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 stayed in lots of holiday lets in UK and abroad. Never been asked to strip beds. Mostly go through Booking.com. Do hate the 10am checkout though. Even 10.30 would be better. Also hate it if they only have small cups. I want a mug for my tea. Also silly amounts of decorative cushions on the bed that then have nowhere to go!

Interesting thread

As a holiday home owner

• we have floor plans as a standard. It costs a couple hundred quid to produce
• check out is 10:30, it's a large house to clean, 5 beds 4 bathrooms, 2 living rooms and a large kitchen, it takes about 4 hours to turn around, also need to consider the cleaning company have other houses to do if it's a busy checkout day.
• we ask beds to be stripped and dishwasher set away preferably with all glasses plates etc in it. You would be amazed at how people can leave some houses.
• we leave 4 dishwasher tabs and 4 washing machine tabs, enough to keep guests going until they get to the supermarkets. Have made the mistake of leaving the bags before, and they just get taken. Honestly!

It's honestly surprising what has been taken over the years.

• le creuset casserole pots (x2 at the same time)
• baking gear
• a speaker
• wetsuits
• towels
• an entire set of scatter cushions and matching bed spread

It definitely goes two ways!

We’ve done a lot of holiday cottage holidays and I don’t mind a 10am departure.

I strongly object to a 9am departure though, and I certainly won’t be making any cleaning efforts prior to packing the car up at 08.30am. We’ve sometimes left the night before when it’s been a 9am deadline.

Similarly I don’t object to 4pm arrival but 5pm is taking the proverbial.

We now only book properties through a company we feel confident about and are very wary about booking anything not in their top category.

Agree with a lot of the previous comments…

Even with the good quality properties there are so many which say “sleeps eight” but only have enough seating for five. What do they expect groups of eight to do? Half the group at the kitchen table all day and the other half on the sofa?

Also the lack of crockery - one (tiny) mug, one plate, one saucer etc per person and then an entire cupboard full of wine glasses.

And cupboards full of equipment with no cupboards left empty for food. One place we had to leave the food on the kitchen floor still in the Tesco bags.

Or massive freezer tiny fridge. Do they think no one ever cooks on holiday or just stick frozen ready meals in the microwave and survives off wine and crisps all week?

And bedrooms with six clothes hangers between two people.

The OP’s suggestion of a floor plan is a really good idea. Our approach to booking holiday properties is that DP compiles a shortlist and then I spend ages scrutinising the photos to make sure we understand the layout, how many properties there are on site, and anything else concealed in the fine print or in sneaky photography.

I've been booking cottages for over 20 years. I've only once been asked to strip the beds.That was on a large complex of lots of lodges. Often asked to empty bins - we do it anyway. I always hoover, clean benches and sinks, but never been asked to. It wouldn't enter my head to ask for a floor plan. I wasn't happy this summer, to find my son's room had a sky light but no window. It was a lovely place, but wouldn't be able to recommend it for that reason.

Cleaning a full house takes longer than cleaning a hotel room.

I never strip beds unless specifically asked.
Taking out the rubbish and having a last wipe of the counter takes 10 minutes, I do it while DH loads the car.

We just returned from s/c and were out by 9.30am and that included a lie in until 8am (we normally get up early, so our bodies don't do 10-11am wake up), getting fresh rolls from the bakery, having a nice time at the table and bringing the rubbish out.

My pet hates are not enough sockets near the bed, not enough cupboard/wardrobe to unpack for 1-2 weeks and no basic supplies in the kitchen like washing up liquid, towels, cloth.

I prefer getting out early so I have plenty of time for the drive home/don't rush to the airport.

Oh some interesting views here!

I'm fine with self catering in general and am happy to pay top dollar as long as I can see what I'm paying for, which is decent bathrooms and beds, parking, WIFI (assuming there is WIFI in the area) and a decent floorplan. DH snores so we need rooms far away from each other. I need a wee in the night so need an en suite. And I have mobility problems so need a walk in shower, I can't clamber into a shower that's above a bath.

I agree that I don't need soft focus shots of orange juice and floppy hats, just clarity on the above.

Oh floorplans for sure! I always think that.

The late check on annoys me as I usually think lunch time is a nice time to arrive.

We are going to Italy in a week and check in is 2pm and check out 12pm, staying at two different places as both check in and out times are the same.

Not enough sockets near the bed are a common gripe of mine in hotel rooms too. And bedside lamps that don't provide enough light to read.

We just stayed in a place with a 10am checkout. It means a bit of a rush even with packing stuff the night before. We need to leave food out for breakfast etc.

We were asked to strip the beds (first time ever, this was in a lodge complex) but sorry, no, not with that short time frame.

I wish all holiday accommodation booking sites that said they were dog friendly would let you input the number of dogs you have in the search function. I have spent hours clicking on individual listings to see how many dogs are allowed when it would be very simple just to be able to filter the search. Also, I have three tiny dogs (think handbag/smaller than cat size) but we can't stay in many places because most allow 1 or 2 dogs despite my 3 dogs put together being smaller than 1 average size dog.

btw I live in Ireland and long term house lets don't include floor plans either! this for a house that you might be living in for years.

