Cottage holiday - Cleanliness

[Spanieljoker]

We have a cottage in the Cotswolds and we had guests staying there. The property is managed by a thirdparty and we had cleaners there staying (4 hours!) and they state they cleaned the property from top to bottom.

The couple left 3 days early because the property was not up to standards…
she claims :

there is lichen on the furniture in the garden

the aga had some dust and one cupboard was dirty (i know this cupboard has chipped paint inside but it was dusted and cleaned) It is an old cottage kitchen and we didn’t renovate

pans with worn nonstick surfaces

floor with paint stains from past decoration

They claim this was too much and they could not have a restful stay and therefore left early?!
I really don’t understand. It is a lovely rural cottage with character. Is this that bad ? It is scaring me and wondering if this business is worth it. If every guest will complain for anything and make our life impossible.

Regular cottage stayer …the lichen indicates good air quality and is important..would have no problem with that.

The pan, if true, I would leave you a note in the cottage as we left ..same with other issues…leave early? Absolutely no way at ALL ..sorry OP 💐

Sorry but why did you not contact the cleaners yourself instead of expecting your guests to organise it?

Difficult because the price does seem pretty bargain basement for the location and size so I wouldn’t expect pristine. We had similar with a Lake District stay a couple of weekends ago. The location and hot tub were lovely, but the kitchen was grubby and when I opened the oven it smelled and looked very much like my own which is definitely in need of a clean. In that case I suspect the owner who lived next door was doing the cleaning herself and wasn’t doing it to professional standards really. But she was very nice and helpful about something, and the apartment was relatively inexpensive for the area, so I reflected this in my review which mentioned dogs being welcomed - and could smell so I wouldn’t stay without one and the cosy and homely aspects of the property.

In your case I would definitely replace the frying pans. If people are cost conscious they likely want to do their own cooking. I would also make sure the photos are accurate so people can’t claim misrepresentation.

None of that would bother me, especially at that price!

I am super relaxed and much prefer budget + character to perfect. But worn out cookware should be replaced. And garden furniture should be in useable condition really.

Sounds like you're sorting it out - are you totally new to this? Maybe instead of staying yourself ask a friend/relative to stay for a couple of nights and give honest feedback. Sounds like you are attached to the property which makes business decisions tricky.

She’s probably had to cut her stay short for an unconnected reason and had to search for something to be picky about in the hope you’ll refund her those days (or all of it). Less than £100 per night in the Cotswolds for a 4 bed cottage is amazing value and I wouldn’t expect a tiptop finish throughout. Don’t let it get you down, if we stayed in that area ever I’d be PMing you for booking details
Our most recent stay was in a cottage that a couple of reviews had described as ‘worn’ ‘shabby’ and ‘old fashioned’, with a really low star score that I thought was unfair. Some people don’t look at the descriptions or photos of a property and get the arse when they find it doesn’t fit the imaginary view they had of it.

As others have said, only the pans would bother me due to it being a health risk. I would replace with not non stick pans.

I imagine to directly agree a mutually convenient time

I stayed in a NT cottage once and the manager left a note saying that the cleaners get fed up finding that they leave the cottage pristine and people mess it up so could guests clean before they leave!

@BlueBellsArePretty I spoke to the cleaners. They were quite shocked and said we spent 4 hours and can assure you the property is clean. We have a leaflet in the cottage and it’s written clearly contact the housekeepers for any issue. I just thought they should contact them instead of us?

Ah, come on, now - she didn't have a "violent" reaction!
None of us can really say, because you're the owner and we haven't seen pictures, but what does "the kitchen is old etc" mean?

Without photos of what she calls unclean she can jog on, really.

If they spent 4 hours cleaning, it's spotless, surely?

-lichen on the furniture. It would be an issue if I'd sat there with light coloured blouse or shorts and they got stained. Otherwise, not an issue unless its SO encrusted in lichen you can't sit on it.

-the aga had some dust and one cupboard was dirty. In certain light, our aga looks filthy even when just wiped over. What was 'dirty' in the cupboard? Food stains all over attracting ants? A mark?

-pans with worn nonstick surfaces Yuck. I'd expect this in a student house so I'm glad you've ordered new ones

-floor with paint stains from past decoration Sounds lazy that it wasn't cleaned when decorating or no one used a drop sheet. It would look tacky but none of the above would make me leave.

@PatriciaRocks to prefer to leave early rather than enjoy 3 days more? Seems very unreasonable for me 🙄

I don't disagree that it seems strange to leave early, if the property is as good as you say, and the complaints are minor.
It wasn't violent though - unless you think she's caused some damage?

We rent cottages regularly and often find the kitchen utensils aren't as good as at home - in fact, we expect it, because many people really don't treat others' property all that well. We never leave bad reviews (but will give private feedback if appropriate), because the places we rent are never massively expensive and generally have other factors which override the pans being a bit crap.

The only time we've left early because of the property itself was when there was an awful smell that the owners - who lived nearby - couldn't find the cause of. We went home after 3 nights because it was just dreadful and without us even asking they refunded us the other 4. Turned out that previous occupants had upset an open container of some sort of sauce into the drain inside the fridge and gone manky.

To me, it’s not enough to leave three days early. It’s disappointing (esp the worn pans) but the dust - ok
if not too much.
lichen - hmm. How much?! That takes years to grow.
paint marks - how many?!
dirty cupboard - meh.

The problem is that if you find dirt or dust anywhere you start to wonder if the rest of the cottage is clean!!

Did they get in touch with you during the holiday to say they were disappointed?

Did she ask for a refund for those 3 days or just leave early with her feedback?

The pans would be annoying, but who gives a shit if there are paint stains on a floor or a chipped cupboard in somewhere they are staying for a few days...?? The cupboard and aga depends on how dusty/dirty they are. Same with lichen. How much and where? However, none of these things would make me leave somewhere early. I think they are just trying to get some money back.

That sounds like a bargain!

I wonder if the guest had something else going on too?

Some people will just be awkward.

You're addressing the issues or alleged issues so nobody can complain about them again.
If those are the only things that were wrong and you fixed them then surely everything will be ok for the next guests.

This person does sound quite extreme in their reaction. But in a way it's good these minor things were identified and fixed.

Tell the manager it's part of their job to ensure the cleaner has done their job adequately. I presume it must be. My cousin does air b&b and all that would be down to manager who gets a percentage to deal with this stuff.

Without seeing it it’s difficult to say as what one person finds ok another might think disgusting, however, having had a holiday rental until last year I know the vast majority of people are fine but there’s always the odd one/couple that complain about the most ridiculous thing.

Have you photos of the things the people were complaining of

@PatriciaRocks Ah excuse my language then. English is not my mother tongue. Was usuing this term as in out of order or very strange