ah, i live in the nearest town with a supermarket, the one everyone goes to for just that, clogs up the aisles then buggers off back thru Malborough to salcers again.

what what!!

I used to live in Malborough, ipiratethief, the bit everyone drives through to get Salcombe

just amazed at how much these places cost!!

I live near Salcombe, knew it was pricey there.

iPirate, between Chagford and Drewsteignton. We've stayed there a couple of times before and it's v. nice & private, but q. small. I was thinking of asking one of ds's friends along then thought actually, no, it's far too small for that.

I used to do change-overs in Salcombe and they were usually a nightmare

People late leaving, early arriving, place a tip

but you would quite often get to keep all the stuff left behind, books, magazines, bottles of wine - and a whole set of crockery once

mumblechum that is is some cottage @ 2.5k, where is it?

Nigella - you'd be amazed by the state some people leave it in.Overflowing bins, furniture moved around ( a bed taken out of a bedroom and put in the lounge when I was pregnant, so poor dh had fun with that on changeover day), food encrusted surfaces, broken plates, glasses, piles of washing up.....etc, what we love is when English guests leave English food goodies that we can't get here!!!

This is fascinating stuff.

I do the beds, collect all the towels together, do the washing up, empty bins, and give the surfaces a wipe.
And in the winter we always clean out the fire.

This cottage was lovely, but it was in a Premier range so all towels were included (which I would expect really) and it did say that cleaning was included. Actually, we have stayed there before and there wasn't even a tea towel, or salt and pepper.

So, I wouldn't expect to be mopping a floor. I do enough of that at home!

Bumpsoon - we'll gladly knock off the cleaning price if you fancy a stay in Austria!!

I used to clean holiday cottages as a teenager and always strip beds / clean oven /clean bathroom before leaving anywhere we rent because these were the bits that took the most time

It does look lovely, mumble, but still at the price!

Princess Toadstool www.helpfulholidays.co.uk I think the ref is A14 (thatched cottage)

I do think if an owner expects you to clean then a) that should be made clear in any literature and b) they should supply the cottage with cleaning materials.

Stayed in a beautiful cottage recently but had no clue what was/wasn't expected and there were no cleaning things. I bought some bits and left them for the next people but it cost us enough to stay there to be honest. Had no idea where we were supposed to leave towels etc.

But it was a beautiful place and I want to go back...

Jane - that sounds about right. our charge covers the final cleaning and also the washing of the towels and bed linen, but for guests from the UK we usually just incorporate it into the total price of the holiday. There are places who charge less but they don't provide bed linen and towels.

I leave it tidy,strip beds and do the washing up and bins or whatever else is stipulated in the contract-no more.

My friend has a holiday rental and I'm sure she charges £60 for cleaning

mumblechum how on earth can it cost £2.6K for two weeks in Devon

We're going to a two-bed apartment in Spain in a couple of weeks, and they're asking a whopping 45 Euros (upfront) for cleaning.

We certainly won't be doing any more than emptying bins and washing up for that...it's more than the going rate around here for cleaning a 4-bed house.

Thank you, that's very helpful. Your place looks really lovely and is now on my spreadsheet for next year, I've wanted to go to Salzburg for ages.

Perhaps she was checking you weren't going to pack more than you'd brought with you iyswim! Maybe she's had people lift stuff?

Yes, usually cleaning is itemised as an extra amount, don't know why, but it's common practice. So if you leave it tidy with the washing up done and the bins emptied that should be enough. Obviously you can do more but that's the expected minimum.

here Gem, 45 minutes south of Salzburg

Can I ask Deb, if paying for cleaning is standard practice in Germany do you know ? We're going to Germany in the summer and I think it said something about 25 euros for cleaning in the contract if I have translated correctly. Does that mean I don't have to worry so much about cleaning as I usually would ? - obviously I'm not planning on leaving it in a complete tip !

we always make sure allw ashing up in done, beds stripped, hoover and wipe over bathroom. Will clean grill and hob but not oven.

where is your cottage deb?

People pay us to do the cleaning so I never expect guests to do it, I do expect the washing up to be done though! The last 2 Mumsnetters we've had stay have left the place clean and tidy as you'd expect!!

Goodness, we go self catering a lot and I never do more than the minimum specified in the brochure.

I know they will have a cleaner going round so while we will stick stuff in the dishwasher and strip beds if requested to, I never hoover or clean out the oven or fridge.

I do make a real effort when we do house swaps, I hate the morning when we leave, because I'm not domesticated and worry in case its not up to the standard of our swapees, for our most recent one I know this is true because she brought her own marigolds with her !

I stayed in a lovely cottage that had very strict rules about what you had to do - but the rental for a week doing the tidy was only 3 nights at the full we tidy for you rate. To save 4 nights accommodation charge I will do quite a lot of cleaning.

