People shouldn't open a high quality holiday let when they have no generosity for hosting.

[RatTastic]

Just got back from 24 hours at the soon to be improved holiday home. The hosts had provided for ten of us plus themselves, one loo roll, no bedding, no guest hand towels just their own personal towels.

When they left us home alone for four hours they switched the heating off.

AIBU to think they do not have the generosity of spirit to run a high quality, luxury holiday let.

To be honest I have a feeling that even if you were paying for a luxury holiday let run with top notch generosity, you would probably still find a list of things as long as your arm you weren't happy with to put on your Trustpilot review.

🤣🤣🤣

Nope. Still confused sorry!

If there are a lot of people staying and accommodation is free, then surely everything else used (including loo paper) should be shared to buy between the guests?

They have done you a favour OP. Grow up and take some responsibility.

YABU it just shows that they were underprepared. Now you tell them that they need to provide more toilet roll, bedding and towels need to be provided, not to restrict the heating. I've never stayed anywhere where you have to bring your own bedding! And I avoid places that don't provide towels because they're typically stingier.

Did they tell you that you needed to bring your own bedding and towels ?
Agree switching the heating off was a cheap move

Well you can't get much more generous that free, can you? 😂

It sounds like complete miscommunication here, with someone who's still learning the ropes.

And you sound a bit, I don't even know what the word is....haughty perhaps?

Loosen up, they gave you a free stay not a kick in the fanny.

I've stayed with various friends and relatives and in many, many holiday cottages over the years and not once have I been expected to take my own bedding. The only time I've taken my own towels it's either been a 'dossing with student friends' scenario or the holiday cottage owner/agent clearly communicated it upfront at the booking stage. These days it's very much the norm to see towels included in holiday lets.

If they asked you to come and stay, like a 'soft opening', so they could iron out any issues, then maybe give them feedback. If it was just a casual invite, thinking you might like a break away, then I wouldn't bother.

Is your post to gauge opinions from people who rent places like this regularly so you know what to compare it against?

But you were not staying in the property as a holiday let. You were staying, for free at a friend's second house with 9 other people.
I would always take my own towels. If actually staying at a friend's home, I would normally expect bedding, but would offer my own. Bedding for 10 for one night is a big ask - when you're not paying anyway.

I also cannot imagine a high end holiday let with 3 bedrooms accommodating 12 people as in the night you stayed. You say it's soon to be done up, so I have magine bathrooms etc will get a bit of a makeover too.

One bathroom in a high end let is just never gonna work

What ply was the loo roll @RatTastic ?

YABU, obviously.

You’re not a paying guest, it’s not even open for business yet, you’re obviously not going to get the same experience.

When I was a student, I waited in a very high-end restaurant. At the end of a shift, the chefs would make up a load of “staff food”, usually chicken wings or burgers etc. The tables wouldn’t be laid how they would for guests, none of the other waiting staff asked how my meal was, the candles weren’t lit, the music wasn’t playing - but I didn’t think “well, it must be shit to be a customer here” because I had common sense above the level of the average sesame seed and could tell the difference between my experience and the experience of a paying customer even though it was in the same venue.

As an aside, how much toilet paper do you normally get through in 24 hours?!

There's obviously a back story here OP. Did you feel like they were lording it over you, showing off that they owned a holiday let, and that is why you are finding these things to criticise? It doesn't sound like you like them much. Was it a family thing you couldn't get out of or something?

I agree with you OP, you need a generous nature to be a host, even if you are not providing ANYTHING for free, you still need to be able to foresee what your guests will need and how to make them comfortable.

Let the reviews speak for themselves. They’ll soon have to buck up their ideas if their reviews are consistently negative.

If they didn’t want to host or wanted people to bring their own supplies of basic stuff (you cannot go more basic than toilet paper) they should have let visitors know what was expected or not invite them at all.

They need to get the basics right before they start thinking of luxuries.
Guests want ( need!) a supply of toilet rolls in each bathroom+ cloakroom, basic toiletries ( shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, soap are minimum) supply of good quality towels minimum of 2 x bath, 2 x hand per guest plus hand towels and spares in cloakrooms and at least 2 bath mats per bathroom.
Beds should be perfectly made with good quality sheets, duvets, pillows ( 2 per single, 4 per double) duvets with covers, plus in the winter a throw or blanket per bed. Then you start adding in the luxury furnishings, top quality kitchen stuff etc..
Doesn’t sound like it met basic requirements, never mind luxury.

Maybe the heating is controlled via an app (sensible for a holiday let) and they forgot that it turned off automatically based upon their phone's location?

I also think you do need to have a bit of generosity and pride in this kind of work - to make people feel welcome and relaxed, rather than just 'inhabitants' who go around selfishly consuming heating all the time and not being sufficiently impressed at the Farrow and Balled wall coracles.

Perhaps some tactful feedback saying that the need to get hold of so many 'extras' when you hadn't been prepared for that beforehand wasn't what you had expected from the high end description.

This is oranges and apples. You were not a customer in this person's business, you were a relative staying for free at a holiday home which hasn't yet been upgraded and is, from what you say, about to be overhauled. Surely checking whether you needed to bring your own bedding etc is an obvious prerequisite?

I stayed recently at an old friend's newly-purchased holiday home. Like your relative's, it's not yet been renovated. The difference is that I asked what I needed to bring, because I hadn't been there before, and the hosting friend also lives a long distance from it, and it's in a remote rural area with no shops for miles, so it was obvious that I might need to bring everything with me, down to toilet paper. (And I did need to. It is pretty primitive. As far as my friend was concerned, the point of the stay was to use it as a base for walking and to see one another, not providing some kind of 'guest experience'. )

This is exactly it. We stay in UK holiday lets a lot with my parents and they prefer to spend a bit extra for something special as we see them rarely.

There is a world of difference between the places that have given you a single tea towel, one dishwasher tablet and a tiny squirt of fairy liquid and totally empty cupboards and those who will have left some foil, oil, salt and pepper, some milk and butter to start you off etc.

The latter tends to be the sort of place that invest in slightly better pillows, nice cushions and throws for the living room, and thoughtful touches around the place that just make it nicer to stay.

The former tend to be as sparse as the owners can possibly get away with while still charging above average for the location. If it's a property that sleeps 8, there will be exactly 8 knives, 8 forks, 8 glasses, 8 mugs, etc etc.

We are often repeat visitors to a nice destination and we'll often stay somewhere twice or three times if it's worth it and if we've had a comfortable stay.

It isn't a question of generosity. Did you mean aptitude?

If they are going to run a high quality holiday let, then everything needs to be top notch, such as good quality bedding and towels, a well equipped kitchen, a modern bathroom, comfortable furniture and adequate heating.

If they were using you as guinea pigs to test the place out then you need to give them feedback and hopefully they will improve the place.

I've just spotted that the OP said on a different thread, this is her BIL's holiday let.

She also says her BIL stayed somewhere else for Christmas, so I expect he didn't have time to sort more toilet roll etc.

As for the decor, give him a chance, he's only had it 6 months.