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.

Only the pans would bother me.

@Spanieljoker I can see you are new to this and you need to step back and learn how it works.

First the cottage needs sorting out. Dirty garden furniture, dust, crap pans etc are not acceptable. I expect the same standard as I have at home (although it's clear some posters don't care much about some things.)

The days when self catering houses were full of 2nd hand worn out furnishings and old kitchen equipment are over.

More importantly it sounds as if you've not thought about how to deal with issues as they arise.

The way it works is either the agency takes control and sorts out issues or the owner does. Do you give your own contact details?

Or, you have a local handyman who is on call to deal with issues.

It's not about what bothers you as much as what is acceptable.
Dust is not acceptable and for people with asthma or other allergies it can be horrible.
Basic cleanliness is not something to overlook.

If you’re sure the cottage is really clean, none of these issues would particularly bother me, especially at that price. Less than £100 a night for a 4 bed cottage in a prime location is an absolute steal! If you’re marketing it as high end luxury then you do need to take care of seemingly small details like non stick pans but it sounds like you’re comfortably in the low-mid range.

Is the person asking for a refund or have they just left early because it didn’t suit them? Seems a bit crazy to cut a holiday short because of a dusty cupboard and some non stick pans.

Indeed, so the cottage will no longer be panned in the reviews

I think it really comes down to how you price and market the property and making sure expectations are managed. But if people are mis-sold they will be disappointed and quick to criticise. But the rental agency is responsible for all this surely?

I can't imagine being so highly strung that chipped paint inside a cupboard and some old paint drops on the floor would mean I couldn't have a restful stay to the point of having to leave.

And I actually have (diagnosed, not just saying it) OCD.

The pans would be annoying yes and they do need replacing. Everything else sounds absolutely bonkers.

Maybe OP isn't being totally upfront about the things that were said.
If the whole house was grubby I'd possibly consider leaving early.

I have asked her a few times to link to it but obviously she won't.

No, but someone should have if only to show the guests their complaints were being taken seriously.

After a four hour clean your property should have been spotless - so the cleaners are cutting corners. And dust on an aga is not only unhygienic, it is potentially dangerous.

So there are a few imperfections but the price reflects this. People want 5 star for 2 star money! The pans could do with replacing but everything else I would say is normal for an old country cottage.
If they want swank they can go and rent a penthouse in the city.

😂

I don’t want to show the house in case the guest is in here. And because I’m uncomfortable with it. It doesn’t prove I’m not upfront and that I don’t tell the truth. I’m new to the business and need advice and reassurance that’s all, no need to be mean with me please

Totally agree. I have very damaged lungs and 1 dusty cupboard wouldn't upset me.

I'd just shut the cupboard.

Depends if the renters gave you an opportunity to fix the issues OP.

I'm a softie but definitely wouldn't refund. I'd thank for alerting me to the pans and say you've replaced them. The End

Firstly get better pans. I stayed in a holiday cottage and had to buy my own pans as they were ancient and even cutlery as it was all really old and the knives were all butter knives

She said the dust was inside a cupboard though so like… no I wouldn’t even really pick up on that unless it was 5 inches thick which I doubt very much.

I too have been in an Air BnB where several of the pans did not fit or work on the induction stovetop. We just made do with the ones that did and wrote about it in our feedback to the owner. We also stayed in one in Spain where only a half roll of toilet paper was left in the loo even though we were staying a week. We did call the woman managing the place to ask where spares were kept and were told that that had been left only "as a courtesy" and we were expected to provide our own! So we bought a pack of loo rolls that ended up being left there. But in neither case would we have considered asking for a refund.

@Spanieljoker is new to letting and is doing the best she can. Coming here for advice is good. She may want to let an honest friend stay in her cottage to give her feedback on what could be improved and what she "needs" to spend money on fixing up (if anything). I also would not expect the cleaners to pop in to respond to a visitor's complaint. If something went wrong such as central heating or hot water or a bed collapsed, then I would expect there to be an emergency contact for the visitor to call to get it seen to, not the cleaners (unless they were also managing the property for the owner).

Paint stains on the floor wouldn't bother me at all.
Without photos of the rest it's hard to say if they were being picky or if the kitchen and garden furniture was really dirty.

Dust anywhere is bad news. It shows a lack of care over presentation.

So what is the setup when there are issues?
Do you have a team of people for emergencies?

We had an issue with one cottage where the smoke alarm went off in the night- and needed very long ladders to a) silence it and b) be fixed.

Who is on call for emergencies like an electrical/power cut, a fridge or appliance that packs up?

Are you on the spot or working remotely with this?

There is an emergency contact the guest can call at any times. This is management team with the housekeepers. This was not an emergency so it was not dealt with. However, I told her if you really want to speak to them you can call any time

I have a property I let out and one couple complained about stains, that the bedding needed renewing and it smelled. The sheets were less than a month old and very high quality, we think they made the stains, and no one else has complained of a smell.
Some people are fussier than others. However, worn pots and pans to that extent is unacceptable, lichen is ok if otherwise clean but mould is not (I know you don’t mention mould), paint stains? I’d forgive a bit of smudging around the skirting but is it splurges on the floors?
None of this would make me leave early. But if you charge you have to have a higher standard than perhaps you yourself can live with. My own home oven is pretty dirty currently but my holiday let is ‘as new’ clean!

Only the pans would really bother me, but I think that some people will nitpick if they have to leave for some reason and want a discount. I rent out a lovely little cottage which in the past has had the odd review like this, and I am sure it was because the weather was bad and the guests just wanted to go home and were after a refund. I think if your reviews are generally good, then don't let it upset you.

I do lots of cottages, flats, houses when going away.
The pans and pots is disgusting. You are self catering therefore all the requirements for self catering should be high end. As should be plenty of it.
Dirty garden furniture is lazy and important. I think you need to up your game

That’s a great price.

I might be a bit disappointed by the pans but everything else sounds fine, especially at that price and in a cottage: perfectly functional and not dirty.

(Though may depend on level of lichen on furniture.)

I would be annoyed about the pans. If the furniture were entirely covered in lichen, I’d be a bit annoyed about that too. Everything else, I couldn’t care less about. I certainly wouldn’t leave. People are bonkers.