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?

We once stayed in a cottage and wiped surfaces, stripped bed, emptied bin and hoovered, only to get a call half way home from the owner saying we’d left it in a disgusting state and we shouldn’t expect to ever be allowed to stay again!. Baffling. I’d always assumed it was because we weren’t white, so it’s quite nice to hear it’s quite common. We’ve never rented a cottage in the UK again.

Last September I booked a lovely holiday cottage through one of the big agencies, and was told I couldn't book in until 4pm to give the owners time to do a "Covid" clean. I was reassured by that as my husband has cancer and is vulnerable. At first sight the place looked very clean, but I had to go in the shower after walking barefoot across the room, because my feet were black! I don't think the floor had been washed all season. I always put everything through the dishwasher when I arrive, and leave the place clean when I leave. In this case, the cottage was definitely cleaner when I left, though I didn't do the floor!

@LadyCluck

We usually use the same holiday cottage company who ask for beds to be stripped and empty bins. I don’t mind doing that. Asking you to do more than that is taking the mick imo.

Nor I. I ensure fridges, kitchen surfaces and lavatories are left spotless. and showers/baths are not full of hair. But deep-cleaning of bathrooms, no. That's a cleaners' job. I'll also pile up towels and bedding. In a COVID environment I don't have any objection to stripping beds, but not otherwise.

I own a holiday let. While I don't expect the place to be left in an absolute tip, I employ cleaners to do a deep clean. Currently, the cleaners are asking that beds are stripped, linen is bagged up, bins and fridge emptied due to covid19 guidelines.

I've had the property let out for about 6 years, the cleaners have never complained the property is not left in an appropriate way.

@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.

Just so you are aware, the cleaning fee enables Air BnB hosts to offer short stays which wouldn't ordinarily be worth it.

You pay £30 if it is one night or 14 nights. Personally I think it makes it more transparent for guests rather than having a higher nightly rate across the board.

@BarbaraofSeville

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.

As a holiday let owner, please don't do this. It delays the cleaners so much. If you have to just wash the breakfast pots up and leave them on the drainer.

But op, that's ridiculous. We ask for people to leave it tidy but we steam clean it, clean the bathroom etc thoroughly ourselves. We'd never expect guests to do it.

To the pp who asked about Airbnb charging- all hotels charge for cleaning it's just included in the overall rate per night. AirBnB is different in that you charge a rate per night plus a cleaning fee. It's akin to flying- each portion is disaggregated.

We have a cottage booked next week and there are instructions about stripping the beds, etc. A full clean isn't expected though. To be fair op we'd leave the place clean and tidy and make sure the bathrooms and kitchens were clean and the floors swept and always have.

The requirements are part of the covid safe rules. Our check out is 9am and check in is 4pm so it's shifted an hour either side. We are just thrilled to be going to a holiday cottage next week and having a break from our home where we have been wfh since 23rd March. I'd clean the tiles with a tooth brush if required to facilitate it tbh.

It annoys me having to check out at 9am for 'covid' cleaning

Ridiculous, stressful and demanding.

Just what I look for in a relaxing break

Stayed in an Airbnb in NY once. I got a message from the owner at 5am (she was in London for the duration we were renting it) asking me to strip the beds, wash all towels, wash all linen and replace it on the bed and leave by 9.30am as she was on a flight back to NY and wanted to sleep as soon as she got in.

I told her we had already left.

But seriously she expected us to be up at 6am and do what would be about 4 loads of washing and drying in 3 hours.
She was a lunatic.

@Malin52 the craziest thing about that is renting out your apartment and only having one set of bedding .

@NeilBuchananisBanksy so you are asking a guest to delay themselves by washing up by hand so the cleaners aren't delayed by a dishwasher?! A dishwasher is unlikely to run for longer than a cleaner needs to clean a property and even then the cleaner would have to be there about 5 minutes after the guest has left.
Hand washed glasses are always not very clean so would need dishwasher again anyway.

We rented an Airbnb in Germany and enquired of the owner what cleaning was required and she replied "just basic cleaning". We wiped surfaces, stripped beds, emptied bins, swept and left it pretty presentable (as we would a UK let) and then she left us a scathing review that we 'had no respect for foreign property' I'd always pay the cleaning fee if offered!

