On holiday

[DooBeDooBe]

We are currently in a gite which is lovely.
however, I’m getting a bit pissed off with the owners. AIBU?

1. house handbook says not to use too much loo paper (as it’s a septic tank. )
2. owners have called us or come round approx every other day to remind us to put the bins out, water the plants, advice on where to go, check the pool water (fair enough)
3. now workmen have turned up to fit solar panels. LX will be off and on throughout the day.
4. we have to have a meeting with them to have explained their expectations on how we will leave the property on sat.
5. have already had work men round as a tree fell down and had to be made safe. It only just missed the house. Admittedly this was not their fault! what do you think? Should the owners back off? Or are we BU? thank you.

I would be pretty pissed off with most of that.
There would be no meeting either

Oh should add - have ASD child and today was their day, and they wanted to spend the day at the gite in the pool. Not so easy to just change plans and go out for the day.

They sound a pain.
Septic tank advice is common.
Tree being made safe us fine and needed.

Having workmen round to do panels us not. They should gave asked you first and been very apologetic.
Constant calls and visits are not on.
The meeting should have been v quick on first day and could actually just have been a page in the handbook.

Some people are a pain. We have had lots of gite holidays and most are good at giving privacy. I have had one like you describe.

YANBU, I'd be leaving a very honest review.

If you feel like pushing back nake this kind of comment

Thank you so much for all your help and advice I think we understand now how everything works and we are looking forward to being completely on our own now. We will call if we need anything.

You should be getting a partial refund for the work noise meaning that your accommodation is unusable.

I had a full inspection the day we left one gite, she did acknowledge with a tilt of her head that I'd cleaned it okay. I'd had an inspection the day we'd left our previous gite so was sort of prepared but didn't expect quite the imperious attitude.

I'd be annoyed at that too. You're on holiday, you should be able to do your own thing without having constant interruptions. Fitting solar panels should have been fitted between guests.

Why are they getting you to check the pool?

Offering advice on where to go is fine, reminding about plants and bins is also fine as some would forget.

I think when when they mention the meeting, I'd say I'm busy with plans and to leave a list for you. Which they probably should have done in the 1st place. You're not on holiday to attend meetings.

Have they told you to be out while solar panels are being fitted? That's quite a big job, very messy and noisy.

That would annoy me too to be honest!

1. Toilet paper with a septic tank - perfectly acceptable request
2. Tree fell down - as you say, not really their fault and one of those things
3. Solar Panels - not acceptable to have this work going on, especially as the Electric will be on and off during the day. That should have been arranged for a time without people having booked. They ought to give you a refund for the day

They also though should NOT , be interrupting you all the time, with instructions and the like. I've been in several self-catering accommodations, where the instructions for dealing with these are clearly laid out in a book. e.g. the bins need to be put in (x) place on (x) evening/morning and by (x) time. Beds need to be stripped and the bedding/towels etc left (y). Dishwasher should be loaded and switched on for cleaners to empty and put away dishes. Etc etc

To demand a meeting to discuss, and to keep interrupting you trying to enjoy your holiday is completely unacceptable. They are obviously super- anxious about how things are left, and perhaps they have had some bad experiences from previous guests, but that's the risk you take with any kind of holiday accommodation. In the self catering accommodation we have stayed in ( very varied), several owners live close or very close nearby. Most of those would either be there to welcome us and make sure we knew where everything was and how to work everything - or would arrange to come and see us an hour or two after we arrived to do the same. Thereafter, they left us alone, unless we had a problem in which case we could contact them. One owner in particular came down to discuss a problem with the hot water system and stood on the doorstep and asked for permission to come in ( with apologies) to sort the problem. Other owners have done the same thing if they (occasionally) had to come to the door

I would write a very frank review on them when you come back, if I were you - and seek a refund for the Solar Panel day if the facilities you are using are not available/only partly available. Did they TELL you to go out for the day - that would make it even worse, IMO.

I would be furious about this to be honest

They are being very unreasonable! I’d be saying no to a lot of this!

Other owners have done the same thing if they (occasionally) had to come to the door

I should have added here that they only ever turned up if we had contacted them about something

1. Fine
2. once might have been okay (though I’d have preferred it written down in a ‘welcome pack’). More than once is intrusive.
3. Totally unacceptable. Should have been arranged at a time without bookings.
4. Nope
5. This is understandable

They need to back off. I’d send one form text explaining that you want to relax and enjoy your holiday and do not want any more interruptions. Then I’d complain to the booking agent and leave a very honest review.

Whereabouts are you? I know from previous posts there are cultural differences around how gites operate in different countries. France for example expects more cleaning done at the end.

The solar panels is totally unacceptable. Septic tank and tree things fine, if annoying.

We once stayed in a ski chalet in Austria and the owner came round most days to give us feedback on our recycling sorting ability 😂 it was surprisingly complex. There were written instructions which we thought we’d followed but she came round and pulled things out and put them in different bins. She did not speak English and we did not speak German so it was all a bit confusing!

I’ve never had this in the UK, usually you don’t even meet the owners let alone meet with them on days Other than check in/out. Perhaps more common on the continent.

OK, so the solar panels was a FIX not a FIT. You can't see them on the house due to some trees (how effective will they be???). Anyway, not a long job. Obviously the owners came round to supervise the workmen.
Whilst chatting with me, the owner let slip that her cleaner is not coming round so she needs mine and my daughters (!!!!!!!!!!) help cleaning the property for the next people !!!!!!!!!!
I said that I would be doing what was written on the house info sheet. And agreed I would put the towels in the washer when we left. She said we could stay an extra hour in the house on saturday.

Anyway, even my DD has noticed the owners come round a lot! We have done several site holidays, even with some owners on site, and never been interrupted this much before. They must be real control freaks.

Whilst chatting with me, the owner let slip that her cleaner is not coming round so she needs mine and my daughters (!!!!!!!!!!) help cleaning the property for the next people !!!!!!!!!!

She's a CF in spades!! That is really really not on:
However, as you said you would do what is in the house info sheet and the only extra thing is putting the towels on to wash and you get an extra hour in the house, it could be worse I guess!

I would hate the owners intruding on my holiday…

God it's gets worse, she wants you and your dd to help clean as there's no cleaner!! I probably would have laughed thinking she was joking.

Why is she giving you an extra hour? To clean?

It's only Tuesday, is there any way to avoid them until you leave?

Tell her to jog on.

It's such a shame, as it's a beautiful house in a lovely part of France. If the owners were more normal, and stayed out of the way, we would probably come back here another time. But because they are the way they are, there's no way we'd come back here.