Holiday cottage etiquette

[unlikelychump]

We are staying in a holiday cottage, never done this before. Staying 3 nights and this is our last one. We brought things with us like tea towels and washing up liquid but it was nice to find them here when we arrived. Also laid out was posh coffee, biscuits, milk, OJ and bucks fizz. We've had the OJ and milk but not the rest. There were two loo rolls. We've finished one in the downstairs loo and so there is between 2 bathrooms. 5 of us. We asked the hosts for another, they said no "it was a starter pack". It feels like we have breached the etiquette by asking.

I'm now questioning whether we are not supposed to use the other stuff... Or replace it.

Feels strange as I'd much have preferred 3 loo rolls than a pack of biscuits... I feel like going back and trying to trade :)

It is quite an upmarket cottage, lovely decos and beautifully done.

(Obviously I should have bought more loo rolls, I didn't remember it, before you all pile on my for my cheap habits)

What do you think?

Completely unreasonable to expect lots of loo roll and impractical to expect perishables like milk! Maybe a hotel is what you're after?

Well it’s what has been provided in most places I’ve stayed in. One pint of milk usually just so you can arrive and have a drink before setting out to find shops.

I thought you meant milk and loo roll for the whole stay. I still wouldn't expect a pint of milk. Lots of people don't drink ordinary milk so it would be wasted. Surely everyone can pick up milk on tbeir way?

I've learned a lot since starting the holiday let. Much that I wanted to do turns out to be not allowed, impractical or wasteful. I wanted to let guests use my bicycles and kayaks, because I'd love that option when renting and have chosen places abroad for that reason. Turns out that can't legally be done at their own risk in England, and my insurers won't hear of it with the kayaks, and anyway bike maintenance would be major. I direct them to hire places instead.
Milk left in the fridge was often wasted, because people drink a different sort. Nowadays they can get their own from the nearby shops.
Opened packs of tea bags / sugar / spices / salt left for guests to use - supposedly not allowed now under Natasha's Law for allergies as a previous guest might have contaminated them, eg used a spoon with peanuts on it to scoop out sugar.

We've stayed in plenty who don't provide most of that. And tea, coffee, sugar might be 4 teabags/sachets to get your through to your first morning. Especially with "traditional" cottages vs a more casual AirBnB or similar.

It does annoy me a bit when they have cleared everything previous guests will have left - oil, pepper etc. It's just such a waste of money for everyone to have to start from scratch, especially if they don't leave enough DW tablets which I do think is mean. But it happens too often for me to expect anything different.

One thing I do expect is enough DW tabs. Not everyone owns a DW, and guests should not have to buy them in specially, or hand wash for half the week, just to get enough to see them through their stay. I questioned it once when we were given 3 DW tabs for a week's stay and the owner replied that they had thoughtfully supplied a range of leaflets for local restaurants. They "presumed" we would mostly eat out mostly to support the local economy.

But different people will consider different things basics - and will use vastly different amounts; and the providers aren't psychic.

Supposing the place did provide all of the groceries and household supplies that you could possibly need, the people who use loads of toilet roll/milk/butter/olive oil etc. will still find that there isn't enough - and complain about it being woefully understocked; whilst the people who use very little or none at all of something will complain at having to pay for all of the unnecessary extra stuff.

To put it bluntly, a hotel is kind of the equivalent of living with your parents when you're away from home - with everything except your clothes and your phone all provided for you; a self-catering cottage is for adults who are able to plan and organise the shopping that they will need during their stay. It's important to compare and pick the right option for your requirements/desires - just like you wouldn't buy an Aygo as the only car for your large family and then be astonished or angry that all 7 of you couldn't fit into it. It wouldn't be Toyota's fault that you actively chose to buy something that didn't match your requirements.

Would you then expect people to rail at them and insist that they 'should' make their tiny economical city car much, much bigger - when they and other manufacturers already do sell a wide range of much bigger cars - and then also complain at the fact that the price had increased considerably and that they couldn't get it into very small parking spaces?!

Slightly OtT post. All I expect and have received is access to enough loo roll for my stay, basic condiments like salt and pepper and oil and tea / coffee. What I have actually been left is Prosecco , crisps and shortbread. I would argue that costs more and not everyone drinks or eats biscuits! As we use Air bnb mainly there is the facility to ask guests what would be useful. The last place we stayed in the host asked which milk and would we prefer biscuits or savoury snacks. That was useful. She actually had left loads of other stuff too but that was unexpected. Oh and I know the difference between a hotel and a self catering cottage.

Just buy a new toilet roll.

True - and I agree on the places that contact you before and ask what kind of milk you like, whether you would prefer wine/chocolates/flowers etc. - but the main point still stands that what are basics to you will not even be on the radar of other people (and vice versa) - and then they may go grumbling at having to pay extra for (to them) unnecessary things; even leaving worse reviews because of it.

