Nature.House: The Best Holiday Home Booking Platform for Nature Lovers
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Nature.house. But as always, all opinions are my own.
Nature.house is a holiday home rental company that focuses on properties that are truly in nature.
It was founded by Dutch brothers, Luuk and Tim van Oerle, who wanted that more natural experience when they traveled but had trouble finding it.
So they created their own vacation rental platform.
Entrepreneurship!
I love it when people see a problem and create something new to fix it.
Anyway…
I found out about this company recently and — being the nature lover I am — wanted to learn more.
I mean, 2 of my favorite things: Europe and nature!
Here is my interview with Sanne Kolmeijer, online marketing intern, with Nature.house.
Where did the idea for Nature.house come from?
The founders of the company, the brothers Luuk and Tim, are fanatic bird spotters.
They wanted to go on a holiday in Spain and stay in a secluded house which would make bird spotting ideal. Unfortunately, they were not able to find such a location.
Afterwards, they came up with the idea to create a platform where houses in nature would be brought together to connect more people with nature.
How has the business evolved?
The company was founded eleven years ago in 2009.
In the beginning the supply was mainly in the Netherlands, but throughout the years the company has grown substantially. We now have almost 17,000 Nature houses in Europe.
The number of employees has also grown significantly in order to keep growing as a business.
The Covid situation has been very beneficial for us. This is mainly because we (the Dutch) were not allowed to go on holiday abroad so people had their holiday in the Netherlands. The idea of spending the holiday away from the masses in a beautiful location appealed to many.
We now also see an increase on our international domains with bookings. We upscaled our marketing campaigns to catch the attention of more potential customers.
The goal for the future is to become the number one platform where people go when they want to rent a house in nature.
Do you have plans to expand Nature.house beyond Europe? Where would you expand to first?
Of course we want to expand beyond Europe but this is a long-term plan.
Our focus now is to first become bigger in Europe and increase our bookings and supply here. We do not know yet where we would like to expand to first as this is a plan for the future and we are still growing in Europe.
Speaking of COVID how are you ensuring properties are clean? Do you have enhanced cleaning protocols?
When COVID started we sent out emails with tips on how to keep the houses extra clean. The cleaning is done by the owners themselves but almost all of them find it very important to keep their properties as clean as possible to ensure a nice experience for guests.
What makes a nature house a nature house? What are the criteria an owner must meet in order to get onto your booking platform?
The most important thing is the location of a Nature house; it has to be in the middle of nature. So not close to a highway, train track, or a lot of other houses.
Small holiday parks are also allowed, if they are in nature, have a maximum of 30 houses, and there is no pool or reception.
So basically, a Nature house makes a Nature house when it is away from the masses, and main roads
How do you ensure that these criteria are met?
We first check the pictures/videos that are sent to us. Afterwards, we check the location on Google maps to see whether the house is really in nature. If we find that the house fits our concept, we put it online.
Then we have another important check point. After customers’ stays in a nature house, they receive an email where we ask if they think the Nature house was a nature house and how they would rate the experience. If we see that a specific house receives a lot of no’s or negative feedback, we contact the owner for more pictures, an explanation etc.
If we are in doubt whether it is indeed a nature house, we remove it from the website. We even do this with houses which are commercially successful as we do not want to become ‘another’ booking platform but really want to hold onto our unique concept of houses in nature.
(I love that they are willing to take a property off the site if it truly doesn’t meet their criteria. This is commitment to your ideals, in my opinion.)
Are the rentals just in nature places or do you strive to have eco-friendly/green rentals as well as being in nature?
For now, all the houses we offer are in nature and we also have a supply of sustainable houses.
However, right now it is not a criterium for the house to be eco-friendly in order to be on our platform. It is a nice bonus when houses have their own vegetable garden for example, but it is not a must.
We do want owners of houses to become more involved in sustainable houses and provide them with information on how they can improve certain things. But this is a bit challenging as every house is different.
In what countries are the properties located?
All our properties are in Europe. We have a supply in the following countries: Netherlands, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Austria, Sweden, Hungary, Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Romania, England, Slovakia, and Finland.
Does the booking system work similarly to Airbnb?
Yes. People do a booking and pay via our website and when the person has stayed there and everything went well, the owner gets their money, which works the same as with Airbnb.
Beside the location of the property are there other aspects that set you apart from Airbnb?
Our commission model is different from Airbnb’s. We ask for a 10% commission and Airbnb is more expensive.
Another thing that is different is that we want to give back to nature and therefore, donate money from our bookings to local nature projects.
But the main point that sets our houses apart from Airbnb is the location.
Do you encourage the owners and guests to have a lot of interaction prior to the guests’ stays?
Yes. We have a chat system where the guests can chat with the owner.
Most of the people who have a house on our platform are passionate people who would love to show the guests all the things they can do in the environment, or natural must-see sites, general tips, how to make the house even more cozy etc.
We hear back from a lot of guests who say they were received very welcomely by the owner and that you can always contact them (the owners) for information.
You donate to some environmental charities/causes/projects. What are the ones you are currently supporting and how much from each rental goes to this charity?
We currently have a project in the Netherlands regarding the osprey. It is now building its nest in a Dutch nature reserve and in collaboration with the bird protection, this is being broadcasted live.
We have another nature project in Belgium to protect the adder. There is a nature reserve in Belgium where the adder still lives, as one of the few places as it is highly extinct. We help to improve its living conditions in the hope to see more adders.
We also have a project with ‘rewilding Europe’ with the protection of the bear in Italy. €1 per booking goes to these nature projects.
The bookings on the Dutch site go to the Dutch nature projects, the bookings on the Belgium website go to the Belgium projects, and the bookings done internationally go to the nature project in Italy.
We hope once we have more bookings on our French, Spanish, German website to also set up nature projects in those countries.
Final thoughts on Nature.house
While I have yet to use the Nature.house booking platform and stay in a property, I have played around on the website.
It seems easy to use as there are many ways to filter out what you want or don’t want from your holiday home.
The reviews I’ve seen are generally quite good.
I will say that, as with many holiday homes, there may be more choices for 4 to 6 people traveling together versus solo travelers or even a couple.
That being said, there are still options such as tiny houses (yay!) and rooms within B&B’s or farm stays for solo travelers or a single couple.
And my thinking is with COVID probably being a part of life moving forward, we may see more properties added to the Nature.house selection in the near future.
You know, the whole wanting to be away from the crowds and in nature more.
The choices seem to be diverse — from properties in the middle of nowhere to accommodation closer to civilization yet still very much in nature.
I, for one, will certainly try them out for myself and for travel clients because I love their concept.
If you have used this booking platform, I’d love to hear from you.
Leave a comment below.
**All photos courtesy of Nature.house.
Please note that Wander Your Way does not recommend travel at this time due to the current global health situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, many destinations and attractions found on this website will not be operating although some places have opened.
Please stay up to date using official sources like the WHO and CDC. I do plan to continue to write about incredible destinations and to offer tips on travel to Europe, so that you will find some solace in these posts — so you dream about travel and learn about travel. This way when we can all travel again, you’ll be ready to go! For now, stay home (or close to home) and stay safe!
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amazing photos
Love this, Lynne! I’m a nature lover as you are; I am most alive when I am in nature. I prefer “accommodation closer to civilization yet still very much in nature.” I hope they set up this platform in the U.S., or possibly franchise it out due to the distance. Thanks so much for sharing this.
I found out about this company and we agreed to work together. I’ve perused the properties and there are some very nice ones for sure. At this point, they’ll just be expanding in Europe. I’d love to try out one of their properties on my next trip to Europe for sure.