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? ....

@Skippydoodle you sound like me! I totally agree with what you are saying.

And yet there was a thread on here the other day about how holiday let’s check out time was too early, and check in time too late. Places need enough time to properly clean.

my let check out is 11am and check in 3pm. It’s throughly cleaned top to bottom, spotless and all our reviews state that. We don’t expect our guests to do any cleaning at all, no stripping beds or anything. Yes it’s nice if it’s left tidy and sorted but all I do is moan inwardly if not.

I leave all essentials like plenty loo roll, kitchen roll, toiletries, cleaning supplies, loads of glasses, utensils, cooking tools, dishwasher tablets, washing liquid, washing powder, everything! I also leave a welcome pack with eggs, milk, bread etc.

most places where I live do this.

@Holidayfatigue24 that's what reviews are for... let others know what the experience was like.

On Airbnb anything below a 4.5 starts ending alarm bells as if people have a fab experience they leave a 5. When people start to add a 4 it means it was fine but small things that let it down.

The one we just stayed in was wonderful. Beautifully clean, fully equipped kitchen, high quality furniture and bed linen, a bookshelf and games cupboard (love this!) and it was really reasonably priced.

If you were disappointed then it's important to write a factual review. The owner will then have the opportunity to improve things.

i will say, we used to leave a selection of herbal teas, and cooking spices but stopped as people kept taking them away (stealing them). Now it’s bog standard tea and coffee. Not because I’m stingy, but because a select few have ruined it for the normally lovely majority.

I wouldn't expect anything other than a couple of toilet rolls. But it should be clean, absolutely.

i run a holiday cottage. it only has 2 bedrooms but it takes me 4 hours to clean thoroughly, or even longer if left dirty. I don't think it could be done quicker. Includes taking apart sofa to hoover under cushions, washing evey item in kitchen through dishwasher, wiping every cupboard, obviously all usual cleaning too. outside cleaned and swept. windows washed inside and out.

welcome pack includes milk, tea, coffee, sweet treat eg cream tea or buns, treats for dog. cling film & tin foil. full jar of dishwasher tabs. 3 toilet rolls. loccitane hand soap. (no butter or oil though!)

Standards haven't slipped in my Cottage but i do it all myself, i don't outsource anything. in my experience "professional" cleaners jist do surface cleaning unfortunately.

In Holland people always complain that they're not clean enough. I don't care. Often there is one loo roll and a tiny bit of soap and such. You get 65 euro back if you clean it yourself. That means the cleaner doesn't get much and has to hurry up, so you can't have too high expectations. I never rent an expensive one though. The last one was 400 euro a week. Some pay more than thousand for a similar house. I understand that they then expect more because that's crazy expensive.

We must be really lucky. I can’t think that we have stayed anywhere that wasn’t clean and didn’t have at least the basics. A lovely landlady in Brixham even offered us Sunday lunch at her house down the road 😂

I wouldn’t expect butter, milk etc but definitely would require the dishwasher to be working (if there was one).

worst place I ever stayed in had been an elderly person’s house and except for the bedding (which was clean & fresh) had literally not been touched - even found her hearing aids, used tissues etc in one of the sideboards 🤮

I’ve worked as a holiday cottage cleaner . Years ago the pay was excellent with great perks and standards were very high. We also had decent hoovers and products and time to do a good job. We were highly sought after.
Now I see adverts locally all the time for holiday cleaning staff. Without exception they are offering minimum wage. Well we all know you get what you pay for!

We do provide a few bits, so the kitchen will have salt, pepper, cooking oil, milk (we always ask what kind), juice, bread (again, we ask what kind), coffee and jam. There’s always fruit in the fruit bowl.

Things like cleaning sprays, washing up liquid etc should be there as standard, you can’t expect people to buy a whole bottle of washing up liquid, cloths and a spray cleaner for a holiday. It also means everything is to hand when you clean it yourself.

