Self catering holiday cleaning

[jellybaby10]

I got back from my holiday today where I paid a £200 damage deposit. We received an email this evening to ask how a mattress had become stained when it had a waterproof mattress protector on. I replied by saying that I did not know as that room wasn't even slept in as we stored clothes(clean and dry) in there.

We were also told that If we wanted to return them next time to Hoover more often. We did sweep floors regularly and vacuum as I'm mindful as I have a Labrador that I know she'd a lot. She had her own bed and blankets too.

It's made me feel like it's spoilt the end of our holiday as I'm worrying whether the deposit will be repaid.

Upon leaving we stripped all beds and put dirty sheets in black bags as asked of us and swept floors and wiped down fridge. We also emptied all bins and recycling. When we left I thought it looked presentable. Checkout time was also 9am.

What is a reasonable amount of cleaning when self catering? There is no way i'd leave somebody's property in a mess

Utterly ridiculous. On leaving I sweep floors or hoover swill floors with mop wipe surfaces ensure loos flushed and rubbish put out and fridge emptied and wiped over. I won’t spend longer than an hour / 90 mins max Don’t strip beds or anything.

Did this yesterday in an air bnb and just been reviewed as a “lovely family they would welcome back”. I’m not doing any more than that nor should you!.

Cleaner of holiday lets here..
As long as no dirty dishes or visible rubbish I am happy!
With Covid I clean everywhere anyway. Wouldn't expect anything cleaned. Loo flushed hopefully though!

I leave it clean and tidy. No more or less.
We stayed at a lovely place this year. The owner asked that the beds be stripped cos covid and that the dishwasher be loaded and run,even if it meant putting clean stuff in cos it all had to go through.
She said not to worry about any other cleaning as she and cleaner had to do it all anyway due to covid.

Thank you everyone, it's made me feel better as she made me feel like we were a dirty family. We had a reply back from the message we sent when we stated that we didn't know how the stain got onto the mattress(I didn't even notice a stain) and she said the people who stayed before must have removed the cover but she had to ask as she is the owner of the property.

The reason we stripped the bed that wasn't used was because although we knew it wasn't used the owner wouldn't have known so I stripped all of the beds.

It has put me off going again and yet the location was perfect.

On leaving I sweep floors or hoover swill floors with mop wipe surfaces ensure loos flushed and rubbish put out and fridge emptied and wiped over. I won’t spend longer than an hour / 90 mins max

All this before a 9am checkout! They're lucky I'm out of bed in time.
I put dishwasher on and empty bins. That's it. If they don't want me back I will give my £2k to someone else.

I’ve been caught out with this before so now I take a photo of every room to show how we leave the property just in case there’s any dispute. I clean as I go. Like you strip the beds. Empty dishwasher and bins/recycling. I do not hoover unless I had made a mess. I’m a bit hacked off with some of the significant price hikes, new covid rules (not quite sure what the increased risk is in stripping beds v handling the used bedding put in a pile. Also the super early checkout times but list of chores to do on checkout. I’m on my holibobs ps don’t use the washing machine too much v cheeky!

We had this ridiculousness with an Airbnb. She left me a bad review when I'd stripped all beds, wiped down all sides, done all the dishwashing and recycling. We'd already paid £90 for cleaning so not sure what more they were expecting! Left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Actually it makes me feel better reading about your experience - I was really upset when our host implied we were untidy/dirty. I stay in Airbnbs loads and have over 20 entirely positive reviews.

A similar thing happened to me once. On our way home the owner phoned and started going bananas, accusing us of having a party and trashing the place. I honestly thought she had the wrong person!

It was a great apartment and we had hoped to stay again. It put me off staying anywhere that’s not owned by a big company, though sometimes it’s hard to tell as listings can be mis-leading.

She did give the deposit back eventually when I asked for photos of the ‘mess’ we were supposed to have left behind.

I'd be very happy with all you did, OP. It sounds to me as if previous guests caused the mattress to become stained. If the owner checked after each family (as they should do), they would have been able to identify the culprit - so it's their mistake.

Also think 9 is unreasonably early for checkout, btw.

We have stayed in independently owned places since, but now I make sure to ask the owners directly what we’re expected to do with the recycling/rubbish and laundry etc.

Strange that most owners say ‘don’t worry, the cleaners will deal with that!’ and others expect you to do a deep clean. I wish booking.com/air b n b had the same policies for all properties.

Did you put the dog in the car before you did the final sweep and hoover? I wonder if she shed hair onto the clean floors without you realising?

The mattress thing is ridiculous, the stain was probably left by a previous guest and went unnoticed.

I ask our guests to strip beds and place in bags provided, empty bins and load the dishwasher.
I ask people to sort recycling as they go- it's made easy for them - as it's a revolting job going through the rubbish after they have gone to pick out the recycling from food waste, nappies etc.

