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 stayed in a lovely house in France. Spent a couple of hours cleaning on our last morning. Owners came to inspect and almost dragged me into bedroom to show me the disgusting long blonde hairs under the bed. Only issue with that was DH has a greying No. 4 cut and my hair is short and mousey. Cue lots of shrugging and pointing at the dustpan and brush. Left a bit of a sour taste tbh.

I think if you're renting out holiday homes, cleaning should be top of your list of priorities and business expenses.

Isn't there a cleaning fee added on to the booking fee with Airbnb for this. When I booked it clearly said cleaning fee. I will leave it tidy, but certainly won't be spring cleaning.

They won't know if the floor is mopped or not! I wouldn't do it.

Years ago we had one that wanted beds stripping, I never did it I was cross enough I had to make my own bed when I got there! Don't know whether in the current climate I would, there is little risk of covid from bed linen.

Just leave it as long as it isn't filthy it should be fine.

If it’s in France i’d say it’s standard. Have not had that in the UK.

As someone up thread said we expect people to leave it as they found it tidy wise as you would if you had a cleaner coming in at home. Because of covid we have to ask people to leave an hour early and come in an hour late. The cleaners have to sanitise everything as well as clean (so EVERYTHING has to have an anti viral wipe down after the normal cleaning) then they leave so the place has a chance to air before the next lot. We have to pay the cleaners extra (50% increase) but this has not been passed on to the guests. We also ask people to strip the beds and put in black bags if they are able (again only because of covid). We would hope the kitchen sides to have had a normal level of wipe down (not behind the microwave etc) and the loo not to be vile but expect everything to need a proper clean. We have also had to remove a lot of the extra bits like the books/ games etc as they can't be sanitised and we are not allowed to leave the normal tea/ coffee welcome pack. It all looks a bit bare compared to normal

We have used many s/c places over the years, usually UK or France. We have always cleaned up after ourselves with no problem or complaint. Apart from once a few years ago, I had mopped floors, cleaned bathrooms and kitchen etc, and the (English) caretaker pointed to a smudge the size of a couple of fingers on a glass coffee table and told me to get a cloth and wipe it off before she would refund our deposit

I have always stripped beds, hoovered through (as with dog), made sure dishes were done and put away, emptied bins, I'd wipe anything dirty in bathroom but not a proper clean. I run a let now and I am asking guests to leave windows and internal doors open, empty bins, strip beds/towels into machine washable bags, clear kitchen of their own food, dishes, I don't mind a load left in dishwasher (cleaned!), this is to reduce our risk of Covid, I don't think it's too much too ask, it's what I've done in the past anyway, some people leave places in a disgusting state. Yes, your on holiday but cleaners are people too and shouldn't be left with a ridiculous amount of your crap to wade through!

Self catering guidelines for cleaning due to covid 19 say there is a risk from bed linen...so until they change their guidance I'll be asking folk to strip beds! Maybe it's worth reading the guidelines we are given if you are wondering why you are being asked to do certain things.

And as @Elphame says the margins are not high. The place we let through takes about 25% and fixes the prices they let your place at. We have to let through them for a certain amount of weeks a year. In the winter months we take it off the books as their charge does not cover the cleaners and the water electric etc so it isn't worth it. And they were complete sods over covid with a complete lack of communication with owners and many very upset and irate customers as they initially refused to refund money which has a knock on effect on owners as customers look elsewhere

I’ve just sold my holiday let but I never asked guests to clean. I did leave them a nice selection of cleaning stuff; method, kitchen roll and ecloths. Enough dishwasher tabs, laundry stuff and toilet paper too. In seven years the people who left the place mucky I could count on one hand.

It was always immaculate for arrival though. My theory is that if people come to stay somewhere nice and there’s cleaning stuff then 99% of people will keep it clean. Not next guest clean but ready for a cleaner clean :)

That's crazy. I wouldn't want to stay in a cottage only cleaned by the last occupants.

