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how clean do you leave a self catering holiday property

104 replies

Foxylass · 15/01/2017 10:59

Just that really, how much cleaning do you do on a self catering holiday and how do you leave the property when you go?
Do you expect it is ok to not clean up - cos you've paid....? Or do you do your best to tidy up?

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LIZS · 15/01/2017 11:02

Tidy, swept/vacuumed and surface cleaned.Towels in bath and bedding folded or striped.

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MrsSchadenfreude · 15/01/2017 11:02

Clean. Wipe round sinks, Hoover or sweep floors. Mop if muddy. Toilet cleaner down loo. Strip beds and fold dirty bedding, leave dirty towels in pile on bathroom floor.

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MrsPear · 15/01/2017 11:04

Well I stayed in one recently and we hoovered and moped the floors. Beds stripped as requested. Dishes were done and put away. We wiped over the oven and rinsed the baths and sinks. Left loos with stuff squirted down them. I would be Blush not too. But many on here say leave it a shit tip as it is your holiday and they have staff. So horses for courses.

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DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/01/2017 11:05

Clean the loo
Empty bin
Strip beds if I feel generous

That's it.

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AuntieStella · 15/01/2017 11:06

I would tidy and wash up, but not clean, and put things back to where they came from.

I also strip beds (it's past of my routine for frisking a place for overlooked items before we leave) and leave used towels by washing machine (if there is one) or in bath/shower tray.

I'd have swept up most gunk from the floor, wiped surfaces and bagged/binned detritus as we went along, so it shouldn't be too bad.

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Beedoo123 · 15/01/2017 11:06

Strip beds, towels folded in bathroom, quick wipe round kitchen and bathroom, and quick run round with hoover... so clean and tidy but not sparkling!!

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MysticTwat · 15/01/2017 11:08

Same as pp,

strip beds hoover/sweep, mop if nessessary. Oven, hop, surfaces wiped over.

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sleepyhead · 15/01/2017 11:11

Clean and tidy, surfaces wiped, quick Hoover and beds stripped. Depends if there's an additional cleaning charge though.

If I'm being explicitly charged £20 for cleaning then I'll still leave the place tidy & do beds etc but probably won't Hoover unless obvious crumbs & wouldn't clean kitchen/bathroom except for a quick wipe round.

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BumWad · 15/01/2017 11:13

I just give it a tidy. No chance I'm cleaning!

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OverlyYappy · 15/01/2017 11:43

I just leave it as it was when I arrived, with the beds stripped though

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WestmorlandSausage · 15/01/2017 12:04

As a holiday cottage owner we just want it left tidy. The cleaners expect to have to give the floors and sides a scrub, change beds and empty bins, that's what we pay them to do.

Please don't set the dishwasher/washing machine off just as you are leaving though. It just causes issues for the rest of the day particularly if there is a short turnover time between the next guests.

Also, you are not being helpful by leaving stuff in the fridge/cupboards for the next guests. It all just has to be removed before the next guests come.

if you break something please tell us, we don't mind and to a certain extent expect a certain percentage of stuff to get broken. It's far preferable for us to know and be able to replace it for you then and there than for the next guests to have to come and tell us something is missing.

Fortunately we are really lucky and with only one or two exceptions over many years looking at you cat smuggling lady only ever seem to have really lovely guests.

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Foxylass · 15/01/2017 19:44

Thank you for your comments. I ask as I own holiday cottages and have recently been told that it is not the norm to expect guests to clean up after themselves.
We ask our guests to leave the cottage 'clean and tidy', we don't expect folk to leave the cottages spotless but equally we are not happy to find kitchen sinks full of dirty crockery and food, jam smeared on bedding, crayoning on the TV screen or a kitchen covered in a weeks cooking spills.
I've been in the trade for 20 years and have been quite surprised recently by a lack of care for my lovely place.

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MrsPMT · 15/01/2017 19:46

I would try and leave it as I found it, unless owners were charging for cleaning. Even then would never leave dirty dishes/rubbish.

