...or is the airbnb host?

[raisinbranwhole]

We've just got back from a two week break when we stayed in an airbnb flat. No real issues whilst we were there.

The host has sent through a payment demand for £250 (and given us a terrible review) stating that we left the flat 'filthy' and that the money is for extra cleaning (she's also claiming we stole towels and glasses which makes me furious).

We are a family of four (two under 4) and were there for two weeks so there was the usual dirt from that (toothpaste marks, crumbs in the fridge etc) but the flat was in no way 'filthy'. She claims that she does not expect to do anything more than a 'dust and a quick vacuum' when she gets the flat back. She does not pay a professional cleaning service (like all the other apartments we've used) but does it herself. She waited four days to return to the flat after we left.

We did a few quick cleans/wipe-ups whilst we were there but no deep cleaning: we wouldn't do this in a hotel and assumed that professional cleaners would be coming in before the next guests (and that we'd paid for this).

We're not sure how to respond to her demands: AIBU is refusing to pay for this? Is there any precedent/information on what airbnb expect? I can't find anything on their website - it's all related to hosts.

Thanks.

I've always assumed that the gap between the check in time and the check out time was so that they could clean. So, if holiday let owners are ripping you off by 6-8 hours out of a week's booking by expecting the place to be sparkling, I find that outrageous. No-one is saying that they leave the place in squalor, but I'd be expecting the cleaner to clean out the showers, wipe down the cooker properly etc.

You don't need to spend hours cleaning to leave it as it was though. Just keep on top of things as you go spend 5 minutes here and there brushing up or whatever. It's not difficult to do.

I realise that, and as I said it is not as though we'd live in squalor for a week. I do manage to clean up after myself, thanks. But if the deal includes a cleaning fee and 6 hours to do so, then I wouldn't be losing more of my holiday scrubbing the place.

At Center Parcs the cleaning team are standing outside at 10am. We still had to rewash most of what was in the dishwasher because they hadn't unloaded it and there was too much in there.

I think as long as the place is tidy, kitchen surface wiped down etc when you leave it's fine. Chattymummy I think you are petty, broken pegs?....are you serious, you need to lighten up and maybe pay for another hour's cleaning. You sound like someone who has been doing their job too long.

I expect accommodation to be cleaned professionally before and after we stay. We're taking an apartment in a few weeks. Cleaning fee is $150, we will leave it tidy, strip the beds and empty the bins but I'm not cleaning it ready for the next guest, that's what the cleaning fee is for!

I'd like to blacklist chatty too!

Chattymummy, if your post is true you need to check that what you're doing is legal. Do you get guests' permission to put them on a list and pass this 'database' onto random, unregulated strangers?

Totally agree with MrsGarvey and PrimalLass. No one is saying we shouldn't clean up as we go but there's no way I'm doing intensive cleaning on a bloody holiday so a paid cleaner can just 'do the basics' on the turnaround day, as ChattyMummy stipulated.

Also, the owner was bang out of order imo to leave a review before the issue was dealt with.

We think of our cottage and apartment as like an hotel.....you wouldn't clean your hotel room before departure but you might pick up the towels off the floor and pull the duvet over.

There are a small group of cottage / apartment owners (and I had a huge debate with one of the on here once about deposits) who seem to think that they are doing YOU a favour by letting you stay. They impose petty regulations and demand more of their guests than is reasonable. However, market forces will mean that guests then don't return and it is a competitive business.

I'm shocked at chattymummy's blacklist. That's appalling.

What's the big deal about expecting a cleaner to clean?
If a sink is to be cleaned then it'll need cleaning irrespective of toothpaste marks.
Last day of holiday is busy enough, especially with dcs.
Last minute packing, checking, etc. there's enough cleaning to be done at home.

I think there are ppl who clean their hotel rooms though.
Madness.

PrimalLass

Totally agree. You have to wait hours to check in, I would have thought a deep clean would be going on during that time?

Roseformeplease

I would have same attitude as you.

I have stayed in many many holiday letts, the best ones, the classiest and indeed most stylish ones in fact have the least rules and regulations.