In the end the owner said if i put a load of sheets in the machine when I got up she would mop the floors. Other than that though I left the place spotless, just like when we arrived. She sent an email and complimented me on my cleaning skills (should frame it).

She gave a realistic check out of 11am though and we only had a short drive home. I may have been able to do less with a longer drive or a 10am checkout.

If I know a cleaner is coming in, which let's face it I will have paid for in the letting charge, I just strip beds and do the washing up, while DH empties the bins. I try to get it in a state whereby someone could whizz around in an hour to get it ready for the next people. We are pretty domesticated anyway so this is not usually hard. If a cleaner is not available, then I will get it ready myself to hotel standards.

I have sympathy with landlords as some people live revoltingly, and I have had to clean up after them myself after letting out houses on assured shorthold tenancies. It beggars belief sometimes. I no longer let to single men or bankers, because they were always the worst by a long shot.

That having been said, even I have been accused of being messy, which is always wholly unjustified, and usually only done by people with ridiculous notions of what should be expected and who are far too possessive of their property, i.e. not professional landlords.

Good point actually, I've just paid the balance on a 2 bed cottage in Devon. £2,620 for two weeks is comparable to a hotel, isn't it.

Right that's it, no more than a tidy & hoover this time!

bugger that mumble, I don't clean the bath when I book a hotel room, so why would I when I book a cottage?
I left it neat and tidy but I would expect not to have to clean it.
That's why they charge such high rentals isnt it?

I don't do the oven (more than a wipe over).

I strip beds, empty bins, clean kitchen, microwave and wipe out fridge and wipe the bathroom.

Would hoover and sweep but not mop.

Can we have a poll from all you owners on whether yuo expect people to clean the oven out?

I generally give the hob a quick but not 100% perfect scrub but leave the oven shelves etc.

Also I'll sweep/hoover the floor but don't mop kitchen & bathroom floors, don't clean the bath or sink out unless they're noticeably mucky.

Is this generally acceptable?

we stripped the beds and left all towels in the bath,as specified in the manual!..
we were annoyed by something like this too op.as anyone with children knows,every min counts in those situations.we had been told to vacate at 12.30(the mini bus was coming at 2pm to take us to malaga airport)the maids rang the bell at 10.30 and handed us a mobile phone,with the owner telling us we had to be out in 30min!!
well fecked off.i usually leave the place immaculate,but thought sod you..am not emptying the bin,or washing the dishes!!oooh i'm a rebel

also our friends rent apt's in marbella and they say all the rich russians are the worst!!!but they also said they're so loaded that they don't give a stuff what they leave,so a veritable designer treasure chest is to be found on most occasions,channel sunglasses etc ...score!!

you stripped the beds? we nevrr do that

Nigella - come to us next time, I LOVE guests who strip the beds

And then there was the cottage where the owner went through our bin, with me watching, so that he could take out the recycling. And he commented on the wine bottles.

Weirdo.

It was a bit strange. She basically hung about the property that they owned next door until the housekeeper turned up on the dot of 10.30am.

We could have really done without it, as things always look worst as you are packing to leave. But I'm pleased to say that we finally made it out on time, with washing up done and beds stripped, after having a lot of holidays where we let the time slip.

Can't believe people would make a fuss about cleaning the hob. I can understand about leaving the place tidy, but I'm not going to clean the fridge!

Marymother - you wouldn't believe the mess that some people leave, I have to say that the Austrians and Germans are the cleanest!!

Being in the business myself, YANBU but it was nice that the owner wanted to see if you'd had a good time. We live on site so we know that time to pop in isn't on the last morning!

This happened to me once. Posh woman turned up to check what time we were leaving as she had the cleaner coming in.

Then, a week later, I had a letter via the agency as she insisted they write to me and complain that there were grease splatters on the hob and we'd left stuff in the dishwasher.

I imagine holiday lets are sometimes left in a worse condition than that. I think she must have been new to it.

Yes, I must admit, I would have found that very irritating! If check out time is 10.30, then the owners should not have turned up until then! He could have followed it up with a phone call to see if you've had a good holiday! We tend to leave all the tidying-up until the last morning and it's all done in a manic last hour!!

I have a holiday let and would NEVER do this to guests.

Although guests drive me mad by never, ever leaving on time on check out day 30 mins/ an hour OK but a lot of people drag it out longer which gives us bugger all time for the change over before the next guests arrive - usually early.

Meanwhile if you strip the beds Nigella you would be welcome to stay! YANBU.

Is it let through an agency? If so I'd mention it to them.

Did he just hang about for 90 minutes while you worked?

I would hate that!!

I should have handed over ds and said 'Can you just keep him entertained while we stripped the beds?'

I hope you handed him a pair of marigolds with a smile and said "not bad, but TBH we need all the help we can get".

Just had a lovely holiday, but when we were doing the frantic packing and cleaning to leave the (incredibly posh) owner turned up at 9am, just to say 'hello and see how we were getting on'.
Why? Why? Why?