To think this AirBnB review was unfair?

[QuiteDisgruntled]

Recently stayed in a studio apartment with kitchenette (fridge, sink, hob, small worktop). Washing up liquid, paper towel and sponge provided but no other cleaning equipment.

Before leaving we washed breakfast things and left on drainer. Wiped surfaces and table, stacked placemats and scooped up some crumbs from the floor with my hands.

I’ve just read the host’s review which says “OK, but kitchen left messy”. I’ve checked other reviews from the host which are all in the style of “great guest, recommended!” so it’s not as though they’re generally leaving picky or negative reviews.

Honestly I’m baffled - I think how we left the place was perfectly acceptable. Am I missing something?

And what does that prove? It’s not like a toilet roll shortage, you don’t need to see empty shelves to demonstrate there’s not enough homes.

I had this once I rented an Airbnb which allowed dogs I told her what breeds I had and booked for two weeks when we left she tried to sting us for additional cleaning because of dog hair there was no hoover and no brush so I’m not sure what she thought I would be able to do about it. She also said that we had been smoking in the garden and now the garden smelt

Well each to their own. It’s our last day here tomorrow. Hotel has agreed a late check out and it will be bliss not having to get up and clean before we leave and strip the beds. It may not take hours but if you need to be out by 10 then it needs to be factored in, especially for a family of 4. We get to leave at 11.30 - and don’t have to do a thing.

We got an early check in on arrival and a late check out. Delaying check in until 4pm and forcing a 10am departure is taking the piss. But if that’s what you want to do then go for it.

P20 sunscreen, acne cream with hydrogen peroxide in leave bleach marks over towels and sheets. I lost 4 pillowcases, a cushion cover and a full bedlinen set within 2 weeks from this.

Me too. I don't go away for a relaxing break to then spend anytime, whatsoever, stripping beds, emptying bins and Hoovering. I don't do those things in my own home (have a cleaner) so no way am I doing it when I've already paid a cleaning fee.

If there's a list of cleaning instructions it gets ignored and I won't stay there again. I will always leave the property tidy and pop dirty crockery in the dishwasher, but that's my limit.

Kind of proves there are available homes? How many empty homes would you like to see on the market? In fact 10 mile radius brings up nearly a thousand.

Completely agree. I have stayed in my last Airb&b.

We keep the place clean and tidy so on the last morning we just give the sinks a quick wipe and check everything is ok. Barely takes any time at all.

We do find the 4pm check in a bit of pain although quite a few places have let us check in earlier but 10am is late for us to check out. We are normally out by 9am at the latest.

We just don't like hotels - too cramped, too inflexible, too noisy. I can't even begin to imagine what it is like with children!

Absolutely this, the thought of spending a whole week in one room!!! No washing machine, no iron, no sofa, no garden to sit out in, bathroom in teh bloody room.

No fridge for proper milk either

Home and abroad (we're mostly abroad although have just booked 2 upcoming UK trips) we always use it

Where do you go on holiday?
I do not want to stay in a hotel
I want more space
I want more flexibility

There is no shortage of housing in this country.

I had to move out of my home city, where I was born and bred, why? Because people come from everywhere to live there, from Manchester, LIverpool, Birmingham, Scotland, Wales, abroad, the West country, all over the place.

So, I was priced out. Had to move somewhere else affordable

Thats what the poster is saying, there is housing all over the country to buy or rent, you might not want that housing but its there. However not all of it is accessible to people without guarantors, on benefits, with children or pets if they are rentals. people renting out holiday cottages dont change that at all.

Same where I live. One couple bought up 3 properties in the village last year alone, all Airbnb.

Can you challenge this with Air BnB?

Otherwise I would be polite and factual in response "We tidied the property, washed up and left as we found it. No specific rules/requests regards post stay clean up. Review is therefore not representative of how we left the property"

I actually had my first nasty review at my business today. Pissed me right off as we've worked bloody hard and been renovating for weeks before we opened a week ago. Some utter cock lodger decided to snipe over some trivial bullshit. I replied in a very much obvious "I'm going to apologise and be professional but if you read between the lines this guy was a prick" (ie saying we endeavour to serve all customers to their satisfaction and are disappointed that despite attempts to please you we failed on this occasion ".

