To be infuriated by my mum cleaning the AirBnB?

[MangosteenSoda]

Tbh, I know I’m being somewhat unreasonable and exasperated is probably a better word than infuriated, but bloody hell! Why?

I’m clean and tidy and never leave a mess or dirty dishes etc. My mum is doing a full on deep clean. Polishing the sideboard kind of thing. Cleaner than when we arrived. Check out time is 11 and she started around 7. Everything packed and pristine by 8.30, then sitting around twiddling thumbs. We are moving on to another destination and have an activity booked en route, so no point setting off early. Would go to the beach again with DS, but she would probably freak out by any sand being brought back in. Arrgh.

I’m hiding in my bedroom with a half packed case, Mnetting like a sulky teen I can hear the sound of elbow grease from outside the door.

Love, love, love my mum dearly and my DS loves a holiday with his grandparents. But this drives me mad!

I used to clean holiday apartments and cottages and still help out from time to time.
As a cleaner it's nice to go in and find the place isn't a shit tip with filth everywhere. Burned on food on the hob or in the oven is an absolute pain. Shit stains in the toilet are unpleasant. A dishwasher full of unwashed dishes is also a nuisance - please switch it on and let it run at least.
Rubbish should be taken out regularly during the week so it doesn't end up stinking the place out.

However, we had cleaning protocols. Everything got cleaned whether it was clean or not!
Basically, guests just need to keep things reasonably clean as they go along which the majority of people do.

That said, we had some awful guests sometimes. The worst one was a group of 8-10 men who booked a chalet and then had (we assumed) an orgy in there. Semen stains on everything..... And caked on semen all over the glass shower screens right up to the top.
That one has stayed with me. Absolutely vile. I mean, have your orgy if you want but at least rinse the shower down as you go along.

I cleaned the last Airbnb I stayed at but that was because it was a private flat I'd been at for 2 weeks (work trip) and it was pre-COVID, plus I think the cleaning fee she'd charged was teeny. Also left some chocolates I'd brought with me and forgotten to gobble down open and a little thank you card - got a glowing review (but obvs no partial refund )

Have been in larger houses with groups where we've just done the bare minimum, things PP have described like bin emptying and wiping down surfaces. Always strip the beds, even in hotels, so good to know some prefer people don't do this!

More importantly, I want to know what a "deep clean" entails! Is it like inside of cupboards etc? Amazed at the PP whose mother cleaned walls, that's another level of neurotic cleaning for me

Go to the beach OP, and have a large alcoholic beverage tonight - you've earned it

I mean, have your orgy if you want but at least rinse the shower down as you go along.

Sympathies, that sounds awful. My aunt used to have a B&B and we heard some hair-raising tales about guests trying to do a runner without paying, stained sheets, stolen property etc etc. Grim stuff.

Go out and leave her to it OP.

Some people enjoy cleaning. Im one of them. Cleaning a room and leaving it spotless after a holiday gives me a very satisfying feeling. It’s like a box being ticked. It’s not a judgement on anyone else. Nor is it about avoiding a poor review or anything. It’s not harming anyone, is it?

it's not harming anyone, but it's a pain in the arse when no one can sit down with a coffee in peace without the martyr rushing around and cleaning.

I keep the place clean and tidy for my own convenience, but wouldn't waste 1 hour of my last morning frantically cleaning around.

Same here. I do what the owners ask, but no more, except making sure that there is no dog hair anywhere. To me, it's basically the same as staying in a hotel (except in a hotel, I can't vacuum the dog hair, but we leave a large tip for the housekeeping staff). However, it wouldn't bother me if someone else in my party did a deep clean, as long as they didn't expect me to participate.

“If you have time to lean (sit down and have coffee) you have time to clean”

-Sheldon Cooper-

Why would you strip beds if you weren't asked @robotcollision? I'm checking out today. I've emptied the fridge and left it tidy but I'm not cleaning it. I've paid for cleaning and the cleaner will do it anyway to Covid secure standards. Why waste your time and energy? You're on holiday!

@alltheemptyfields

it's not harming anyone, but it's a pain in the arse when no one can sit down with a coffee in peace without the martyr rushing around and cleaning.

martyr behaviour is toxic and harms everyone in it, near it, around it.

