Not to clean the holiday cottage?

[softlysoftly]

Due to leave tomorrow and having a disagreement with DM.

I think that you should vac the main living room floor, make sure there aren't any stains on the loos, wipe the kitchen sides down and clear any food.

DM wants to clean totally, I'm talking vac all floors (huge 4 bed 2 reception room barn) polishing tables, gloves on and hands down loo (4 loos), she's been and bought hob cleaner, we've only cooked on it once!

So who's right?

I don't Hoover or do any particular proper cleaning. We leave it tidy and clear any specific mess. I go on holiday to get away from cleaning though and when you pay a lot for a rental, I don't think you should be expected to spend your time cleaning it.

I always expect to provide my own loo roll too. Normally we find a full one in each loo which is great but not likely to be enough for the whole stay.

I own a holiday let.

I would expect guests to strip beds, put rubbish out etc and not to leave in too bad a state, but yes, the rents I charge take on board cleaners costs so don't expect a spring clean.

Oh and I don't provide toilet roll, but suggest to cleaners if guests leave any they be left for next guest so usually enough to last till they've been to the shop.

I agree bonkers to clean, when it's factored into the price, why would you want to do that! Like someone who rents cottages out further up said, she will have to get the cleaners in anyway as she does not know what's been done, it might not be done to the standard she wants. As long as you leave it in a reasonable state, not looking like a dump than it's fine.

I empty all bins, wipe over hob, kitchen surface and sink and any splashes in microwave, empty food from fridge/freezer, do recycling, brush up/Hoover any big bits of dirt/hairs on carpet but not necessarily Hoover all over cos cleaner will do it. Put everything back where it was at the start of the let. Clean off any poo smears in toilet!

That's all. We're in a villa in Spain at the moment and I'm paying 60 quid for an end clean so I will not be scrubbing it top to bottom. However the villa info book says that the hob is not the responsibility of the cleaner so to clean it up after yourselves. I'm assuming this is to stop people cooking fry ups etc and not bothering to wipe at all leaving it a disgusting mess for the cleaner. I'm assuming the cleaner WILL wipe it, they just don't want to be greeted by bits of greasy food and dried on mess all over it.

This is an amazingly thoughtful let though - we arrived to find sparkling wine in the fridge, milk, OJ, butter, bread, cornflakes, marmalade, ham, cheese, yoghurt, a pizza - basically everything you might need to be able to go straight to bed after having a small meal if you arrived late and wanted to be able to have breakfast next day before going out shopping. I hadn't realised this was all included so we went to the supermarket on the way here which was a bit stressful - if I'd known there was wine waititing here for me I would have come straight here!!

We have also been given all the toilet rolls we've needed and there are loads of cleaning products here. Things like cooking oil and herbs and spices are all here already. We'e replaced the hand wash which ran out, the washing up liquid and the paper towels and a wine glass which broke (already had a crack in it from previous guests but anyway....). We'll be leaving pasta and other bits we didn't end up using.

It has been the best-equipped place we've ever stayed in. This is in contrast to last year's villa in Majorca which had nothing but a tea towel. So we had to buy tin foil, washing up stuff inc dish cloths, floor cloths, toilet roll, etc etc. Salt, pepper. Every fecking thing. We took it all back in our suitcase, the feckers. Left NOTHING. They didn't deserve it.

ICanSeeTheSun

I always leave the place pristine, I dislike the thought of people cleaning up after me.

Do you do that ina hotel too?

Exactly it's not my job to clean the hotel room they have cleaners to do that, same with a holiday rental, but I will leave it in a reasonable state, strip beds, clear away any rubbish, wipe stove and kitchen surfaces, no skids in the loo but not a thorough clean why would I,

I don't Hoover unless there's actual crumbs. Basically I leave it as I would have it while staying (wiped down surfaces, no dirty dishes, clean sink, no marks on toilets, no spills or crumbs). The only extra things I do are empty all bins, take rubbish out and strip beds.

Most places don't leave you proper cleaning equipment - I would NOT go out and buy any!!

Ooooh Curly that sounds fab! Care to pass on the details?

