To think that a 7pm check-in is too late when you have young kids

[sqirrelfriends]

I woke up to an email this morning from the company I booked a holiday cottage with for next month.

For corona reasons:

7pm check in (instead of 3pm)
9am check out (instead of 10)
Removal of all high risk items (they mentioned board games and the DVD player but I would imagine it's going to be barren)

We would have to drive about 4 hours to get there with a young child, 7pm just seems too late to me to check in, and equally 9am is too early to check out, especially with all the extra stuff we would need to bring. Am I being unreasonable to think it would never take 10 hours to clean a cottage? And would you be cancelling?

Unfortunately this will be because of the deep clean needed due to coronavirus. I own a holiday let and the firm who do my cleaning are asking for 72 hours between guests and deep cleaning. It was one of the reasons I decided to suspend bookings for the summer. I'm an inventory clerk and am just starting student turn arounds. My lovely agent and her cleaners are trying to schedule a 3 day gap between students leaving and us going in. But, it can't always happen. We are trying... they have decided not to do their usual summer refurbishment. They're just going to send the cleaners in and replace whatever is needed.

Many industries will have to make quite drastic changes, we need to remember that word - forebearance!

A young child whose bedtime is at 7 will likely fall asleep in the car at 6/6.30 if you're still driving at that tiem, and then they'll wake up full of beans having had a lovely nap and be awake until midnight. And then their whole routine will be thrown off and they (and you) will be grumpy for the rest of the week and it will ruin the holiday. I would not go.

If you did want to make it work - what about this - look out a nice pub nearby that does food and has an outdoor play area, aim to get there at about 4/4.30, order food, eat around 5/5.30ish then chill out in the pub garden letting DS play until 7 when you can head over to the property. It would need to be VERY nearby, preferably walkable, and I'd see if you can park at the property early (considering the guests will have left many hours before).

Public toilets are open in some places. Three sets are in our town (holiday town, far west of Cornwall)

Small point, but worth saying.

Echoing @HesterShaw1 on the response to people who say the OP should be asking for a discount - the extra cleaning is something being done for the safety of guests. It will be nearly impossible for holiday cottage owners to make even a moderate loss this year.

And there's huge demand now for holiday accommodation so the owner is likely just to cancel the booking...

There was a similar thread about this a few days ago, but from the holiday cottage owner's perspective. They said the broker they used to let their cottage had sent them an email saying they were telling all cottage owners that check-in was now 7pm and check-out was 9am, to allow extra time for cleaning. It sounds like perhaps all brokers have the same rule, which puts both cottage owners and holiday makers in unenviable positions.

For me, a 7pm check in is too late, and a 9am check-out too early; particularly if the price you are paying is the same and most of the facilities you expect to be there have been removed. In your situation, I'd be cancelling.

As to how long the cleaning takes, I guess it depends how many cleaners they have and how big the cottage is.

7pm doesn’t bother me as having one late bedtime isn’t a big deal, kids wouldn’t be going to bed at usual time on holiday anyway. But 9am checkout is horrible you’d have to be up so early and probably not even have breakfast because of the mess. I suppose you could pack the car the night before, just lay out one outfit each, and go to a cafe for breakfast after leaving?

Yes, even Martin Lewis, who is usually of the 'don't take any shit, stand up for your rights, screw them for every penny' is now talking very much about forebearance if we want all these suppliers to still be with us going forwards. Because if too many people demand refunds and discounts, a lot of these suppliers will go bust, end of.

Bertie You're in Germany aren't you? In the UK, pubs and restaurants still aren't open, even for outdoor service, although I'd hope that, they will be in future, possibly to coincide with self catering holiday accommodation opening up, because obviously a lot of people would want to eat out on holiday.

@HesterShaw1

Public toilets are open in some places. Three sets are in our town (holiday town, far west of Cornwall)

Small point, but worth saying.

Oh that's interesting. I'm in scotland, virtually nothing open up here!

Just to add, the owners aren't profiting from your late star and early finish.

If the cleaning is outsourced and they are doing it to to industry guidelines, it is costing owners more, so likely to be costing them more.

I was criticised on another thread for suspending bookings for my holiday let and seen as a dementia. Well it was for exactly this sort of reason. I decided it was a financial and logistical nightmare. (Aside from my real concern that guests may develop symptoms while there and have to self isolate for up to 14 days....more if one of the self isolating but symptomless then develops symptoms towards the end of the 14 day period. )

My property does not make me any money in a good year. All money from summer lets is used to keep the property ticking over during the winter.

