to only do the washing up/put dishwasher on and no other cleaning on departing our holiday cottage?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Oh and empty bins?

Just having a week away in a not inexpensive cottage. Have to be out by 10 on the last day, am planning to leave nothing dirty lying around (apart from sheets, obvs) but shan't be doing any actual cleaning either.

That's not unreasonable is it?

In summary: unless the place is privately rented and youvwant to do it as a favour to the owners, or certain standards have been stipulated - just enjoy the holiday right to the end folks!

'Her parents ran the business before her and they also expected leaving guests to clean.'

I hope their policy states that and the price reflects that. With a 10am checkout I don't want to get up early and have to clean before leaving in addition to packing everything up and getting off.

Dishwasher, wiping surfaces, taking out rubbish and recycling, and tidy up only. The places I stay in organise a professional clean between guests so it's daft to vacuum when you know they'll be doing it again. Equally cleaning bathrooms will be handled by the cleaning device and don't need a double dose of bleach.

The one we stay in regularly is professionally cleaned between guests. We are only requested to strip beds but even so i leave it all tidy and clean. All washing up done/dishwasher empty, bins and recycling emptied. Kitchen and bathrooms wiped down, everywhere hoovered, fridge empty and cleaned.

Once in France we seemed to be expected to leave it spotless..and the cleaner arrived as I was going over the kitchen and started pointing out bits I'd missed.

I was a bit miffed by this and told the lazy mare I would NOT be going over the kitchen again...

Over the years they have had dirty dishes, filthy bathrooms, dirty sheets, muddy footprints on the windowsills, numerous breakages and so on.

You mean evidence that people have been on holiday there

It's hugely unreasonable to rent a cottage and expect holiday makers to clean. Load the dishwasher, flush the loos, empty recycling yes. Clean no.

I was once charged extra cleaning because the cleaner deemed it (tiny two bedroom apartment) Insufficiently clean before she cleaned it - washing up was done, bins emptied, bed stripped, all tidy.

I rent holiday flats through an agency. I pay for linen and the cleaning. My understanding is that if sorting out a flat post tenancy takes longer than normal, then there would be deductions. However normal, including changing all the beds and leaving bathrooms 'hotel clean,' is about 4 hours labour.

So simply tidy up, empty bins and don't worry. If you have been cooking roast dinners and the like, I would make sure the oven and hob are clean, as these would use up cleaner time.

I am normally astonished at how clean people leave the flats.

I think it depends on the terms really. If I an staying somewhere like a hoseasons or haven rental then I will leave it as I found it but without deep cleaning, ie the cooker, fridge and counter tops wiped over, bins emptied but not floors mopped - would not clean the bathroom etc. I just couldn't leave it with crumbs on the counter and food spills in the fridge!!!

We are currently in France and I will leave the Gite clean and tidy, the owner will inspect it when we depart and return my deposit. There was an option to pay a ridiculous fee for cleaning which just wasn't worth it so I'm happy to do it and use the money for something else!! It's a small Gite which I clean as we go so not much to do on final morning except a last mop of the floor, clean the shower room and wipe out the fridge. I have found that lots of rentals in France don't include the final clean as standard, some offer it at an additional charge and others have required you to leave as you find.

As a owner of a self catering chateau and gites in the Loire valley, france, we expect guests to leave the property tidy but not necessarily clean ie; beds stripped and left in a pile downstairs along with towels, fridge/cupboards emptied and food left on the side and dishwasher loaded. We don't expect you to vacuum or clean toilets at the end of your stay - that would ruin what we hope was a restful and relaxing break! We always do a full clean in between guests.

This is one of the reasons I always try to rent from British owners, particularly when in France.

French property rental seems to involve bringing your own sheets, towels and doing your own cleaning. Even if you pay the vast fee for someone else to clean you still have to get a time slot to get your property reviewed and get tutted at for not cleaning.

Surely a cleaner to clean the cottage up after you have left is part of the fee you are paying, no? You don't go on holiday to end up spending your last day cleaning the bathroom surely.

If I'm staying in a holiday cottage, I wipe down the surfaces, run the dishwasher and empty if if there's time, sweep the floor, wipe the sink and take out the rubbish. It's usually a rush to get packed up and everyone out by 10 - and you have to be out by then so they have several hours' turnaround time. The price includes cleaning unless otherwise stated and usually in cottages there are minimal to no cleaning products provided. And I don't go on holiday to clean.

We're staying in a place in France this summer that charges 35 euros if you want a clean at the end. That seemed strange to me because I wouldn't necessarily trust other people's efforts. They probably wanted to get the headline price of the accommodation down, a la Ryanair.

Most holiday cottages we use have asked for used towels to be dumped in the bathtub or by the machine. Some ask for bedding to be stripped too.

