Why don't holiday cottage companies do these things? AIBU?

[TheStroppyFeminist]

I have been searching for a holiday cottage for next year and so far haven't found the right one but FGS, why don't cottage companies:

1. Show you a floor plan? I want to see where each bedroom is in relation to other bedrooms because of snoring etc
2. Show you the bathrooms properly? I want a huge walk in shower and I want a separate attachment as well but you can hardly ever see whether there is one
3. Insist on a 10am checkout and a 4pm or later check in? It's annoying and we sometimes leave the day before to avoid getting up early

I also won't empty bins or strip beds, I'm on holiday! AIBU? What are your self catering hates?

YABU, understandable, they CBA
YANBU, they really should provide this info

We have a holiday let, it’s managed by a letting agent so we are not responsible for the advertising but they don’t have a floor plan.

We have a 10.00 am check out 4.00pm arrival, however if the cleaners have been in early or the day before I always contact the incoming guests with an early check in time.

I ask if people can strip the beds if possible, the reason for this is so the beds/bedding have a little time to air before staff arrive to change around.

I have a self sharpening knife block! I hate blunt knives.
The kitchen is equipped to bake a cake do a Sunday roast and we provide loads of gin/wine/shot glasses etc
There is also always loads of ice in the freezer.

The Wi-Fi code is on a fridge magnet and another one by the TV so you don’t have to hunt for it!

We don’t leave a welcome hamper as there are so many people who are non dairy/gluten/alcohol so we leave a gift voucher for the local Booths supermarket.

The other side of the coin as owners is ; fake tan all over bedding and towels, the small electrical items that go missing, we have even had someone take the grill pan, the washing tablets I leave get taken as do the dishwasher tablets so we only leave enough for the stay, coffee table books go missing and people do not use the heat mats provided for hair tools.

There is always someone that wants a butter curler, melon baller or some bollocks piece of kitchen equipment and one man called me to see if someone could remove some fluff in the washing machine.

The majority of our guests are lovely people, respectful and appreciative we love receiving great reviews and have repeat custom.

We will never please everyone but we do try.

This. I have a friend with a holiday cottage. The state some people leave a house that they have stayed in for a week would make your hair curl. It takes hours to get it back to an immaculate condition for the next family to trash it.

I completely agree with this but from the other side as well. Everyone has different needs so we all need to know:

No dogs ever - so people who dislike or have allergies feel safe.
Dog tolerant - we’ll deign to accept your animals but they must be on a lead at all times and must only set foot in the kitchen for a 10 minute visit.
Dog friendly - we love animals, we’ll leave them a toy box, a treat bag and they can roam free.

I own a holiday cottage which is next to my house. Check out is 10am and check in is 4pm. Why? Well in that 6 hours, I have to strip all the beds, put everything in the wash, clean the kitchen and bathroom (often hideous), mop the bathroom and kitchen floors and give them time to dry, remake the beds, put out clean towels, dust and vacuum everywhere, read the meters and check that everything is in the right place. Having taken out the rubbish, I generally have to go through everything to make sure it's been put in the correct bin, despite explicit instructions. If there are any repairs to be done, they have to be squeezed in then. Lots of people think it's fine to stretch it to 10:30. If the next guests arrive early, I lose an hour of changeover time.

The worst was when a family pulled down the tiles in the kitchen because they had taped something over them. DH was trying to re-grout them as I was cleaning round him. Then we get the people who announce an issue as they set off home, which, had we known earlier, could have either sorted immediately, or planned a repair properly.

Our information is brutally honest. Until recently, we had dire rural broadband. We couldn't ever stream anything. There was no mobile signal here. I stated it in bold on our booking forms yet people still complained. I asked them how to get broadband or a mobile signal and they couldn't answer - in short they just wanted to moan.

We had a cottage that was checkout at 9am once. Never again! The cleaner was knocking on the door at 8.55am, glaring at us for still being there. We had a nine month old!

We have a cottage and our agency shows floor plans and pictures of the bathrooms. The exit times are needed though because cleaning and checking the properties does take time

Furniture that looks as though it’s left over from a refurbishment in the owner’s home, so it’ll ‘do’ for the holiday place.
Parking that turns out to be in a public car park, some distance away, for which you pay.
Lack of detail on bed size. I want at least a king size bed.

@Domoda we got a partial refund last year because of building work noise. In very small print, at the bottom, it said there were some renovations and there might be some noise. What there was, in fact, was a development of several houses and apartments, with noise from 7.30 onwards. They removed the listing too. It wasn’t the only thing wrong- it wasn’t clean, the shower tray was mouldy and broken, the vacuum cleaner unusable because it was bunged up solid with discs of something, the pillows smelled and I’m not convinced the bed had been changed.

I agree with the rest of your comments too. I object to spending a lot of money on something that’s much less comfortable than my home.

So true!

Unfortunately a lot of the owners seem to want it both ways, for the guests to clear out early to allow time for them/a cleaner to prepare for the next guest, but also for the outgoing guests to do a lot of that cleaning themselves. Usually the prices are quite expensive, so it's not really fair at all IMO.

Holiday cottages used to be 3pm but it's now 4pm. Lots were extended during covid and stayed that way.

My last one has never had the floors cleaned for an age. I know because although it was all hard wood, and no obvious crumbs or anything...I dropped an earring and when I got down to find it there was a load of dog hair and fluff when you looked. I ended up mopping the floors because it grossed me out!

Floorplans would be great I agree.

I'd also like them to vanish reed diffusers to the bin. I gathered up 5 of the buggers and put them in a cupboard. I was waking up wheezing.