I am loving the optimistic souls who are suggesting going to the beach, having a picnic or having a meal in a pub garden on the way.

This is England and it's likely to be pouring with rain. Try keeping your kids entertained for a few hours outside then. Or you could just sit in your car and watch the rain come down.

Dementor not dementia.

Aside from my real concern that guests may develop symptoms while there and have to self isolate for up to 14 days....more if one of the self isolating but symptomless then develops symptoms towards the end of the 14 day period.

This is a really good point- if people become Ill in holiday let's, can they do a Dominic cummings or are they stuck? Is it safe for cleaners to clean the property once they're gone etc.

I am loving the optimistic souls who are suggesting going to the beach, having a picnic or having a meal in a pub garden on the way. A walk. Fly a kite. Do any one of the things ou were planning to do on a self catering holiday during some sort of lockdown! The different stuff you planned because such places are not going to be open as usual!

This is England and it's likely to be pouring with rain. Try keeping your kids entertained for a few hours outside then. Or you could just sit in your car and watch the rain come down Again... all the stuff you were planning to do differently because... pandemic.

If holiday cottage owners are getting industry standard advice and they ignore it then they will have issues with insurances... they won't be being difficuls for the fun of it!

If you can't cope with the realities then cancel!

and go to a cafe for breakfast after leaving?

Yep, good luck with that!

We have a cottage booked in the South west - and have heard nothing from the company except their online reviews are full of people saying they are refusing to refund deposits for holidays that were cancelled and telling people to go through their insurance. When I booked last September it was for a 10am check out, 3pm check in, hot tub and all the gubbins inside the house and all the attractions outside. Now I'm looking at fairly much isolating in a different house without even cushions on the sofa, with nothing to do but queue for food.

and go to a cafe for breakfast after leaving?

Yep, good luck with that!

???? Have you not been out much? Many places that cannot do sit ins are doing take aways. Pop up vans are opening every day, with umbrellas!!

It is really easy round here (tourist area) to get all sorts of meals from lay bys, pub car parks, the grounds of many tourist spots etc etc etc. People who rely on tourist trade aren't stupid, they are modifying their work practices as quickly as possible!

7pm check in would be a disaster for us. Could have death with it with 1 DC under 2, but after 2 and before about 6 proper bedtime is much more important.

Possibly could cope with just the 5 yo but adding a younger child into the mix is a pain.

We had a little hotel based "break" / house hunting trip in Feb. Let's just say we will not be doing single room hotel trips for a while - one DC needs pitch black and the other needs a night light, both wake the other one up!!! Might not go on holiday again for a while after that one!

My DH is a lot more wedded to "away" holidays than I am - this is the first year I get my desired staycation!!

I don't see the problem with a 7pm check in - we've arrived at similar times before with small children. Travel, go out for a meal locally then put kids to bed slightly later than usual.

To make everything as safe as possibly we are all going to have to be flexible going forward.

curious

I really hope you’re right but it’s an absolute nightmare getting into cafes/restaurants in st ives etc at the best of times so not sure what it’s going to be like when droves of holiday makers descend in the summer and there’s no/very limited sit-in options available. Can you imagine what the queue for the chippy/ice cream trucks is going to be like?

You can disinfect an entire apartment quite easily by dry fogging with hydrogen peroxide. It's been used for years to kill other Corona viruses and works on Covid-19 too. There's loads of mobile units on the market now and they're really not that expensive. I don't understand why they're not being used more.

Bleepbloopblarp I missed you said Saint Ives!! I can't imagine walking The Digey!

Have you facebooked the town? There is quite a lot going on, you might find enough info to be properly helpful.

We're keeping an eye on the Welsh seaside place we are aiming for... 2 sets of lockdown rules to navigate!!! Facebook has been helpful!

YANBU

They’re taking away a whole day of your holiday effectively - I always think more than a 5 hour gap between check out and in (ie 10am to 3pm) is taking the piss: what on earth can take more than that time to clean? If it’s a huge property they should hire more people or offer a discount rather than taking a whole chunk of your time away.

Maybe they have 4 cottages to clean in 10 hours?

I would probably make an early start, pack up the night before, and arrive early the next day if it's a 2 week holiday.

What on earth can take more than that time to clean? You need to understand the econonics of holiday cottage cleaning! It's rarely just one house at a time. That's just not how it works!