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

He is taking the piss. You were far more polite than I would have been. Complain to the booking site.

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

I'm afraid the same thing occured to me. The attitudes in Spain can leave a bit to be desired.

I had this with a cottage I rented for 4 weeks. It was pet friendly, so I went out of my way to hoover every other day, sweep up and clean. I left the place spotless. I left an honest review about a few observations I made, but overall my review was positive. The owners responded with lies about how I had left mess across the house. Some hosts just can't take constructive criticism and when they go off on long rants, they paint themselves in an unprofessional light.

OP, I think you are being too apologetic to the guy. Forget it now. You know you left the villa in a good way. The more you appease, the more he will play on it.

You did more than we did for our villa in Spain.
We emptied the fridge and gave a quick wipe. Made sure kitchen surfaces and bathroom surfaces were cleared and clean and all bins were emptied and taken to the communal bins in the street. Didn't sweep or mop (there was no mop to use) but didn't leave the floors visibly messy. Didn't strip beds. Emptied clean dishes from dishwasher into the cupboards before we left.

We paid for a welcome pack that included water and bread, milk, etc. After that bought out own supplies.

Pool guy came several times but normally fairly early in the morning. Cleaner came twice I think and changed beds and left clean towels.

You say cleaners arrived as you were leaving; did he charge you a cleaning fee? If so, he's taking the piss complaining, as long as you stripped the beds, tidied up, emptied the 'fridge, etc. Since the start of COVID all kinds of short-term lodging providers have had to adjust and adopt special measures such as a deep cleaning between guests, leaving the house vacant for 48 hours between guests, etc. If you left food or rubbish around, created any kind of health or safety hazard, or made an unusual mess I can see his point, but he would have had to thoroughly clean the place no matter what.

If it's important to you, I'd consider updating/rewriting your review to explain that no cleaning materials were provided and you had to buy them, and that in your view the host left you a punitive review.

Urgh we had this once in France, despite the apartment being clean and tidy. The guy wouldn't give me any details of our terrible crimes either. We had also paid a cleaning fee. I had about 15 excellent air bnb reviews before (including in France) as well so I know we're not generally pigs.

Honestly just set up a new account and don't think about it. It has put me right off though. Generally I think you should just leave them tidy, no washing up, maybe a quick hoover if there is one. Strip beds if asked.

France and Spain seem the worst for this.

This is why I always take pictures on arrival and departure.

I stay in my Aunts home in Spain for a month every year. The woman who "cleans" it previously stated that another family member left the house in a mess after her last visit and the family member is so longer allowed stay in the house. The woman just didn't like the family member and as there was no proof my Aunt took her word for it as she is a keyholder and checks on the home from time to time.

Anyway I now get the pleasure of paying her 70 euro to "clean" after I stay. But before I leave I've to strip the beds,bring out rubbish,unload dishwasher, sweep,mop, make sure there's enough soap, toilet roll etc. The only thing she does is wash sheets and put them back on. Bit of a rant I know but it's irritating.

So my advice is to take pictures of everything on arrival and departure.

I don’t clean a hotel room and I wouldn’t clean a villa. I am on holiday, and the cost of the holiday includes the clean in between guests. However I wouldn’t leave the place in a mess either.

When staying at a family’s place I of course check how they would like it left (eg bedding washed and hung out so it is ready to iron etc) and pay for a cleaner.

''@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.''

For goodness sake, because you had one bad experience you assume two entire countries should be avoided?

Like anywhere else you have good and bad companies/hosts.

Frankly having been on a few staycations in England and seen some really poor hotels and guest houses I would say being ''English management owned and maintained'' is certainly not always a sign of cleanliness and efficiency. Not to mention the state of some of the rental properties in England I have seen when I was as student where I would not have let my dog live in...

Anyway, back to the OP: it sounds like you were really considerate guests and the owner was just being petty and did not even provide a decently maintained and set-up property in the first place.

Your experience sounds like mine in Croatia some years ago.

We cleaned up pretty thoroughly.

The owner refused to refund our deposit, said we left the place filthy, sent photos of literally one crumb in the fridge, and more crumbs in the sliding mechanism of the patio door, said we left marks on her wooden spoons (yes, we used them), said we stole cushions from her (why? how), said we used more than the usual amount of electricity (!), said we left sand in her sofas (in a beachside sandy resort).

I was fuming, wrote a snotty (truthful) review, which the website wouldn't publish.

Ultimately, you can only put it down to experience...

I empty bins, empty but don’t clean the fridge, run the dishwasher and wipe down kitchen sides. I wouldn’t do anything else.

You can reply to his review if it is AirBNB. State what you did and that you're confused about his review.

When I go on holiday I expect it to have been professionally cleaned before I arrive and to be professionally cleaned when I leave.
I will strip the beds, empty the bins and sweep the floors, that's about it.

@PonyPatter44 my dh has a turkish name. I am white British but visibly Muslim as I wear the hijab. But nothing out there just a maxi dress and hijab on. Kids are very white British looking and he sent me a message letting me know where a halal butcher is. It's also andulcia so a lot of Muslim culture and history in the area so I don't think it's that

I think he thinks he owns a Palace and is just petty. There wasn't a cleaning fee made clear but we paid nearly 3k for 2 weeks and I washed towels to re use when we where there as there wasn't enough and he charged us extra for other towels on arrival.

I'm not bothered by it now. It was more curiosity to weather we did things wrong so we know for next time.

And not air b n b. It was called vrbo. So can't reply to reviews.

Anyway, I won't ever speak to or see him again so I'm over it now 😂

I wonder if you rented the same villa as my group! We just returned from a week in a villa near Malaga and have received a scathing message from the owner requesting an extra payment for cleaning fees. We mopped the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, put away dishes, wiped down worktops, stripped the bed (we also washed the towels and bedding during our stay so they were not in a bad state at all), emptied the bins and took out the rubbish. Imagine my shock when the owner sent a copied and pasted message from the cleaner about how we left the house a sty and he's going to have to replace the bedding and towels because we ruined them!

The pool man/cleaner popped round twice whilst we were enjoying the villa and complained to us about how the last guests made such a mess and he made sure to emphasise that they were Muslims. It was so awful and uncomfortable and I'm going to leave a scathing review mentioning his racism.