Holiday let without even a tea bag?

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Is this another Covid rule? Really very surprised to arrive to find nothing.. have used this company loads of times and usually get a rather lovely welcome pack.
If it is Covid related... how ridiculous.

Blimey, i work in 2 holiday lets in Pembrokeshire, we've been leaving tea, coffee, sugar, milk and Welsh cakes as per usual.. I read all the guidelines when we were allowed to reopen, and didn't see anything about not being able to do the above.. maybe its different here?

Thing is, pouring boiling water onto the teabag would surely kill off anything dicey, and if it was contaminated although we're spraying headboards, cushions etc what about carpets, curtains etc? all a bit contradictory!

I do think if stuff is unopened it could be donated to a food bank, I noticed a church in Polperro had left a bucket out for unused tins and packets, which I thought was a nice idea. I wish there had been something similar where we stayed.

We must be cheapskates as we we have rented loads of cottages that son't do any sort of welcome pack. Even ones that do - its normally just enough for one cuppa each on arrival so we take our own stuff anyway. Not bothered about it at all.

@starfishmummy we don't tend to book anywhere for the welcome basket, we go on location more than anything, but it is nice to be able to turn up and put the kettle on without going to a shop first to get supplies.

I can't believe some of the posts on here. Seriously.

No, it is not a cost cutting measure or an excuse. The more responsible owners, or those operating in a corporate environment stick carefully to the industry guidance. This is over and above the government guidance which is pretty non-specific. These measures are designed to protect our clients, our cleaners, and ourselves.

We are advised to remove items that cannot be laundered. So cushions, throws, books, games etc. Kitchen equipment is to be minimised. No loose food stuffs, so coffee/tea sachets, sugar jars etc. Every surface to be cleaned and then sanitised. All soft furnishings, beds and hanging furnishings such as curtains to be cleaned and sanitised. PPE to be worn by cleaning staff etc.... you get the picture. It may seem a bit OTT to some, but it is what it is.

We provide a sealed hamper, but we have always done that. We used to provide fresh foods such as bread, bacon, milk, scones, cake, butter, eggs. We are no longer permitted to. We aren't saving any money though, given the extra costs we are incurring.

Our laundry is taken care of by a commercial company hence we are happy to provide linen. If I was using my own washing machine I probably wouldn't be.

Our holiday cottage company contacted us prior to our arrival to say that there would be no games/books/condiments or welcome pack at the cottage due to covid restrictions. Even the gust comments book would be removed.
We took our own games/food etc and low and behold we arrived to find tea/coffee/sugar/salt/pepper etc. Full bookshelves and a cupboard full of board games.
Guess the owners/housekeepers hadn't read the email?

We were left tea and coffee in our hotel but no biscuits. It seems hit and miss the interpretation

@Serin. I bet they had but just thought FFS and ignored it. It's a major hassle removing everything. Plus where do you store it all as at some point in future we'll be required to put it all back again. Total PITA.

I'm just a bit arsey with all the cheapskate/saving money comments on here. As an industry we are doing our best, under very difficult circumstances.

@minnieok the government guidance is quite general, but the industry guidance is quite specific. It depends which one people refer to.

My friend is the cleaner of several holiday lets and none of them have ever supplied welcome packs, and nor have I ever stayed in a cottage with one provided. I didn’t know it was so common.

On another note... you’re on holiday during a global pandemic and are upset due to lack of teabags offered?

We are still offering individual wrapped sachets of tea, coffee, milk, hot chocolate and biscuits

Anything not used is binned and a fresh new set put out for the next set of guests

What was it that Thumper used to say?

Buy your own teabags?

There's a certain scene from that old northern film 'Rita, Sue and Bob Too' that springs to mind here!

Whoops, link not attached! coub.com/view/at0bnn

@frumpety nice to get "the makings" but these days ds and I drink decaff so we are used to taking our own.

The leftovers in @Scarby9 's cupboards remind me of my youth hostelling days, when we used to open the cupboard and hope for something edible in there. Once got a jar of Nutella, jackpot!

I hotel and possibly a B&B I would assume there I would assume there is tea/coffee but I have never expected it in a holiday let even before the virus

We had a bottle of Prosecco left in the fridge for us at our cottage! Was a lovely surprise!

We had to strip the beds/towels etc at the end and leave in bin bags near the front door too.

Both holiday lets I was in, just now in August, had tea bags not BNiB & opened soap/shower gel, clothes detergent. One also had condiments.

I try to bring everything but always forget something so am grateful for consumables supplied. Am an ecofreak so feel affronted by only unopened food/toiletries. I did ask elsewhere if all such items would be binned; why not just store them for a week & then replace; the germs die in 3 days, anyway, especially without moisture.

We were asked to strip beds & one also wanted us to bring own towels.

We managed a holiday and no cleaning due to Covid. Ridiculous. Just being used as an excuse now.

I bet Weatherspoons won't be stopping cleaning due to Covid!

I help my friend clean her holiday cottage and she certainly does not supply teabags. Her welcome pack consists of barabrith, bottle of wine and welsh cakes. No one has ever complained about the lack of teabags

A couple of years ago I went to a UK holiday let run by a big national charity and they had a very nice welcome pack. A couple of weeks ago went to a holiday let in another part of The Netherlands and the only Covid related change was that the owner could not enter the property to show me around. He does not normally provider a welcome pack,but there is loose tea and coffee,books to read and leaflets about the surrounding area. But generallynCovid rules seem to be much lees strict in The Netherlands compared to other European countries.

some of these comments are very depressing.

We have been told by the agency we let our cottage with to take these items out, and guests are emailed and told this.

I had a guest last week who had not bothered to strip the beds as requested or put her rubbish bags out. She had also kindly left several pieces of chewed chewing gum stuck on the bedside tables, and piles of dog poo bags in the garden.

She td me she was on holiday and shouldn't be asked to do these tasks as I had not offered a discount on the holiday.

The new guidelines are there to stop the spread of the virus. So many people are asymptomatic so the regime has to be strict. If I got it off having to change her bedding I could pass it on.

I use an anti viral spray in my cottage which costs £10 per changeover, and the cleaning costs have increased by £40.

moving that is disgusting. She may be on holiday, but that doesn't take away basic decency does it?

I know someone who cleans holidays lets, gets a set amount for say 3 hours work. Some people have been so disgusting that it has taken her much longer and she has had to ask for more money. She said that bins were overflowing, dishes not washed, soiled bedding not bagged and food left everywhere after they had made curries.

The owner now has to charge a £50 refundable cleaning deposit, that they don't get back if they leave the place dirty.

If you go on holiday during covid, then you need to be prepared to do whatever is asked, same as anywhere else you go.

Some owners will be thinking they are genuinely doing the right thing by not leaving anything unecessary in the cottage. Others, like the example upthread where there was no welcome basket, but a cupboard full of leftovers, will be using it as an excuse to cut costs/effort.

My only change is I have swapped homemade cookies in a tin to shop-bought sealed in their packet.

Some holiday-let owners will leave a bottle as a welcome. I appreciate it when they do but it's not expected.

When I hire holiday accommodation I take my own tea and coffee, salt and pepper, bin bags and extra loo rolls. I've never seen it as the owners' responsibility to provide these things.

I'd far rather find the accommodation spotlessly clean and without mouldy grout/bathroom sealant.