Gite cleaning

[Rockchicknana]

For the past 6 years DH (both in 70s but very active!) and I have booked through Gites de France for our holidays. Up until this year we have always had the option to pay for cleaning at the end of our stay - usually about €50 We always leave the place clean and tidy, wipe down surfaces, clean loo empty fridge, strip bed and take out rubbish. This year we weren't offered the option to pay for cleaning - instead the owner has given us a very long detailed list of the cleaning we need to do before leaving. Madame will meet us at 7.00 am before we depart to ensure it is done to a standard that the next guests can come straight in! All she has to do is put clean bedding on.

AIBU to be p*ed off that I have to spend the last night of my holiday scrubbing the bathroom including polishing the tiles, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping and mopping floors etc. etc - the list is endless! We've obviously got to use the bathroom before we leave so I'll have to double check DH hasn't splashed the bathroom mirror!!

Apparently this is normal for Gites de France properties and we've just been lucky before that we've never had to do this. It's really putting me off booking with them in future as I want to rent somewhere that's been professionally cleaned. I would have though after Covid that this would be the norm. Interested in others experiences!

Appalling. I think you are a mug tbh to have done all the things you say you usually do.
Self catering owners have got worse at this. A long list of chores to do at the end. While I don't mind leaving the dishwasher on there is no way I am cleaning a place on holiday. On top of this they never went back to pre-covid times. You can't get in before 4pm and have to leave at 9am because ... cleaning.
I would cancel.

We've been here since last Thursday so too late to cancel! I can't find anything in the pre booking paperwork, and the Gite de France paperwork she gave us on arrival is mainly all in French. It was only when I read all the small print later that I found out what was expected of us!

We've got used to doing the things we usually do because we are friends with the owners of another property we rent (not in France) and I know it helps them out when they've got a quick turnaround. I'll definitely be checking before I book in future!

I've had mix ups over this before- apparently it's very common in France not to pay for cleaning and for the guest to do it, and then go round with the owner at the end (a bit like an end of tenancy check) with anything not done leading to a deduction from the deposit. We encountered it when we had actually paid for cleaning (via Airbnb) and the owner's daughter did the check out and didn't realise as it's usually let through another system and gave me a huge bollocking 😂

It's annoying that this wasn't specifically flagged to you as a change but it is common in France.

We've also got an inventory ten pages long with photos of every single item in the place - down to the teaspoons!! I'm just hoping when she checks the place over she's not intending to go through that too as we've got a long drive and a ferry to catch!

We got a bollocking in France for a similar thing - we thought we'd done a pretty good job but the woman disagreed. We'd even paid for extra cleaning so not sure what her strop was about.

It's definitely a French thing

I mean just leave it tidy, strip the beds, take out the bins, leave dishwasher on. Ignore the more unreasonable requests. Nothing bad will happen happen.

What a fecking cheek. I read these posts here about such things with Airbnb and marvel that people are paying a lot of money to stay in some greedy bastard's extra home, AND then are supposed to clean it before leaving. Also amazed that many say even if that's not required then they strip the beds, empty the bins etc - WHILE ON HOLIDAY! Why on earth is ityour responsibility as a paying customer? I've never used Airbnb and don't think I ever would, seems cheaper and less hassle to stay in a hotel or old fashioned B&B (if you can find one).

Definitely a France thing. We had the owner of one property pull out a bed and tut about long blonde hairs on the floor while handing me a dustpan and brush - thing is, DH has a No4 comb and I have a short greying bob, so not our hair........ Which I pointed out to him.

It's pretty poor to expect guests to be responsible for cleaning the place to a standard acceptable for the following guests and tbh we've always found cleanliness levels in French gites a bit lacking.

We got charged an extra £25 in a French Airbnb once because we hadn't wiped the sink thoroughly enough...it's a French thing. Bloody annoying.

We've rented mobile homes direct on French campsites and paid a deposit and for the end of stay cleaning and they still made you book an appointment so they can check the full inventory and that you've cleaned the BBQ. They count everything down to the last tea spoon,

After we'd arrived! She left the paperwork with us and I didn't go through it until later as we'd been driving for nearly 8 hours and I was tired. There was nothing about cleaning in any of the correspondence we'd had previously

We stayed in an air bnb on the way here for a couple of nights. No cleaning charge, no rules and regulations and the owner just said pop keys in post box when you leave!

Gites de France have always been this way unless they charge a specific cleaning fee. Been staying in Gites for the last 40 years and always expect to do a thorough clean.

I encountered it last year.l could not get the hotels I wanted so booked through Booking.com 2 places.
I got very stressed cleaning the second place as they left quite an exacting list. I had to take any rubbish away too and put it in the village bins.
We were there several nights and there was only one tablet for the dishwasher and one tablet for the washing machine. There was a teaspoon of olive oil.
We had to return as my husband had left his mouthguard on the bedside table and I did not see it.
I thought I was going to be charged. I wasn’t.
However, I did receive an invitation to stay again this year.

The other place came in and turned the water thermostat down when we went out. I think we were using too much energy compared to other guests.
I think we were the only guests that actually cooked and used the washing machine.

I guess we've been really lucky up until now! Although last year we had to specify on checking in whether we wanted to pay for cleaning or not and I ticked the yes box. Owner obviously didn't look at form and came in to check the place and told me off because I hadn't cleaned the bathroom! I had to point out that I was paying her €50 to clean!

We've only been coming the past 6 years and always had cleaning charge deducted from deposit. I'll be more aware next time!

It does make me wonder just how clean the place was when we arrived! I've noticed we've only been asked to fold the bedding - not strip the bed. It's charcoal grey and unironed so I'm now wondering if it had been changed before we arrived or not - it would be hard to tell!! 😱

I’ve never had this in France.

Previously its been deducted when we leave from our deposit - along with charge for any breakages if there are any.

We had similar a few years ago and tbh it's put me off renting in France again.

We've had this in France even with cheapy studio apartments in ski towns. I scrubbed the fridge out once, definitely taking out far more mess than we'd created, but we were told off for not mopping the floor thoroughly enough.