Hi all, we’ve been members of THS for about 2 years now and we’ve had some fantastic experiences with sitters. We are currently planning a holiday over the christmas period for my husbands 50th birthday. My question is are there many people that do sits over this holiday? We’ve had our dates posted for a while now and lots of people keep favouriting our profile but no one is applying 
i’m just wondering if the dates are what put people off. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance
Karen
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Plenty of sitters yearn for holiday sits!!
I’d been booked for thxgvg & xmas/newyr for months already. Thanksgvg canceled, so we’re looking for that… But if Xmas cancels, we’re going to be looking again.
Don’t fret yet!
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Lots if not most. I am also booked for months now.
Have a look at your listing and tweak if you can think of anything that would enhance the appeal.
Better pics? Highlights of any holiday goings on in your area and such.
But as my colleague has said, do not fret yet.
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OMG 
@amparo said I’m a colleague! #fan-girling
I know my people
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Christmas sits are super special (IMO). We started looking about 1-2 months ago, thought we had found our special seasonal friend but the HO withdrew the sit so we are looking again.
I’m terribly picky for Christmas, which is crazy because we don’t celebrate it properly. Maybe people are childish like me and hold off applying until finding “the one”?
From my POV only, some less attractive things about some of the season’s sits are; silly dates such as starting 24th Dec for an international sit (how about those airline fares ) or ending 31st Dec (what shall we do tonight? Anything special?) Very short sits and huge, rambling old houses 
(always in UK or France).
I emphasise, these are my foibles and many will disagree.
Good luck with finding a sitter for your furry pal(s), don’t despair any time yet.
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Thanks, i’ve just updated some pics and will have a read through to see if there’s anything I’ve missed. Definitely good to know people want sits around the holidays so thanks
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Thanks, that’s reassuring 
fingers crossed then
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@Karenglenn Your THS home listing link is now in your forum profile as requested. If you click your user name you will see the link there and other members can view it as well.
Tinkerbell & Bellatrix what great names and they look adorable!
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PS @Karenglenn - definitely add a photo of the sitter’s bedroom.
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Thankyou, all good to know. I think our dates might be the problem 
plus we’re in the UK so it will be cold lol
Starting the sit on the 25th would certainly put off anyone travelling on public transport from applying so if you have any flexibility or could host a sitter for a night or two before that would help.
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I agree that starting on the 25th is your main issue, If I was you I would offer to pay for a couple of nights local hotel accommodation if required
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Agree that the start date is unappealing. I’d also suggest adding descriptions of any sights, amenities or such near your home that would potentially make it appealing to spend the holidays there.
Personally, I won’t be sitting during the holidays. But if I were, I wouldn’t fly to the U.K. just to pet-sit at someone’s home and not enjoy holiday decorations, events and such. And I’ve spent a couple of Christmas + New Year’s in London (not sitting) and had a terrific time. To me, the weather wouldn’t be an issue.
Just had a quick look at your listing @Karenglenn and, besides wha5 others have said (particularly starting on 25 December which will definitely put people off) some of the pics are dark and, like so many other home owners, you don’t mention how long the dogs can be left for at home. It would also be good if you could go in and add all the amenities, there’s now a long list which has obviously been introduced after you originally did your listing. Pontefract would be a great place to be based.
Good luck!
So this. OK so you expect me to clear out and then pay $900 for a blah hotel room on NYE?
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I hadn’t seen your listing when I first replied, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, about sit dates @Karenglenn so I didn’t know your sit actually started Christmas Day. I wasn’t trying to be critical, apologies if you thought I was.
And as for the cold, I didn’t mean generally. I’m a Brit in Britain (sometimes anyway), it isn’t the country per se but the type of house (yours isn’t that type). Lovely old Georgian/Victorian mansion; glorious in the summer but no double glazing, old pipework & ancient boiler etc. Brrr.
Hi @Karenglenn - the start date is definitely an issue as other members have said. Either a day or two before (& you leave for your celebration trip earlier) or offer them accomm nearby somewhere nice for Christmas Eve could help. We like to see photos of the house, sitters bedroom, living room and kitchen before we apply, all help build the appeal as does an outside shot of the house. Pets look lovely but if you want someone to sit for Christmas then it would be great to see something like “they’ll be a tree up with all the decs, logs for the fire, Netflix for a good festive film and a bottle of something for you to enjoy in our home during the holidays”. There are always more sits than sitters for this time period and we have been booked up for a while already. Does your village have a nice pub that you can walk to for Christmas lunch or evening? Maybe change title to “Festive, family friendly sit in pretty village with lovely pups” or something a bit more enticing. If there’s a family looking for a sit with rellies close by it would be ideal for them. Spent many nice Christmases in Burton Salmon in times gone by. Best of luck 
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Thank you all, I’ve taken what you’ve all said on board and updated our listing. Just need some more pics of outside when i stops raining 
Unfortunately we can’t offer the stay earlier as we have grandsons coming christmas eve but any potential sitters could come later as my daughter can help for a couple of days but we wouldnt be here to greet them so would this then be an issue? 
Again thank you all for the great comments
I didnt think you were being critical at all 
I appreciate the advice thank you x
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