There is no excuse for poor levels of cleanliness, a holiday cottage should be deep cleaned on such a regular basis that nothing gets to anywhere near built up level.

My daughter and I rented a cottage via “HolidayCottages” .com and it was utterly disgusting. The bedrooms were very dusty, there were slugs in the kitchen and huge bluebottles. It was as if it hadn’t been occupied for a long time and that nobody had cleaned it since then. We had to stay one night as we arrived really late, but we transferred to a wonderful Airbnb the next day. The two places couldn’t have been more different. We got a full refund from HolidayCottages after I sent them photos of what we found, including the dirt when I wiped the table. They said they spoke to the owner who had “no excuse” for the condition of the property.
Due to allergies, we bring all our own food and don’t want butter/milk in the fridge, but clean scrubby, washing up liquid and some toilet roll is always appreciated.
The last Airbnb I stayed in was very expensive but really wonderful, however, they charge extra for use of the washing machine/dryer, which I thought was a little off considering the cost to stay there, though we did love the cottage and would go back.

That's absolutely outrageous

We use a lovely company in Northumberland - cottages are always spotless with enough toilet roll and dishwasher tablets for the week, plus toiletries in every bathroom. A small number of coffee pods are provided to tide you over the first couple of days and welcome pack includes bread, butter, milk, juice, cheese, tea, sweet and savoury biscuits, jam, chutney and scones.

We have a holiday let so I totally understand the challenges faced by owners of holidays lets, those that are privately rented that is. That said, dirty and mouldy is definitely not OK.
Just to put it out there, it costs us £90 per clean (the going rate for my area and 3 bed place) and a further £50 for laundry costs. I also buy welcome pack treats (think nice soft drink and nice crisps) and biscuits and we keep topped up jars of tea, coffee, sugar and cupboard sauces, oil etc and toilet roll, kitchen roll, washing up liquid, hand soap and cleaning products and extra bit and pieces.
Also I have had to replace several things this year that have been broken and damaged by guests including curtains, a cooker hob, outdoor games and toys etc. Some is general wear and tear and some may be guests fault but it is very difficult to accuse someone of causing damage when it may have been an accident or if I don't find out until several guests later!
It costs a lot to do it properly.

We also have check in at 4pm and check out at 11am though I always message guests if the house is ready earlier. We need that time to make sure everything is ready and to give us a chance to stock up on stuff or fix things.
Honestly, it's a full time job!
I certainly look on my own holiday rentals when I go away with my family differently now I'm a host myself but there is no excuse for a lack of very basic cleanliness!

Think you were a bit unlucky, or else I’ve been very lucky over the past few years. Was it well reviewed? I do pay a lot of attention to guests’ reviews online - if other guests have been glowing it’s generally going to be at least nice and clean I think…

I'd say YABU to be expecting them to be providing oil and butter (though generally I find most places leave a pint of milk in the fridge, we will automatically have brought some, so no issue if they don't).

I'd say you must have been very unlucky to find places not being clean.
I marvel how they get them so spotless whenever we book self catering. Which is quite often.
If there was a problem, did you contact them as soon as you spotted it and give them chance to put it right ? Because if the previous tenants didn't tell them there was an issue with the dishwasher, or washing machine, then how would they know ?
If there was an issue (and let's be honest, any appliance can break at any time, for any of us), and you reported it on the first day and they didn't respond, then YANBU to be unhappy, but if you expect them to know without anyone telling them, then YABU.

I think the issue with something not being provided, is that we all have different things that are important to us. But, in self catering, if something is important to you, then you take it with you.

