Holiday home left in a real mess

[BigOldOakTree]

I wonder if I can call on the wise of Mumsnet to help me with a question? I manage a couple of holiday homes and we've had a very busy Christmas. I'm not new to this and know the ups and downs of this business. Our guests in one of the cottages over Christmas were given a complimentary welcome pack on arrival, I'd checked beforehand and they were vegetarian so it was catered for their diet. The cottage was decorated with a real tree and I went to a lot of effort to make it warm and welcoming for them. It is a five star holiday cottage and they paid quite a lot of money to stay, but they did receive a lovely property (in my opinion). It's not my cottage but I take a lot of pride in making it nice.

There are a few basic instructions, nothing too bossy, but the main one is please bag up your rubbish and put it in the outside bins on departure. When I went in to clean it after they'd left I've never seen anything like it in three years. It was utterly disgusting. All of their rubbish was in the house, some bagged, some not. They'd moved furniture around. The bathrooms were not fit for a dog. The kitchen was full of dirty pots and pans, food on the counters. The place was a real mess, not just the things I've written here. I couldn't believe two adults and two teenage children (older teenagers) could make such a mess.

We won't withhold their deposit as it could all be cleaned (even though it took me 7 hours to get it back to how it should be) (3 bedroom, 3 bathroom cottage). This is because it will only lead to a negative review and that is so damaging to the business, but am I being unreasonable to think this is out of order?

Perhaps I'm naive but after three years in the business I doubt it. I just wouldn't expect to leave somewhere so bad. It was beautiful when they arrived.

Presumably if you’ve been at it 3 years you know there are a small minority of people who do this, and most leave it in a reasonable state. I’m not sure what you are looking for here other than to rant about the mess left. You surely don’t expect the vast majority of people to say it’s absolutely fine.

@Dowser, they didn’t trash it, they moved furniture and didn’t bag their rubbish up.

I used to work on a really posh hotel and we'd often get really posh people leaving the rooms and dining rooms in a state I can't describe. I actually felt disgusted paying through the lounge after breakfast, I wondered if they are and lived like pigs in their mansions as well? Probably not it they had cleaners to no up after them, but it was an eye opening experience what happens to people in tourist mode.

These people who clean the bathroom and sweep the floors - would you do it on a weekend stay? If you arrive Friday after work then have to check out at 10-11am on Sunday you’d barely have been there and would have to get up early just to do it.

You should wothold at least a cleaning fee. That's ridiculous. I never leave a holiday place quite as perfectly clean as I found it but would be ashamed to leave it like that. Of course they should wash up, put their rubbish out etc. How did they even make the bathrooms so messy in such a short stay?

Tbh I think you'd have been on a bit of a sticky wicket deducting for cleaning as opposed to damage and therefore have done the right thing.

Not that I would ever leave a place in a state, but it does put me off when I see reviews that get into disputes about this. Photos don't always give a full view of mess/dirt etc and I'd be worried that the owner was going to be looking for an excuse to deduct as some can do - for eg we rented a place one time and the owner was banging on about how the previous guests were filthy and left behind a dirty tea towel. He was charging £600 a week and he was banging on about a bloody tea towel! I was really worried that we'd end up losing our deposit - we didn't in the end, but I certainly never booked with him again.

As for whether people should leave the place dirty, well, obviously they shouldn't but some people take the view, similar to hotels, that the price they've paid includes cleaning, they're on holiday and why should they bother. I'm sure the owner still managed to make a profit from the stay even factoring in a couple of extra hours of cleaning so long term no harm done.

I think you’re daft not to have withheld at least some of the deposit but I do see you’re reasoning.

To answer your question, we leave any accommodation we stay in, in the way we’d like to find it. Bathrooms would be tidy, same with the kitchen, all rubbish would be bagged up, in outdoor bin if available, if not it would all be in one hard/washable floored area. Bedding would be stripped & any dirty towels etc would all be in the bathroom together. Any furniture that’s been moved would be put back (we sometimes move a central bed over for the travel cot to fit in), travel cot would be folded down. One of us will have a quick go round with a vacuum (if there is one). Any washing up will be done & drying on the board/ or the dishwasher will have been put on.

To answer a pp, yes I would do it on a weekend away & no I wouldn’t get up early to it. It reads like it’s loads but in reality it wouldn’t take us (2 adults, 5dc) more than 30 min to do.

Don't leave the dishwasher running! If the cleaner is on a tight turn around and has several properties to clean they will not be pleased to have to wait for the dishwasher to finish and then unload and put everything away.
We always do the last few bits by hand and put away - it should surely only be a few bits and pieces from breakfast anyway...

To ShirleyPhallus. I would expect a weekend stay to be Friday to Monday. However, If you only spend 2 nights in accommodation, you would hardly have time to make a mess.
I do not generally hoover or sweep the floor, unless muddy, etc.
But I would leave the kitchen in a clean and tidy state. I do not even leave dishes in the dishwasher as breakfast on the last morning is minimal and I wash and dry by hand (and put items away).
I do not 'clean' the bathroom, except what I would do on a normal basis in ANY accommodation (and also at home whenever I have a bath or shower).
If I have moved furniture, I would put it back.
I would not expect to leave dirty washing up, food, or rubbish about.
This differs from a hotel, in which I would place any dirty cups back with the kettle, and rubbish in the bins

Reviews can bring listings down even if not negative if those leaving them leave then incorrectly also

For example on booking.com reviews are left in positive and negative categories by reviewers. Our rental is called something similar to 'hillside house', and the location is advertised as so.
A reviewer left positive reviews saying 10/10 everything amazing etc, then in the negative section said ' this is at the top of a hill, which we knew about and provides fantastic views. That single comment in the negative box moved our 'location' down from 10 to 8.7 as we didn't have many reviews at the time. It took another 6 months for it to move back

These things are so subjective. I have a friend who manages holiday homes in Spain for the non-resident owners. By coincidence my new BIL owns one of those homes. Said friend came to stay with me and was complaining to about the mess that BILs sister had left the house in after a girls holiday there (spills, dirty sheets, rubbish on floor around overflowing bins, uncovered food in fridge etc, etc), apparently that wasn’t surprising as the whole family have low standards. A couple of days later we saw my BIL at a barbecue who told us how hard his sister had worked to leave the house nice for my mates cleaning team.

