To think holiday cottage company is taking the p**s

[HettyMeg]

We don't stay in holiday cottages very often so I don't know if we are a bit out of touch. But the one we're staying in has got a list as long as your arm of things we need to do before check out, including strip the beds and place all bedding and towels in a bag for laundry. It also says categorically do not put glass bottles in the bin, but there is no recycling for glass or information about where to recycle so we just need to take them home with us. If you get makeup on a towel you will be made to pay for a new one, which seems OTT to me as they can surely wash out a bit of foundation?!

I live in Spain and have only ever stayed in AirBNB type places in Spain and Portugal. I have never done more than sweep the floor and wipe surfaces quickly and make sure dishes are clean or in the dishwasher left running. Never even stripped beds. Never been asked to do anything either except take rubbish out, which I would do anyway.
That´s what the cleaning fee is for? Also, they usually ask you to be out by 11 and can´t check in until 4 so they have 4-5 hours to clean it.

We’ve just returned from one. We got a call at 10 am on day of arrival to say we could get in at 12 noon as cleaners would be finished early. It was a dog friendly place, but when we arrived the list said no dogs allowed upstairs, fair enough, nor allowed in bedrooms. We choose this cottage as it had a downstairs bedroom so dog could sleep on our floor and we could let him out in the garden easily at night. We also had similar rules regarding recycling, no bottle collection, although the owners left a bottle of wine. I’ve stripped beds once in 2020 and really don’t want to do it on holiday. We put a hoover round downstairs before we leave just because of dog hair, but usually the hoover is rubbish, so hardly worth the effort. We were asked to leave dishwasher empty, I forgot, but I also put a cloth over basins and kitchen worktops. I reckon the whole house could be cleaned and beds changed in less than 3 hours. We do try and leave holiday homes as we find them.

I don't get all this stuff about the dishwasher thing. How much washing up does breakfast generate? Just wash& dry the breakfast things before you leave & pop them back in their cupboards. How hard can it be?

But that is a cost saving choice by the owner. If I'm paying for a night's accommodation and a cleaning fee I don't think its reasonable to have to clean up and get out for 9am the next morning. Cleaning costs used to be part and parcel of the rental, not an "extra" on top of rules to clean it yourself.

Many of the covid restrictions on guests seem to have been retained whilst the quality of service has not reappeared. I agree with the comment upthread that there are too many AirBnB owners in the market who see it as a largely passive revenue stream.

@LAMPS1 description of factoring in some costs as part of the rental and the expectations on guests sound much more normal in a "traditional" cottage rental business pre AirBnB.

I think it is more Airbnb which is why I don’t use them. Sometimes as well a cleaning fee is included which means you clean they take care he deposit is yiu don’t and are paid twice

too many people now rent out holiday homes who shouldnt

I have to agree with some of these, OP.

Stripping beds was never standard. It's something that crept in with Covid and now cottage managers have taken the opportunity to have you do the work.

Glass bottles: if there is no recycling and none in the trash, I'd expect to leave them rinsed and stood on the side. No way am I taking them home with me.

Make up on towels. It's actually pretty easy to avoid this one, so should never crop up.

Make up can be a nightmare to get off towels, pillowcases. Sunscreen. Fake tan too too. I used to have a cottage and it’d cost about £2k over a year to be regularly replacing bedding/ towels. In fairness I dip dyed most of it so I have enough expensive duvet covers with an ombré dye at one end to last a lifetime.

You just factor it in. Costings wise. I think people massively underestimate the cost of running a cottage

All sounds reasonable to me. They should've given information on where the recycling bins are though.

The property we stayed in this year stipulated we needed to clean the dishwasher and washing machine filters! Yeah, didn't do that.

Yep it's an absolute pisstake given how much they charge.

because cleaners have more than one place to clean, they will be cleaning XX number of apartments / rooms in that 6 hour block

We use Airbnbs all the time and only once have ever had anything like this.

Generally we put everything in the dishwasher and wipe the side so it looks presentable but have never done a full clean or the beds or anything further. These are a mixture of airbnbs in the UK to include dogs and larger places for groups of friends.

The one place which wasn't great and wanted a full clean has since been taken down so don't think they were suited to be holiday let owners.

We do read reviews very carefully before booking but maybe we've just been lucky.

It's standard stuff for holiday homes. I used to hate it but you just have to get into the groove. It's great checking out of a hotel and not worrying about all that stuff but equally I've stayed in some gorgeous rental properties for a week with loads of space for us all for much cheaper than a hotel. So I just accept if I need to strip beds and wash dishes etc and allow time for it. It's all good!

I strip the beds if I’m asked, but that’s it. I don’t vacuum, scrub and have everyone eat their breakfast over the sink so that we can be out by 10am without it looking like we were ever there.

I will take the hit on a bad review, if happens… but, it never has. Vote with your feet!

I never stay s/c, much refer hotels but each to their own. Anyway I did stay in a cottage once with my elderly disabled parents as it was user friendly for them. Checkout was 10am and all that goes with it as mentioned.