You do get people who can't help but leave a negative review over stuff that doesn't matter.

Current hotel has - separate room for the kids, a fridge, an iron (haven’t used it), spa, sauna, indoor pool, outdoor pool, cinema, parking, on the beach. Lots of rooms to sit downstairs with a glass of wine in peace, a gym, huge grounds.

I’m pretty happy and may never stay in an Air BnB again. Especially with their ridiculous demands. I don’t want to cook and clean on holiday. It’s the summer holidays - at home I have done nothing but cook meals for the kids and clean. This is an actual break.

I go all over the place.

I stay in independent hotels, inns or B&B's.

I don't want to cook and clean on holiday.
I want to relax, ask the proprietors all about the area, enjoy their lovely food and hospitality. I want to fund the local economy and leave the houses, cottages and flats for local people to live in and enjoy.

It shouldn't be allowed.

Sorry to highjack the thread - I’m in and Airbnb now and I have just seen that we are not charged a cleaning fee - does it mean we need to deep clean the place before leaving ? Thank you

I would not have left that review for you.

It has to be pretty bad for me to say it's left messy. A few dishes on the draining board wouldn't even register with my cleaning team.

I don't charge a separate cleaning fee - it's all factored into the nightly charge so what you see is what you pay.

Deep cleans are not expected. We ask that the place is left basically tidy and the bins emptied. Dishes washed and put away is also nice and some owners will expect that. Have you been given checkout instructions?

I live in the north and have been looking for years but cant find anything

But you're not trapped in your hotel room like it's a prison cell. You are allowed to leave, you know. Basically, you just use your hotel room to sleep in and get showered/dressed etc. No need for irons or washing machines in your room because the hotel can launder your clothes (but surely you just pack enough clean clothes for the length of your stay?). Hotel rooms have mini fridges and coffee machines. Hotels bathrooms aren't 'in your room' no more than an en suite is, surely?

Assuming it's a good hotel, it will have lovely public lounges and comfy sofas to relax in. Staff to make your food and bring you drinks, etc.

Each to their own, but spending time making my own meals, making beds, making my own drinks, emptying bins, washing dishes, Hoovering and wiping the wash basin and loo does not sound like a holiday to me.

You're basically running a home but with a different view.

Guests are not reviewed on booking.com, so it's not the same thing.

OK yes so there’s some homes for sale. There’s always some homes for sale. You’re not going to walk into an estate agents and find they say “sorry, nope we’ve got no homes today, come back next week”. Like I said - it’s not toilet roll, you don’t get empty shelves.

What is important is how many homes there are for sale relative to the demand for those homes. How many people want to buy a home in your area? You have no idea.

If you’ve got many more people wanting to buy, say, a three bed semi in a particular area than there are three bed semis available, that will tend to drive up the price of those three bed semis as people compete to bid higher.

The number of homes built has fallen below the numbers we need to meet demand for decades which is a good part of the reason that housing is so unaffordable.

(to be honest, it’s all somewhat more complicated than this, and a lot relates to the impact of how generous or otherwise banks are in handing out mortgages, and some clever economists argue we don’t have a housing shortage at all, but they’re in the minority. However absolutely no one is using the fact there’s some homes for sale on Rightmove as the smoking gun which proves there’s no housing shortage).

Have very similar bugbears and as I tend to stay away a fair bit throughout the year (holidays and for work), I have a bag of cleaning stuff in the car boot now. Stayed in one air bnb while working away a few years ago and they didn’t provide any washing up liquid, sponges or other cleaning products but had hand soap, hand moisturiser, shampoo, shower gel, body lotion and conditioner in the bathroom! Ever since I’ve had my own cleaning stuff in the car just in case.

Earlier in the year I was staying in a lovely holiday home but no hoover to be found, so I ended up buying a Black & Decker DustBuster that was on offer at from Argos, just to get crumbs up etc as I went along. Best purchase of the year so far. I’ve ended up using it most weeks since and it’s first choice when I clean the car.

Had similar happen to us once, the review of us was generally positive and he said he'd have us again but that we left the place 'slightly untidy' when we literally spent 2 hours cleaning up, wiping surfaces and actually mopping floors 🤔