AIBU not to want to spend our single morning in Paris stuck in a laundrette?

[AppleCiderVinegar]

Driving back from the south of France this weekend with DH and 2 DC. We've booked one overnight stay in Paris on Saturday night to break up the long drive before we get the ferry from Calais Sunday teatime.

We're staying in a relatively cheap Airbnb. The host doesn't charge a cleaning fee so you have to tidy up after yourself before you leave. So far so good. I figured we'll be eating out and not making much mess during our short stay anyway.

No problem at all about cleaning up, emptying bins etc, and I'm happy to make the beds up when we arrive then strip them for the next guests.

But now an email from our host makes it clear that, in addition to all the usual cleaning up, she expects us to take all bedding, towels etc to a laundrette a couple of streets away (no washing machine in the apartment), to wash and dry them before we leave.

The email makes it clear our host is finding this Airbnb thing increasingly stressful and disappointing, hence her detailed additional cleaning instructions. Eg she says some guests haven't been cleaning up after themselves and it's caused her a lot of distress, for example her husband had to hoover because he found a hair on the carpet!

I reckon I'm generally a pretty considerate guest but AIBU not to want to spend ALL our time in Paris washing and drying this woman's sheets?

Or is this a thing in France? I've done lots of Airbnb and never seen anything like it.

Take your own bedding and swap when you get there, then back again before you leave.

YABU. Cancel and get somewhere else. Tell Airbnb too. IME they're quite good on keeping an eye on weird host behaviour.

Er... no. That's ridiculous.

That is ridiculous OP.
I spend loads of time in Paris Airbnbs and never come across this.
We always do a tidy up and strip the beds but that is all.
Cancel and complain to Airbnb.

I don't know what cheeky fucker is in French but she is definitely one.

Yes to just taking your own bedding with you as you are travelling by car.

I'm just back from travelling through france and while some places were like this 15-20 years ago it's most certainly not the norm now. Please cancel and go elsewhere - this is totally ridiculous. This woman obviously isn't cut out for air bnb!

French gites are completely different to Paris Airbnbs.

I am now feeling slightly nervous about ever self catering in france

I run a airbnb in France and that is ridiculous! I suggest you contact airbnb and try and move and explain why, I am sure this would not be acceptable to airbnb especially since it was not stipulated. I would never expect our guests to do this and we have a washing machine. I would expect no rubbish and the apartment not to be a too dirty. All my guests have left it very clean and i am always delighted but would not expect that level of cleaninless.
Contact airbnb asap. Good luck

Sorry, I meant to put YANBU!

I don't think I've ever heard anything so ridiculous.

Cancel and complain.

Completely ridiculous. It would be reasonable to ask you to strip the beds and put the sheets in the washing machine, if there's one there.

But go to a launderette? Yeah right.

Enculer les mouches I think Snuggy. Really want someone more knowledgeable than me to confirm.

Last time I stayed in Paris we just got a last minute cheap hotel. Much less bother and more fun than acting as paying housekeeper.

I haven’t ever used Air bnb - too many horror threads! Sod that though about washing sheets. What if you are leaving early to catch plane/train, it would be impossible? It isn’t your problem they don’t have a washing machine.
I would cancel if it is at all possible.

As if you'd even consider it.

If she hadn't written this in her initial listing, then I don't think you would be unreasonable to refuse TBH. If someone wants their guests to go to a launderette and clean towels and bedsheets at their own cost and inconvenience, then they need to write it loud and clear in the original advert...

I'd be tempted to just not do it, and assume that other reviews you've had from less mental hosts drown out her complaint...

If you can't cancel (e.g. if she has a strict cancellation policy) contact Airbnb and tell them all you have said here. I am a host and find that yes, in general French guests clean above and beyond most others (i love them!) But even still, I dont like to think of guests scrubbing the place on their last day. That's my job. I don't charge a cleaning fee either because I think that's what you're paying the rental fee for. In my experience (as host and guest) Airbnb is supposed to be like staying with friends so you leave it as you would a friends place (ie tidy and treated with respect). Expecting you to launder sheets is crazy and I am sure Airbnb would agree that it is beyond reasonable.

Unfortunately I am not in Paris and cannot offer you a convenient alternative but please do complain (and tell the host to stick her unreasonable requests where the sun don't shine!)

Thanks all. Feeling better about my (admittedly first world) dilemma already.

Unfortunately can't cancel and rebook somewhere else as we've already paid 😐

To be fair to the host, she did explicitly state we'd be responsible for cleaning, so it's partly my fault. But when I read the listing I mistakenly assumed she meant making up the beds ourselves when we arrive and stripping them in the morning.

Unfortunately we can't bring our own sheets because we're already in a self catering house in the south of France where linen was included. (And, btw plenty of toilet paper and dishwasher tabs etc when we arrived.)

Thinking about what I can do with a bunch of clean sarongs.... 🤔 and maybe I'll stuff the pillows into clean tshirts...

Not going to spend the last morning of my holiday in a laundrette though!

Even still OP, i would strip the beds and leave the used linen folded neatly ready for the lazy host to launder. All she can do is leave you a bad review - to which you can reply explaining her unreasonable request.

I would be tempted to just go, and then not do it.

How does she think that will work? Imagine you had a 7am start to catch a flight! Surely if you rent out an AirBnB you should have more than one set of bed linen. Any ones I have looked at show a cleaning fee which I thought would include bed changes. Yes a quick clean and tidy but having to launder bedding is a step too far.

And then leave a review saying that it was only after you had paid that she revealed she expected you to go to a launderette with the sheets, but this was impossible because you had an early flight to catch. Really such an expectation needs to be explicit before booking.

Go and don't do it. Justify the bad review she gives you with what you explained here.

I wouldn't do that for one night. Crazy. If it wasn't in the initial details that isn't on.