To think you shouldn't have to spring clean a holiday cottage?

[Takemetomiami]

Staying in a cottage booked through one of the large companies. I use a lot of air bnb and it's standard to leave the place as you found it which I always do.

In a holiday place booked through a company I clean the sink/loo, rinse bath, make sure fridge and bins emptied, wipe down kitchen surfaces. I assume they have professional cleaners coming in who will do a thorough job.

This morning got email from the holiday company with a long list of jobs including stripping beds, mopping through, cleaning shower, basically "leave it spotless". Is that now expected?

The cleaning fee has doubled with covid so expect that too. I keep seeing posts on our local tourist page, stating that a family wants a holiday on a set date with their dogs but do not take the piss as airbnb, booking.com and the like are. Well tough titty I feel like posting the costs have gone up. My friend used to wash the linen herself now it goes to a laundry. Never mind the cleaning fees which have doubled. The demands airbnb and others are making the forms you have to fill in, the expectations are so high it is easier to hive it off to professionals who take it in their stride.

Stripping beds is entirely normal and something we've always done, even pre covid. We take our dogs (permitted and notified etc) so usually vacuum as well.
Most places I've stayed recently have had a serious lack of attention to detail on limescale etc and it's something that just grates for me so they often find that their taps are cleaner than they were before (or would if they bothered to check!)

Our worst holiday-let-cleaning experience was, yes, France again. House in a lovely area, the owners who lived nearby were really nice and helpful -- tips on where to go, best restaurants, bottle of wine on arrival etc.
We'd bought a bottle of tax free Scotch on the way over and thought we'd leave it for the owners (the French do like a good single malt) as a thank you but on the morning of le départ, while DH was actually mopping the kitchen floor, the owner arrived and threw a hissy fit because we hadn't polished the leather suite with the special leather cleaner. He then charged us an extra 5O euros for this!
So as we left DH smartly repossessed the bottle of Scotch we'd left for them on the table. Owner saw him do it too. Result.
Meanwhile at a lovely villa in Italy the owners refused to let us do a single thing in the way of cleaning. But you're on holiday, the lady exclaimed!

He then charged us an extra 5O euros for this!

But how did he do this? I'd have cancelled the card in front of him and told him him to go to enculer. Why do people just cower to people like this?

@Tartyflette

Our worst holiday-let-cleaning experience was, yes, France again. House in a lovely area, the owners who lived nearby were really nice and helpful -- tips on where to go, best restaurants, bottle of wine on arrival etc. We'd bought a bottle of tax free Scotch on the way over and thought we'd leave it for the owners (the French do like a good single malt) as a thank you but on the morning of le départ, while DH was actually mopping the kitchen floor, the owner arrived and threw a hissy fit because we hadn't polished the leather suite with the special leather cleaner. He then charged us an extra 5O euros for this! So as we left DH smartly repossessed the bottle of Scotch we'd left for them on the table. Owner saw him do it too. Result. Meanwhile at a lovely villa in Italy the owners refused to let us do a single thing in the way of cleaning. But you're on holiday, the lady exclaimed!

Cheeky so and so ! I'm glad you took the scotch back 😀

Leather cleaner indeed.

The owners of the beach front villa we rented from Airbnb (with a £150 cleaning fee) left us a bad review as we hadn't washed the bedding (just left it in a pile!) and that the floors were 'covered' in sand - there was no hoover!

Hotels for us from now on!

Whenever possible we use a PAYG credit card to book these things. Then it has no money on it and they can say they'll charge but they can't.

@TimetohittheroadJack

The owners of the beach front villa we rented from Airbnb (with a £150 cleaning fee) left us a bad review as we hadn't washed the bedding (just left it in a pile!) and that the floors were 'covered' in sand - there was no hoover!

Hotels for us from now on!

You don't need a hoover to get rid of sand, a broom is enough but

I would have complained to AIrbnb, the owner cannot charge a cleaning fee and leave a bad review about cleaning, that's the whole point!

@TimetohittheroadJack this is why I will never book through Airbnb. It's the only booking engine I know where hosts get to
Comment on guests.
Yes mean fair enough if someone is a slow payer or leaves the plan absolute hovel, but I refuse to be subjected to a written assessment of how good a guest I've been. It's bad enough on Booking.com or trip advisor where the owner has final
Right to reply.

Wouldn't stay somewhere like that , I always leave a place clean but expect that cleaners are coming in after to do throughly , and wouldn't stay somewhere where only the guests before have cleaned either .

