Holiday cottage clear up etiquette

[Justkeepswiimming]

I'm the last night in a holiday cottage. I've swept up and will put the dishwasher on, and will have a final wipe round tomorrow morning, sort sheets and towels into a pile, but that's the most I'll do. Is that reasonable?

I have holidayed in self catering cottages since I was small and I always remember a huge clean up effort before leaving the evening before/morning we left. Part of me resents doing too much these days. For a start I'd like to think the place is being thoroughly cleaned, so what's the point in me doing too much as it will be gone over again.

Also I feel like the checkout time moved earlier and check in moved later over Covid due to cleaning, and has never gone back. How much can you really do as well as getting up and out, before 10? And finally, even 5-10 years ago, self catering used to be the bargain holiday. That isn't the case and more, and frankly at the prices you pay, people shouldn't be expected to do too much in the way of deep cleaning. How much does everyone else do?

I do wish guests wouldn’t leave bloodied bedding though. It happens way too often and it’s not pleasant for the cleaners.

What do you expect them to do with it? Take it with them?

Interesting set of responses which seem to me to show how bad some people are who stay in holiday cottages, unlike the considerate OP.

There was a thread on here a while ago about how it’s increasingly common to have a list of tasks to complete before check out when you stay in an Airbnb. Considering you’re on holiday it seems a bit much. For us having a later than average rising DC the ideal check out time would be 11am & check in time 3pm. I understand during covid but a check out time of 9am seems insane to me. Also I’ve just thought that surely a 4 hour window to clean between guests is sufficient? Considering most people have their houses cleaned in 2 or 3 hours? Check in at 5pm & check out at 9am seems bonkers.

I'd do similar - all washing up done, put stuff where it was if changed any furniture etc, put rubbish out, strip beds if requested.

Check in time used to be 2pm or 3pm but now it's more like 4pm or 5pm.

I'm not entirely sure it's due to extra cleaning - maybe they cut down on cleaners and one team has to get through more properties during the changeover period.

Things I do:
Clean all kitchen surfaces
Clean kitchen floor
Empty fridge
Empty bins into outdoor bin
Wash up by hand and put away - I always wonder if leaving things in the dishwasher is a PITA if the cleaners are in early and want to go before it's done.
Used towels in the bath
In the event that there are beds we haven't used, I fold the duvets down on the beds we have to mark the difference quickly
Leave a note if we've broken a mug and replaced it.

I don't strip beds or clean any areas other than the kitchen

I don't mind doing other stuff if specifically asked. What pisses me off is a long list of chores without the appropriate equipment - clean floor but broom/hoover locked away, empty bins but no binbags etc.

Breakfast things go in the dishwasher, we pack up and leave, that's it. I would never be cleaning on the last night or mopping the floors on my way out (unless we spilled eg milk in the morning I guess). I wouldn't stay anywhere with more rigorous cleaning requirements and would choose hotels over holiday cottages if there was an expectation of cleaning while on holiday.

We are always out on time, usually early, but a 9.30am departure time would really put me off booking, and is unlikely to change the behaviour of the late check out people at all.

We had to leave a caravan at 6am once in order to get the ferry home.
The rep asked if we could do a really thorough clean because she had loads of changeovers to do that day.
The cheek of it was they hadn't left any consumables or cleaning products at all. We even had to buy our own toilet paper and soap! There was no cloths, bleach or washing up liquid. I had taken cloths, washing up liquid and dettol (because we are used to camping) but I wasn't prepared to buy lots of products and deep clean before leaving at 6!

I think your cleaning is just right. I always empty all the bins too.

Some holiday cottages ask you to strip the beds - that started during Covid and hasn't changed since.

Cottage owners will have a team of cleaners. I'm sure cleaning costs are factored into the rental price, so there's no need for us to do a full clean.

@rookiemere - yes I know. That’s why I won’t actually change it, it’s just tempting. Most people do actually leave much earlier tbh as they drive a fair distance to get here ( not uk).

I actually always let people check in early also if we haven’t had same day check out, and happily let people stay longer and check out mid afternoon if no new guests due that day. No extra charge.

@hellsBells246 - my team of cleaners is just me. If I had to pay cleaners, gardeners and laundry sent out and ironing, I would hardly make a profit. So I do it myself.

