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?

I’m sorry but i agree with OP regarding the bed.

BUT I also have a friend who is a holiday swap with some british people (they live in a touristic place in France) and saw no issue at all in leaving their dc jump up and down on the sofa. In front of my friend.
After a week, the brand new sofa was in such a state it needed to be replaced (the bottom took such battering).
My SIL is the same and has fallen out with her mum because of that too (MIL didn’t want her doc jumping in the sofa and apprentis was unreasonable with her request)
Some people clearly see no issue with letting their dcs do things that will damage furniture.

Food in the fridge, rubbish, lack of cleaning etc... are unfortunately pretty standard from what I have seen at my MIL holiday cottage.
Some people lovely, clean after themselves etc... others hmmm.... not so much.

Broken tiles around the swimming pool.... i have to wonder how on Earth they’ve managed that!!

But yay, altogether, it’s a pretty bad picture.

I’m also understanding some comments in AirB&B. I’ve used them quite a lot and always have comments about how clean and tidy things are after I left when I think I’ve just done a normal clean/tidy up. It seems it’s not so obvious after all.

When you rented them the property did you make it clear that the studio flat was only to be used as a kitchen? (Although that seems ridiculous)
Would the 9 year old have had to share a room?

Looking at this slats, any kid jumping on them would break them in an instant.

Well for one, kids are NOT supposed to jump on beds sorry.
And then that sort of slate is NORMAL for a bed. They are not flimsy. They are designed that way to give better confort when sleeping. Hence the fact most beds now have that sort of slates.
Of course you can have stronger slates and feel like sleeping on a hard board instead.
(And then complain the beds aren’t confortable!)

When you rent an apartment you have to pay a deposit plus a cleaning fee sometimes calculated daily. So I don't think people feel terrible about leaving some bins to be emptied.
The food in the fridge one is tricky. I always feel terrible throwing out a pack of barely used butter or half full meats and cheese. So wasteful. My partner always bins everything but I just can't unless I can see someone else wouldn't want it ( dips or something we've cooked).
Have they left wine in that photo?

I’ve never had any problem with ikea furniture being flimsy at all.

Unless all the other things are also “flimsy” I think it’s pretty obvious they were shit guests.

The trouble with those sorts of slats is that they're only suitable with a thick, ideally sprung, mattress that will distribute the load across the slats pretty evenly. Otherwise, it doesn't take a kid jumping on it to break it just takes someone heavy sitting, stepping or kneeling on it hard.

I don’t understand the comments about the slats. They look the same as the slats on DSs ikea double bed and my far more expensive bed from Loaf.

They clearly left the villa in a disgusting state. No idea why you are getting a hard time, OP. Obviously, accidents do happen, like the odd broken cup or glass, but what you describe is far beyond that. Some people don't know how to behave in a rented holiday let, or anywhere probably!

I would not leave anywhere in a mess! But having said that how much did they pay for the villa? Was the studio included in the price? If it was you can't moan that they used it....also I can only see a up turned day bed! You can post more pictures in your replies! If they have paid a fortune maybe they thought that cleaning was in the price...who goes on holiday to clean?

And then that sort of slate is NORMAL for a bed. They are not flimsy.. Yes they are.

They are designed that way to give better confort when sleeping. Hence the fact most beds now have that sort of slates They are designed that way because they are cheap, hence the planks being a more expensive base.

Of course you can have stronger slates and feel like sleeping on a hard board instead. And then complain the beds aren’t confortable!
Only if you sleep on the actual slats. That's what a mattress is for.

@birdladyfromhomealone people aren't mind readers! You should've said about the other stuff in your OP?

Looking at this slats, any kid jumping on them would break them in an instant

Are you really trying to justify a broken bed because you think the slats look flimsy?! Even if they were, kids shouldn’t be jumping on beds that aren’t their own.

OP YANBU. They sound revolting.

My guess is that the bed couldn't take the weight of the guests. DS 1 sleeps on a mattress on the floor for that very reason

My god op, you are getting a pasting. Only on mn would renters leave a villa in a disgusting state, and the owner is blamed. Yanbu. People who leave rented property like this are scum.

We rent holiday cottages in the UK and in the Canary Islands, and always respect the homes we rent and remove rubbish daily in the canaries as we don’t want to encourage ants and cockroaches etc.

Sadly not everyone is the same. We rented a villa last year and had to call maintenance out as the pool cover broke, the guy that came fixed it very quickly he was telling up what people get upto, the larger villas seemed have the most problems due to hen, stag parties etc.

One villa that had just been refurbished to a luxury standard was completely wrecked by a party, the “guests” had dragged the statues from the gardens into the house, dressed them up etc, thrown the pool table into the pool, smashed up the hob, broken sinks really disgusting behaviour.

If I owned a rental, I would love to rent it to my family, we have never even broken a cup, always left clean and tidy, beds stripped ready to be remade, bathrooms cleaned.

So sorry you have had this experience OP but sadly you aren’t alone, I hope you have better guests in future.

I think yabu op...purely on your inclusion of a picture of some neatly bagged rubbish, in what looks like a clean area...and declaring it 'two weeks worth' of rubbish left.

If that was so bad to you it was photo worthy, I suspect you may be a drama llama in general and are over exaggerating.

I don't think you are being unreasonable, unfortunately some people believe that they and their children can do what they want, when they want.

I would never leave a holiday let without striping the beds, kitchen clean and any rubbish put in the bin. As far as I'm that property is my home for the week and I wouldn't treat it any different to my own home.

We used to have a bed with slats like that and the quality was shocking. The slats came loose all the time and if you were a fidgety sleeper (me!) or had sex on the bed or sat down too heavily, they gave way. We replaced it with a cheap £100 metal bed frame from Argos which is much more comfortable and sturdy!

So, I think YABU about the bed and for expecting a 9yo to share a room with his/her parents. They need their own room/space at that age. And I don't think white cushions are a great idea for a holiday let unless you buy spare covers and wash them after each use.

The rubbish is a bit gross and so is the leftover food but I couldn't really get worked up about it.

It's very bad if guests have intentionally damaged furniture as you say, but I agree with others that the bed does seem flimsy for commercial use. There are suppliers of extra strong furniture etc for lets, hotels etc. And maybe not a good idea to use white?

Surely you account for damage in your overheads and charge accordingly? Or does your rental fee only allow you to break even after paying cleaners, utilities etc?

I should also say that it doesn't mean that people who leave holiday let's in a state aren't awful people. It's a matter of respect. But I think you need to view this as a business venture and try not to take their behaviour personally.

I'd you running the place as a business you need to buy commercial quality fittings, that bed is surely intended for occasional use.

Perhaps it's not right but people don't treat a holiday let (or any let) like their own, but so it needs to be more robust.

They should have cleared the rubbish but if it was bagged up/in the bin, then the not the crime of the century.

I never clean up on holiday, I mean is do washing up daily empty finish when needed but on the last day of proba my leave most things.

...I'm on holiday after all. I'm assuming that part of the fee includes cleaning afterwards.

But I'd never be disrespectful to things and break them.

Although that bed looks poor quality for a holiday let...Although I can understand not wanting to spend a lot if guests break things!

It's probably been used as a sofa by several adults as that's how it's dressed and would likely cause that damage. You've made some bad choices in furnishings for a rental and seem far too emotional about it. You need to put your business head on and buy sensible replacements.

The pulling wires out of sockets and broken tiles are surely the worst bit?? How/ why would wires get pulled out?! That’s awful!

Third photo looks pretty reasonable - is that after the cleaners had bagged up their crap to take away or something? I’m not seeing the issue.

It is pretty appalling to break a bed.