My main issue with holiday homes/AirBnbs at the moment is that owners seem to enjoy having the property vacant for the best part of an entire day at changeover (sometimes 9am checkout and 5pm check in) which is theoretically for “cleaning” but then they actually make you do the majority of the cleaning before checkout yourself (strip beds, empty bins, run dishwasher and fully empty not just set going when you leave, and one place we stayed even expected vacuuming and cleaning kitchen and bbq despite still charging a cleaning fee)… the last air bnb we checked out of they turned up half an hour before checkout to chivvy us along, then went round seemingly inspecting our cleaning. They sent me a message about half an hour later to say I’d left something behind, I was only round the corner as we’d gone to the shops after so I went back approx. 45 mins after we’d left and the lady had already finished getting it ready for the next people. So it was then going to sit there empty for 7 hours being unused but still paid for by me/the next guests 😒

We expect nothing but are usually pleasantly surprised. The one we are in currently has enough dishwasher tabs, loo roll, bin bags, hand soap, washing up liquid, washing powder, cling film, salt etc, to last the whole week. Lovely flowers, wine, posh biscuits and crisps in a lovely gift basket.
No milk etc but that wasn’t expected. We expect the worst but usually the best happens.

Is it a price thing? We don’t go for the cheapest, but not really expensive either.

I wouldn't expect butter and oil.

The last cottage I rented, I emailed them beforehand and asked them to get a pint of milk in because if I'd tried to bring it from home, 6 hours in a car in summer, it would have gone off. Otherwise, I take basic items with us - oil, butter, condiments, whatever veg & fruit I had in, bread for first morning's toast.

It was clean though, there were spare loo rolls and the owner had helpfully laid the log burner and brought in more fuel.

I've a few friends with holiday let's. They don't leave food as a rule but do leave dishwas tabs, clothes, towels and loo roll.

I would complain about cleanliness because my friends work very hard but do it all themselves. Whenever they've used outside contractors it hasn't been a great success. The cleaners have a heavy workload and are not given enough time by the agencies, who frankly overbook.

We always holiday in cottages so we can take the dogs, we book one bigger than we need bedroom wise so its spacious.
since brexit/covid the prices have increased so much, with later arrival times and lists of housework to be done before you leave.
Our favourite cottage in Wester Ross was such a let down!
As soon as we walked in i could smell fish, the fridge was stinking of it! Coffee grounds left in the machine, floor dirty, dusting had been done round things ( nothing moved to dust underneath)
grout/ sealant in ensuite beeding replaced, the list goes on!
The couch was battered and dirty and i saw the cleaners go the cottage next door at the end of week one, they were in and away in 30 mins!
We did complain and were totally fobbed off! Two grand we paid to starr the holiday at 4pm and clean it before we could unpack!

It's a holiday let sure clean is excepted but nothing else

No wonder why there is less around with people and their OTT expectations

Minimum I expect is smoke alarms that work with batteries in, a microwave with plate that goes round if it's supposed to and heating that works, a roof that doesn't leak garden furniture that has not got sticking out nails...towels, sheets and pillows that don't smell of smoke...

Sadly that was one of Sykes properties and they were shit on compensation. Won't book with them again.

Minimum welcome pack: milk in fridge. Coffee, tea, sugar, salt and pepper and some sort of biscuits. Washing up liquid, new sponge, wash up brush, bin bags, loo rolls and kitchen roll.

Extras we have had: eggs and tomatoes off the farm,

Homemade cake, greeting card and wine.

Prosecco and cake.

Chocolates and greeting card

I think part of the problem is that there have been labor shortages for cleaners, gardeners etc. since COVID, and the buying-up of houses to turn into holiday cottages in pretty areas is pricing out ordinary local people who might be prepared to provide this kind of work and regular families with teenagers who could have picked up part-time or holiday work by cleaning or gardening. Hence, people are trying to run holiday cottages based on getting guests to do as much of the cleaning as possible and then running around trying to quickly wipe over the bits that got missed. Not really adequate.

Ever-growing numbers of dogs are probably not helping: it’s resulted in more and more families who are unable to stay in hotels, increasing the demand for holiday cottages (see above), while also increasing the cleaning requirements and causing some places to become dirtier and smellier.

I stay in hotels or apart-hotels and if necessary just have slightly fewer days of holiday. I don’t want to stay in dirty places or spend half my holiday cleaning. I deal with the dog thing by not having a bloody dog.