Renovations
Renovating the bathroom or kitchen of a holiday rental between seasons
Start from the date of the first booking and work backwards. What to settle before work starts, materials that stand up to rentals and a realistic timeline.
· 4 min read · Andorra Servei
Renovating the bathroom or kitchen of a holiday apartment in Andorra is planned the opposite way round from a normal home: first you fix the date the apartment must be back on the rental market, then you count backwards. Between the ski season and summer, or between summer and the first snow, there are windows of just a few weeks. If the work has to fit in one, the decisions and orders must be settled before anyone starts knocking down tiles.
The working windows
Every apartment has its own calendar depending on where it is and how it is let, but broadly there are two windows:
- Spring, when the ski season ends and before summer bookings start.
- Autumn, between the end of summer and the start of the winter season.
The spring window is usually longer and easier for building work; in autumn there is a risk that early snowfall complicates access and material deliveries at altitude. Either way, renovation companies are in high demand during those weeks. Booking the dates early matters as much as choosing the tiles.
What to decide before work starts
Most delays on short renovations come not from the building work but from decisions still pending and materials that have not arrived. Before the start date, these should be settled:
- The final layout: if the shower moves or the kitchen becomes open-plan, it must be known beforehand because it affects plumbing, drainage and electrics.
- Kitchen units and appliances, with confirmed measurements. Manufacturing lead times can run to several weeks.
- Tiles, flooring and sanitaryware bought or reserved, with some spare for cuts and future replacements.
- Made-to-measure shower screen and tray, if needed, which are often the last items to arrive.
- Building rules: permitted hours for noisy work, use of the lift for rubble and materials, and notice to the owners' association. Every building has its own.
Materials chosen for rentals
A holiday apartment gets heavier and less careful use than an owner-occupied home. It pays to invest where wear shows most:
- A shower tray instead of a bath, with a low step and a non-slip finish. Safer and quicker to clean between stays.
- Thermostatic mixers: they prevent scalding and complaints about water running too hot or too cold.
- Large-format tiles or panels with few joints in the shower, and epoxy grout where moisture is highest.
- Worktops and kitchen fronts that resist knocks and water, with well-sealed edges.
- Good bathroom extraction: with guests showering after skiing and damp clothes hung up to dry, condensation is a recurring problem without enough ventilation.
- Sockets where they are needed: in the kitchen, beside the mirror and near the beds. Improvised extension leads are both a complaint and a hazard.
The part you cannot see
A short renovation is the moment to check what would be costly to open up later:
- Old supply pipes and drains, especially in buildings more than thirty years old.
- Waterproofing of the shower area, before the tiles go on.
- Kitchen electrical circuits: an induction hob and an oven running together need a suitable circuit.
- The water heater: if it is getting old, replacing it now avoids a breakdown in peak season, when a guest without hot water is a lost booking.
An indicative timeline
With no layout changes and no surprises behind the walls, a complete apartment bathroom can be done in roughly two to three weeks of work, and a kitchen, once the units are made, in a similar time. Doing both together makes better use of trades and rubble days. The most common surprises (pipes in poor condition, walls out of level, drains with too little fall) add days. That is why we recommend leaving a week's margin before the first booking.
At Andorra Servei we give the timeline in writing with the quote, and a single project lead coordinates the trades. Indicative prices for bathrooms and kitchens are on our renovations page, and if the work involves changes to the water or electrical installation, our plumbing and electrical teams are also involved.
When it is not worth renovating between seasons
If the apartment needs a complete new layout, new building-wide services or new external joinery, it probably will not fit in a short window, and forcing it leads to rushed finishes. In those cases it is better to set aside a full season without letting, or split the work into phases: services first, finishes later. We will discuss it at the visit, which is free. Write to us through the contact page with the date the apartment needs to be ready.