Being asked to strip beds in holiday cottage

[librarian55]

We have just returned from a long weekend in the Lake District which was organised by my DD. We stayed in a very nice cottage. The day before we left, the letting agent texted my DD asking us to leave the place clean and tidy (fair enough, we would do that anyway) but they also asked us to strip the beds. AIBU in thinking this was very cheeky? The cost of cleaning would be included in the rental price and since we were expected to vacate by 10am, we didn't have that much time in the morning. I know it doesn't take much time, but I go on holiday to get away from such chores.

Yes it is their job to strip the bed. Otherwise it isn't a rental.

Not always, we dont charge extra for cleaning, it's all part of the price.

No sorry if am paying for a cleaning fee i wil not strip beds. I will leave the house tidy etc however i am on holiday. I strip enough beds at home

Perhaps you shouldn’t have to, but it’s a nice thing to do for the cleaners. I’ve had plenty of those cleaning jobs and it’s not a fantastic career move - I always thought very kindly of guests who left the accommodation fairly neat. Every little helps. Lucky you affording a holiday - most of the staff can’t, so be kind.

Don't rent cottages where they ask you to strip the beds, problem solved. How you can't find the time to strip them before 10.00am is beyond me.

Absolutely with my cabin I see it as my job to strip the beds and deep clean the whole place. I don't expect guests to clean or strip the beds I only ask that they empty the bins. Even if it looks like it has been cleaned I still have to deep clean everything all the pots and pans etc so as a guest I wouldn't bother cleaning.

The early check out late check in that three years later some owners are still bandying about is awful and the opposite of hospitality, COVID measures are being used to be this inhospitable. 9am check out and 5pm check in is no use to anyone.

I have little sympathy with absentee owners bemoaning the cost of cleaners. We see alot of it where I live and there is the usual issue of lack of affordable housing. In Scotland the short term licensing act is coming in starting in October.

The amount we charge per night is good and a self catering house is easily 200-300 per night here with healthy profits like that of course cleaners should be paid well. Here the going rate is £25-30 per hour for a cleaner.

Very interesting how different people are re bed making and towels etc. I veryuch think my guests are on holiday and I will do everything I can for them to have a comfortable and relaxing stay.

We stay in a cottage at least once a year and we've always stripped the beds and left them at the bottom of the respective beds. It's not much to strip a bed we've been doing it years.

From what I've seen this is now a normal request since Covid . It literally takes a minute or two to take the covers off and pop them in the bath with the towels .

Although - I think the original post-Covid request was to put them in a supplied bag. It was all about minimising the cleaner having to handle items in close contact with you .

I think the issue isn’t usually bed stripping, but people who think that because they’ve paid, they can leave the place in a real mess - work surfaces not wiped down but covered in crumbs or spills, food left in cupboards and freezer, furniture moved into other rooms and not returned, BBQ left with grill unwashed and full of dust, newspapers lying around, muddy footprints and sand etc etc.

It’s self catering accommodation, not a serviced hotel. That means you are expected to leave it tidy and in a reasonable state so a cleaner just needs to do a quick hover, mop and wipe off surfaces. Leaving places filthy is just so disrespectful and inconsiderate of the cleaners and their tight schedules.

This, I’ve paid, so I can leave things how I like, is just self-centred and oblivious of others. It has a real sense of selfishness beyond what has actually been paid for or what decent people who have respect for those coming after them would leave.

I think there’s a growing sense that having paid for something means you don’t need to show consideration. You see it when people leave a filthy mess behind them in restaurants ‘because it’s the waitress’ job to clear up because I’ve paid’ - people who’ve had little kids with them and leave used wipes all over the table, food wrappers and spilled food and drink everywhere…no attempt to just gather it into a pile. Or you see people in changing rooms in shops leave the clothes they’ve tried on all over the floor. There’s no respect for the shop staff.

Holiday let cleaners are there, usually for an hour or so and have to change the beds. There is a limit to how much thorough cleaning can be done. They can hoover and mop and wipe down. Moving furniture around, determined scrubbing of spills that were simply left etc take more time than they have. But a lot of people feel entitled to leave these messes because they have paid and don’t give any thought to the impact on others.

Nobody on here says they agree on leaving the place a mess. Just that stripping beds is a step too far after - cleaning the bathroom, cleaning all surfaces, sweeping, putting the bins out, unloading the dishwasher all before 9am..