I would strip all the beds and so on. I don't clean before we leave, I assume that it is included in the rent but I make sure that the toilets are clean and that we've cleaned up anything like food crumbs, the dishwasher is loaded with the tablet and ready to go but I don't start it as I don't like leaving it on in an empty house - I assume that the cleaner will start it.
All the bins are also emptied - we leave the house as we found it apart from not dusting or vacuuming.

When I was a child and even 10-15 years ago you had to clean your holiday cottage and they usually didn't have a cleaner in between. Owners would walk you round the last day and check everything was cleaned. It would always state wether cleaning was included or not.

I've been renting cottages on and off for over 25 years and I'm delighted to say I've never had that experience. I'd have been heavily tempted just to walk out and leave them to it, and I certainly wouldn't book that place again.

I would wash up and put away, quick wipe of kitchen surfaces, empty bins and possibly strip beds. I wouldn't clean bathrooms or Hoover, the cleaner will do that when getting ready for next occupants.

I've been renting cottages on and off for over 25 years and I'm delighted to say I've never had that experience. I'd have been heavily tempted just to walk out and leave them to it, and I certainly wouldn't book that place again.

same here

I always leave it as I found it.....Washing in machine (duvets etc) washing merrily along when we leave.

Went back 2 years running and got 20% off

You wash the duvets???

I think you're right. There are only minimal cleaning products provided in holiday lets, as the cleaners come and do a big clean between guests. So wipe sides, tidy up and vacuum is enough, I think.

Washing the duvets would surely make you unpopular, how are they going to dry in time?

Talking of beds, I think all holiday cottages should have mattress pillow and duvet protectors which should then be changed between each let.

I always get all the DC and any friends to muck in with me to leave the house as clean as we find it, which is really very clean indeed. But we rent the place year after year, so there's a personal connection. I still think I'd bother, despite that. Unless I rented a place which I arrived to filthy. Then I wouldn't bother at all.

It takes 4- 6 hours to do a proper deep clean between guests, that's a whole day of your holiday spent cleaning

Some people are crackers! I wipe kitchen surface of obvious spills and crumbs, ditto cooker, make sure no hair or skid marks in bathroom and wash all crockery. And take bins out. Oh and leave a reasonable amount of loo roll/washing up liquid etc. One place suggested we might strip the beds if time.

Given I've never come across anywhere that doesn't leave at least 5 hrs between departure and arrival - for cleaning!!!- any more would be lunacy. Never had any issues as child or adult in over 30 years of uk cottage stays.

Do those of you who clean holiday cottages also feel the need to clean hotel rooms after use? Or do the washing up in restaurants after you eat there? Because, it's the same thing really. You are paying for the privilege of NOT doing the routine stuff. You are paying for the hospitality.

Quite frankly, if I'd paid about seven or eight hundred quid for a week in a holiday let, I'd be insulted if they expected me to clean it too. Out of politeness, I strip beds and wipe around, but I see this as me being (unnecessarily) polite rather than fulfilling any obligations.

If cleaning the place from top to bottom was part of the deal, then sorry, for the prices that are charged, no deal.

Seriously?

We pick up rubbish, empty fridge, clean up any obvious messes (not day to day dust, more someone dumped a sandy bucket on the rug or the milk spilled in the fridge), wash dishes, collate towels or other laundry, pick hair out of shower drain, make sure loo is not disgusting.

Nothing else unless previously agreed. I've had compliments on how tidy we have left it (and believe you me, my family is very far from tidy).

Hotel rooms I do something similar except obviously no vacuum but in the case of the sandy bucket I'd leave a bigger than usual tip. We did the same in restaurants, collate dishes, tidy the table a bit, wipe up spills and leave a bigger tip if kids got food on floor.

We own holiday flats. If you strip beds we're really grateful. Otherwise put away any washing up and empty bins. Otherwise don't bother- everything else we'll do anyway. No point hoovering as once we're in to clean we'll need to rehoover anyway. Plus unless you pull out all the sofas, furniture etc there's no point.

When you see how some people leave them!!!!!!