Always I'd load the dishwasher and set it going as we leave, or else hand wash breakfast stuff and leave it to drain. I wouldn't go all out, but I would generally wipe down surfaces in the kitchen and do a quick floor sweep - haven't ever hoovered I don't think but do tend to get rid of the worst of the mud. But tbh I'd be doing that as we went along over the week anyway so it roil don't be a mammoth all out get it done as we go thing.

Don't usually empty bins unless specifically asked to though.

I would be shocked if any holiday lets don't use professional cleaners (or at least the owner going in and doing a thorough clean between lets.)

I take Brownies to a Scout owned place and its cleaned by the leaders when their group leaves. We always leave it at least as clean as we found it and usually cleaner, but have gone in to find it generally grubby and even basics like spills on the dining tables not cleaned. We've trained the kids to clean their room too and they always find a collection of sweets, socks, and random crap left by previous groups.

You expect it somewhere like that which is run by Scouting for youth groups, but if I was paying a holiday let for my family I wouldn't expect to have to clean! Just to not leave anything horrible like dirty dishes, spills, crumbs, muddy floors etc

Not every holiday house has a cleaner. My ILs do the cleaning themselves..some people leave their holiday house in a really vile state.

We've stayed in the same cottage for 6 years. We remove our stuff (fridge cupboards etc) clean the loos (after DCs!) but not properly as no products.
We stack and run the dishwasher- but have always been told to leave it running/drying when we go. They have a team of cleaners come in to 'gut' & prepare the place for the next residents - often they swop the beds about! We don't bother taking sheets off the bed. Have been told not too.
We have been commended on how well we leave the place- compared to others!
It has wooden floors, so we sweep it through most days, but only cos we like walking about in bear feet a holidays inevitably evolve sand!! & the grass has recently been cut, so when DC's play they drag bits in too!!

I wouldn't clean. But then again I wouldn't hire a cottage that specified I needed to!! I don't clean my own house throughly every week (have a cleaner) am certainly not going on holiday to do it!

Likewise will only hire a cottage with a dish washer & I like to have a washing machine! It's not a holiday if you take a huge heap of washing home! We just wash a sandy load most days & take everything home glean at the end of the week.

I think you need to plan these things when you're booking! Stayed in some places (as a child/teenager) with my parents that had strict cleaning instructions and regimes before you leave. - including which colour rubber gloves you should wear to clean different parts of the bathroom! & how to clean toilet and shower tray!! - oddly we never went back to that one!!

We have a holiday cottage, and although I wouldn't expect anyone to clean, I do expect it to be left tidy, with all dirty pots in the dishwasher. I operate a blacklist, and if you leave it in a state, you will not be welcome back!

I've got to be honest here
.I always

Put bedlinen in the washing machine and set it off

Same with dusges/dishwasher

Empty bins into appropriate recycling whatever area

Empty fridge

Dirty towels in one lump in Bath

I even squirt bleach into loos

Oh and if we have the dog with us I obs do the poo pick and sluice the patio with a bucket of water and disinfectant

I will
Empty all bins
Clean bathroom
Clean kitchen
Leave towels in a pile

But not usually strip beds

Actually when renting a gite in France we had a notice saying "no bungling in beds".
Random
I read that as no shagging - clearly we obliged .....
...
....
....
Not!

But we left the place spotless

No pun intended xx

My in laws have a holiday cottage and they have a cleaner in every week who does a very good thorough deep cleaning after every guest has checked out. They once had it rented for 8 weeks and the cleaner went every Saturday whilst the gentleman was out doing his shopping.

My inlaws cleaner changes the bedding and towels, and cleans everywhere including the cooker and my Mil makes sure all the pots and pans and crockery is all clean.

They also leave tea, coffee, sugar and a bottle of wine for every guest who stays in the cottage and there is cleaning products, hoover and dishwasher tablets in the cupboard.

The acceptable standard is to wipe the surfaces and to ensure the fridge freezer is empty when leaving. That is all the guests need to do. The cleaner will do everything else once they have gone.

I stripped all beds and gathered all towels and put them in a pile by the front door
I wiped all kitchen sides
Swept all floors
Empty bins
Got rid of all food from the fridge but left stuff like teabags, sugar, coffee and squash

Fanjo but that's a choice made as owners of (whether full or part time) a business. My dh didn't have an accountant for many years and saved money, but had to do his own taxes. However that was a choice he made in terms of cost/profit.
Paying guests are not guest-guests. If you're making money off them you have a choice: save by cleaning or spend on a cleaner. If someone has a small family run cafe or pub you don't suddenly decide you'll wash your own dishes - yes bricks and mortar feel different but at the core of it it's a business.

Mind you I would only stay somewhere with professional cleaners having had bad experiences in a semi-SC in a B&B (dog hair and dust in the tea facilities ...The underdog room!). Dsis was a chamber maid and the difference between her idea clean and a non-pro is notable and needed when randoms are coming week in week out.

OP can I just ask this cottage isn't in Wensleydale is it? Because if it's one I'm thinking of do jack shit lol