To ask why people do this when staying in holiday cottages

[TellerTuesday]

I look after and clean a holiday cottage for a family friend.

I'm having to take an early lunch at the minute while I wait for a friend to come and help me because - for reasons known only to themselves - the guests that have left this morning decided that the massive set of double drawers would be better on the next floor up.

You honestly would not believe how often something like this happens! It's ridiculous!

Once, I walked in to find the dining table and 4 chairs missing from the kitchen, they'd been moved up a tight set of stairs (with a turn) and plonked in the middle of the living room.

Please, please, please if you're staying in a holiday cottage, leave the furniture where you find it.

And if you really can't bear the current arrangement and insist on moving things around..... put them back before you leave!

Probably would have started building an extension!😂

Kids. I stay in cottages/Airbnb 2/3 times a year and have for the last 15 years. Never moved anything before kids. Never needed to. We move stuff around loads now. We move it back at the end.

However if you find that the same stuff is getting moved frequently then you might want to suggest the owner moves it permanently

If different sets of people are regularly moving the same pieces of furniture to the same places in your holiday rental, I'd consider relocating them permanently. There are some things in holiday rentals that have clearly been sited by people who've never thought about the logistics of actually doing things in that space.

Stayed at a cottage place many years back. The owner when we arrived was the rudest person I'd ever met. She had me in tears in the first hour of being there. Anyway when we left a few days later she apologised for the behaviour when we left, but was too late. I decided to rearrange a lot of objects into random places around the house, washing basket in the kitchen, kettle in the bathroom. It was immensely satisfying!

Sometimes the hosts have never actually stayed in the accommodation and don't notice things.

For example, once we had to move a bed because there was a sloped ceiling and we were banging our heads when getting up. Another time a double bed was right against the wall and one person couldn't get in and out without shuffling off the end. There was plenty of space in the room so it was completely unnecessary for it to be where it was, just didn't make sense and hadn't been thought through.

I think it's fine for people to move stuff as long as they don't cause any damage and move it back before they leave.

She shouldn't have been so unpleasant, but that's a pretty immature reaction on your part.

Wow. How rude of you.

I’ve stayed in similar properties and often moved bits of furniture around to suit but I always put it back where it was. I always leave the property as if found it and follow instructions about bedding and towels. I think it’s downright rude not to

DH and I were accused of doing this in our friends place in Spain. We hadn't moved anything. In fact, we'd spent the first couple of days of our week holiday cleaning the place top to bottom because it was filthy, scuff marks on the marble floors, every surface covered in an inch of dust.

Anyway, we left the place spotless and didn't say anything to our friends. The wife was really off with me the next couple of times we saw them so my DH asked her DH what the problem was and turns out she was massively pissed off that we'd moved a dining table and chairs. My DH told him we hadn't and about the state of the place. Turns out they'd had builders doing some work on the patio behind the house a couple of weeks previously and they'd moved the bloody table so they could drag cement mixers etc through the house, hence the filth. We weren't to mention it to the wife though, because then she'd be pissed off with him for telling us why she was pissed off with us.🙄
Friendship over.

I've stayed in a lot of holiday cottages and can honestly say I would never dream of moving furniture around ! Maybe a coffee table , but moving a chest of drawers to a different floor is ridiculous !

I used to own a holiday let. We had a guest stay a couple of times,who kept moving the bed. It was in the middle of the floor at right angles to the wall if that makes sense. It enabled access to both sides of the bed. They kept pushing it against the window, so one person would have to climb over the other if they needed the toilet. Also the way I had it meant the bed was lined up with sockets ie one at either side of the bed. I never understood why he did it it.

Did she explain why she had been so rude to you when you first got there? What on earth did she say that was so bad that you were in tears? Did you leave a review or did you deem "rearranging" the cottage sufficient revenge?

Place we stay in every year we move the crockery from the cupboard over the fridge to another wall cupboard on the other side of the kitchen door.

Cupboard over the fridge is a stretch for my 5'0" DP and there's a risk of stuff getting dropped.

It goes back before we leave though.

I've not heard of this myself, saddened that such lack of respect occurs.

I don't stay in holiday cottages as I view them as denying a local person a house.

Then surely you should approve of silent protests via furniture moving?

I have sometimes moved items for baby proofing and then forgot to put back but i wouldn't deliberately leave things elsewhere or move large pieces of furniture

Those are exactly the times in a place we've used for donkey's years. On an island accessed by ferry.

The owner has give her cleaners time to sort the place. That means make 4 beds, turnaround the bathroom and kitchen and vac/dust the place top>bottom. Check for any breakages and if anything's not working get a tradesman in to fettle it.

Cleaners probably do a couple of places and, at least until very recently practically everywhere was week lets mostly Saturday to Saturday. Must be pretty frenetic to deal with.

To be honest if you're not out by 10:00 you'll be at risk of missing the ferry off the island which loads before noon.

Used to find kicking our heels until 4 a minor issue when the kids were small and weather inclement but there was always something to see/do.

These days we tend to get the evening boat and arrive in the cottage around 21:00. Less hassle and cuts out an overnight en route.

I've moved sofas and an armchair (different cottages). In both there were 6 adult guests but the seating was arranged with a group of 4 with one random sofa/armchair off in a corner. We moved them in so that the whole group could sit in a circle. One sofa we lifted and an arm fell off. Put that one back in a hurry! I wish hosts would think about the fact that their guests will want to sit together. And have 6 wine glasses for 6 people, for example.

We stayed somewhere recently where we were having to wash cutlery and glasses between meals and there were only 3 of us (house for 4)! There was a huge dishwasher that we couldn't possibly fill due to the lack of crockery. It was all very naice but really I'd prefer a plentiful supply of cheap stuff.

I have a second property. People often move things and don’t put them back (always different things), they break things (or things break)and don’t let anyone know, and they take boxes of dishwasher tabs, loo cleaner, fairy liquid etc as if they’re free gifts. I hear you.

Jeez, I buy what's needed in consumables and leave them for the next guest.

Message left for the caretakers if we break anything - wine glasses are a thing.

Pretty sure the owner gets stuff like glasses and crocks from IKEA and leaves a supply in his store room at the back of the place.

@TellerTuesday I find it annoying when holiday cottages owners clearly have never actually stayed in the cottage themselves.

If they had then they'd know about anything that might annoy guests e.g. kitchen stuff lacking, poor bedroom storage, poor lighting etc... which might explain why people move stuff.

If people regularly move stuff take the hint and reconsider the furniture.

I've stayed in dozens of AirBnBs over the years and I don't think I've ever walked in and thought "how would I decorate this place" and started moving furniture. I make a point of making sure that pans and crockery and the tv remote control are exactly where we found them.

They moved furniture to another floor???

The only time I've moved furniture was when I was worried if DS had a seizure and fell on it. Hurting himself and breaking the furniture. It wasn't bulky heavy furniture I moved but small side tables that would have broken if he fell on them.

I don’t think the owners have actually spent a night in their own holiday homes!. Things are often oddly arranged. Like, several coffee tables and lamps in a lounge but no bedside table or lamp. Where am I supposed to put my morning cup of tea?
Pots and pans do get jumbled up a bit but everything is still there.
Bed cushions always get put on the floor as they’re probably not washed each time.
I’ve moved breakable ornaments out of the way, both to make storage space and avoid accidents (and the resulting extra charges).
I’d never move anything heavy though. Not worth the risk of injury or breakages.
So of course we will move stuff around to suit us. We always put it back though.