Back in the 70s and 80s it was the norm to do your own clean on departure from a holiday cottage, so perhaps this is what your mum is thinking? A caretaker would usually rock up to make sure all was in order as you departed, but it was often an elderly person just checking it was left ok for the next family and definitely not an army of cleaners.
You always took your own bedding and towels so there was no washing to be done.
Sometimes you could pay extra for a full clean if you didn't want to do it yourself, or even hire bed linen on a per person basis, but the beds wouldn't usually be made up - this was the height of decadence!

I used to work with somebody that booked an oven cleaner to come and then the evening before cleaned the oven themselves as it was dirty

There's a lot of things that don't make sense

Oh, dear, OP, I think I am your DM! We left a holiday let this morning and I hoovered through and did surfaces, set the dishwasher going in time for it all to go away before we left and stripped beds...

I can't help it! Leaving a place grubby is more than I can manage. It wasn't s deep clean, but eyes were being rolled.

I was the same when the DC were small, and I've always been like it. We used to be offered my DP's beach house for the weekend and of course we left it spotless for them, so perhaps it's habit. Also DD2 had a holiday cleaning job when she was at uni so I heard her tales of how people left them. I don't want to be that party.

I hate it when people strip beds in the hope of being helpful. It's lovely and thoughtful but half the bedding is mine and the other half is linen hire. If it's all in a big pile I have to pick through it worried I'll send my expensive linen back to hire place and/or not knowing what I'll find hiding in there!

In my experience the bed strippers are hiding sick or poop!

As a cleaner of my own property I just don't know what's been cleaned or not so even if she's dusted the skirting boards I have to do it again!

I had a MIL just like this. Problem was that she was always cleaning my house and ex DH thought I was lazy because I let her when she was here and didn't clean as well as her when she wasn't. We lived on a farm and I think she washed my kitchen floor everytime someone walked on it when she was staying here! The dogs bedding got washed daily along with our sheets, towels etc. I was out at work full-time so couldn't stop her, but it was lovely to come home to a clean house! I miss MIL more than exDH.

I'm an airbnb host and I can't tell you how much I would love your mum to be my guest. Most of my guests leave the place nice and tidy when they leave but some manage to leave it sparking which I'm so grateful to them for. Perfect guest, you'll get a great review and be welcomed with open arms for future stays.

This would drive me mad because (a) it's so utterly pointless - the owner is still going to have to do a deep clean anyway and (b) people fussing around you cleaning always give the impression that they're resenting the fact that you're not joining in.

I’m the same when it comes to cleaning to a certain extent due to usually having young children with me and how I was raised, leave the place as clean as you arrived. I’m also the one who does the booking and has the account so even more so. I don’t want a bad review. However, I usually do a clean an hour before checkout so there is no need to rush it and I know everyone is packed and ready to go.

What also irks me is that the majority of exceptionally clean guests tend to come from less well off backgrounds.

Meanwhile Airbnb hosts are among the wealthiest groups in society, able to afford extra space or extra properties - and before I get jumped on, of course this is #notallhosts and am sure this doesn't mean that they are rolling in cash or feel wealthy next to their friends, but in a country where a large percentage don't even have 1-2 months salary in savings, they're doing pretty well.

It irks me, therefore, that it's less well off immigrants (like my mum) running around on holiday to make things sparkling to help out second home owners.

I have to say that this was our first stay in an Airbnb. I wasn't even thinking about a review becaue you don't get a review for being a visitor on other sites. It's just what I do.

it means you're less likely to leave something behind

it means you're less likely to leave something behind

Absolutely this!

@MotionActivatedDog

“If you have time to lean (sit down and have coffee) you have time to clean”

-Sheldon Cooper-

😂

well technically if you have time to book a holiday, you'd have time to work and earn money for your pension, but why on earth would you!

My time to sit down is worth a lot more than paying someone to clean.

I know- I was just enjoying an opportunity to use that line I don’t think you should have cleaned.

How lovely your mum is...especially as you will have paid a cleaning fee to AirBnB. People used to have pride leaving a place clean (like your mum) but I imagine that is rare now.