I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle as I know my friend has very, very high standards when it comes to cleanliness (which makes her very good at his job). I always do a meticulous deep clean of the spare room and it’s bathroom when she comes to stay!

Who pays for the extra cleaning needed?

Clearly think they're royalty and YOU were lucky to have them there. They will get away with this all the time. Kids will grow up the same.

I clean/tidy up the flipping travel lodge before I leave and I'm a struggling single mum.

From the other side of the coin:

A friend was pursuing a refund from an Airbnb agent because when we arrived at 4, the agreed time, on the coldest day of the year (minus 7) the house was quite cold, the way a place is which hasn’t had the heating on for weeks. The heating wasn’t due to come on till 6 pm. We couldn’t advance it as it was remotely controlled on his app. Even then, it didn't get comfortably warm and there was still no hot water. We had to argue with him and get him to come out to fix the system as it wasn’t accessible to the guests. There were lots of other gripes too, but this was the main one.

She argued we shouldn’t have had to pay for the first freezing night. And he refused any refund because, he alleged, we’d left a tea stain on the carpet under the sofa (news to me!) which would cost more than we were claiming to be cleaned, plus he threatened to give my friend a bad guest review. He sent her a photograph. As she uses Airbnb a lot this was enough to make her drop her claim. But she did get her deposit back.

But yes, apart from the alleged tea stain (which I never saw), we left it clean and tidy. Who wouldn’t? Luckily I’d brought some dishwasher tablets with me, as they’d provided only one for five people self-catering for the whole weekend. It was my first and only experience of Airbnb, and it was supposed to be a 5 star let.

I think you're very naive - you are allowing yourself and the owner to be held hostage to poor behaviour by being afraid of a negative review. Blacklisting is ineffective as chances are they won't be back anyway.

All reviews should be "managed" by the response to them left by you or the owner. If you don't know how to do that then you need to learn. Reviews of any kind push you up rankings so, whether negative or not, a review will get you more bookings by virtue of being at the top of the search.

You should have clear T&Cs in your welcome email which states what condition the property should be left in on departure and which also outlines what charges will be made if this is not done. You are doing a disservice to other people who let a holiday home by allowing this behaviour to go unchecked. I'm not even sure why you've posted other than to moan about something that you yourself could have rectified.

@moodolph, that sounds horrendous! How long were they there, to want to move furniture? And, what on earth did they do to the bedding?

Don't leave the dishwasher running! If the cleaner is on a tight turn around and has several properties to clean they will not be pleased to have to wait for the dishwasher to finish and then unload and put everything away

we aren't stupid.

The cycle for most dish washers is 1-2 hrs. We are always out long before the allocated deadline and the machines will be finished far sooner than the cleaners come in and clean.

I'd far rather have the dw make a good job of cleaning than rinse and wipe and put in the cupboard.

@Celeriacacaca
You are 100% right. The OP seems naive and the owners need to get their T&Cs sorted.

These people are unlikely to come back and if they do and find they can't book they will possibly give a bad review anyway , based on being banned! The banning is no more than passive aggressive behaviour by people who haven't the guts to address the issue head on and they are also doing the industry a disservice because this dreadful family will do the same again.

@BigOldOakTree Surely you understand that blacklisting only works if every single holiday home anywhere banned them too?

Unbelievable you think this is a 'punishment'.

The dishwasher comment wasn't aimed at you Jingling. Not everyone leaves "long before the allocated deadline".

I think some people think they pay a lot of money to relax and not have to do any cleaning for the holiday . Not saying it's right but I had a brief spell cleaning holidays homes and some humans are disgusting with no concern for who clears up after their gross mess .!

@Caspianberg That single comment in the negative box moved our 'location' down from 10 to 8.7 as we didn't have many reviews at the time. It took another 6 months for it to move back

Ok but did that impact on your bookings for 6 months?
Are you really saying that people looking at your home are so stupid they cannot see beyond one stupid 'negative' comment and can't make up their own minds on your home?

Whats the point of taking a deposit if you dont deduct exrea cleaning chatges from it?

We always leave places tidy. We offer a holiday let, and sometimes the state it is left in is disgusting. Some people have no manners whats so ever!

Take photos before and after would be my advice.
If you need to charge for repairs or damage you have the proof.
Perhaps you need to have check up on the day of exit while they are still there?

@JinglingHellsBells - this was around Easter time, and we were already pretty full the next 6 months, so possibly not. We also block out virtually half the year for own use so are not a large holiday company wanting maximum bookings.
However, I often filter places by 9+ only, so if someone had filtered location by 9+ online they wouldn't have seen it to be able to judge themselves.

Either way, yes OP it sounds like a total mess. How people can make so much mess in one week is beyond me. I mean, If I don't clean my bathroom for a week it might just have odd bits of dirt in sink, or fogged looking shower screen, and dust around the floor.

But that would be looking closely. It wouldn't be open the door to full of shit smeared walls, pissy floors, cacked on crap over bath.... How does that even happen?