We've had holiday cottages for past 20 years, as dog owners. We have been asked to strip beds once. I normally just ensure sinks /benches wiped. Put rubbish out. Hoover, or brush, due to having dog. Would keep on top of those things anyway. I wouldn't be keen on staying anywhere, if they didn't have proper cleaners. On my arrival, I tend to flash wipe surfaces, handles, remotes, but that's just me😂

I don't ask guests to clean our gîte.
Since covid I ask that they bag linens and towels.
I do ask them to put the recycling into the correct bin and to empty all the waste bins. There is little more disgusting than having to empty bedroom or bathroom bins with used unwrapped sanitary items.
And yes, the outside bins are labelled to make recycling easy and I provide lined bins and disposal bags for bathrooms.

Dusting? Mopping? Actual cleaning?
No- I do that, they are on holiday and probably wouldn't do it properly anyway.

My friend is paying extra for her holiday lets which is passed onto guests to do a covid clean already, early check out, later check in so apart from stripping beds dumping in a plastic bag, ditto towels, they are taking the mick. Friend is paying through the nose for this service already. Her cleaning costs have doubled.

I should add that in DILs years as a host the only truly dirty guests were overseas visitors from Asia. The brits she said were sooo good.

I stayed in a lodge where you were asked to strip beds and leave kitchen as you found it. When I handed the keys back, I said sorry we haven’t left the kitchen exactly as we found it, but we thought the pizza that was in the microwave when we got there might be smelling even worse if we left it for the next occupant!

Yes, I have stripped the beds. I clean up if I have made a mess. There is no way I'd be mopping floors, though I do give them a sweep. What exactly are the cleaners getting paid for if the guests are expected to do this?

We stayed in a beautiful clean lodge last year and we did leave it tidy and clean , but dh also wrote a long list of the things that didn't work very well, the dodgy window that wouldn't shut properly , the dripping leaking tap, the light bulb that didn't work , the remote control that didn't work the tv in our room, the dodgy curtain pole the list went on! They were just pleased we had pointed it out to them , but they couldn't do any repairs until we had left there ( because of covid )
It's not always the holiday makers that leave places in a mess these things should have been sorted out before we went inside.
Nice people and place though.

Does anyone remember that mad thread where all these MNers were earnestly explaining how they would strip the sheets off the beds in a hotel room ? I thought that was just so weird. I leave hotel rooms in a decent state (trash in bin etc.) but removing sheets is the job of the person who is paid to clean the rooms.

@Takemetomiami

We are already here! It’s through a big cottage company that we have used before, they’ve never sent us reminders about cleaning. They even text me this morning to tell me to check the email! Just to be clear, I always leave them in a presentable state.

Tell them you turn your phone off whilst on holiday.

I clean a holiday let. I wouldn’t expect anyone to clean the place bar putting their rubbish out, though most people do leave the place pretty clean. It all gets cleaned again as it has to be immaculate for the next guests. I see that opinion is divided re leaving dishwashers running and that someone asked what the cleaners would put in the dishwasher other than dirty crockery. We run clean cutlery, glasses etc through a programme with sterilising solution as part of our covid cleaning. We also check every item in the cupboards for fingermarks etc and rewash it if necessary.

@Kokeshi123

Does anyone remember that mad thread where all these MNers were earnestly explaining how they would strip the sheets off the beds in a hotel room ? I thought that was just so weird. I leave hotel rooms in a decent state (trash in bin etc.) but removing sheets is the job of the person who is paid to clean the rooms.

Oh, yes, another OTT competitive virtue signalling thread. Pure comedy gold.

My understanding is that most Air bnbs have a cleaning fee so therefore you aren't expected to clean it. But if there is no cleaning fee then, yes, you need to clean it. Frankly I wouldn't book an Air bnb without a cleaning fee!

Well with many house keeping staff and restaurant staff having gone home post brexit, covid, and not returned, having to do your own bedding and limited menus are not so far fetched thoughts in the hotel industry we are in a mess hospitality wise.

I don't mind gathering up the bed linens and towels, giving the kitchen floor a quick sweep, if there have been crumbs dropped, and wiping down any surface where we prepared or ate food, but that's it. I wouldn't be mopping (what a laugh!) and definitely wouldn't deep-clean the bathroom.