To be sick of 'quick turnaround' holiday cottages and their half arsed cleaning

[Holidayfatigue24]

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone else was feeling this.

Got back yesterday from a few days away in a holiday cottage, but once again was left feeling pissed off at the level of cleanliness and general lack of facilities. This time was probably the worst, as the dishwasher didn't work, there was mould in the washing machine and there was absolutely nothing in terms of household essentials. I.e, butter, oil, dishcloths, toilet roll, milk - absolutely nothing. It just seems so bloody stingy! We paid good money because it's a popular area, but we still expect the basic levels of cleanliness at the very least!

I wouldn't expect biscuits and wine on arrival (although that didn't used to be unusual!) and I'd forgive a bit of dust here and there, but this just seems thoughtless and greedy.

Definitely seems to be becoming the norm now unfortunately. The last thing I want is to start the process of an official complaint, but I feel utterly ripped off, so I will.

I know I'm not being unreasonable to feel this way under the circumstances. I guess I just wondered if anyone else felt like this or have we just been really unlucky? ....

On our most recent UK holiday my children found a vape, a condom and a pill in a blister pack in the top drawer of the kids’ room (the same room where games and toys were stored in the cupboard). The bathroom bins also hadn’t been emptied 🤢

@MontagueMoo

The thing is with self-catering is that you, well, self-cater. You provide yourself with all your consumables.

That's a bit of an antiquated attitude back from the days when you'd go "self catering" to an apartment in Majorca and there'd be nothing there at all, no loo roll, no towels, etc.

Things have thankfully moved on and any decent self catering place these days, especially the likes of cottages in the UK, will provide "home comforts".

Back in the day, lots of places also charged for electricity via a coin meter or from reading the meter at start and end of the stay. Again, thankfully that kind of nonsense has now mostly stopped.

Cleaning supplies, loo rolls, soap/showergel, plenty of towels, dishwasher tablets, and a "bits drawer" of batteries, pens, pencil, note pad, etc is pretty much basic standards these days, as is some kind of welcome pack so at least you can have a hot drink and biscuit when you get there.

I think you've just been unlucky to be honest. We stayed in a property in Aviemore at peak holiday period, the place was spotless and they had left all of the usual washing up liquid, hand soap, dishwasher tablets. No cleanliness issues at all but having said that i'm not the sort of person who goes equipped with marigolds and expecting to do my own cleaning up to my ridiculously high standards.

The only time we ever had an issue was last October, booked a place in Northumbria and when we arrived it clearly hadn't been turned around at all - called the owner who could not have been more apologetic and explained it must have been a breakdown in communication with the portal we booked through. She was there in less than an hour with 2 friends, they blitzed the place and left an extra bottle of Prosecco so we were happy!

If anything since covid the time they have had to clean is greater - used to be a 11am check out now it's 9am or 10am, entry at 3pm and now it's 4pm or even later.

Perhaps OP you should consider voting with your feet (as should others) and not using self catering accommodation, in spite of the benefits there can be.

Or you should be advised before you book if the owners do the cleaning or have someone/a company employed to do it.

It's a shame that more information isn't included in the listings as regards what is and what's not provided.

There's only so much info to be gleaned from reviews, and a lot of reviews are just "gushing" about things like views etc and not the nitty gritty of whether there were enough loo rolls or dishwasher tablets or the scale of the welcome pack.

If I had a holiday let, I'd lay it all out in the listing. Lots of places do, but the majority don't, which makes it a lottery as to whether you need to take a lot of stuff yourself or whether it'll be provided.

Certainly the welcome pack can just create waste if they supply a large milk carton that you didn't know about, but you've taken your own and can't use both in the few days you're there.

I voted YABU to expect butter. 🤢Is this with or without the previous occupiers toast scrapies or should the cleaner knife those off?

We’ve had a small pint of milk, cleaning products, oil, condiments, soaps, biscuits and wine.

Mould and dirt is disgusting, I’d have messaged straight away to complain,

I've never had issues with cleanliness in cottages either before or after Covid. Perhaps we're just lucky?! As others have said, welcome packs or items in the cupboards vary. I'll often pack everything bar the kitchen sink, just in case, then end up not using half of it because this cottage actually has some salt and pepper, oil, tea towels, etc. One AirBnB had so much stuff in the cupboards and even an unopened bag of frozen chips in the freezer!