Take the coffee for example. Many people (like us) don't drink coffee at all. On the flip side, a lot of people take pride in their coffee and might be insulted that there is 'only rubbishy instant coffee' when they're used to a bells-and-whistles pod machine at home and thus consider that a 'basic essential'. Similarly, they leave decent standard normal tea bags and then people who only drink Earl Grey or decaff tea or fruit teas as standard complain that 'the tea supplies are very disappointing and no thought for guests' different requirements has gone into it at all'. And if they did offer every conceivable variant of tea and coffee and contraptions, people would complain about the clutter and lack of space on the kitchen worksurface!!

The statement 'welcome pack' is a calculated feature of their offering; but apart from that, all cupboard 'staples' are expensive and would add to the already considerable price they'd have to charge; plus a lot of people would find it grim to use a bottle of olive oil or similar that a stranger had already opened - however long ago that might have been - and so would want to buy their own anyway. Or they provide a new one and then guests reckon that "Nobody is going to want this now that a stranger has opened it and used some, so we might as well take it home with us" or just wastefully bin it.

I'm not at all suggesting that you don't know the difference between a hotel and SC accommodation; but they really can't be all things to all people.

I think that some of the big holiday cottage sites have rules for their hosts. We have stayed in several cottages on Sykes and they have all provided wine, milk and chocolates and dishwasher tablets. We stayed in an independent place - really expensive too - and they had nothing.

Yes, this never gives me any problems. Even if you are miles from anywhere, most petrol stations sell toilet paper.

I don’t think there’s much etiquette other than expecting very little and being pleasantly surprised if you get more.

Like you I would rather have loo rolls than a welcome basket. Milk/coffee/tea seems to be the norm but I don’t drink it so a waste of milk. I do like a bottle of wine!

Some do leave enough loo rolls and cleaning products. I guess it depends on whether the hosts got stung by previous guests or not.

We normally leave any non oershirables we bought like oil or sugar. We also strip the beds at the end but that’s as much to check we haven’t left stuff as to make life easier for cleaners.

Re stripping beds, see what the checkout instructions say first. Many owners will ask you not to strip beds as they want to carefully check bedlinen in case it needs extra treatment, and it's easiest to do this while it's on the bed. My holiday let bedlinen is hired from the cleaning agency (they keep it bright white and beautifully ironed....). They're very specific that only they should strip the beds, so they can ensure sets stay together & count linens back in. Also, unfortunately some guests take bedlinen items and this most commonly happens when beds are stripped. I think sometimes because the bedlinen has become stained and they're embarrassed, but a professional laundry can usually deal with it.

Never strip the beds- I’d rather not know if there were stains under the beds g we just used!! I just fold them back, open windows in the morning before we leave to air the bedrooms, leave all crockery etc clean and in cupboards, bins emptied, surfaces clean and kitchen floor swept, fridge shelves cleaned I put all used towels in the bath/ shower. Always get good feedback from hosts.

We don't strip the beds if there are no instructions, but found that lots of places still expect you to strip them and put the linen into big bags, a side effect of covid unfortunately that's not disappeared.

Haven’t had that. Most just say empty the bins. Plus with Air bnb the cleaning fee is high!

Interesting re striping beds. We never bothered in the beginning but so many Airbnbs asked us to, we just do it now.

We stay in 3 -4 Airbnb’s a year ( different ones) to visit parents and in laws. Always get great review’s. Most places have similar expectations. I think owners are better now than they were. Be interested to see if cost of living affects this.

My kids stripped the beds before I got round to thinking about it. (They enjoyed playing house!!)

Overall, I am not really any the wiser. I now know that luxury goods are frequently left but dont bank on s bog roll!!! Ive started a list for next self catering and added loo roll to it.

Interesting thread, thanks for comments

Last one was in Crimbo Limbo and rules were- gather used towels, empty bins and lock up! As it should be. I’m not the cleaner!

It isn't. Some hosts add a cleaning fee but many don't. If you are thinking of the service fee that's Air BnB's cut.

If I had an up market I would have a cupboard of supplies like loo roll

Most holiday homes we’ve stayed in have provided enough loo roll for the stay but not all. The cottage we stayed in over NY was gorgeous. So many lovely touches. A generous welcome pack, including wine, cake and a lovely wrapped present, Christmas decorations, Moulton Brown toiletries, bath salts. Yet only 2 loo rolls!! As with any holiday cottage or self catering break you have to go shopping so it’s not a problem to get it. I just think it’s a bit tight not to supply it!

Well the end of the story is that we left them a lovely review, and they left us a lovely review, so everyone is happy.

My agency requests guests strip the beds. I don’t care if they don’t do it - it’s their holiday after all. I am extra delighted it they do it though. I’m even more delighted if they don’t use the log burner 😂