It is a new thing since Covid and it’s annoying - along with the earlier check ins and later check outs. To the point where hotels start to become preferable.

People need to stop using Covid as an excuse for poor customer service.
Just stop already.

The only one of those I do is strip the beds. The surfaces are wiped down after dinner the previous night, the dishwasher is clicked on just before we leave and the only bin we empty is the kitchen one so it doesn’t smell. We leave, pack the car and find a cafe for a leisurely breakfast. Our checkout time has never been earlier than 10.

I generally do, whether it's asked for or not. Or rather I do the one I have slept in. I expect the rest of the family to do their own. It takes about 3 minutes, if that.
If they were asking for clean bedding to be put on, then that would be unreasonable, but it barely takes any longer to strip a bed when you get out of it than it does to make it. I've always done it, along with putting used towels in the bath, and so did my parents when we stayed in cottages in the 70s and 80s so I don't see it as a new thing at all.

@WombatChocolate

Holiday let cleaners are there, usually for an hour or so and have to change the beds. There is a limit to how much thorough cleaning can be done. They can hoover and mop and wipe down. Moving furniture around, determined scrubbing of spills that were simply left etc take more time than they have. But a lot of people feel entitled to leave these messes because they have paid and don’t give any thought to the impact on others.

Bizarre.

Holiday let cleaners need to be there for as long as it takes to clean the property. How long depends on the size. You can’t even clean & launder a studio flat in an hour. The lets I manage (I don’t own any myself) take from 4 - 6 hours to clean with the number of cleaners depending on the size of the property. As the agent I don’t clean them myself but I factor cleaning into the pricing and minimum stay.

Agreed. If the cleaners are not there long enough to clean properly, it's up to the owner to pay them to be there longer.

It seems to be standard wherever I have stayed self-catering but I don't agree with it and begrudge doing it. I do enough bed stripping at home and it's part of the cost of the rental.

Holiday let cleaners are there for more than an hour! I pay for 4 hours in my one bed cottage plus £18 for laundry. My friend pays for 10 hours for her 4 bed house plus laundry costs.

YANBU
Presumably you paid a premium. Holiday cottages are not cheap. I would say you assumed that was in with the costs. Not your job. It's not a youth hostel.

I wouldn't do it.

We stay in a cottage in the Lake District fairly regularly (2-3 times per year at half term etc). I always use the same cottage as I know it's excellent.

We are asked to strip the beds but it's something we have always done. I just leave one pile of bedding and one pile of towels for washing.

We also make sure the bins are emptied and the place is clean and tidy. We certainly don't scrub it/hoover all round etc. But it is clean enough and tidy when we leave.

DH usually tops up the log basket as well as they are heavy so it saves the cleaner having to do it.

We don't find any of the above takes long or is a chore really. We just do it as we pack up to leave.

I used to clean holiday cottages in the Lakes while I was at uni and occasionally would find that some beds had been stripped. It was a massive help. There would usually be a team of us going into privately owned cottages and we would clean them as quickly as we could before moving on to the next cottage. Since then, I always strip the beds to help the cleaners. Plus, you know that they’ll put clean bedding on. You always hear horror stories, where bedding hasn’t been changed.

I think that even when owners are paying for large numbers of hours of cleaning, the reality is, that cleaners have to do it as fast as possible and get out. The shortage of cleaners and tight windows for turnaround on Friday and Saturday especially in high season, mean properties really aren’t going to be getting 4-6 hours of cleaning.

People find it hard to imagine, because they think about what a domestic cleaner you might have at home does. They picture what they do in a 3 hour slot and remmeber that the fridge isn’t cleaned every week, or certain other jobs done on a rolling basis. When you think of it like that, you realise how much time is needed for really thorough cleaning. Think also of cleans between lets of rental properties and the amount of hours those take.

But this isn’t what holiday let cleaner do or can do. This isn’t what you’re effectively paying for. It really is bed changing and hoover/mop/wipe round. Properties need to be tidy and without any significant dirt for that to work. In most cases, that’s fine because usually holiday makers have only been there a few days or a week and the amount of dirt that builds up for most isn’t huge, and most people will wipe up spills or mud etc. However, some people don’t and that’s where there’s a problem. Lists of requirements are aimed at preventing these bigger problems.

