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.

Chère Madame,
Je suis désolée, mais devant repartir tôt le matin pour reprendre la route il ne nous sera pas possible d'accéder à votre demande.
Cordialement,
OP

Just don’t do it. What is it with all these lazy tight arse amateurs ? Think they can just rake in the money with no effort at their end. Hell will feeeze over before I book with Air B&B, it’s so unprofessional.

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

You are always given the option to hire bed linen and pay for extra cleaning. I can't speak for air BnB but gites are usually quite reasonably priced compared to other similar European self-catering.

I would be very pissed off at having to clean the bedding for one night in an air BnB. If the bedding wasn't specifically mentioned when you booked then I wouldn't do it.

Sounds like she is being a gite, book somewhere else

booking.com etc

What LaDaronne suggested. If the owner doesn't like it, she can refund your money and leave you free to book elsewhere.

LaDaronne

My French MIL would never be so uncompromisingly polite in the face of such unreasonableness.

I wouldn't do it and would leave a fee.

This is why we home exchange

She should have put a washjng machine and tumble dryer into her Airbnb then you could've put them in for a wash before you left.
Just strip beds, don't wash bedding.

If you really can't cancel, then just do as you would normally (for me, strip the beds and leave the used linen on them). At that point I'd log the situation with Airbnb. The if she leaves you a bad review you can respond and explain what happened. Again, keep Airbnb in the loop.

While I've never Airbnbd in France, I will say that I've never come across anything like this in the countries I HAVE done it in.

We've used AirBnB quite a bit and there's a charge for cleaning (maybe with some there isn't but I haven't seen them). We've been asked to take sheets off beds (which is fine). That's it. No way should you be doing your own laundry. Total BS. What exactly does she think you're paying for?

Tell her. Or cancel. Or both.

Just go and don't launder the linen. Cheeky fucker.

I would just say that you will not have time to do that but happy to strip the beds and leave place as found as previously agreed . That’s really cheeky of her .

The most I would do is strip the beds.
I would mention in the review that guests are expected to wash and dry bedsheets but this is ONLY made clear after booking. She will leave you a bad review so DEFINTELY mention it.
I would also get in touch with Air BnB beforehand to alert them that this is unreasonable. What is she doing with the cleaning fee?

French rentals do usually expect you to take your own bedding, or pay for a bedding pack. Its kinda crazy.

PS vous êtes vraiment pas raisonnable et dites donc vous êtes vraiment gonflée!

The most I would do is strip the beds
I would mention in the review that guests are expected to wash and dry bedsheets but this is ONLY made clear after booking.

^This

OP I dont think it matters if you have already paid, you can still contact airbnb and explain and they can possibly refund you and help you find somewhere else, or they may contact the host and tell them this is not acceptable. I would definitely do this.

What would also worry me is that it is the guests that are cleaning for the next guests - my guests leave the place spotless ( at a higher level than i would expect since I dont want guests cleaning endlessly on thieir last day) but I still give the place a thorough clean throughtout and would not be happy unless a place was cleaned to a high standard and only I can do this ( or professional cleaners) so complain.

I would tell her that you'll strip the beds and put clean bedding and towels out. But you can't go to the launderette and wash anything. It wasn't mentioned at time of booking and you wouldn't have booked had you known.

She's trying it on.

I've been stung by hosts expecting guests to clean for the next guests. I refuse to book places that don't do a clean afterwards. It's not worth the hassle and I've had to clean after the last people and before the next. Not fair!

Does she want you to iron them as well?

just don't do it.
what's she going to do? leave you a bad review? fine - you can leave her a bad review outlining this ridiculous expectation, only explicitly mentioned after booking a non refundable rental, too.

I would say you are leaving before launderette opens.

Never heard of such a thing.

Closest we came to something similar was with a holiday apartment that out sourced the linen laundry for all the apartments and we were asked to take sheets and towels to the giant wheelie bins in an outbuilding before we left.

I don't think this woman has a clue about how holiday lets work.

I know there was someone on here a few weeks ago who admitted to forgetting to wipe the crumbs off the outside table but had cleaned up elsewhere and got a snotty email saying she had left the place filthy. They were in France.

I have used airbnb and the last time weren't charged for cleaning and although beds were stripped and sheets and towels left in the laundry room, crockery was in the dishwasher and the surfaces cleared we didn't hoover or anything. We still got a lovely review appreciating how tidy we had left the house.

it's clear she's not managing to deliver what AirBnB does, and that's on her not you. I'd go with PPs - get AirBnB in the loop, let her know it's not possible for you to do the laundry, and if she leaves you a bad review, just have a polite but firm response ready.

I've stayed in a lot of AirBnBs, and the most I've ever been required to do is strip the beds and leave the place decent. The bond of trust is between the host and the guest, not between the guest and the previous guest.

Incidentally, I've also worked in a French gite, where we did provide linen and essentials, and - if the guests were staying 2 weeks - would bring fresh linen halfway through for them to change if they wished. It's definitely not unheard-of!

Spray a bit of Febreze on the bed linen and leave.

Just don’t do it. What is it with all these lazy tight arse amateurs ? Think they can just rake in the money with no effort at their end. Hell will feeeze over before I book with Air B&B, it’s so unprofessional

Unfair IheartNiles, you are basing this on a snapshot of bad press. As a host I provide clean, quiet, private accommodation at less than half the price of local hotels and as a guest i have stayed in some great houses and met fantastic people, some of whom have become friends. It is a service that works well when it does work and has saved us from losing our family home after job loss.