How would you leave a villa on holiday

[Singinginthesnow]

So we went on a much needed family holiday. We rented a villa. Haven't done this before so maybe we didn't know what was expected.

So they didn't provide any cleaning supplies just an old broom and dustpan and a mop. No hoover etc.

We bought cleaning supplies, dishwasher tablets, fabric softener and bin bags.

Prior to leaving I cleaned the fridge emptied and washed. I cleaned the stove. No oven. I washed all sides and swept up and stripped all beds and put them in a washing basket and all towels in a separate basket. He charged us 4 euros a towel for the pool. And we obliged and paid

We sweet up and took all rubbish to the communal bin daily.

No rubbish left anywhere.

Anyway. We left him a good review and he left us a bad review as guests saying 1 star for cleanliness! I left it as spotless as possible. 3 cleaning ladies turned up as we where leaving... so not sure why I did as much as I did now. He gave us 2 stars for communication. He whatsapped us twice and I replied within 2 minutes with what he asked for.

And one star for house rules..... his only rules where no bbqs. No towels left by the pool and general tidiness

Are we awful guests? We will struggle to rent through the site again now as their reviews are public. I left him a glowing review even though we weren't 100% happy with what was supplied.

Are we absolutely filthy people? Or did we do the norm?
Just to reiterate we didn't leave any rubbish and we sweet tidied and mopped before we left. Nothing left by the pool etc

I've never stayed anywhere that didn't provide copious cleaning supplies and kit.
I generally sweep floors, wipe countertops, leave bathroom clean, empty rubbish - usually ask if they'd like bed stripped or not. If I've moved any furniture I put it back as it was... no more than you've done.
I don't think I've used a site where the guests were reviewed though - was it an airbnb type thing?

You did plenty! I'd fight back and keep on!

Come to Bali, housekeeping come daily and clean just like a hotel, sheets and towels and pool towels changed as often as your eco guilt will allow, laundry collected and brought back, wash up done, no expectation that you lift a finger either during your holiday or at the end. (Just leave a decent tip 😁). This whole business of paying a fortune then having to do the cleaners’ job is ridiculous. I remember spending hours cleaning French houses on the day we left. We live in Australia now where the expectation in holiday homes is that you just empty the dishwasher and put the bins out (the front). Last holiday we were asked to strip beds for the first time and I was quite miffed as prices had skyrocketed.

@PeanutButterOnToad Bali sounds lovely! I am stunned so many people deliberately book a holiday which involves cleaning.

im not a fan of cleaning my own house, so I sure as shit don’t want to clean someone else’s house when I should be up to my tits in suntan lotion, sangria and my kindle.

there’s a reason hotels were invented.

It was spain. I gave a good review as in I said he was a good host. He left us to it. And only messaged about needing our passports for the tourist register? And he gave us some Information about some grocery places.

We liked the house and it was a bit dated but it was up in the mountain a d I thought we had a good deal so was happy to leave a good review. But since coming back and seeing his review after and this thread I've realised this isn't normal. We haven't been on holiday before so we didn't know what to expect really

I have always self catered and expect to provide my own cleaning consumables but I target the level of cleaning to the equipment provided. No mop or hoover? Then I am not mopping or hoovering.

If there is an option to pay for an end of let clean rather than being 'marched out' then I go for it. We once had the experience of a mobile home owner coming in when we were getting ready to leave and counting crockery, running her finger along shelves. We swore then to avoid independent holiday home letters.

Once on a Siblu/Haven holiday the reps turned up with a bucket of cleaning chemicals etc so that we could do the changeover clean. They said this was so we wouldn't lose our deposit. We pointed out that as we had paid the damage waiver and no deposit the changeover clean was on them. It did make me wonder how many people they had conned into doing their job for them.

We have just got back from Spain, paying over £5k for a villa which was not clean when we arrived - and no cleaning products anywhere (apparently Spanish law doesn't let them leave "chemicals" on site?).

The provided bedding was stained and ripped, and the oven, cooker, washing machine and dishwasher weren't working. It was advertised as sleepingv12, but thrre were only 5 loungers, not enough crockery and glasses, so we were constantly washing up (by hand!).

The agent did work hard and replaced everything, and offered to send the cleaners back. I pointed out that they hadn't cleaned the first time, and as I'd spent the first day of my holiday cleaning, he should refund the cleaning fee. We left it much cleaner than we found it (stripped all beds, cleaned sinks and showers, swept/vacuumed the floors, removed all rubbish and emptied and wiped out the fridge).