@NeilBuchananisBanksy - I've read this before on MN and I don't understand how one load in the dishwasher is going to delay the cleaners so much. There are currently 6 hours between guests. How is unloading a dishwasher going to delay the cleaners?

And tbh I don't wash up at home and I'm not going to start when I go on holiday.

I'd be unhappy about this unless it was made very clear at the point of booking.

Ridiculous. I am happy to put used towels in the bath. Empty bins. Cowan down surfaces. Tidy up. Even strip beds if need be. But like fuck am I cleaning the whole place before I leave. Unless they pay me!

I think most holiday companies have a clause which says you should leave the place as you found it - but realistically, you’d expect a cleaner in after every visit.

That is far too much. Don't they employ a cleaner?

The point of not leaving a dishwasher running is that the cleaners may need to use it themselves as part of the cleaning operation.

The dishwasher thing....

It delays the cleaners if you don't put it on- full of course.

It means it will finish before the cleaners leave, allowing them to put it away.

So please, don't leave the dishes, put them in the dishwasher!!!

The only time I've ever stripped beds was after a canal boat holiday last October when we were given special laundry bags to put the bed linen and towels in. It was entirely covid related. We were still unloading our belongings and the fogging and cleaning team were on the tow path waiting to go aboard and clean and the chap collecting the bags of dirty linen wore a high grade filter mask. Pre Covid, I've stayed in many rented cottages through well known agencies. I have never stripped beds - just left the place neat and tidy with bathroom rinsed down and kitchen worktops wiped. Always empty the bins too but that is it. I have never lost a deposit and have always had 5* ratings from Airbnb hosts.

I thought a lot of air b and bs charge you for the clean at the end?

I agree it's cheeky - although people complaining about late check in/ early check out - a lot of places are dictated to by a regulatory body - and need to maintain Covid protocol, it's not an excuse to rip people off.

I used to clean holiday cottages & the things I saw Many times people had soiled the bed & turned the mattress over, one woman pissed in the waste paper bin during the night, one family took all the furniture (sofas/armchairs) outside to give their kids 'room to play' - it inevitably rained.

Sometimes these guidelines are borne out of places being left in a disgusting state.

This is why we have stopped using Airbnb. We were burned once (after having stripped beds, swept floors, washed/dried/put away all dishes, and put everything back as we found it, AND having done all that knowing that we were still having to pay a €50 cleaning fee, the owner gave us a bad review because the cleaner had found crumbs UNDER THE SOFA CUSHIONS.

Sorry, but no. If I don’t even hoover out the innards of my own sofa more than once/year, there is no way I am doing that for a holiday let.

We do aparthotels now.

Stayed in one holiday let in France - booked via a British company.

First the owner had a fit that we would get there at 6pm (due to Ferry schedules) as she liked to go to bed at 7pm and this would be too late for her.

Day 2 she turned up to inspect us. After 20 minutes told me she was 'still waiting' and when I asked what for, she said 'for the 500 euros in cash'. When I looked completely blank it turned out she expected to be given 500 euros in cash in an envelope as a deposit in case we broke anything. Holiday was paid for in full in advance via the website and there was nothing about any deposit.

DH said he didn't want 500 euros in cash back at the end of the holiday and he had zero intention of paying and she could take it up with the holiday letting company, we were now going out so could she please leave.

We returned to a list of cleaning supplies we needed to purchase and a list of jobs to be completed before leaving. She also gave us our inspection time. I had a new baby and am partially disabled so that was not great news - especially as there was a cleaning fee included in the holiday booking.

The list included having to drive all the rubbish from the bins to a recyling centre near 10 miles away, and to polish the inside of the oven!

Since then we have opted not to stay in France anymore.

Stayed in a cottage in Scotland 2 years ago and it was the complete opposite - I did a basic clean so that the place looked like we did when we arrived. Rang the owner to say I'd left the keys with the local barber as requested and mentioned I hadn't been sure about where to put the recycling and he was amazed I'd done anything at all.