I hoover (dog fur), empty dishwasher and wipe sides - only because I don’t want to give them an excuse to not give me the damage deposit back (many include references to cleanliness when you look at the fine print…)

BUT I always do a proper clean when I arrive. Most of the cleaners in these cottages are crap - used one in Norfolk once where they hadn’t changed the bedding…

As above. We were asked not to strip beds as it’s easier for the cleaner to check for marks if the bedding is in situ. Other than that all dishes done and towels in bath

A lot of them detail what’s expected in the booking details or handbook that’s left , we always strip the beds , make sure dishes are all back where we found them and any rubbish bins are emptied , oh and any dog doo is cleaned up from garden.

@Devilshands most holiday cleaners might be crap in your experience but we’re not. In fact we’ve had several glowing reviews about the standard of our cottages. Thanks for the generalisation though. I expect you’re like the one complaint we had that there was dust on the rim of a ceiling light shade. 🙄

I'm not sure why you've taken my comment so personally?I didn't say it was yours that was crap, did I? Unless you work for the holiday cottage company based solely in Blakeney...in which case, yes you are shit.

Wash it? There’s a washing machine, dryer and washing liquid. Would you leave blood all over your bedding at home and expect someone else to clean it up?

@Devilshands I took it personally because you generalised that most cleaners are crap, so thanks for that. If most cleaners are indeed crap I think there’d probably be a bigger fuss than a few comments on Mumsnet.

I’m not in Norfolk.

If it's happened on the last night of their stay they may not have had the opportunity.

I'm intrigued by these bloody sheets. Are we talking period blood, or perhaps a small scratch that has generated a few droplets on the sheets ?
I'd definitely do something about the former - even if it's only to apologise- but the latter I would assume would be ok.

Most marks on bedding are suncream or makeup on the pillowcases here. So if bedding left on it’s far easier for
me to see

A few drops wouldn’t be that bad but I’m talking large stains as though someone with a heavy period has slept in the bed with no protection. It’s surprising how often it happens. We’ve also had bedding with urine on and in one memorable case, a saucepan full of urine left under the bed like a chamber pot*.

I mean, personally, if I’d got a lot of blood on the bed, I’d at least try and clean it up but reading many of the MN threads on holiday cottages over the years, it’s become clear that many people feel that paying to stay somewhere absolves them of any responsibility for basic cleanliness, even when it comes to bodily fluids.

*Saucepan was thrown in the bin.

Really? I often wonder about the ££ involved. So say you rent your cottage for £1000 a week, can't you afford to pay a cleaner out of that?

Cleaners charge £20 an hour. A 2 bedroom cottage would take at least 4 hours to clean, probably more. It's a deep clean every time, you have to clean the oven and fridge which can take ages.

Gardener is £25 an hour.

Linen wash and iron is £18 per bed

Heating is at least £20 per day at the moment. Can be £40 if people leave electric radiators on.

Mortgage costs for me is £300 a week.

Wear and tear needs to be factored in. I had a brand new duvet set ruined a few weeks ago for example'- £100 to replace. The fence panels are being replaced next week. Panels are £460, labour will be at least £150. We will need to re oil the deck as soon as it stops raining- deck oil is £60 a tin. I bought new tea towels- £37 though these will last 3 or 4 years.

Welcome pack costs me £15 to provide. Then there are water rates, insurance ( over £1000 a year)... Rubbish removal is £15 a week.

So if this is your main source of income you are not looking at a huge amount to live on! So doing the cleaning myself helps a lot.

@hellsBells246 - well I’m not in uk, so slightly different taxes probably.
But say €1000, I will have daily expenses like % of all utilities, welcome hamper, car charging if people do etc. I will pay 40% tax on that. So about €500 left. I also need to pay annual larger expenses like insurance, new items at rental ie sofa, oven, garden furniture , wipe away several weeks income. I’m not including big items liek new heating system/ windows etc/ I can only rent peak summer by my location. So it’s about 12 weeks max.
Whatever is left helps pay for essentials, like my own utilities. But a cleaner/ gardener would take that. It’s around €25 for cleaner (I need 5hrs myself to clean), it’s €50+ for gardener, €5 per item to wash and iron. So it’s would easily cost me €150-250 per week if I hired in.