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.

That sounds unreasonable to me. You shouldn't be expected to clean and leave it pristine. It's a bonus if the place is left tidy, but not a requirement. I have holiday lets and don't expect guests to clean the properties when they leave, they're not charged for cleaning either.

I always leave the dishwasher running. A place we stay at says it's fine to do so, in fact they want you to. To get packed out of the house and breakfast etc for 10am is always a push. To do all you did is more than I would do. I'd be pissed off with the £80 cleaning fee. I'd email and ask what you did to lose a star.

I didn't air b&b so don't know the rules, but the cleaning fee seems steep. Don't you have that factored in to the nightly cost? No way it would cost £80. Was it spotless when you arrived.

Could it be possible the cleaners are spinning a yarn to the cottage owner to justify their cleaning fee? Then the owner rated you on that basis?

I think cleaners probably thought it had been done and so didn't bother! How can owner judge your cleanliness? Is it before or after cleaning company has been??

Something similar happened to us. The cottage owners complained we hadn't cleaned enough, but they hadn't left mops, floor brushes etc and as they knew I was 7 months pregnant I was surprised that they expected a clean floor as I would have had to scrub on my hands and knees.

I just ignored it and have since stayed at another place without problems, or any griping about the cleanliness.

I'd complain in your situation and ask for the review to be amended. They've charged you a ridiculous amount for cleaning, and they should feel guilty that you cleaned for the cleaners, that's terrible hosting on their part.

The cleaning fee is ludicrous but I think taking 1/5 off you for leaving the dishwasher running isn't unreasonable. I've never done that. Actually leaving a holiday cottage ourselves tomorrow morning and have to be out at 10 so will do all the breakfast washing-up by hand, dry it and put it away.

Dappledthing. Gawd, I feel awful now.

Dappledthing. Gawd, I feel awful now. blush

Dont. Everyones circumstances are different even down to what you'll have had for breakfast.

dappled really? Is it such a big deal for the host to put some dishes away? I'd be pleased that someone had put the stuff in the dishwasher in the first place.

Don't feel awful... We can't all be as marvellous as DappledThings! I left dishwasher running on my last airbnb as the fast cycle was still going over an hour later! !

Dappledthing have you also paid £80 cleaning fee? As to be fair, the op has done most of the cleaning she has paid to be done after she leaves so leaving a dishwasher on is fine, different if they had left it half stacked with dirty dishes.

You paid for cleaning, that means you don't need to clean.

I think on Airbnb neither side sees the review until both are in (from experience) but you have right of reply, so use it!

taking 1/5 off you for leaving the dishwasher running isn't unreasonable

technically, if you pay for cleaning, you could just leave the dirty dishes. Most of us try to be polite and considerate by helping out and starting the dishwasher. Some places even appreciate if you start the washing machine so the laundry is done, then dry, by the time they cleaners finish turning over the place.

Either you pay a cleaning fee, and you don't have to do anything (not trashing the place obviously), or you clean everything yourself. The owner cannot have it both ways.

I'd email politely, listing what you did before leaving and ask why 4/5.

I think it's pretty poor show to charge £80 cleaning, then to mark you down? That's very mean.

We've had this before a couple of times. Owners expecting you to wash and dry the bed linen you just got out of and another doing an inspection of the property two days before we left because she was busy on leaving day. We had a toddler and a 5 year old and is it was in France we had misunderstood because of the language barrier. On the day we left we got up very early to tidy up and I even got down on my hands and knees wiping the floor. Not knowing she'd already withheld our deposit.

Basically these arrangements are already very vague and confusing. A lovely French owner shoo-ed us out when we just starting to clean (she lived downstairs and popped up early). We had French bread breadcrumbs all over the place but she smilingly insisted she did it and ignored our protestations.
I wish they could be made clear coz it can be very stressful ruining the end of holidays.

I think you should ask for an explanation because she might have just been offhand and made a mistake.

Hire her place again and give 1 star and say the place stunk of cabbage.

Why did you make the beds? I'd just leave them stripped. Did you put clean sheets on?

Re the Dishwasher thing - I recently did this, left the house with the dishwasher running, so I asked my friend who owns a holiday cottage whether that was a real faux pas.

She said not at all - at least if the stuff is in the dishwasher, she knows it's clean - rather than having to check through badly handwashed dishes.

Also OP, I appreciate why you'd want to leave the place presentable, but doing things like bleaching the loo is a total waste of time - the cleaner would always have to clean the loo anyway, even if it looked and smelled clean, so you're literally not saving them any time at all. Same for plumping cushions etc. No point, they'll have to re-do it anyway.

raven good tip, lol.

Think about if you were renting your place and what you'd expect. All I'd expect is that there's no dishes left out, any rubbish is in the bin, and they have wiped the surfaces a bit.

I really don't think people can expect more. You're on holiday. If people can't handle dishes in the dishwater, they really need to either lower their expectations or to not rent their place out.

When I'm staying in apartment or whichever abroad I'd try leave it close to how I found it, little dust, no marks on table etc wipe down all surfaces wash dishes throw bedsheets and towels into bathroom, take away all my belongings and rubbish, leave tied bin bags there in the kitchen.

I don't honk I've ever paid a cleaning fee so it is different. But if no fee then I don't consider leaving dishes in which dishwasher as leaving it reasonably clean and tidy.

On the other hand this is the first time I've stripped the beds in a let as it's the first time the instructions have explicitly asked for it so people have different priorities!

Honk = think obviously!