Rules when renting a holiday place - bonkers or completely normal?

[DragonMamma]

We are renting a large property for over New Year (for a total of 3 nights). There are 10 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. We rent houses regularly and have done for many years. This 3 night break is costing just under £3.5k so it’s not exactly cheap.

We’ve just received the list of do’s and don’ts from the owner and it reads like nothing we’ve ever come across before. It’s like they are reluctantly giving us use of the place and barking instructions at us.

Some examples below copied and pasted from their 7 page (!) instruction manual.

*YOU ARE EXPECTED TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY IN A SIMILAR STATE OF CLEANLINESS AS YOU FOUND IT, IF THE PROPERTY IS NOT SO, YOU WILL BE CHARGED AN EXCESS CLEANING CHARGE.
Including all floors to be hovered or swept, bathrooms and toilets cleaned, kitchen to be cleaned, all washing up done and put away.

Hot water will be on in the morning from 7am until 10am, briefly at lunchtime and again from 5pm until 10pm. Options for extra heating and hot water are available please see our website. These must be booked in advance.

NEVER LEAVE THE WOODBURNER UNATTENDED. IN INTERESTS OF SAFETY UNLESS YOU ARE EXPERIENCED USING WOODBURNERS WE SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT USE IT.

Swimming pool - Shallow end depth of approx. 1metre, deep end depth approx. 1.9 metre. STRICTLY NO JUMPING, DIVING OR OTHER BOISTEROUS BEHAVIOUR*

AIBU to think that if you’re charging over a thousand pound a night and absolutely insisting on a 10am check out (OR face yet another additional charge) then you simply cannot expect the occupants to clean 9 bathrooms and do all of the general cleaning. There’s also a strict list of what cleaning products are to be used where.

We always leave properties in a decent state - we will set the dishwater off after breakfast, give the bathroom a quick wipe so it’s not excessively dirty. We’ll bag all the rubbish up etc and make sure it’s tidy and do whatever else we have time for before leaving (strip the beds etc.). But this reads like they want us to clean it to a professional standard all before 10am!

AIBU to think this is a bonkers and that it’s not the responsibility of the occupants to do the cleaning for you? And to also have to book extra hot water in advance?

How on earth are we supposed to know when we are going to want hot water? What happens if we go swimming after lunch, do we have to sit and wait for it to come back on at 5pm? They have take a £500 security deposit and based on the list of things we may get charged for is endless and it’s really put us off going 😞

It’s not about strict rules. Suggestions can come across as overbearing rules when written down. The deposit is fine for a house that size.
The thought of losing your deposit does alter attitudes. The guests who messed up, booked through an agency who refuse to enforce security deposits and always back the guest.
Some guests do need telling, particularly about swimming pools, because ultimately, the host is the person who will be penalised if there are injuries on their property.
Self catering properties should be left as you found them. Book into a hotel otherwise.

sorry not time to read all of this. if they wanted it cleaned by you then they have to say this before you book it...ie before you make a contract. emailing you a couple of days before is too late- its not part of your contract and is therefore not enforceable

The majority of my guests leave my properties spotless, but I still go in and clean them thoroughly, change the bedding and restock with loo rolls, milk, wine etc.

so agency has passed your details onto houseowner. did you give your permission for this to happen? If not it sounds as if its in contravention of GDPR.

We have a holiday rental. Those rules seems a bit OTT.

We ask for bins and fridge to be left empty.
Bedding and towels are left where they are, I prefer people not taking them off as then I can see easier if there are any marks anywhere, rather than rummaging through piles of sheets.

We leave a broom, dustpan and brush, basic cleaning cloths etc, but thats for them to use during their stay if they choose. No actual cleaning is required before they leave.
I would have to do it all again anyway regardless of how clean it looks because how do I know how well they have cleaned? Every room gets cleaned to full itinerary of mine before I would re-rent it out.

Btw its a 2 bedroom apartment. Takes me a minimum 5 hours to do a full change over (plus extra time after to sort and iron bedding once washed). Hence we also have 10am check-out, because otherwise, check-in can't be after 3pm for next guests as I couldn't get it done. Its a balance between not being too early for those leaving, but also those arriving wouldn't want 6pm or later either.

Of course a cleaner still goes in after. It is still a standard clause in the majority of rentals that the property be left in the same condition as it was found in.

You wouldn’t not clean up after yourself just because you had a cleaner at home so why leave that filth for someone else.

Sounds like they want to keep your £500 deposit to me. I'd take photos of every bathroom and kitchen etc to show how it was left.

Self catering properties should be left as you found them.

Says who? I've never stayed anywhere & been required to do a deep clean when leaving. Why charge cleaning fees if renters are meant to do it?

The hot water thing would really annoy me.

