4 out of 5 for leaving a holiday let clean and tidy

[Whatjusthappenedexactly]

Just come home from a four day stay away. Rented a cottage through an airbnb type site. In addition to the inflated half term fee there was a cleaning and service fee of 80 pounds. We were out all day and cooked in the kitchen once and cleaned up after ourself as in our own home. Upon leaving I hoovered, wiped down the kitchen and bathroom, ( put bleach in tho loo) made the beds and gathered all the used towels into a laundry basket. I plumped cushions and folded the sofa throws. Bin emptied, recycling sorted and put out. Loaded the dish washer and switched it on but it was not finished by the time we had to vacate at 10am so we left it running. Also checked the communal space at the back of the house for missed doggy do every day ( but we watched the dogs like hawks anyway so not really possible).

We gave the cottage a five star review as despite a few niggles it was pretty good overall.

The owner has given us a 4 out of 5 star rating as guests for cleanliness. That's on my guest profile and I'm now a bit annoyed.

So bearing in mind I woke up early to ensure the place was left clean and tidy and a fee of 80 pounds is taken to include a clean before the next guests arrived, what was I supposed to do to get a 5 out of 5 star rating on my profile.

Would it be unreasonable to e mail the owners and ask, only I know I'll come across a bit disgruntled.

Wish I had now mentioned in my review how crap the lack of a back garden in a supposed dog friendly cottage is.

I would. It's a holiday cottage, you are meant to be on holiday not be deep cleaning the place when you leave, especially with such a high cleaning fee.

Why did you clean it if you also paid £80 for it to be cleaned? Or am I reading it wrong?

I would ask what the £80 fee covered. And mention the lack of back garden!

I have a villa in Spain we rent out in the summer. You sound the perfect guest I cant tell you the list of horrors our guests have left our cleaners with.
All supposedly respectable guests as our villa is not cheap. But they are above emptying their own rubbish.
Our agent says if we withhold the damage deposit we will get a bad review. :(

Yeah I'm not sure why you did all the cleaning and paid 80 quid for it to be done as well

Presumably you knew there wasn't a private back garden when you booked?

I wouldn't have done that cleaning if I paid an £80 fee

Make sure there is no skid marks/ dog poo. Wash up and chuck duvets back on. Ensure all rubbish in the bin and that's me out!

I'd email a complaint saying you were considering rebooking but no chance now.

An £80 cleaning charge is scandalous what the heck did you clean up for?

God yes. Email the robbing bastards owners.

£10 an hour to clean - 8 hours worth of cleaning. No way

Cheek. Send them a link to this thread?

I don't think I've ever gone to that extent with the cleaning when leaving a property - although I always consider we leave things clean and tidy. We have rented 2 properties from AirBnB and had good ratings from both of them. No harm in asking why they gave 4/5 - it may be that they marked you down for the diswasher but at least you would know it was that, I usually wash the last remaining dishes by hand to avoid having to leave the dishwasher full.

If I've paid £80 for cleaning, I'm not doing any cleaning! Definitely ask.

I would not have left dirty crockery but I would not have tidied or cleaned anything else (obviously wouldn't leave total mess!) as I would expect that to be done by the cleaner. I would definitely contact the owner!

We got billed once for leaving a dishwasher running. I was very cross, like you I am proud and would not dream of leaving any mess behind us. But what do they expect you to do with a dishwasher with a 2 hour cycle when you have to be out at 10am? We complained and got the refund, but would never rent that cottage again, which is a pity.

Name them here OP, that's outrageous.

Also next time, don't leave feedback first.

You live and learn and all that but I think you've been treated disgracefully.

Bollocks would I be cleaning if I was paying someone else £80 to do it! Presumably that's done by a professional cleaner for that price - in which case how do they even know how you left it? Does the cleaner snitch on guests?

Please email them and ask because I really really want to know.

I had a similar situation once and when I pursued it I was told that there 'were traces of sand' . It was a fucking beach house!

What knob heads- definitely email!!

That's not right. Cleaning charges from holiday rent are usually extortionate, that's fine, but they mean you don't do any cleaning at all.

I would absolutely ask the owners why you got a bad rating. I would never leave dirty dishes, or rubbishes, but neither would I hoover/wipe/bleach. I might just about strip the bed, but no more.

You do sound like the perfect guest, this is ridiculous. I would love to know the owner's reply!

That would annoy me too. If they charge you 80 quid for cleaning, would you even need to clean?

I always leave places as I found them but I know many people don't.

Thanks guys. I'm glad you think I have good reason to be annoyed. I did think leaving the dish washer running was acceptable seeing as a 10pm exit meant I couldn't wait for it to finish. I only used it because I don't have one at home and it was a treat.

People can be really weird. I sell books on a selling site and occasionally I'll get someone marking all options as 'excellent' (eg speed of posting, condition of order etc) and then when they have to choose an overall score they'll choose 8/10 .

When I'm paying for cleaning I would not expect to be rated on how clean I'd left the place. That's surely what the cleaner is for? Except for the fact that they obviously didn't have a cleaner and they just charge you £80 because they can get away with it.

Hell yes I'd be annoyed.

I give the holiday places we stay in a good spruce (strip beds, wash up, sweep, wipe surfaces, empty bins) before we go but I'd be livid with an £80 fee and a 4 star review. You pay to be on holiday, not to clean it so they do fuck all between let's.

10am obviously.... and Shox , to be fair I only twigged there was no back garden when I realised there was no mention of it in the description, however, it was not pointed out in obvious terms despite being advertised as dog friendly. I see that as my own mistake as I was just pleased to find a lovely cottage that was dog friendly.

I never leave feedback until I get it first. I'd email them and then amend the rating if possible.