trend appears to be consistent across the market. Supercontrol have advised that UK-wide bookings across their managed properties dropped by 47%.
January Booking Performance
- 69 bookings taken in January 2026
- 55.8% down on January 2025
- 14.81% down on January 2024
However, when taking into account the higher number of bookings we carried into 2026 compared to previous years, our overall booking position remains stronger than at the same point last year.
In terms of stays:
- January 2026: 30 stays across 155 nights
- January 2025: 45 stays across 160 nights
What’s Driving the Slowdown?
We have held meetings with Supercontrol, Booking.com and Airbnb to better understand the causes. The key factors appear to be:
- Financial pressures: Ongoing cost-of-living challenges are likely discouraging discretionary spend, including short UK staycations.
- Preference for overseas travel: Some guests may be choosing foreign holidays, with overseas hotels heavily discounting to attract bookings.
- Oversupply of holiday lets: In some locations there are simply more properties than demand, which naturally reduces occupancy.
- Finlake / Hoseasons pricing: Over December and January, Finlake properties were heavily discounted via Hoseasons. Some owners reported three-night stays being sold for as little as £189. After cleaning and utility costs, this resulted in owners effectively subsidising stays. As you know, we will never reduce pricing to this level, as it does not protect you or your property.
Reviews and Visibility
The market is increasingly competitive, with more properties available in Devon and heavy discounting at resort level. Finlake advertises solely via Hoseasons, whereas we list your properties across:
- Booking.com
- Airbnb
- Sykes Cottages (and their 200+ partner sites)
- VRBO
- Our own direct website
Guest search behaviour is heavily influenced by review scores. Higher-rated properties are displayed more prominently in search results.
We trialled a monthly £250 gift voucher competition to encourage reviews on Booking.com and Airbnb. Unfortunately, this had little impact. On average, only 1 in 10 guests leave a review on Booking.com, compared with 8 out of 10 on Airbnb.
That said, we were delighted to win the 2026 Guest Review Award for six of our fourteen properties, all of which hold ratings above 8.0/10.
Amy recently shared an idea from one of our owners to offer an £18 welcome hamper to guests who leave a review. Even a small uplift in review numbers can significantly improve rankings and visibility. Due to limited take-up, this is currently only running on three lodges.
TripAdvisor Impact
Now… take a breath.
Historically, TripAdvisor played a major role in driving direct bookings, with guests seeing the resort reviews and booking directly with us. Unfortunately, the situation has now reversed. Many guests book via Booking.com or Airbnb, then later see TripAdvisor reviews and cancel.
When Reliance Retreats was founded, our TripAdvisor rating stood at 4.7/5. It has since fallen to 3.9/5, with a noticeable increase in 1- and 2-star reviews. This has had a significant impact on sales, despite the reviews often relating to the wider resort rather than individual properties.
If you have friends or family who have stayed in your lodge, we would be incredibly grateful if they could leave a TripAdvisor review mentioning both your lodge and Devon Holiday Finlake (this helps visibility via Google searches).
What We’re Doing Next
There are several factors affecting bookings, many of which are outside our control. Our focus remains on what we caninfluence:
- Driving higher-quality reviews on Booking.com and Airbnb
- Offering targeted incentives where possible
- Promoting properties through buy-and-sell and travel-focused social media groups nationwide
If you would like a copy of our adverts to share within your own local or regional groups, please let us know.
We have also just launched a “Dogs Go Free” initiative for all direct bookings made before the end of February. Since going live yesterday, this has already generated four bookings, and we will continue promoting this heavily across our channels.
Looking Ahead
While December and January were quieter than hoped, 2025 was still a record year for bookings. As of today (5th February 2026), we have:
- 211 live bookings
- 3,636 nights already booked
- 11 bookings taken between 1st–5th February alone
Any support you can offer—whether encouraging past guests, friends or family to leave TripAdvisor reviews, or sharing our adverts in areas where we may not currently have a presence—would be hugely appreciated.
As always, thank you for your continued support.