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?

I'd expect holiday accommodation to be professionally cleaned between guests because otherwise, you're relying on the thoroughness of the job done by the last lot of guests to make it appropriately clean for the next set and not everyone will do that.

We always empty bins, sweep up any spills and crumbs, make sure there's no horrors lurking in the bathroom and leave the used towels in the bath, but don't do any proper cleaning or even strip the beds because I don't think it's expected and many people who clean holiday lets say they prefer the beds unstripped because it's easier to see if there are any stains that might need more than a normal wash to be clean.

Sounds ridiculous. I would try and book somewhere else, if that's possible

We also wash up, but often just leave the dishwasher running because there's usually not enough time in the morning for it to finish and put away before we have to be out.

The euro camp rep in France visited us three times during a ten day holiday to emphasize the fact we had to clean it before we left. I never leave a place untidy at all , it's swept and cleaned before we go , but his attitude was very forceful even asked us to clean the bbq which was filthy when we got there anyway.
Not had this with cottage lets as much although I wouldn't leave them in a mess and I know they would charge for any breakages etc so always careful.

@mermaidsariel

I am about to stay somewhere where I have been asked to do this. It’s bonkers. The owner tells me the cleaners take 6 hours to clean the place in between lets but I’m still expected to do all of the above. This has never happened before but I’m desperate for a break so have agreed. The owner is elderly and paranoid about Covid. I would never normally think this reasonable.

Then don't do it. Fuck that. I don't go on holiday to mop a floor.

There was a thread about not leaving the dishwasher running in an empty house in case it bursts into flames. But quite a few holiday lets we’ve been in request you put any washing up in it and switch it in before you leave.

I never understand this charging for a cleaner afterwards, surely that is part of the cost per night? I do leave places clean and would expect a place to be in a reasonable condition but unless it’s a total wreck it should be part of the overall cost. One persons clean is another persons dirty anyway!

I clean holiday cottages. This is not usual. We do ask guests to strip beds now and put towels in a bin bag but that's due to covid cross contamination

I've noticed this increasingly over here (precovid) but ut it down to us always going to a small island with an elderly population (so not so many people able to be cleaners), the laird renting out some 40 cottages on the island (a lot when the island population is only c 100) potentially all changing over on the same day, and the fact that laird has cf tendencies.... I'm happy to strip beds, wipe surfaces and put bleach in loo empty bin etc. I'm blowed if I'm dusting lightbulbs, scrubbing skirting boards and cleaning the shower.

@Sparklingbrook

There was a thread about not leaving the dishwasher running in an empty house in case it bursts into flames. But quite a few holiday lets we’ve been in request you put any washing up in it and switch it in before you leave.

My MIL always bangs on about this. When she came to stay with us she would get up and turn the dishwasher off after I went to bed, so that all the things we needed for breakfast were still dirty. I wanted to bloody strangle her by the end of the week.

@InpatientGardener

We booked an Airbnb recently and there's a £30 'cleaning fee' which I was a bit about. Surely if you're letting out a property part and parcel of that is to get it ready for your next guests? I'm not suggesting we ought to leave the place in a state for free but paying for normal cleaning seems a bit much.

On ABB this is often a way to get the nightly "rate" to a tempting level.

All advertising platforms are different and owners are charged commission. Having the cleaning fee seperately might mean that the owner pays less commission to the site.

I would also be concerned that the only cleaning done before you arrived was whatever the previous holidaymakers managed to do. Hardly COVID safe.

I clean for a local AirBnB.
I am always happy when people empty bins and strip the bed but not everyone does.
I would hate to think of places where they just rely on the previous guests to clean..
I have to check glass and plates after they have been washed as some need doing again etc etc.
It is crazy that to me that there are places like this.

We stayed in a holiday cottage that was filthy when we arrived. No hoovering done, dusting half done (front of the tv was clean but the back was filthy, our dog smanaged to fish a decent meal out of the dropped food left under furniture, it was grim. Looking through the welcome back I then saw a note that we were expected to hoover, dust and clean bathrooms when we left, we certainly were not told that when we booked and were actually charged a seperate cleaning fee! I had taken pictures when we arrived and I showed them to the owner before we left and said I wasn't cleaning twice! Too cheap to hire a cleaner, too bloody lazy to do it themselves! It has put me right off hiring a cottage every again, I prefer a hotel.

@MadeForThis

I would also be concerned that the only cleaning done before you arrived was whatever the previous holidaymakers managed to do. Hardly COVID safe.

If someone is that paranoid about bloody covid they probably should stay at home.

I was told off for not hoovering a cottage once. I won't be booking it again!

I have been asked to take rubbish out to the bins in all the lets we have stayed in.
We were once asked to strip the beds and take the bedding down to a hamper in a communal shed as the bedding from all flats in the block was picked up, washed and pressed by a professional cleaning company
Apart from tidying round and wiping down the kitchen surfaces and loading the dishwasher we leave the place tidy but that is it. I don’t like cleaning my own house let alone holiday accommodation

No way, I would do a general tidy, wipe down bench etc but I'm paying to stay somewhere so I can take a break from every day hum drum. If I had to do that I wouldn't stay.

That’s not normal
We have a cottage , we ask people to empty bin , put used crockery etc in dishwasher and leave it running
Some people strip beds , some don’t , most put used towels in the bath
We do the proper cleaning
We go through Airbnb.
There’s as much cleaning for 2 nights as there is for seven , we charge a cleaning fee per stay ( not per night )

I think all you can do it vote with your feet. We stayed at one place in Cornwall that expected us to go and buy a special envelope, as sold by the post office in a big town nearby, add stamps and post the key back to them at the end of the holiday. We did it but never booked with that company again. We'd paid over £700, they could have at least provided the special envelope! I go on holiday to get away from tedious admin.

And they expected us to vacuum before we left.

I'll strip beds, and wipe down the kitchen. A quick hoover if we've spilled anything, otherwise no, and no mopping either. Any dirty pots are washed and put away, although if there's a dishwasher, I'll put the pots in there and set it running when I leave. Bins are emptied where possible.

Had this with an Airbnb place in Spain once, run by an English couple.

The wife of the pair wanted it absolutely spotless - even though it hadn’t been when we arrived (dirty cups etc), and we’d paid a cleaning charge deliberately to avoid this. She said “the cleaning charge only buys you x amount of time” in a reallt imperious way. We were already on the holiday by that time.

I have to say that that experience, and the things the woman blamed us for in her review, which weren’t down to us, really put me off Airbnb.

I’ve also had similar in France with a static caravan let, where the park owner wanted us to buy spring cleaning equipment and basically clean from top to bottom.

This is one of the things I like about resorts in the U.K. like Center Parcs / Bluestone etc - you don’t get this crap!

I wouldn’t be doing it either

We were looking at a cottage the other day that had a whole list of cleaning requirements - oh, and check out was before 9:30am.

I didn’t book it. It had loads of availability so I guess others are put off by it too.

I strip the beds and put bedding together with towels, put the bins out, make sure there’s no dirty washing up and give the place a wipe round and I’ll mop or hoover if we’ve spilt something or made a mess, but that’s it.

I’m not being used to prepare the cottage for the next guests.

We looked at a villa in Crete a few years ago who wanted a €700 cleaning fee

NB - I’d had other good Airbnb stays prior to the Spain one, with a normal amount of tidying/ cleaning up after yourself required, but with the cleaning charge paying for the rest!

It is because of Covid I have been requested to do the same