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 am totally with you OP and can't believe you are getting such a hard time.

People should respect other's property. Just because they are paying to stay there doesn't mean they can do as they like.

In the past I have cleaned hotel rooms and holiday cottages/gites. It opened my eyes to just how many people are filthy disgusting pigs with no respect whatsoever.

I often couldn't believe just how dirty and untidy people could leave a place in only a week or even 1 night.

When me and DH stay in a holiday let we clean it before we leave, strip the beds and put any rubbish out. We have occasionally left any food such as jars of jam or packs of butter but we also leave a note telling the owner/cleaner that we have left it.

We have had emails from owners thanking us for leaving the homes so immaculate and clean

I think the bed is too flimsy and not at all suitable for anyone to use really except a young child . The rubbish is neatly tied up in the kitchen and don't you wash the cushion covers after every guest stays? I wouldn't necessarily throw out the food from the fridge either if it was unopened , I would leave it for the cleaners to help themselves. I think yadbu OP .

It's probably been used as a sofa by several adults as that's how it's dressed and would likely cause that damage.

Nope this is not my experience.
I’ve had several sofa (and that double as sofa bed) with that sort of slates and it has never been an issue. Several people can sit on those wo an issue at all.

Besides, several adults sitting in the sofa wouldn’t make it go onto its side like that!

I can't believe people clean before leaving a holiday let. I mean, I leave it tidy and we'll clear up as we go, just like we do at home but when we leave, it will be in need of it's weekly clean. Surely that's how it's supposed to be? I haven't paid £700 (or whatever) to clean on my holiday.

I was thinking the MrsMadeVans. I've left food before now thinking someone could use it rather than letting it go to waste.

I'm sorry but you lost me at €700 for a single bed from ikea

I think it’s quite funny though to see how many people are pilling up to say that ‘the bed is just too flimsyyyy’ or ‘but don’t you wash all the covers anyway??’

Seen the number of beds like the one the OP has have been sold, I’m pretty sure that yes they are string enough and yes they can be used by adults. Otherwise, if after just a week or two if use, they were all ending up in that state, they wouldn’t be sold anymore!!

As for cleaning all the covers? Really? We’re not talking about pillow cases there. But about pillows from a sofa (inside or outside). Do you really expect a sofa to be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each week, all the covers removed etc... BUT at the same time, been able to leave as late as you can and book in as early as you can and there to be only a couple of hours to clean the place, dry the covers etc...?
Sorry but this is not realistic at all.

Breaking po tiles is terrible, as is pulling wires out of the walll.

I have just been in a holiday apartment and there was a folding table with a very tricky mechanism. I was really cautious as I could see it could be easily broken by trying to do the wrong thing. I think a lot gets broken by unfamiliarity, especially things like blind cords and shutters.

IKEA.bed slats do break and fall through very easily.

But I would guess 8 adults were havjng rioitous pool parties hence tiles and use of day bed.

They should take the rubbish out. Is it in the instructions. They need to be very specific

The bed is bad of them. Flimsy or not in another home you don't allow jumping or god knows what

Inconsiderate wankers!!

If you paid 700 EUR for that bed from Ikea, then you’ve paid a huge cost for delivery - no way is 700 EUR the ticket price. Which means you can’t claim it’s 700 EUR worth of quality.

The problem here is that you’ve drop fed and mixed up minor issues with major ones.

Not putting the rubbish out? I always do, but if you’re paying to rent including a cleaner - I get why some don’t.

Food in the fridge? I always want to leave it in case the cleaner wants it, hate the waste - but then feel like it’s just rubbish to them. I do chuck it, but I agonise each time! Again - I think it’s fine people see that as a cleaning job.

White pool cushions? Just a stupid choice.

Using the garden room? You just sound ridiculous saying they shouldn’t. They’ve rented the whole place. If 1 person rents a 5 bed place and CHOOSES the room by the pool - their choice.

Calling because they couldn’t use the hot water? They didn’t do that for fun! Your fault for not making it clear.

Pool pump - again, they didn’t call for fun. For whatever reason they thought it wasn’t working efficiently - if I had the slightest doubt I’d call, so I didn’t get blamed if it was fault after I left!

Broken tile and pulled wires - who knows? Sounds bad, but as so much of the other stuff YABU, I’m inclined to think you are on those, too.

Absolutely understand that people trash places - I had a non holiday rental absolutely trashed. Doors off, graffiti on walls...

But you’ve not really convinced me with your photos. And the bed definitely looks like cheap crap for a rental!

What even is a 'day bed'? Isn't this an oxymoron? It seems to be a term only MN and Ikea use. And if it is for occasional light use what is your point in putting it in a rom at all??Really confused by this but. If you let to more guest, I assume some would sleep in the studio: in which case they would sleep on it every night?

I think if you didn't want that party to sleep on that bed you needed to not dress the bed: I have been places where they calculate the number of sleepers and only put linen where they think we will sleep (which I find really annoying as I cannot sleep in same bed as DH because snoring...). But in your case it would be a solution. Or put a sofa bed in there.

I do feel sorry for you but am wondering whether you left instructions about rubbish and food? I always leave food behind as I refuse to bin perfectly good food.