Cleaners might be paid for X hours, but if they come in and the property is looking fairly decent, they will be whizzing round and on their way to the next one. They will be factoring in that most properties are fairly decent and can be turned round in Y hours and that they might need to allow longer for a small amount….but they can’t foresee which ones that will be each week, or exactly how many.

Quite simply, in many holiday areas there simply aren’t enough cleaners available to give large numbers of hours to each property. That’s why owners/holiday companies are asking people to do a bit more - it’s actually impossible to do it all in the times available. But of course they aren’t charging less.

So it’s understandable why people get annoyed. They’ve paid increasing prices for properties but are being asked to do more before leaving. It doesn’t feel right, but it’s a function of labour shortages especially since Brexit and Covid.

It’s not as easy as saying holiday home owners need to pay for more hours of cleaning….there simply aren’t the staff to provide more hours. Often holiday home owners actually do pay for larger amounts of hours….but in reality they don’t receive them all. There’s not a huge amount they can do about it as if they sack the cleaners, they probably can’t get another. They have to take what they can get. It’s a good time to be a holiday let cleaner.

@WombatChocolate

That reads like someone who hasn’t really understood the requirements of the holiday rental industry. I’ve been doing this for 20 years across different countries. In Tuscany, Provence and London, there’s no problem with getting cleaners - in London due to the size of the immigrant population - in Tuscany & Provence due to the size and value of the tourist industry - where agencies and workers are specifically geared to the holiday market. Tourism is a major earner in those areas and the local economy depends on that income.

In Devon, which I only branched out into about 5 years ago - it’s different - there are plenty of cleaners and agencies but they expect to work Mon-Fri only and are geared more to the domestic and the business market (ie offices, shops, institutions) as opposed to the holiday market which requires weekend changeovers. It is difficult to get reliable cleaners who are prepared to work weekends and flexible days - however it’s not impossible and I have a team of fantastic cleaners. My properties regularly receive praise for cleanliness in the reviews which I pass onto the staff as they are integral to the success of the business.

By way of examples - a two bedroom cottage in Devon takes 4 hours to clean and launder - either 2 cleaners working for 2 hours together or 1 working for 4. A large 6 bed house in Tuscany takes 2 cleaners the full 6 hours or 3 cleaners 4 hours to clean the interior (not including the garden and pool maintenance which are separate). When guests are paying 5000-8000+ EUR per week they have every right to expect an immaculate property and not to have to strip beds.

Covid increased demands on cleaning and, internationally, we all had to follow Covid 2 layer protocols: Step 1. Clean, Step 2. Disinfect - recommended ultimately by the WHO. We also had to provide our cleaners with PPE.

It’s concerning that you think it’s acceptable, when Covid is still around and those cleaning protocols still in place, to say “oh well it’s so hard to get cleaners so guests should accept they will simply get a lick and a prayer”.

If you’re running a business where your cleaners are not actually completing their contracted hours - you’re defrauding your owners; if these are your own properties - you’re simply shortchanging your guests.

Yes, I think many cleaners are defrauding the property owners they work for, by not providing the hours they are contracted for, and yes, holiday owners are shortchanging their guests in terms of charging high rates but asking holiday makers to do more on exit.

I’ve tried to explain why that’s happening. In many areas, property owners can’t get cleaners or can only get an hour or two. Demand is so high and supply of cleaners is low and has a high turnover.

It’s easier for agencies which supply cleaning to the property owners on their books….they might be servicing vast numbers if properties in some areas, and keep a cleaning team and can cope with fluctuations. However, increasingly, because agencies are struggling, they aren’t guaranteeing cleaning services, but either recommending companies or not even doing that, but leaving property owners to be responsible for finding and keeping their own cleaning services. Many owners don’t live nearby and if cleaners let them down or do a poor job, it’s difficult to sort out if the letting agent (even if local) are increasingly not taking on that aspect of the work.

I suppose the various elements necessary to make the industry work aren’t in sync. More people want to let their holiday homes and more people want to go to them. But the infrastructure to support that isn’t fully there in some areas.

We stayed at a holiday cottage a few years ago in the Lake District. We were told to strip,wash and dry the bedding. To say it was a tad manic the morning we left is putting it mildly.