I have a few non-negotiables on my bookings though including a minimum of 4 star equivalent and very good, recent, reviews. It's not totally foolproof I know, I've seen some shocking reports on social media, particularly about some of the caravan parks this year, where the reviews have been OK, but I've not had any issues so far (touch wood!).

I agree about the times though. Since Covid, check in times seem to be at least an hour later than they used to be and check in about an hour earlier. One place we went to we couldn't check in until 4.30 but had to be out by 10. It was only a couple of hours from home and we had stuff in the car that was visible, so we couldn't stop off and do anything touristy on the way there or back, so ended up hanging around at home until after lunch and had no choice but to go straight home at the end. For a 7 day break, we only had 6 days, so we wasted a whole day.

I should caveat my last post by saying that my Mum has the same non-negotiables as me, yet on their first day on their most recent holiday they were watching TV and watched a mouse trot across the kitchen floor!

The owner was mortified though, set some traps and gave them a free lunch in their coffee shop!

I wpuld nevet expect butter etc?

I would expect it to be clean

In those we've stayed who've given butter, it's either been a few of those small catering portion sizes on a plate in the fridge, or a new small/unopened pack in the fridge.

Obviously no one would want a half used carton of butter, just like they wouldn't want half a bottle of mile or half a loaf of bread.

Though we did stay somewhere once where the cleaners had left literally everything in the kitchen, including half used boxes of breakfast cereals, half used packets of pasta, and loads of out of date unopened tins and packets of baked beans, etc. The fridge was awful with odd tomatoes, half a lump of cheese, etc. Clearly couldn't be bothered to clean it properly and made out they were doing guests a favour by leaving plenty of supplies for them!

I'd never expect perishables like milk to be provided but absolutely unacceptable that appliances were unusable.
Our last place had a little welcome pack with new sponge, dishcloth, dishwasher tablets and liquid. The cupboard had all the usual spices and extra and lots of different cooking oils.
We'd not been expecting much so had taken home cooked frozen meals with us and so only used the cleaning materials.

I have a holiday let. There's pepper and salt, sugar and a few other basic condiments. I used to have cooking oil and things like ketchup, but you'd be amazed at what people nick! I leave plenty of toilet rolls though, tin foil, cling film, rubbish bags etc. But if these start disappearing too I'll stop.
I would not accept mould or basic uncleanliness - a call to the owner/agent right away. And a dishwasher can be replaced in 24/48 hours if need be.
I don't charge a separate cleaning fee, but I'm paying about £100 each time so I expect them to do a good job!
I provide milk, tea/coffee and a locally made cake.

Our holiday last week there was a serious mould problem in the master bedroom, curtains were covered in it, which we had to take down because I’m asthmatic and allergic to mould, and it was clear the cleaners weren’t doing thorough job as there were massive cobwebs everywhere.

Great fun having allergic reactions every day on the only holiday we can afford this year. DH scrubbed the mould off but it smelt like cats wee the whole week.

If I went to a holiday cottage without DD, milk and butter would just be wasted.

I don't use either!

Wine would be wasted on DD and me too.

I don't think it's exactly "what" is in the welcome pack. It's just a nice gesture and thoughtful for there to be things rather than an empty kitchen.

Anything that's wrapped and non perishable that we didn't want, we'd leave for the cleaner/host for the next guests, or if it was something like a bottle of wine that a friend or relative may like, we'd take it.

When things like supermarket bags of crisps, chocolate bars or large packs of biscuits are in the welcome pack, we'll probably leave them in the welcome pack if we don't eat them ourselves.

We're more appreciative of something with thought rather than a load of things bought in bulk from the supermarket or wholesalers. A home made cake is especially welcoming! Hint Hint! Rather than something from Aldi!

Local produce is especially welcome, especially on farm barn conversions, where you often get some eggs from the farm chickens, or local cheese, etc.

There's a clue in the name "welcome"!

Our holiday let,has a 5⭐️ cleanliness rating!

