Arrive to one room, not the whole cottage
Set up a single base room before the carrier opens: litter tray in one corner, water well away from it, food, a scratching option, and the bedding she slept on at home, unwashed so it smells like her. Let her explore that room fully, rub her cheeks on the furniture, and start eating and using the tray before you offer more of the cottage a door at a time. A cat who owns one room confidently settles into a strange house far faster than one released into every room at once and overwhelmed by unfamiliar smells and echoing spaces.
Escape-proof before you unpack
Walk the cottage like a cat before she is loose in it: check window latches actually hold, look for gaps behind appliances, open chimneys, loose floorboards and doors that do not click shut, because a startled cat in a strange place bolts for the first dark gap. Keep her carrier available with its door open as a portable safe place, and agree as a household that outside doors are opened one at a time with the cat's whereabouts known. If the cottage has a busy holiday road or resident dogs nearby, that closed-door discipline matters for the whole stay.
Bring home with you in smell and routine
Pack the things that carry her normal life: her own blanket, a worn jumper of yours, her usual food and litter type, and a toy she has played with for weeks, not a new one bought for the trip. Feed at home times, keep the same play and sleep rituals, and use a plug-in or spray pheromone product if your vet has suggested one for travel before. Cats settle by recognising patterns, so the more of her ordinary day survives the journey intact, the less the cottage itself registers as a threat to investigate at speed.
Plan for cottage-specific hazards
Holiday homes hold risks your own house has been edited to remove: cleaning chemicals under unfamiliar sinks, open fires and wood burners, steep stairs with open risers, and previous guests' pets' smells that can unsettle or provoke spraying. Do a low cupboard sweep, keep bathroom doors shut, supervise first encounters with any open flame or unguarded drop, and clean any scent-marking promptly with an enzymatic cleaner so the smell does not invite a repeat. Also locate the nearest vet to the cottage on arrival day, not in a panic later, and save the number in your phone.
Keep her details reachable for everyone on the trip
If she slips out in a strange postcode, the people who find her need to reach you fast, and the people you are holidaying with need to know her feeding, hiding habits and vet details without you in the room. Make sure her collar ID and microchip contact number point to your mobile, not a home landline nobody is answering. A night-light near her tray helps in an unfamiliar layout, because cottages are darkest exactly where a disoriented cat needs to travel. Sharing her routine and key details through KinsLe Care Pass means everyone on the trip can pull up what she needs, whenever she needs it.