Number 3 is so that they can clean the place and change the beds for the next group coming the same day. We have an airbnb and we always let people leave when they want unless we have a same day changeover, then unfortunately we need the time.

I agree on check in and out times. I feel like they got earlier and later during the pandemic to allow for deeper cleans as per the guidelines that had to be followed. But since the end of the pandemic lots of places haven't moved back to earlier in and later out because it's obviously easier for the properties to have longer to clean. If you are going somewhere for two nights you barely get any time to enjoy the place.

@Bluevelvetsofa I've thought before that the bedlinnen wasn't fresh. It didn't have a clean smell/feel thouynit obviously dirty.

I don't mind the bins, recycling etc and I always hoover, clean and tidy as I do at home, so I will clean the toilets but not the bath and shower etc if I've only been for a week. I do not strip the beds, I ignore that. In general I am usually away for 2 weeks and rarely do I get asked if I want a cleaner to come around in the middle - when they ask I always say no don't bother but they are saving on a clean which I am assuming is quite expensive so I don't feel bad about leaving the beds!

I have a bug bear about towels if you are staying 2 weeks - you generally get one bath towel each and they need to be washed, which is fine if there is a tumble dyer but less good if you hanging it out to dry on an airer however it's generally dooable in July/August but it is impossible in Scotland in the Easter and October holidays (where we get 2 weeks) and nearly impossible in England and for this tiny reason alone I wouldn't book a house without a tumble dryer in April/Oct!

When self catering I always take 3 oven trays, tea towels and a good knife for veg! The oven trays are always disgusting and the knives are always awful!

I got a little annoyed on a holiday park break when we had to strip beds, put all bedding in specific bags, empty all our bins, vacuum round etc. maybe I'm being unreasonable but if I'm on holiday (and we don't get one every year) I don't want to feel like I have to do a spring clean after my stay.

• Giving me a list of 12 dos/donts after i have booked - you should have told me these before as i might not have chosen your place
• expecting me to do cleaning, ie one of the above points was the leave the place clean and tidy....i dont clean at home, and i definately wouldnt do this on holiday
• if you are staying for 2 weeks, why isnt it cleaned half way through.....even if a fairly light clean so they dont get in my way?
• i think the entry/leave times got extended during covid and havent gone back to pre-covid ones
• agency not cleaning at all, and having loads of dust hoarding decorations. And no light bulbs in some areas so you couldnt use rooms after dark.

If you have a great view can you show a picture of that too. That's what makes our holidays... sitting watching the Scottish highland weather whilst being cozy inside.

Where are you staying that you have to strip the beds!? I only do staycations and I've never had to do this!

We are currently in a holiday rental property and need to strip beds, put used towels in a separate bag and put the rubbish out, before 10am check out. This is the first time since COVID that i’ve had a request to strip beds.

There’s also several mentions, in leaflets/notices around the property, about a £100 Good Housekeeping Bond (I need to read the booking conditions) and am fearful that I could jeopardise this if I don’t strip beds?

Try getting room dimensions for student accommodation if this kind of futile activity is your bag. My God!

I'd love a floor plan, as Ds (18) is a terrible sleeper and goes back and forth to the loo about a million times, so would be lovely to book somewhere that got a bedroom for me that's not next to the bathroom!

My biggest bugbear lately has been trying to book a holiday apartment in Spain and them not stating what floor it's on or if there's a lift. I'm physically disabled and struggle with stairs, so I'm having to message every host to ask this.

We often stop in static caravans and there's an expectation to clean the whole place and be out by 10am, which drives me nuts as I'm not the speediest person due to disabilities, so end up getting up at the crack of dawn to get cleaned and packed.

That’s an outrageous attitude on the part of the property owner.

If you’d wanted two beds between four adults you’d have booked a two bedroom property - which would have cost you significantly less than a four bedroom property.

@Musicaltheatremum thank you. I do put views on our website and social media. It's nice to hear, people want to see the views/animals

Yes to floor plans.

Yes to a very clear picture of the garden and how secure it is.

Yes to pictures of views from the windows/garden. Nothing worse than getting to a seemingly isolated cottage to find your living window faces directly into the living rooms window of the farmhouse next door or that you virtually share a garden with them and cannot relax in peace.

Yes to a decently stocked kitchen. Pans, baking trays, good knives, tea towels and plenty of crockery and glassware.

Yes to enough comfy seats for everyone. Dont advertise it as sleeping 8 people if only four can sit down in the lounge or round the table.

Yes to publishing wifi speeds and having decent coverage.

No to having to clean half the house before leaving. A basic wipe down, leave everything where you found it and have everything clean or being cleaned in the dishwasher when you go.

Yes to a decent hoover so you can keep it clean as you go.

No to every little bit of left over sauce etc from previous visitors being in the cupboards. Ug.

If housekeeping have 5/6 houses/apartments to clean - they will need at least 90 minutes on each place. Its not like you can get several people to do 90 minutes work - housekeeper will want 5/6 hours work and may work for an agency who the owner contact to clean. The owners aren't going to know what time so much put between 10-4 as that is the time the agency will allocate for them - a bit like waiting in all day for a big deleivery.

Logistically how would you organise it so that the house was cleaned by 4pm if the previpous occupants don't leave until 2.30?

YANBU, I appreciate a floorplan. Also like to see if the property is directly on a busy road or not, it drives me nuts when it looks like one thing in the photos then is something quite different when you turn up. Also like to know how secure the garden is, although most dog-friendly properties will tell you. And most definitely need to know anything like "dogs not permitted upstairs" BEFORE booking.

@TheStroppyFeminist , most holiday cottages could be let as proper homes for families. The industry is destroying communities.

(Made a typo)