Eh. I think it’s quite hyperbolic to cite that hotel regulations are written in blood, when talking about rental cottages. Hotels are heavily regulated primarily due to their scale. A single hotel burning down could kills hundreds of people. If the cottage catches on fire, you just walk out the door or break a window. A poorly managed hotel can also turn into a source of substantial blight to a community. You can end up with drug dealers using hotel rooms as storefronts, sex traffickers using them for involuntary sex work, etc. But a cottage? There’s only so much blight that can fit into a tiny cottage. A cottage intrinsically needs far less regulation than a hotel.

Is it possible an owner will neglect maintenance of a cottage and let it go to hell? Sure. But we’re talking about cottages rented on vacation sites where people can leave reviews. And it’s not like anyone is going to get stuck in a year lease living in one of these things. If it’s a rat-infested hellhole, you’re only there a short time. Short-term rental owners have a lot more incentive to keep their properties in decent maintenance than regular landlords do.