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JennyOnAPlate · 15/01/2017 19:49

I would wipe round the bathroom and kitchen sides. I certainly wouldn't leave dirty dishes in the sink though!

I wouldn't spend ages making it spotless because presumably the cost of cleaning it is included in the rental price.

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Foxylass · 15/01/2017 23:01

We did have one enquiry requesting that we add a cleaning charge to the booking fee as they had no intention of cleaning anything, in any way at all....while on holiday......!

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HyacinthsBucket · 15/01/2017 23:08

I usually check to make sure we've not left anything behind, put all the towels and bedlinens in a pile in the rooms (having stripped beds) and put the dishwasher on. I always aim to leave tidy rather than clean as the owner is paying for a cleaner in between lets. It's too much stress packing and being out by 10 let alone hoovering!!!

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PinkSwimGoggles · 15/01/2017 23:13

we leave it as per instructions in the welcome pack.
usually:
tidying
beds stripped
floor swept
dishes cleaned and put away

we only stay in places where cleaning is included and pets are not allowed.

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mylittlephoney · 15/01/2017 23:13

Toilets cleaned. Sides wiped. All rubbish removed. Bedding stripped. We used to clean caravans in the 80's for extra money and this is how we we would have loved them all to be. People are animals. I had to remove a used tampon from an air vent once. Wtf they were making via that statement I don't fucking know. We used to get 2.50 an hour. 4 vans an hour and we could keep all the left over food (we never did )

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needtothinkaboutseniorschools2 · 15/01/2017 23:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShotgunNotDoingThePans · 15/01/2017 23:17

I second everything Westmoreland said. I'd hate to think of people who've paid good money for a holiday feeling stressed out trying to clean up after themselves. It's our 'lovely place' but for that week or two it's theirs to enjoy. Anything that goes wrong is dealt with by the agency which suits me fine.
No one's ever trashed the place afaia, just a few accidents/daft things like leaving the parasol open so it get bent in the wind. Not the end of the world.

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Cosmicglitterpug · 15/01/2017 23:19

Have stayed in many holiday homes and never cleaned them, why would you? I put stuff away and it's not left a shit tip, but it wouldn't occur to me to hoover the place. Always got my deposit back and no complaints.

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Cosmicglitterpug · 15/01/2017 23:22

Seen your update op, obviously good smeared around and crayon on the telly is unacceptable.

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Permanentlyexhausted · 15/01/2017 23:25

At least as clean as I found it.

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MrsNuckyThompson · 15/01/2017 23:30

Good lord, no, I don't clean it.

I mean I leave the place tidy and will load dishwasher but I've paid for the privilege. It's not like staying at a friend's place. They'll have cleaners in after I've left ( for whom I'd leave a tip).

Unless there are very clear stipulations in the rental that beds must be stripped etc, I never would. Frankly if I see those stipulations in advance I wouldn't rent from there.

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Tartyflette · 15/01/2017 23:42

A few years ago we stayed in a lovely holiday cottage in France, the owners were very nice and gave good advice on where to eat etc, so we decided we would give them a bottle of single malt Scotch as a thank you.
On our last day, as we were packing up and cleaning (I was actually mopping the kitchen floor) the owner came round and got extremely annoyed that we hadn't polished the leather three piece suite!
He said he would have to charge us an extra 25 quid or so (never mind that the next renters were paying for a clean house in the rental fee) so in effect he was charging twice for the same thing. We said that was fine, gave him the money and walked out with the bottle of whiskey. (It cost more than £25.)
I find it hard to understand why owners charge extra for final cleaning, surely every rental fee includes the expectation that the property is clean when you arrive, as long as you leave it reasonanly straight and tidy, put things away, it's the owner's responsibilty to clean the place for the next guest (who will have also paid for a clean property.)
You don't have to clean a hotel room, or a B&B before you leave it, even if you've stayed for a week, it's included in the price of the room. It just seems like a way to rip off extract more money from guests.

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