We leave loo rolls, dishwasher tabs, laundry powder and conditioner, salt pepper, fairy, lots of cloths scourers and anti bac spray.
Coffee pods, tea bags and sugar.
Bathrooms always have a hand wash and room spray.

We don’t leave any foods/milk/oil but we leave a voucher for the local Booths.

Regarding cleaning, guests vacate by 10am, cleaning staff can arrive anytime between then and 2pm, if I know staff have been in or there is a gap between guests I always message with an earlier check in.

We recently stayed at holiday let on Anglesey that was gross, the owners lived next door, they actually asked that we cleaned it ready for the next guests!

The dish brush and cloths were filthy, the bedding was clean but the duvets had an odour😱.

I’ve just found the pic of the departure instructions!

Last but one cottage, mouldy understairs cupboard, washing machine had mould and we had a fly infestation in the bedroom. Furniture tired and chairs bloody uncomfortable and past their best. No welcome pack. Last cottage, wonderful, welcome pack, immaculate, lots of facilities, very comfortable and cosy - both were the same price!!

As an owner myself, the problem is owners who buy as an investment, don’t live locally & use agencies & contract cleaners. With that set up, you have literally no control over the level of cleaning and the supply of guest consumables. I live a couple of minutes from mine and have used cleaners a handful of times over the last 8 years (to holiday myself). On return the standard has always slipped, even over just one clean - multiply that by a years worth of bookings, and the place becomes a shambles. We are unusual as we do supply quite a few extras for guests after arriving at other places and being pissed off with one tea bag and no milk! We leave plenty of loo roll, kitchen roll, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shower caps, face wipes, hand soap, dishwasher tabs, foil etc, fresh flowers, bread, butter, jams, orange juice, fruit bowl, milk, tea, coffee, sugar, wine. I want every guest to feel right at home. I know it’s self catering, but we do have many guests from overseas & if they have a delayed flight, at least they have some provisions if they arrive after the shops have closed. I’m in the business of making people happy, that means squeaky clean, and a big welcome.

But they don’t have 6 hours to clean the property, they have a 6 hour window. My cottage cleaners usually come as a pair in peak season and they will be turning round 4 or 5 properties in that 6 hour window.
welcome packs were a no-no during and after covid, many people wouldn’t touch it. I know other owners who used to make home made cake but stopped as people were not eating it, so it was just being wasted. A pint of milk means someone has to go to the shops the day before, who is going to do that? Most owners do not live next door.
Showing my age, but I remember when you had to take your own bed linen and towels on a self catering holiday!!! Nowadays guests are pissed that they don’t get butter and milk for free…..

You sound like an ideal and committed owner.

Trouble is too many owners look at it as just an investment income, whereas in reality, they're in the hospitality industry. There's a massive difference. You can really tell the owners who actually understand hospitality and embrace it. You can also tell the ones who think of it as just an enhanced "buy to let" and begrudge every penny they have to spend on utilities, supplies, etc.

But they don’t have 6 hours to clean the property, they have a 6 hour window. My cottage cleaners usually come as a pair in peak season and they will be turning round 4 or 5 properties in that 6 hour window.

Do you not know which order they’ll do the properties though, so that you know roughly when they’ll be doing yours and could therefore shorten the time between check out and check in? It seems crazy for 4-5 properties all to have a 6 hour gap between check out and check in, just because you don’t know when the cleaner team might do your place in that window?

When we had rentals we had no idea what time they would go in. They just told us between say 10am and 4pm. Only time you’d actually know was if there had been an issue and got a message saying, person hadn’t left yet, something was broken or such.

I’ve got a cottage in the Cotswolds. In our cottage, you’ll find:

salt, pepper, oil
enough toilet roll for for entire stay and loads more in the cupboards
full pack of dishwasher tabs
full pack of washing powder
a welcome pack with biscuits, chocolate, shortbread and used to be wine (until I found out it was actually illegal to leave alcohol) with some special touches if children are staying
fresh dishcloths and cloths for each stay
shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the bathroom just in case

I’ve always wanted to provide the highest level of service to our guests.

I think it's a bit unfortunate, but there are certainly some properties we've stayed in that are the same. Infact, every single time we've been to center parcs we have had to hoover first. Shocking. Center parcs lodges are not that clean at all.