Those rules seem way over the top. You have reminded me of the holiday let we had in North Wales years ago; the owner literally counted the teaspoons/everything before we were allowed to leave. It was most uncomfortable.

It’s not the house off rich house/ poor house is it?

It was actually their main home and then they went to stay in their smaller house when they had bookings.

That would make more sense for the ‘rules’ they impose.

They are cheeky gits. It reads as if they don't have cleaners, just expect out-going guests to do the work. Completely unacceptable.

We have rented a lot of self catering places. It’s common to be asked to leave the property as you found it, no items in dishwasher etc but not usual to be told which cleaning products to use where. The hot water is weird. Often it’s on a timer where we’ve stayed but with instructions for extending this.

Although 1k a night sounds a lot, when broken down between 10 bedrooms (presumably most if not all having space for 2 people in) it works out to £50 each based on that and given it has facilities like its own pool that seems not ott.

We once stayed somewhere where the rules were ridiculous. We were threatened constantly in the booklet about extra charges. For example heating was not included or offered at all between May-September without extra charge, the washing machine for the property that was stated to be in an outhouse was actually in the owners house next door and we were only allowed to use between certain times each day (which wasn’t in the terms and conditions) and they would only allow us to use a 30 degree quick wash. We were scared to breathe at times in case it evoked an extra charge! It was such a shame as it put us off ever going there again. I presume the owners had issues in the past so we’re trying to cover themselves.

@dreamingofsun I think they’d be covered under reasonable information sharing in order to fulfil a contract.

so agency has passed your details onto houseowner. did you give your permission for this to happen? If not it sounds as if its in contravention of GDPR

don't need consent, lawful basis under GDPR in this case would be fulfilment of contract - ie agency needs to share data with property owner so that property owner can provide service

No, not made aware at time of booking. These were emailed to us in the past week, alongside how to collect the keys etc.

Then I sincerely hope you have complained to the agency now because they're soon to close. They will try to keep your deposit and I'm with the poster who said it sounds like they're trying to cheap out of having a professional cleaner in before the next party arrives.

I'd be trying to back out because the rules are OTT, the hot water one would piss me off.

But I think they're trying to actually charge 4k by stealth. I'd have been contacting the agency the second they sent this list over.

We only rent through rural retreats now due to many pisstaking twat owners behaving like they're doing you a favour for you to pay top whack to hire out their space for a holiday.

Just take photos on arrival and leave it in the same state. Any arguments you have dated photos.

OP, your contract is with the agency, not the owners. Read through the details supplied by the agency and the contract you agreed to. If it doesn't mention that hot water won't be available 24/7 and that you are expected to clean bathrooms and kitchen and mop and hoover before departing then you are justified in complaining to the agency and asking for those restrictions to be lifted. You could ask for your money back, including your deposit if they refuse to do so. As others have said, restricting hot water and requiring a semi-professional clean is not reasonable or standard practice, particularly at that 5* price.

It's ridiculous, proper cleaners should be coming in.

Is this in Devon? It sounds very similar to one my sister rented for us to stay in for her dd’s wedding. Sis got these instructions just before we stayed, and there was also no loo paper or anything else. It was ghastly, with an ancient aga kettle so furred up it couldn’t pour unless tipped right up then the lid fell off. Dishwasher didn’t work, and the vacuum cleaner was broken. Owner turned up unannounced to check the state of the swimming pool (terrifying my eldest dd who thought she was on her own, so assumed a burglar). TBH it was a textbook case of how not to run a holiday let. I believe it was aimed at stag and hen parties which perhaps explains the instructions, but we hated it, not helped by bobbly polyester sheets.

it’s standard to have a leave how you found it which does really mean spotless as when you arrive you expect immaculate

Nonsense. Reasonable expectations are bins empties, surfaces wiped round, washing up all done or left in running dishwasher (unless specified not to which I've had sometimes), quick hoover. Maybe stripping beds too.

Yanbu.
We experienced this once when renting a holiday cottage. Like you we often rent cottages, always empty bins, do washing up, tidy etc but we do not expect to clean throughly before we leave , cleaning fees should be included in the rental charge. I took a photo of the notices they had pinned around the house and forwarded them to the holiday rental company we booked through, said holiday cottage was lovely but we felt owners demands a bit much. I would do the basics as normal but no more.

They have to say about the pool, they are liable. It's NYE and people are drunk and stupid.

This is all just legal stuff.

As someone said, a risky rental for 3 days during this period.

10am is a totally normal checkout.

Water is odd though.

Are you expected to strip wash and remake beds by 10am then?

The cleaning and hot water rules are just unacceptable.

What concerns me is they may be getting guests to clean rather than paying cleaners. The risk is you rock up to this house and it’s had a slapdash clean from the last tenants, prior to their leaving at 10am!