I think it’s reasonable to strip the beds and make sure any furniture is back where it originally was. And to not leave anything in a disgraceful mess. If it was too clean upon leaving then I think that could mean that the next guests don’t benefit from a thorough clean. I strip the beds because I’ve found rogue socks in them before on arrival so had obviously been left, presumed untouched. I’d assume that a cleaning fee is built into the price. As a paying customer I’d like to think that a property has been cleaned properly rather than the previous guest giving the surfaces a cursory wipe with a week old tea towel.

@TimetohittheroadJack

The owners of the beach front villa we rented from Airbnb (with a £150 cleaning fee) left us a bad review as we hadn't washed the bedding (just left it in a pile!) and that the floors were 'covered' in sand - there was no hoover!

Hotels for us from now on!

Take this up with AirBnB- the owners shouldn't get away with this!

I'd normally empty fridge, wipe surfaces, make sure all washing up done and at very least draining, put things back roughly where we found them, strip beds, sweep floor and make sure there was nothing sinister in the toilet

I once took my DCs away for a week, they raced into the house, rushed round and as I stood there congratulating myself on the lovely view and proximity to the beach DD came back and yelled "mum it's so clean"

Not sure what this tells your about our house

I'd be asking fir the cleaning fee to be waived if they're expecting me to do that

After doing what I thought was a decent job of cleaning a chalet in France I was disconcerted when the check out person found a used condom on top of the wardrobe! My O level french from 40 years ago was hard pressed to explain that my 75 year old mum, myself or my 10/12 year old sons hadn't used any during the week and it perhaps belonged to a previous occupant🤢

If it's so easy to sweep with a broom then my 150 quid cleaning fee should have covered it!

I guess I could have made more of an effort with the sand, but our flight was early, we had to get organised, everyone in the car, return car etc etc, and given the amount we'd paid for the villa, I didn't see why I should run about like a blue arsed fly sweeping the place.

I just booked a Premier Inn family room overnight in July, non-flexible, for £29 and will have no worries about ridiculous cleaning fees like this.

@osbertthesyrianhamster

I just booked a Premier Inn family room overnight in July, non-flexible, for £29 and will have no worries about ridiculous cleaning fees like this.

I don't think that a hotel room is comparable to a holiday let with ,loads of rooms including a kitchen.

In recent years, owners / management companies have definitely increased their expectations of guests, even before Covid

I have always stripped beds, thinking it was a helpful gesture. Now, it's expected

[quote rookiemere]@TimetohittheroadJack this is why I will never book through Airbnb. It's the only booking engine I know where hosts get to
Comment on guests.
Yes mean fair enough if someone is a slow payer or leaves the plan absolute hovel, but I refuse to be subjected to a written assessment of how good a guest I've been. It's bad enough on Booking.com or trip advisor where the owner has final
Right to reply.[/quote]
It never works like that though, unless you really are a bad guest. People say nice things as they want you to come back again!

Holiday cottage instructions said leave it clean. We spoke to the cleaners, as they arrived as we were leaving, as I was worried it wasn't clean enough...we left it used, ( beds stripped, pots clean, bins empty, surfaces wiped down, no shit/wee/hairs in the bathroom) but sandy floor we ran out of time to hoover the last bit.

Cleaner's definition of clean was different, goodness knows the horrors they have dealt with given the state we left the kitchen floor.

We have stayed in loads of holiday cottages but last years on Angelsey took the piss! £1800 for 1 week.
Arrived to find piles of unemptied bins in the driveway.
Snails on living room curtains.
A huge stain on the leather sofa where I can only assume someone's greasy head had rested.
Lovely view of the nuclear power station. To be fair, that's not a housekeeping issue.
DS sat on the bed and it collapsed under him, rang to tell the company and got accused of letting him jump on it, he is an adult and a nurse, he doesn't jump on beds.
The instructions on how to clean the property before we left ran to 4 pages.
I'm through with rentals.
This year we are going to a hotel.

@Serin

We have stayed in loads of holiday cottages but last years on Angelsey took the piss! £1800 for 1 week. Arrived to find piles of unemptied bins in the driveway. Snails on living room curtains. A huge stain on the leather sofa where I can only assume someone's greasy head had rested. Lovely view of the nuclear power station. To be fair, that's not a housekeeping issue. DS sat on the bed and it collapsed under him, rang to tell the company and got accused of letting him jump on it, he is an adult and a nurse, he doesn't jump on beds. The instructions on how to clean the property before we left ran to 4 pages. I'm through with rentals. This year we are going to a hotel.

Enjoy your hotel! At least that will be clean. Some places take the pee!

I thought that was fairly standard these days. I’ve had those requests on holiday homes. Always overseas though.

As a disabled person who has a cleaner at hone due to struggling to do a lot, this would drive me nuts! I don’t mind stripping beds, and I’d never leave dirty pots/toilet/worktops, but hoovering and mopping would take me all day and leave he completely unable to drive home after doing it!