To think that holiday let owners with 'unusual' house rules should have to make them clear on the advert?

[bsidecside]

We're regular holiday let-stayers as a we have loads of kids (5), and so have seen a variety of 'house rules' over the years. We're currently staying in an otherwise lovely holiday let that has a house rule that 'all refuse and recycling must be removed from the property'. We're not staying very remotely (small town on the coast close to other small towns) so I can't see any 'need' for this rule other than to cut down the cleaning at the end. Having to remove all our litter (which I'm trying to keep on top of as we go) is making me increasingly cross. I'm not saying I definitely wouldn't have booked if we'd seen this rule, but I certainly would have considered other options more carefully first!

Cheer me up with your tales of the weirdest - unexpected - house rules you've come across in a holiday let!

If there isn't someone in the house, then the owner should do it or arrange for someone to do it. Why is this the paying guests' problem such that they have to take all their rubbish with them?

If your family member is charging for the use of their holiday home (which I assume they are since this is a thread about holiday lets), that is an unreasonable request.

Really? We've always rented holiday lets and not once been told to take our rubbish to the local tip. Outside wheelie bins, yes, I'd expect that.

Well, yes, 20 pounds per night is 140 for the week. That seems obvious.

Unless it was clearly stated then I would interpret that as £20 for the week, not per night.

It’s usual for a dog charge to be £20 a week not per night (presumably for extra cleaning) I know that was charge when we stayed in a cottage. I was annoyed we’d paid it and on arrival it stated dog was confined to kitchen area and couldn’t use upstairs lounge or go in any bedrooms. It meant we didn’t use lounge as dog understandably wanted to be with us and I didn’t want him scratching door to try and get to us.

I don't have a dog, so it's not something I've ever looked into. I would assume the quoted price would be per night because with an AirBnB type place you rent by the night. The rest of it - doesn't sound very dog "friendly", you're right.

This was a holiday cottage through a company weekly price not air b n b. It was only £20 for the week.

A lot of landlords took the piss last year, I hope they get their arses handed to them this year

I'm not sure they are though - people seem willing to pay outrageous prices and put up with ridiculous rules. I don't understand why people are so compliant.

If I am paying for a service, I expect to receive that service. If I am paying to rent a house/flat/lodge, I will leave it tidy at the end of the stay. I won't trash it or let my kids draw on the walls etc. That is reasonable.

But any routine cleaning/bed stripping/changing/bin emptying is the responsibility of the owner. If others want to pay through the nose and then do most of the work themselves, well that's just another example of female martyrdom. If everyone said no, you're being CFs, they'd have to provide a proper service for the ridiculous prices they are charging. The idea that the tenant has to empty the bins because they're not sending anyone into clean. Yuck! Surely you clean after every rental even if you don't have back to backs?

Everyone’s different.

My parents wouldn’t dream of having a crate for their dog at night to sleep in. You don’t allow your dog on the sofa and they wouldn’t allow their dog to sleep in a crate.

Each to their own but if you have paid for a pet friendly animal let then it’s highly likely dogs have been on sofa/bed.

Then it's up to the owner to arrange for someone to put the bins out. It's their house, they're enjoying the income/profit, so they can deal with such minor issues.

Just come back from a lovely property very very near a very sandy beach, which had a ‘no sand inside’ policy because it clogs the drains. Fair enough. We had to wash feet, shoes etc in a bowl outside the front door and I was absolutely paranoid about the sand getting in so we ended up getting undressed outside. But, no hoover provided, which would’ve surely made everything a lot easier for everyone? Also, only one tea towel…

If its in the bin outside then surely its not in the property? Could you have misread it OP?

Sorry OP. Just realised from reading all of yr posts. Its ridiculous and I think you've quite within your rights to use the bins there. I'd probably ignore it. I don't think they've got a keg to stand on if they didn't tell you before. Its like adding a clause yo an agreement after you've signed it.

Putting rubbish/recycling in the bin outside is reasonable. Expecting you to take it to a local refuse centre is, quite frankly, absolutely ridiculous! I would give feed back about this - I personally wouldn’t have booked in advance if I’d have known this, I’m on holiday and it’s too much of a chore. I’d also be likely to write this into a review if it was not clear at the time of booking!

Totally agree. Very strange rule and I'd like to know to not book that cottage. Rubbish in rubbish bin outside totally normal, taking it home or to tip .vvvvv strange. Yanbu.

The water heater was bad,
Broken Ceiling,
No pets allowed,

Loads of holiday cottages I've stayed in require rubbish to be put in the skip bin or wherever. Sometimes they ask for towels in the bath and the bedding to be stripped.

We stayed in a gite once that had so many rules (another ring binder situation). One of the most bonkers rules was that you couldn’t wear any sunscreen at all in the pool. This was backed up with photocopied 90s daily mail articles about how sunscreen was toxic. The children were 3 and 1 and even though they had UV suits this rule meant the pool was essentially unusable as it was so hot. The English owners lived in the big house adjacent to the gite cottages and kept coming to check up on us. We felt spied on. It was so unrelaxing. It was in a beautiful setting but I was pleased to leave.

Just come back from a lovely property very very near a very sandy beach, which had a ‘no sand inside’ policy because it clogs the drains

That wasn't in Abersoch was it? I saw a holiday cottage there that had a very pass agg sign about that in big letters next to the front door (just in case they missed it in the ring binder inside the house, I assume).

For everyone talking about the weird rules they have come across. I hope you put them in a review of the place to warn others

These are the things that need flagging up in the hope that others might notice and not book and the owners will see the light of day when their bookings dry up

How many would have booked their holiday let if they had seen a review mentioning the ridiculous rulings beforehand

Yeah I wouldn't be doing this OP. Especially not if you didn't pay a deposit. It sounds like you're in the UK, so if they try and make a fuss over it tell them you're going to get in touch with the LA about their council tax arrangements.

We stayed in a holiday cottage in Norfolk with a copper bath that had a million instructions. Had to be dried completely after use, not a single drip of water to be left or it would tarnish. It was completely tarnished already though so obviously no previous visitors read or complied with the instructions, so we dried it but I didn’t check for every last drip. Also had a ring binder of instructions about the aga, the covers for the aga, what could and couldn’t be put on and in the stove, what settings to leave it on. Also a million instructions for wood burner, we were there in august but it was freezing so used both and probably did everything wrong. No dogs allowed upstairs but our dog went upstairs. No moving the rug or the cushions, no moving the sofas or chairs, which we moved constantly!! No going out the back door, which we did. Were allowed to put rubbish out in main bins though, as long as it was bin day!

The owner originally said it would be £20 for the week.

£140 for the dog for the week worked out almost as much as the pppn rate for the rest of us!

This thread has been a breath if fresh air. Just got back from a holiday let, we didn’t hoover and left dishwasher on. Mum and auntie (staying in their own lets) completely cleaned top to bottom, even cleaned the fridge! We cleaned as we went and kept it tidy but no, getting four kids out by 10 - actually by 7 so we didn’t sit in traffic all day I’m not then cleaning the bathroom and mopping floors. And yes, the cleaners need something to clean! Also, the hoovers in these places always stink.
As we left I heard people in the flat below shout to shut up it’s Saturday morning (local pub workers) I do appreciate it was not pleasant for them, but they’re the same people who were partying til 4am the week before!!