I'm not going back to Spain...we've rented houses in France and Italy for years which were spotless - and for half the price.

Contact the website and complain. Tell them that there were no cleaning supplies but you did what you describe above and the cleaners rushed you out so you're shocked that he said you left it dirty! You would like his review removed and yours updated to mention that lack of supplies.

This is a lot more than we did when we left our UK rental ( extended family leaving after me and I had covid) . We got 4 stars on the VRBO review, mind you we had paid £60 for cleaning.

Have you checked other reviews- has he given anyone else a low score?

We do very little except washing up, rubbish removal and wiping of crumbs, sweeping up sand etc. Leave sheets on the bed and towels in the bath.

The property is professionally cleaned weekly/fortnightly, so they're always pretty clean anyway. It's the cleaners job to make sure the property is properly prepared for the next guests.

It's clear this owner is nuts so why take any notice? It's not like a holiday company is going to take future bookings from you because somewhere on the internet a crazy man gave you insufficient stars.

So he just messaged me back saying they took a lot longer to clean than normal because they had to wash the sofa covers sweep and one oven tray wasn't spotless and there where some plastics.

1. We where there for 2 weeks so I would have expected the covers to be washed anyway...
2. There was a work top oven and I washed it before we left.
3. I swept every day and thats part of a normal clean anyway...
4. I don't know what he means by plastics...

I will reply saying so the cleaners did what they should do then...?
And point out not providing supplies and leave it at that.

This was more out of curiosity as we hadn't done this before so if we ever did this again we would know what to expect. So he's just a bit shit then.

To be honest we won't be retuning to Spain again either. Wasn't a good fit for us. As lovely as it was.

Tell him what cleaning you did and that perhaps the cleaners are trying to extort extra money from him.

Ah yes, fond memories of Bali. I changed rooms after breakfast & back again before dinner & no one batted and eyelid. The manager loaded our bags into the taxi when we left too.

OP, couldn’t you remove your review, or just write another one. I stayed in a few places in Wales as soon as we were able after the virus & one asked us to strip the bed which I wasn’t happy about as I had an early start. Plus the quilt was absolutely filthy & covered in stains 🥺. The other wanted me to practically spring clean the place, & I’d paid £35 for cleaning which I thought was extortion. I always leave places tidy, tie my rubbish up, & make sure the bog’s clean.

Nope can't change our review. I have asked already. The booking company are crafty. You have to leave a review before you can see the owners review of you.

@Singinginthesnow If you're avoiding Spain for this reason in future, I'd suggest you also swerve France unless it clearly states that the property is English management owned and maintained.

I had a very aggravating experience in France this February when checking out from our small 2 bedroomed apartment. Cleaner accused me of being a filthy pig and asked why I hadn't cleaned the place, and my response that I had paid the hefty cleaning fee of 60 euro to avoid this situation as we were leaving early, cut no ice with her.

Thank you. We are muslim and just struggled with eating really. But this did put me off too and my friend who's French said the same thing as you as did her dad!

I think we will stick to what we know and head to Turkey next time. We thought we would give Europe a go. But it was very expensive and just not for us really. Beautiful country though

I've never had an issue in Spain. But do avoid France for the reason stated above and the expectation to bring everything and clean everything.
Sounds unlucky op.

I wouldn't clean it! I'd just empty fridge, wash up, take out bin bags. They can pay a bloody cleaner to do the rest! Leave me a bad review I don't care, I'm on holiday! Not paying to clean!

we just came back from Spain (not the mainland though) and dodnt do nearly so much!

I tend to not bother leaving reviews unless I really feel the need (either way). Too risky! I did get some money off once when LL realised I was going to leave a really bad review, she mysteriously forgot to charge me the extra £200 I owed her.

but that's another story...

This was his message. Made me chuckle. So a normal clean then 😏

I hate to break it to you OP but I doubt very much that holiday property owners would normally wash something like sofa covers between guests, unless stained.

They'd probably be washed out of season along things like the curtains and blankets or duvets off the beds.

It's probably only sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases and towels that are washed during changeover.

I think he is being very cheeky!

We stayed in an Air BNB in Paris - I did less than you in that I didn't clean the fridge or strip the beds. We got a glowing review.

t that three cleaners are all trying to justify their hourly rate - it’s very likely they have exaggerated just hour long they were at the property!
this

@BarbaraofSeville fair enough. But it was a family for 2 weeks with kids. You would think it would be expected. They where very old and could just be put in the washing machine. Not an hours worth of work.

Do you have a very obviously Muslim name, by any chance?