Agree with this actually. We have two dogs and my parents one dog and if we go away together it’s hard to find one that allows three dogs.

I think holidaycottages.co.U.K. Does let you search by number of dogs though as I always put in two. We only ever book through them.

First and last rental apartment we stayed in was in Krakow as it was in the area we wanted to be and had good reviews 🙄 We told her we wouldn't be there until late due to flight times (sent copy of tickets) but assured us someone would let us in.
Nobody there, we don't speak Polish, she is not answering the phone. At 2am, after 2 hours of sitting on the step a young man was coming home and let us into the building but we couldn't get into the apartment. He was brilliant and rang the owner for another hour until he got hold of her and she reluctantly gave him the code to get us in...... Next morning we saw 2 cups, plates and cereal bowls,1 pan and coffee machine. No welcome pack, tea towels, no pods for machine as promised. Rang and asked where they were and where was the bowl was for Microwave to cook porridge - answer was, you buy and leave it in the apartment for me and as I have to change the code for apartment it will cost you £10.
As we were there for 10 days we did buy the things we needed as she never came with them and didn't want the hassle with her so before we left gave them to the young man who let us in along with some wine etc
Never again out of UK. And no didn't strip the bed or empty the bins - your flat you get on with it.

Went to a Eurocamp in France years ago and had three visits from three separate people telling us we had to leave it clean and what to do on the day we left etc. They suggested we clean the minging bbq , that was a step too far and nothing to clean it with properly. It did feel as if you were back at school there 😊
I don't mind cleaning up, but it does make a self catering holiday a bit like being at home, but it's not a hotel so you have to compromise.
A floor plan is a good idea.
People probably steal the coat hangers or tea towels , so probably why they don't leave that many and I always take my own anyway.

I like a floorplan as it's not always clear where bedrooms are in relation to bathrooms etc. and which are double / twin.

From previous threads on here where holiday cottage owners have contributed - sometimes lack of sharp knives / equipment is because anything half decent gets stolen by other guests!

I strip the beds to make life a tiny bit easier for the cleaners. I don't mind doing that, or taking the bin out.

I did notice that the check in moved from usually 3pm to usually 4pm during Covid (longer cleaning time) and never went back again.....

Sometimes, when reading the description, you're thinking "now what have they left out?" 🤔 For example "garden" but doesn't specify if shared. If you have a dog if it's secure. Is the hot tub shared or not? I saw one which did and it said "hot tub shared and rota for use. Shut at 6o clock" Fair enough.That kind of thing. It needs to spell it out.

I would like to know the proximity to other houses, if they're also let's etc. e.g is this a place with 2/3 cottages on the grounds or more like 8. I'm also very keen to know if the owner is right there or not.

Internet speed and phone signal is now really useful (I think you can now google this). If it's crap that's fine as long as I know.

I always want a dishwasher as otherwise you really are up against the 10 am check out!

Lyme Bay Holidays?

The alternative would be that places that are smaller and there's only 1 property per cleaner could have different check in/out times but it's probably more confusing

No we don't employ cleaners - we do it ourselves because we want to maintain very high standards and we take real pride in leaving our house beautiful for our guests. In the summer this includes cutting the grass and hedge in the garden as well as the usual cleaning, beds, window cleaning, leaving a fire made up in the wood burner, a welcome tray and also leaving freshly cut flowers.

DH and I work together which means we can usually get it done in three hours between us but we need to allow for longer because sometimes we have to clean alone and because we never know what state the house will be in and if something might need fixing.

@TheStroppyFeminist My advice is that you stay away (!) from the big agencies and look at smaller boutique style agencies which cover a small local area, or where the owner has their own website. I've not stayed through this company although I know people who have- just so you can see what up market looks like- Crabtree & Crabtree.

Slippery bath / shower floor and no rubber mat. Grr. Knowing someone who had an accident slipping on a bathroom floor I’m paranoid. I’m going to buy a small mat just to take on this kind of trip!

Yeh - this. Hugely annoying. I don't need a close up of the wooden duck

I have noticed that quite often 3 nights is the same price as 4 out of season. That helps with the ridiculous check out times.

Also googling the property you sometimes get a different page with more details. One property I've booked for a weekend in November it really wasn't clear that there was a separate shower because so much space was taken up by describing the history and the roll top bath.

We rented a lovely apartment in but they didn't make it clear the pool was communal for the other apartments in the blurb and I'm sure that might have been a problem for some ( it wasn't a large pool)
These online places are scant with the information sometimes and I have also sourced a bath mat before as they don't tend to have one and it is dangerous on tiled floors

@Zimunya

i don't mind stripping the bed. But they can GTF with washing/drying the linen & remaking the bed!!