I want some bin bags and dishwasher tablets - tight arse holiday self catering company

[Pancakeflipper]

Booked a holiday apartment over looking the bay in Wales. Paid over £2k for the week. But has the sea view, parking, balcony.

Apartment is lovely. Very mod cons.

But I'm slightly narked and still narrowing my eyes whenever I walk to the kitchen area....

We are here for a week.
The company renting it out left a bottle of wine.
They left 3 dish washer tablets.

No washing up liquid.
No bin bags.
The shower was full of sand and we found finger and toes nails on the rug in the lounge.
Pillow cases stained.

I think it's cost cutting tightness. And they expect us to leave it sparkling (there is also no surface cleaner)..

Had to go out and buy the bin bags, washing liquid and cleaner.

We stay regularly in holiday homes (have a DC who has medical needs - this makes it easier for both them and me). Never had this tightness.

That irritates me too . I would much rather pay an extra £10 or so for the week than be left with minimal resources to see me through . I do get that costs are increasing for everyone and that profit margins will be lower . But please add it onto the weekly price rather than expect the guest to go out and buy toilet roll , dish washer tabs , bin bags .

I hate also being left with one inch at the bottom of a washing up liquid bottle . My idea of a fun holiday isn’t being able to run about with wild abandon randomly squirting from a full washing up bottle !!!

I also now take rinse aid with me as always need to top this up when I am self catering .

I think after people may have had a long drive / commute they won’t want to hit the supermarket and have to stock up on these items .I don’t mind leaving a few of these behind , but if I have had to buy a full pack of dishwasher tabs I will take these with me and don’t really want to cart these items with an already fully packed car .

I do find most owners will leave you enough for at least the few days but would be really annoyed if I was left with 1 toilet roll per loo .

The last holiday cottage I stayed was really well equipped and they had left most things including bin bags , dishwasher tabs , loads of pots and pans .

But they didn’t have any bins in the bedrooms and I hated having to carry rubbish about with me to the nearest bin . They also had only provided exactly the same amount of cutlery as people ie 6 knives / forks etc for a cottage that slept 6 . That was also annoying as you had to keep washing cutlery after meals when there wasn’t enough used for a full load of the dishwasher .

That's so grim.

We haven't been left without washing up liquid for years now. We tend to book via AirBnb or VRBO these days.I find these more reliable at supplying the basics like washing up liquid, DW tabs and loo roll for the whole stay. Older style cottage rental sites are a bit more of a wild west. We had one once that absolutely insisted we could not leave the key behind in the property but needed to go to a nearby town, buy a particular sort of envelope from a named shop and a stamp, and post the key back to them. Mugs that we were, we did it under threat of them charging us about £50 if we didn't. Ridiculous. I've never booked with that cottage company since.

I wouldn’t expect DW tabs, bin bags etc, but the place should be clean.

It’s so hit and miss. I now pack a Tupperware container with bin bags, cloths, dishwasher tabs, dishes liquid, and washing machine liquid in a travel bottle. If I don’t need it , it’s there for next time.

Oh and loo roll if it’s a car trip as I have more space.

This would piss me off a bit, I’d expect all that to be there.

When I go on a self catering holiday I always take a supply of dishwasher capsules, washing tablets, toilet rolls, kitchen roll, sachet salt and pepper, bin liners, (and on a 30 day trip to Barbados earlier this year, my own pillow, snacks and several bars of chocolate😂). If other people are coming I suggest they bring their coffee and tea and anything else they cannot live without. If my allowance is two suitcases, the second case I fill with items which I will use whilst on holiday and not worry about bringing anything back, and on the return journey, I just put one suitcase inside the other.

But if it is all in a little box, then why bother to get pissed off? It takes up very little space and saves having to do any shopping if the accommodation does not have supplies.

See I disagree. They want me to leave the place clean. Therefore they should provide the basics so I can wash up, empty rubbish and some surface cleaner would be luxury.

This never used to be an issue but standards have definitely slipped. We have stayed in a property three times which we booked for the location. First time there were fingermarks all over the kitchen cupboards and the kitchen was full of flies. Garden furniture was broken. Second time cupboards still grubby and the bath was leaking through the ceiling and a light fitting plus the cover on the bed was stained. The third time the bath plug was broken , the landline was disconnected (no wifi or mobile phone signal) and there were hairs lying around, dust in various places. There was also no washing powder so I had to buy some at vastly inflated prices due to the tourist location. I don't think we will go back despite the fact it's a lovely house.

The agency couldn't give a toss.

I'm irritated with you !

They left a bottle of wine which I cannot drink - would rather they left me washing up liquid, bin bags and surface cleaner...

