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!

I rent out an Airbnb and i ask people to empty the bins (to the bins outside), turn off all lights and strip the beds. I don't think that that is too much to ask personally.

I don't think she has but I think I'd now maintain a deliberate lack of understanding rather than comply with the ridiculous rule.

I agree with pp that they are probably trying to avoid business rates for waste disposal.

‘So it was easier just to say to remove it ( the cleaning woman was on foot so could not remove it herself).‘

Easier for you, not for the guests though!

Have you read the OP's posts? Removing is one thing, being asked to take it to the local dump is not.

Taking your rubbish to a refuse site is, well, rubbish!

Our local tip requires you to provide proof of where you live to be able to access the site, so that wouldn't work.

The bottom line is, their local council has classed their rental property as a business, and want to charge them commercial waste rates. They're too tight to pay for it, so are making you dispose of it against the council's rules (i.e. if you were to declare it business waste at the tip, you'd probably be charged).

I've not come across any "weird" rules, only annoying ones:

• You must empty the rubbish and recycling, but then give you no instructions on what you can recycle and what goes in what bag/bin/box
• Dogs are allowed in the property, but not on the furniture (but the listing just says "dog friendly"). If you have a sofa loving dog, it's not ideal to discover that they're not allowed on the furniture until you get there. Luckily we now take enough throws/blankets to cover the furniture. The rule is obviously there (understandably) to stop the furniture getting damaged or dirty, but I'd rather know in advance, so I can choose whether to rent or not. At least if I cover the sofas I know they won't get dirty anyway but I do always fear being "caught out".

That’s how I read it too.

I ask my guests to put all their rubbish in the bins. It helps minimise the chance of flies and maggots. Plus other people’s rubbish is gross.

Even if there is a cleaning charge?

I get the turning off the lights. But stripping the beds and emptying bins are standard cleaning tasks. I have holiday homes wanting us to be out by 10 am, which I abide by but having to wake up early to do things which the owners are getting a cleaning charge for seems a little piss-taking.

So no car access and you expect paying guests to carry a week's worth of food waste etc down to their car and drive it 100 miles home because ycba to make proper arrangements

It’s not remotely normal to expect people to take their rubbish home or to the tip themselves.

Unless you made it crystal clear in your advertising the guests probably didn’t get it wrong - they likely ignored a ridiculous rule.

The OP has clarified that it doesn’t mean that.

😂 yes you can just picture it can’t you, load the car with the kids, dog, and a couple of bags of rubbish! Just because the host doesn’t want to pay for a commercial bin collection! Penny pinching at it’s finest.

Not to mention the “cleaning charge” you have to pay for the “extra cleaning measures” still in place since Covid that are done after you’ve stripped beds, hoovered, mopped, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned all surfaces, and taken the rubbish to the tip…

I charge a small cleaning fee which doesn't cover the cost of the clean and the laundry - not even half. So i could put up the cleaning fee i suppose, however i think most people (including myself when i stay at an AirBnb) would rather strip the beds.

And no, emptying the bins is not unreasonable at all!! I wouldn't even need to be asked and i would do that! Somethings they aren't cleaned some day and they will attract vermin. There is a black bin right outside the house. Definitely not a standard cleaning item. Eugh!

That's shocking. And I would expect a substantial reduction in the cost of the holiday let for such a ridiculous rule.

This thread does go some way to understanding why renters leave detailed instructions!
Many people choose not to read the whole thread, or even just the OP's comments and just pipe up with their own comment, irrelevant to the OP's issue.

Do people honestly thing someone would complain on MN about being asked to put rubbish outside in a wheelie bin i.e. an entirely normal thing?
Would you not think, 'Oh maybe this is something unusual'?

It's also assuming guests will have a car. How can you get it to the waste tip if you've come on a train etc. No taxi is going to want you to get in with a weeks worth of smelly rubbish in bin bags.

I think that some of these measures - stripping beds etc - we’re introduced when we came out of lockdown initially and have now just been retained as it makes life easier for the owners.

We’ve rented lots in the UK and my pet peeve at the moment is how many have moved to Friday changeovers. I realise this might help with getting cleaning staff etc but it means I either need to take 6 day’s leave for a week’s holiday or lose the first day of the rental.

At first I thought ywbu, it’s pretty standard to be asked to put your rubbish in the outside bins. But they’re actually saying not to use the outside bin?! This is because they aren’t paying for rubbish collection - as holiday lets are businesses and usually exempt from rates/council tax, councils charge for rubbish collection. They’re obviously opting not to pay the charge to save about £200 a year. Was the cottage super cheap?

I’ve never stayed in a holiday let that doesn’t use council refuse/recycling services, so was surprised to learn that they’re not meant to as they’re businesses so should pay for commercial waste collection. I wonder why councils don’t enforce this? It is quite easy to find which houses are holiday lets!

But if a holiday let doesn’t want to use the council collections, they should organise a commercial waste collection service & adjust the price accordingly if they need to, I wouldn’t be happy at having to go to the local tip on holiday!

Turning off the lights is very reasonable.

The rest should be covered by the rental charge. People are on holiday, they shouldn't have to do cleaning and housekeeping. How long does it actually take a cleaner to strip the beds? Seconds per bed, surely?

There's a reason I stay in hotels and B&Bs as they actually provide a service and don't just see £ signs from charging people loads of money AND getting them to do the work.

I hate Friday changeovers too, although like you I expect it is easier to find housekeeping staff on a Friday.

Bloody annoying if you got the train/public transport to said holiday location! What are you supposed to do? Take a bin bag of crap on the train home?

Our tip is 9-5 certain days. So holiday maker has to go before 5 on a Friday cutting short their last day or Saturday morning when they also need to pack car, strip beds and clean and get away. What if you were planning on setting off at 7am to miss traffic etc and tip opens at 9. Totally unreasonable.

This is because if they are registered for business rates they have to pay for a commercial company to remove their refuse. By getting guests to dispose of it they don't have to absorb those costs.

Why would a bin in the house attract any more vermin than a bin outside the house? I empty my household kitchen bin when it gets full, not every day, and I don't get vermin or an undue number of insects (everyone gets the odd fly or stingy thing finding its way in) in the house.

Surely you don't leave a holiday let more than a couple of days after a guest has moved out before someone goes in to clean (and check they've not trashed the place).