We decided that due to the rather onerous rules on leaving that we would suck up the last overnight. I did all the tasks required at a leisurely pace on the day before we should have checked out, and left after tea. No rush, no sweat, no stress. Parents could not have coped with a very rushed stressed daughter doing all the cleanup and watching the clock for 10 am! The lack of stress was worth foregoing the last night. There was no major advantage to staying the last night anyway given the early eviction. Lol

Lots of places are still using covid as an excuse to utterly take the piss - like a PP said if I wanted to strip beds I’d stay at home!

I manage a few holiday cottages and 3 hours is the tip of the iceberg. Because of changeovers, plumbing/electrical repairs, deep cleans and other repair jobs are often undertaken at these times. Plus if the cottages are left filthy, routine cleaning can often take twice the time.

I think you have to be monumentally precious for your holiday to be ruined by having to strip a bed and put towels in a bag. It takes less than 2 minutes.

I've stayed in holiday cottages for years and stripping the bed has always been pretty normal. As is switching on the dishwasher.

I wouldn't rub a face full of makeup on a towel either, so that one shouldn't really even be in play.

I wouldn't want to have to vacuum, mop etc but stripping a bed and putting your dishes in the dishwasher seems pretty normal to me.

It’s even easier to go and have breakfast in a cafe after you’ve loaded the car. Stripping the bed takes minutes and I’ve always done it without being asked. Nothing would induce me to do any housework but we’ve never stayed anywhere where that’s been an expectation.

I have an Airbnb (small 2 bed cottage). A clean takes me approx 3-4 hrs. I suggest to guests they may like to help by stripping beds but it’s not compulsory. Simple instructions for the rubbish. I expect guests to respect my place and wipe over kitchen surfaces etc if obvious mess. Dishwasher - yes please put your stuff in but up to you whether you switch on or not - I’m there long enough to deal with it. Every changeover is pretty much a deep clean - furniture pulled out, skirting boards, hoover under sofa cushions, all crockery etc in cupboards checked (and often re washed!). I could go on! People moaning about early check outs and late check ins need to think about the time and effort it takes to give them an immaculate holiday home - they’d be the first to complain if it wasn’t!

Then that's the owner/manager cutting corners.

I also would rather not stay somewhere that requires me to clean the place before the cleaners come in. I don't strip the beds unless specifically asked and don't much mind doing that, and taking the bins out, and leaving the dishwasher on with no dirty dishes left out. But I'm not running the hoover round (if I'd brought in a big pile of sand that would have been cleared up on the spot, Ditto wiping the work surface).

I expect the cost of turnaround to be factored into my rental (and the now-common cleaning fee!)

Same. Don’t see the point in paying and cleaning being included in that price, then being expected to clean it yourself. No idea why these places are so popular.

From experience I really don't like holiday accommodation where the host takes a huge deposit and expects it to be left pristine at the end. Especially where they don't provide anything useful such as a hoover or decent mop.

Some of the requests at check out are getting ridiculous. It would now not surprise me to read 'Strip beds, hoover throughout property, redecorate all rooms, service boiler'.

I much prefer eurocamp where you pay a £15 damage waiver and that's it. We do sweep out and wash up anyway - useful for finding stray toys/socks and own crockery.

Surely things like emptying the dishwasher and stripping the beds is factored into the cleaning? Air BNB hosts seems to be quite greedy these days.

Holiday let owner here.

Cleaning properly does take a good while. Holiday cottages are used much more intensively. The time also allows us to undertake routine maintenance if needed too.

We don't ask that the beds are stripped. I prefer them left as that way I can see if there are stains that might need treating or if bedding has been ripped (it happens....)

Make up is a pain to clean from towels. One delightful guest used hair dye and ruined a set (clearly didn't want to mess up their own at home....)

Dishwasher. I do ask that it's not left running. The modern appliances all have really long cycles for energy saving reasons. There simply isn't the hours in the day. Most people ask for early check in- well that's only possible if you are considerate about things like not leaving dishwasher on. I don't understand why it's considered so hard to wash a few breakfast plates etc.

There is an attitude more and more that people shouldn't have to do x,y,z because they have paid for it. They are usually the ones who leave a holiday let in a mess too..... yet they will be first to complain if somewhere isn't perfect. The entitlement is staggering.

We are dog friendly but properly so! I hate it when somewhere says dog friendly but confines them to one room. But again to do that means we need the time to do a proper clean.

When we ran a rental out rules of that’s what you want to call them where to leave the place as you’d like to find it. But that really meant don’t leave it a shit hole.

I expected washing up to be done even if still on the drainer, rubbish hopefully in the outside bin but if not bagged up. Obvious messes cleaned up like if your spilled something.

We had a hover and that in there but that was more for the cleaner unless you’d covered the carpet in sand from the beach or had an extra hairy dog then feel free to use it. There was a full cupboard of cleaning supplies but again for the cleaner or those who like to clean everything again on arrival themselves, dog poop bags and collapsible water bowls too. If someone had cleaned it spotless it’s a win for the cleaner paid for nothing if not she gets paid to do her job.