That's all- I provide cleaning stuff, and am grateful if it's used, but don't expect it iyswim

I take photos. This is because I was accused of leaving a cottage in a big mess and I know I hadn't. I was furious. I am sure some try it on to keep extra monies.

An

The dog and everybody else were in the car as I like to check every room on my own to check we haven't left anything behind so I'm the last one out to lock up etc. We had done cleaning the night before due to the early check out time and also done the general morning cleaning first think such as washing up, drying and putting things away in cupboards.

I thought the place looked presentable when we left. It made me feel like my standards were low. Glad to hear I'm not the only person that has had this happen to.

I will take pictures in the future. It's a lesson learnt.

Also how could the mattress be stained if it had a waterproof protector on? I reckon it was stained before, stand your ground.

She reminds me of the dodgy car hire companies that know exactly where to look and 'mysteriously' find a tiny (yet apparently highly expensive) cosmetic scratch under the bumper when you return it - which you of course will have to pay for. Of course, they never actually do 'fix' it (not that it matters at all), as doing so would then take away their excuse for charging everybody returning that car for the same trivial thing indefinitely.

We've always been fortunate with holiday cottages where we've stayed - us being reasonable people and the hosts being the same - but some people are horrible and some people run holiday lets, so it stands to reason that there will be people who fall into both categories, and will see a 'just in case' deposit as their rightful bonus from the outset, as long as they perform a little drama to claim it.

Did you book through a company or direct with the owner? I work for a holiday home management company and we have all the guests’ details, we never provide them to the owners.

We ask our guests to strip their beds and place all linen inside the linen bags we provide, because covid. Check out time is 9.45am because covid and it genuinely does take our housekeepers longer to clean, as they have to do a normal clean plus sanitise afterwards.

What you did sounds perfect though and more than a lot of our guests do!

I usually leave beds stripped, toilet clean, floors swept, clean dishes draining or dishwasher on, surfaces wiped, furniture where we found it and TV remote fished out from back of sofa and left somewhere visible!

I run an Airbnb and I don’t expect hoovering or stripping the beds. If anyone strips the beds it’s an additional bonus. I expect my cottage to be tidy when left but am even happy if guests don’t take the bins out. I clean everything anyway when they leave. Only thing that annoys me is a dirty oven or microwave. Otherwise I just want guests to enjoy themselves and have a lovely holiday. Not worry about cleaning. It’s not their job ( and we are dog friendly too…)

As a cottage, well gite, owner the cost of mattresses, crockery, glassware, pans, etc, is factored into the price over the season. Sometimes you are luckier than others. What some people do and their standards never fails to amaze and I am talking 5* properties here.

Tidiness with dishwasher on is all that's required together with a basic level of cleanliness. I don't expect guests to hoover but it's nice if they wipe down the top of the cooker/units and clean the bloody barbecues. shit in the bath or pool doesn't result in a repeat booking But for the family whose son split his head open and got blood on almost every surface and rug we absolutely pulled the stops out for them.

When we occasionally rent a cottage we leave it spotless and immaculate because as an owner I judge.

I would forward the email on from the holiday owner to the actual holiday company you booked with. Do not wait to see if she withholds your deposit, but forward the email with a complaint.

The holiday company will want to know how the owner is treating the guest. Make it clear you hadn’t even used the bed, and the cleaning you did was appropriate for an end of stay clean. Say you feel to suggest using app,I cancel less is entirely inappropriate when you have paid to use them. Say that the whole tone of the message left a nastytaste in your mouth at the end of your holiday.

Some holiday websites are literally just the advertising and go-between between owners and renters. They won’t be interested at all and say it’s all down to the pair of you. Others stake their reputation as a holiday firm on this kind of thing not happening.

Either way, don’t suffer in silence. You paid and you cleaned up. You should not have to deal with rudeness and inappropriateness.

Could be a try on…we got an email accusing us of having scuffed their paint work on the second floor with our pram and asking for hundreds to repaint. We couldn’t and didn’t carry a buggy up two flights of stairs. When we pointed this out and also that their back door was pained shut in breach of fire safety regs we heard nothing more (via the booking agency) some people are awful aren’t they and it did also take the gloss off our memories of the trip.

Sounds like a CF!
I usually leave it presentable but not sparkling they are supposed to clean properly between guests especially with covid!
Personally I would wait to get your deposit then give a honest review of the owner!
I think some people just try it on rather than accept wear and tear etc.

Threads like this make me glad we went down the caravan route. When husband is faffing about with nose weights I longingly think back to our renting cottage days but then having our own stuff, pleasing ourselves and paying £20 a night makes me feel a bit better