We usually are fortunate to have had cottages/apartments that have had decent supplies so perhaps my expectations are above average

Suppose I forget the box? Suppose the nearest shops are miles away? Air b n b owners are providing a service so should supply goods.

My stepdad and mum used to have a holiday house in France they let out to friends and family. It always had cleaning and washing supplies for clothes and dishes there. They were in a hamlet. If anyone used it all up they replaced it.

Places often leave a starter kit, but I find what’s left varies a lot between places.
I generally pack my own just in case.

What I find annoying is when a house for six provides the bare minimum of cutlery. Six knives, forks etc. It means I generally have to handwash several items between cooking a meal and sitting down to eat it. I brought spares from home this time and it did make a difference 😁

It pisses me off so much when holiday accommodation doesn’t leave these basics to cover your stay.
I know people will say they get stolen, but they could leave one tablet to cover each day (not a whole pack), a few bins bags (not a whole roll), a small pump bottle of dish soap, etc.
We stayed in one for our wedding which was owned by the wedding venue but came at a significant extra cost with a minimum of 3 nights. Got there in the eve of wedding with dress, cases, endless wedding stuff and found they’d left absolutely nothing. This was quite a difficult to access place so to have to go out and buy everything from bin bags to cleaning products to tea bagsx etc just for a few days on the eve of our wedding pissed me off so much. I always regret not feeding back.

Exactly. If the place is in the middle of bloody nowhere you don’t want to be driving miles to get extra loo roll or cleaner or whatever. And the hosts obviously expect things like crockery to be clean so supply some dishwasher tablets. They hardly break the bank to buy.

I’d be irritated. We have a holiday home that we let to friends and family for a modest amount. I always make sure there’s enough washing up liquid and washing machine liquid, DW tabs etc. as we charge a modest amount I’m not checking we’ve got 14 tabs for a 2 week holiday, but certainly for a week/weekend they’d be covered. NB sleeps 7, is really well equipped and we ask £500 ish for the week but occasionally only 100 (friend had recently divorced and was having a tough time).

I find it really irritating that places don’t reliably tell you what’s supplied in holiday lets. If I have to bring my own washing up liquid, tea towels etc, fine. But LET ME KNOW! I don’t want to haul everything there “just in case”, but nor do I want to spend the first day of my holiday buying stuff.

And I totally agree with whoever said about pots and pans - they need to be in decent condition, and there need to be enough of them for me to cook dinner.

I agree about not providing enough mugs plates etc. As I said previously, I always take my own dishwasher tablets so if there are not enough plates/knives/mugs/whatever provided then I will simply run the dishwasher with just a few items in it. This will increase the owner’s electricity bill.
We generally get excellent places but I only get accommodation with excellent reviews.

Have a look in all the cupboards and drawers and you might find a secret stash! I did on my last holiday and used those instead 🤫
I agree with you OP. I’ve been disappointed so many times that I now take a carrier bag of essential supplies on every self catering holiday. If the place has ample supplies my bag of stuff goes back in the car.

That is great. Most guests will use everything but the very last item, and then say that they did not use enough to replace items. And if you are not on hand, then it is very difficult to ensure it is filled. or if the cleaners are rubbish. It is just easier to get your own stuff and then you know you have it. I don't see the issue. My box lives in my suitcase.

We have one of these, family and friends. All we ask is the cleaning fee and money towards the electric (AC can be expensive, not in UK) I've had 14 visitors this year and we aren't even in August 😳. We have so many supplies as people buy stuff and leave it. I don't throw it out if its unopened. If they are coming in on late flight I will get provisions in for breakfast. It's been great practice for when we finally hit the rental market in a few years time.

We have used SC accommodation for years, the best are the ones you feel the host really cares about your needs & it's a stress free experience. That can be from DW tablets to a food hamper with wine 😁😁

I think it’s because people steal them. A friend had a holiday let and people stole all sorts- boxes of dishwashers tablets, washing up liquid, toilet rolls, crockery, bedding, bin bags. It must be a right pain if you own it.

We recently rented a motorhome abroad and they gave us 2 forks, 2 knives, 2 mugs etc 😂. Even 2 teaspoons, so lots of washing up.

Ooh, pegs, interesting.

I have a folding storage box containing:

Dishwasher tabs
Laundry tabs
Sponges and scourers
A tea towel
Kitchen roll
A loo roll
Ketchup
Tin opener
Bottle opener
Emergency coffee and teabags
Cooking oil
A hand towel
Bar soap
Bin bags
Washing up liquid

I've never been somewhere that I haven't needed something from the box!

I find bringing a few extra clothes hangers handy too.

Heard stories like this a lot. Maybe go for hotels next time? For now, take pictures and say they have a cheek to ask for it to be "sparkling".

I stayed in an AirBnB recently, which slept 4. There were only 2 mugs and 3 forks.