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.

Are there any other cleaning companies around?

They clearly didn’t do a good job if the Aga had dust on it. It hadn’t been dusted far less wiped clean

I think leaving is an over-reaction. The only time we ever left anywhere early was when there was unsafe electrics - plus small children, not a great combination!

I think that's an amazing price for the location and size. So I'd overlook stuff like what you have described too as long as it's clean.

Sounds to me like you could do minor touch ups and charge more! Good luck, whatever you do you will never please everyone.

None of thst would bother me. If you rent an old character cottage, then that's what you get.

You’ve just been unlucky with over persnickety guests. 🙄

We recently spent less than that for 7 nights in the Lake District. The cottage was spotlessly clean with no worn saucepans or chipped paint, and had bonuses like underfloor heating - to say nothing of an absolutely gorgeous view.

It does seem to me that all those are things that are easily remedied - it really won't take long to get rid of paint stains and lichen on outdoor furniture, or to strip the paint in the cupboard and repaint, and replacing the saucepans is a pretty minimal expense: plus you can claim most of the costs against tax. So why not just get on and sort them out?

They spent 4 hours cleaning the place before them.

For a two bed property!?

My holiday cottage is managed by a third party and the cleaners are in for 90 minutes. It's a team of two. It's bigger than yours (4 bed) and we've never had any complaints about cleanliness...and it's booked out on average 30+ weeks a year. Sorry, but your cleaners are either taking the piss or incompetent because no way should it take that long and the property still have dust.

@LoyalMember It's an absolute bargain for a four-bedroom cottage in the Cotswolds though, so guests should expect some shabbiness. Take a look at Airbnb, most are minimum double the price, most are far more.

it wouldn’t be acceptable to me and I’d probably leave early too. The furniture should be clean, the pans shouldn’t look like someone has cooked in them before- that gives me the yuk. And all the issues will make me feel as if everything else is dirty too - I’d feel that the bed linen isn’t clean, the towels I touch aren’t clean, etc.
There’s no reason for visible paint on the floor. I’d think if someone is sloppy enough to leave that on they’re sloppy with everything else.
i only use AirbnB if there’s no other way because of issues you’re listing.

I wouldn't leave three days early over some chipped paint and lichen.

😂

It's a four-bedroom cottage @TheHungryHungryLandsharks

@GenialHarrietGrouty Take a look at Airbnb properties in the Cotwolds though, they are eye-wateringly expensive, the OP's cottage really is a bargain for the area. Yes, they can make some improvements but there's no way that the guests didn't realize that they weren't paying an amazing price for the area.

@GenialHarrietGrouty I think I’m panicking. I will sort everything out. I just hope I will not get horrible feedback like this one in the future. It’s not a nice thing to hear about your own home..

@BruFord ah, so same size as mine! Mine are still in there less than half that amount of time though...and never any complaints on cleanliness, so there is definitely a problem!

Even thinking about my own house, it wouldn't take me four hours to hoover, mop, tidy, dust and change the linen.

I wouldn’t be bothered about any of it apart from the pans .. but I’ve seen many in that state. It’s only recently I’ve learnt of the health hazard, so now I wouldn’t want to use them.

@Spanieljoker Make the changes that you feel comfortable with but don't be deterred by this one negative review. You're so well-priced for the area that guests really can't expect a pristine, five-star cottage.

I'm sure it's fine. Some people (see above) are fussy arseholes and expect everything brand new and just like to moan

The best cottages I've stayed in were old, with period features, wonky worn cupboards etc. One had bats in it. Lichen on wood is a sign of good air quality.

Do you actually live there? If not, it's not exactly "your own home"

I am sorry this happened you, OP.

May I ask gently if the new pans are also nonstick? I have noticed that many people will treat nonstick pots and pans belonging to others badly, using metal utensils, too high a heat, even putting them in the dishwasher!

I am afraid new ones won’t last long, either. As PP say, they are a health hazard when the coating decays. This was the only thing on your list that would bother me.

I recommend medium quality stainless steel for this house, and a cheap cast iron saute pan.

Best wishes.

This response has blown my mind! Surely you then say to the cleaner “please return and sort out the issues my customer has” In your position id be looking for a new cleaner as well!!!

I have an Airbnb and you get the occasional guest that moans about everything. But if one complaint becomes several it will hit your bookings big time. Re the dusty Aga just pass the feedback to the cleaning agency and ask them to deal with it. The other things need sorting out though. Pressure wash or replace outdoor furniture. Replace ratty pans. At the end of the season renovate reg kitchen and sand the floors. Think of it as an investment in your revenue stream.

@MNdrama we’ve lived there full time 4 years so yes I think of it as my home still

We have a 200 year old holiday cottage and I put heart and soul into making it as lovely as I can, it is so painful if you get criticised, I feel your pain.
One changeover I worked for 2 hours on changing the mattress and pillow protectors,throws, cushion covers, etc, ie things that don’t go to the laundry. The housekeeper worked for 4 hours cleaning and changing everything that goes to the laundry eg sheets, towels. The gardener worked for 2 hours on the two gardens. After 8 hours of work between us I showed the guests around and the seal on one side of the fridge slowly peeled off when I opened the door! I can laugh now but I honestly felt tearful at the time. Why didn’t it peel off when the fridge was being cleaned so I could have fixed it!
All will be well, the things mentioned are all things that can be fixed.

I'd stay there at that price! The pan would be annoying, but hardly unusual.

As long as the bed linen is fresh and clean and the place is well dusted and vacuumed, its fine.

You do need to grow a thicker skin for Airbnb. Some people are brutal over quite minor things.

The paint stains wouldn't bother me at all and it's not a cleanliness issue anyway.
I don't even know what lichen is - google tells me some fungi - but I wouldn't expect something outside to be as clean as something inside.
Worn non-stick, I suppose it's bad because it's dangerous for health?