I mostly use Alister Sawday though and they seem to genuinely like guests.

I have not been doing it that long Infact and I could pay for more hours cleaning however try even finding a cleaner in peak times if you have not booked them over a month in advance is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Took me 4 hours to contact one cleaning company last year to ask about something as they have so many places to clean inbetween normally 11-1pm. Mine are booked to go it as soon as the person has left and this is booked as soon as a booking is made you never no if you need longer until the day by which point all the licenced cleaners are so full they hardly have the travelling time to get to each place, I've paid for cleaners when I didn't need to on the basis that it was booked with a deposit and then dates have been swapped the cleaner does not swap dates so two cleans before the next person. You just never know until the renter leaves.

A lot of owners locally are thinking of stop renting out which will only push prices up which people already complain about.

Broken pegs may be petty but when another owner has seen first hand the renter letting their children snapping them and throwing them off the steps it's deliberate damage. Not my pegs however I did see the act.

I'm not sure on the legal aspect it has been approved by the owner of the site used and was set up by them so we don't book to those who break/steal and leave it dirty.

I've rented many holiday cottages and yes, I would vacuum as needed and tidy up but no way would I spend my holiday time actually doing cleaning. It's a holiday from day to day life, surely if you're employed as a cleaner you expect to have to clean.

I've worked as a hotel cleaner and just got on with whatever needed to be done.

CHATTY

Can you share which company you go through please so I never ever ever put money into your pockets please .

I think we all have a right to know.

Do you go into the kitchen at restaurants to clean your plate?!

chatty

It sounds like you are already fed up with human nature and you have only just started to rent out your property, I think your in the wrong game.

Its not the rentee's problem or issue how and where and what you do about your cleaning lady .

Chattymummy - we do changeovers on a Friday, not a Saturday which means cleaners are easier to come by. We pay for 48 weeks a year of cleaning, regardless of whether it is booked or not in one place and we always pay for 4 hours. This is factored into our costs. Yes, it might mean that sometimes there is less for the cleaner to do but there is always something that can be done: windows, under furniture, scrubbing out cupboards etc. This way we book the cleaner, pay the cleaner and the risk is ours. However, we are very, very full in the coastal place so this makes financial sense and DH is there to assist.

In the city, we use a company (really just a small family business) and we pay them a fixed amount (100) to clean and do all the laundry. This is expensive but it means that they will always do it, regardless of the date. We give them plenty of warning, if we can, but it allows us to take last minute bookings with the security of knowing that cleaning will be done.

We have over 3 years in one place and 6 in the other had 2 issues with cleaning. One was a family where Dad buggered off all day leaving Mum with 4 children who pissed in the beds and scratched walls and kicked doors. It was about 200 to fix the damage. The other was a group of students who were cooking curry and ruined a new worktop with turmeric stains. In both cases, we have insurance to deal with damage (and it was damage really, not cleaning as such) and so we are philosophical about it.

I think you have to disconnect from the property. Many holiday property owners use it themselves as a second home and then rent it in between. We do this in one place. But it is a business and so requires refurbishment and care but we just charge people the going rate, hope they are reasonable (and they nearly always are) and then pay to have the places cleaned thoroughly. Those who see it as a second home are always going to get themselves upset by what is, after all, reasonable wear and tear and a bit of extra wiping and hoovering.

ChattyMummy - i think Roseformeplease has given you a lot of useful advice there. It seems as though you view your holiday tenants as something of an inconvenience, rather than paying customers and the raison d'etre of your business.

I am clearly a skank. I would never leave tons of washing up, over flowing bins or anything filthy when I go on holiday, but toothpaste stains and crumbs are a regular feature of both our home and our rental properties.

As people here have said, airbnb and other rentals are very different from eg. Home swaps. When I'm on holiday and I don't intend to spend it cleaning, particularly not on the morning I'm departing when everything is stressful enough trying to pack up small babies etc.

This thread is very very useful - I will make very sure that a professional cleaning fee is included in any future rentals.

If there are two cleans booked between rentals then that is the perfect time to do jobs that don't get done every time.