We got stung last year by a really petty villa owner who accused us of damaging doors wilfully (he took extreme close up photos of a splinter!), of getting suncream on the loungers (the horror!) and of leaving the lights on when we left (it was dark?). There had been some (accidental) damage to his security gate, and so this made him see us as 'scum' to quote a previous poster and made him petty : please don't fall into this trap. The only thing he had specifically told us about was that we needed to have his BBQ spotless and I had spent three hours the night before scrubbing it! Focus on the bed : the rubbish might be annoying but it is sorted in 5 minutes. Please don't expect the villa to be treated with kid gloves by holiday makers; it isn't yours ; it's a holiday let and needs to be furnished robustly and simply. It can still look nice.

I am with people on the white cushion covers... just why?

Oh, and we also called up on the first day because we couldn't get hot water. And, yes, we also were turning the taps the wrong way...no need to hold it against people! A home that is not your own can be very counter intuitive!

That's the risk you take when you buy up housing stock and then rent it out as holiday lets.

If you don't want people sleeping in that room, don't call it a studio apartment (which implies somewhere to sleep) and don't put a dayBED in there (which implies somewhere to sleep). Replace it with a couple of armchairs.

I'm just amazed at people saying they clean holiday properties before they leave, leave them "spotless" etc. It's a holiday rental. Cleaners will be coming in after you go. The owner has factored that cost in. I leave things tidy, don't leave the kitchen covered in crumbs, but would never spend hours cleaning the place. To be honest I was quite surprised at the last cottage to find instructions to strip beds and leave the bedding on them at the end. What's the point of that? A job that takes a minute during the clean.
I used to clean holiday flats and was particularly frustrated by people who thought it would be helpful to strip beds and put a wash on as they left. Leaving me with damp bedding to deal with. Or a washing machine on a bloody 3 hour cycle. Bedding and linen was taken off premises for washing and new put on at every changeover.

ReadingRiot, me and DH will keep a holiday let clean while we are there. We will maybe hoover once or twice (depending how long we are there) and then hoover on the day we leave.

We would also clean the bathroom at least once on the holiday and then again on the day we leave.

It just seems natural to us. Just because someone else is going to come in to clean doesn't mean you don't leave it clean and tidy. Then the cleaner can maybe say clean the windows or clean the fridge -things they probably don't get time for normally.

Also having been a cleaner I like to make things a bit easier for them. Even in hotels I strip the bed and make sure the bathroom is ok. Obviously can't clean properly as there are no cleaning items

I think it’s really odd that you’re claiming broken bed slats, pool tiles and electrical sockets but you’re only posting photos of a non broken bed on its side and some bagged up rubbish.

Flyme21, it doesn't take "hours" to clean the place if you have kept it reasonably clean and tidy while staying there. Just common courtesy to me.

I always strip the beds but have never put them in the washing machine. I don't see a problem with stripping the beds. You know it is going to be done so why not help out? It takes minutes

Sorry you are getting a hard time OP. It must be heartbreaking to have your very first guests treat the place so badly. Sadly there are a sizeable minority that do act like this - luckily since I sacked my agency and started to take direct bookings only I now have far fewer things damaged and stolen but it still happens.

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

If you do this in one of my lets it goes straight in the bin as soon as the cleaners go in. I don't know you, my cleaners don't know you and neither do the following guests and we have no idea of your food hygiene standards so it is disposed of to be on the safe side.

You know this is how being a landlord works, OP? It’s not free money. You earn money for carrying these risks and because things get broken and have to be replaced. Renovation and repairs have to happen too. Agents are there to deal with dick-headed tenants. They earn their money by doing that. You learn from experience and improve your profits. One lesson you learn is that Ikea furniture and white cushions aren’t fit for purpose. And that some tenants are dickheads. But you are a capitalist now. Take it on the chin and move on.

mydogisthebest - the cleaning service will have a list of tasks they must do including hoovering everywhere and cleaning the bathroom regardless of whether you've done it or not.

Some people are so sanctimonious ....

I leave unopened wine, beer, sweets etc., in our rented villa. The villa manager said it's all used and appreciated, I checked.
if the bed was included in the villa description then of course they can use it.
I don't think the bed looks totally trashed, how do you know whether it's been 'mistreated' or if it is just not that sturdy? We had a bed with similar slats from John Lewis and it was a nightmare for slats breaking.
The pool tiles sound horrendous and i would be fuming about that and the wires.

I'm with you, OP. I slept on a bed like that for about a year without managing to break it. I always clean accommodation before I leave; I don't mean a 'deep clean' just hoovering, wiping surfaces, cleaning loo etc. Rubbish goes in outside bin/waste disposal point - I wouldn't leave it lying round in a bag inside any more than I'd do that at home.

I've got a holiday rental. I think OP that the daybed just looks way too flimsy for a holiday let sadly.....a lot of people run in and the first thing they do is a body-dive on the bed....that's probably what's happened or a heavy person has cracked the thin slats. They'd have only needed to have weighed upwards of 11stone and sat down a bit hard to crack that slat.
We've fitted out all from eBay with heavy chunky stuff but new mattresses. Some families are like a bull in a China shop. We factor in £1000 per annum for a repaint and possible furniture renewal, which isn't a lot when margins are slim anyway. Cracked pool tile...can you be sure it's them? Food in fridge - yes, lazy but not a big deal for cleaners to bag up and dump. Loose socket....can you be 100 per cent sure that the screws were secure when you last left it?