to be angry with our holiday let guests

[birdladyfromhomealone]

As Holiday makers, have you ever wondered why you are asked to pay a refundable damage deposit?
The reason is - not every one is respectful or treats rental homes as they would their own.
Just a month ago we posted pictures of our newly refurbished studio apartment in our villa in Spain with a brand new day bed that pulls out to two singles or a double.
With thanks to our first guests of this season we will now have to refurb again although the deposit may not cover the cost of their "the bed just broke"
We have a great team of cleaners that keep our Villa in immaculate condition but they should not have to clean up what has been left.
Why would anyone leave a holiday villa in this condition?

How strong someone must be to bend metal poles and break hinges

Not strong at all if it's cheap metal it will be easily pliable. I bought Ikea bunk beds for my kids. After the first week my dad was round with his welding thingy fixing them and strengthening them.

I'm not understanding the TV aerial issue, just plug it back in. If my kids were constantly turning on a TV while on holiday, I'd probably unplug the TV too.

How often is the dryer cleaned? That appears to be the back filter? I doubt many guests would think to clean that.

The pool I'd be looking at blaming shoddy workmanship if it's just been refurbished. I don't see how the guests could be to blame. Stained sun loungers is your own fault. You can't ask people not to sit on sun loungers with sun cream (or oil on). White was a stupid choice, so was the material. Change them to a dark, wipe clean fabric.

I'll give you fridge, that is a bit minging now you've shown photos of it.

Op - sounds like you've had a dreadful group as your first guests. The later photographs and descriptions sound dreadful. Is there any additional come back in your contract for this level of damage and clear up?

Although I don't clean up properly before leaving a holiday rental I do leave it tidy.

Rubbish isn't left - it goes in outdoor bins. That's normally part of the instructions anyway. All bins emptied.

Beds made. Bathrooms left tidy with towels normally left in the bath tub (usually stayed to do so) Any proper spills or marks in sides cleaned away. Half used toiletries binned.

Fridge cleared etc. Though we will leave totally unopened items such as alcohol and drinks, crisps, and maybe things with a longish best by date. Anything unopened, even if lots left, is binned. I wouldn't use someone's left overs so wouldn't expect others to want to.

Rest of place left tidy and in right places. Crumbs etc wiped from surfaces, spills cleared up. I'd only hoover if there was a lot of mess (unlikely) but often sweep round a little as the week goes in anyway as I wouldn't want to be living with bits on the floor anyway. Always make sure any last minute dishes etc (depends on time we have to vacate) is in the dishwasher and left on. I'd brevet leave the washing machine running though nor any items left inside it.

Final days clearing up will take up about 10-15 minutes or so. Nothing more.

Oh come on posters. Of course it's not normal behaviour to leave a bed bent and cracked. That definitely doesn't happen with normal use for a week!! Ikea furniture is not that bad - seriously over the years we've had plenty of it at home and at work as well as dearer stuff from elsewher. None of it has been damaged by use using it normally.

That is not normal wear and tear. That is a week of misuse and wilful damage.

It makes me wonder how some people live if they think these images are from normal usage!

Don't be stroppy OP, your pictures gave no indication of the scale of the damage. I agree that what they've done is unacceptable. Thank goodness you do at least have a deposit! Hopefully you won't have to deal with such terrible guests very often.

It’s a hot climate. Leaving food/rubbish about and you are inviting all sorts of pests, ants, cockroaches (Spain is going to have a bad cockroach summer this year because of the very wet spring).

I never said it was all acceptable : I said I thought the bed was bad. They were clearly bad renters .

To be fair OP, your title says you are angry!

Stained sun loungers is your own fault. You can't ask people not to sit on sun loungers with sun cream (or oil on).

Yet many rental properties do include this in their book of instructions, both in the U.K. and abroad.
We always put a towel down first if using sun creams and oils as I know how bad they can be for staining fabrics.
Comes off towels far easier than furniture ime.

But that does not stop me form wondering why you have a day bed in a studio room. It's with a bedroom to be used nightly . or it isn't.

aragog , we religiously put our towels down last year and yet some stay sun cream still got on 2 out of 8 loungers. It is petty much unavoidable. It was in the ts and cs to use towels, yes : but I think suncream on loungers is par for the course.

Well i think the answers on this thread are telling exactly why having a holiday cottage can be real nightmare.
People just ducking acre about other People’s possessions. You see it’s a business so does it matter ?? And if aometh8ng breaks it has to be your fault for not having something string enough.
All your fault.

I feel your pain Op

I know holiday cottage etc... were a pain. I never realise how m uh of a pain they could be until erasing this thread and seeing people’s comment.

Why on earth would you make beds before leaving aragog ? They'll need stripping!

I always strip beds before leaving and leave the stuff on the bed.

The furniture really isn’t expensive in Spain, the bed you bought is no more expensive in the UK than what it is in Spain, also OP, as I said read the reviews on the bed!!! If you’d done your research you would have seen it’s a unsuitable bed for a property let.

The photos you’ve posted are really nothing, easily managed and easily rectified, I think your in the wrong business.

Op I feel your pain, we had a group of 5 late teen/early 20 stay in the space of a week they;

Broke a bed
Broke the loo
Snapped a leg of dining room chair
Pulled the sink of the wall in the en-suite
Burnt the kitchen work surface
Spilt red wine in two places on the living room carpet
Broke every drinking glass in the place.

The company that sent they said they didn't feel they could get them to pay for the damage as they only admitted to the wine stains and the burn.
They had previously sent many teams without any trouble, this team unfortunately were animals

Piggy to actually have own Sun loungers like this, I would say that actually it’s not unavoidable. Totally possible to spend the whole summer using them wo putting cream everywhere.
Plus the other question is: would be happy to accept a lounger with suncream on?
I doubt it. There would be calls about the place being dirty etc...
So the answer would be no sun loungers or no sun loungers with cushions on. And then people would be grumbling it’s not confortable enough.

As a customer, you also have to decide what it is you want. If you want the level of service you get in a 5 hotel, then go to a 5 hotel. It’s not always possible to achieve that level of service in a holiday let.

I can’t believe some people are saying that there is no damage and it’s normal to leave a place in that state. Some people are pigs.

We have holiday cottages in the U.K. They are luxury and v expensive (though separate accommodation for nannies and other staff inc in the price).

We don’t get the damage, except for the occasional accident. I dont know whether the difference is that people are just nicer (luck? class?) or that they are paying a lot and our deposit is huuuuge and they WILL lose it.

OP the broken tiles and bed are absolutely unacceptable. Unfortunately these renters sound horrendous. Have they responded to you when you said they won't be getting their deposit back or had they the sense to realise this for themselves?

I guess the agency will know better than any on here what is acceptable and what isn't and it looks to me like they are pretty horrified or why would they be sending you these pictures? They obviously know what is normal wear and tear. Perhaps they can offer advice on products and colour schemes to try to avoid this happening again, or even where to advertise or if you need to increase the price to cover for damages in the future?

I cannot imagine leaving this mess, we always strip the beds, sweep the floors, empty all bins and fridges etc. We always check around on arrival for things that the kids could break like vases and move them. Obviously the kids are also told what not to touch etc. Obviously things happen but you would hope most people would at least try to look after the place!

I hope that you have no more trouble like this over the summer, otherwise it sounds like you might be best to sell the property and invest instead in local property that can be rented longterm?

I'd be totally expecting to turn up to a holiday rental and see light suncream stains on loungers! The issue we had was that our villa belonged to the owners and they had just replaced the white plastic ones so they wanted everything spotless. We had to sons : careful as they are, hot suncream gloops out and the water resistant stuff is the worst. Anyway, in the end we weren't charged for that. The satins we left wee not visible to the naked eye with ease.

If something is 5*, they put up with everything guest do and inspect and replace sun loungers on an almost constant basis...

The breakage to the bed needs the most focus. But it should not be replaced with a similar furniture item .

Oh God, my r isn't working properly! We did not leave WEE stains

I don't get how It's possible to break tiles in a swimming pool full of water. You can't apply any sort of pressure because of the water. The tiles couldn't have been fitted properly in the first place.
The aerial can easily be put back.
The filter is blocked on the tumble - well who would clear the filter, whilst on holiday?
The bed is faulty - take it back.
The fridge is a bit rank, also no need to mess up the leaflets, but that doesn't take much to fix.

“As a customer, you also have to decide what it is you want. If you want the level of service you get in a 5 hotel, then go to a 5 hotel. It’s not always possible to achieve that level of service in a holiday let.”

Yes, that is right. We offer 5* service in let cottages and it costs a fortune to stay and to run. We are rare, only a dozen or so places like us in the country.

We started because of the generation that could afford us started having children and didn’t want the restrictions of a hotel room when they wanted a break or were staying in the area. There is a demand but the handful of us that own such places have saturated the market really.

wooden slats under the mattress snapped in half.

The wooden slats on my ikea bed snapped the first time I had very normal sex on it.

Have you got a link Cinderella2018? sounds lovely.

I was the last of a group to leave a holiday let just yesterday.

I:

• washed/dried up/put away all the remaining dishes
• wiped down the worktops, draining board etc
• put all leftover food in the bin and left fridge/freezer empty
• left all bath mats and towels hung over bath
• left all rooms tidy and clear of rubbish
• locked up securely and left in good time

I did not:

• vacuum or sweep
• clean bathroom
• strip beds
• do any laundry of the items in the let

I consider that perfectly reasonable given the price included me arriving to a cleaned let, as it will for the next guests.

Sorry you've had a bad experience with your first group of the season, OP. Hope the rest of it goes smoothly.

Have to say, we love it when guests leave us food! DH is a fabulous cook and it ends up being like a mystery box challenge on MasterChef for him I don't mind whether beds are stripped or not (it doesn't take long to do), but it's really helpful if it's clear as to what's been used and what hasn't. Beds are usually reasonably easy to tell, but used and unused towels separated out is appreciated.

I put 5% of each let into a repairs and replacements fund. So far this year it's had to pay for 2 glasses and a plate, but I've got an empty week next week and have a bit of touching up to do on the paintwork. Still wondering how someone managed to put a black scuff mark on the living room ceiling.

People should respect your property OP, I do agree. But, I do have to say, from experience, that those kinds of beds are not sturdy or hard wearing, they do break very easily I'm afraid. It would be worth spending more to get a sturdier one.