Holiday let, disrespectful guests.

Hi Sago, (& others with similar grumbles) - can you not charge a 'damage' deposit - or 'extra cleaning' deposit? We sometimes stay in cottages, move as little as possible, do the right thing with recycling and bins, and the place gets a hoover too before we go.

I'm not remotely surprised at people nicking soaps and dishwasher tabs, etc, it's what a sad subset of the public are like. But I just don't see why folk would bother to rearrange pictures - what a cheek!

Gwyllt

When people complain about depriving locals of housing perhaps the council should be reminded that in the past they slapped planning restrictions on conversions that they had to be holiday lets.

Perhaps they should if that's the case. I've never applied to convert anything, so I don't know anything about that - what was their reasoning? It doesn't take a lot of sense, and some houses now have clauses saying that they have to go to permanent residents when they come up for sale.

The house we last stayed in was fairly modern though - it was on a small housing estate and would have been a family house at one time - we always go for 4 bedrooms, so old fisherman's cottages and the like aren't suitable.

All I am saying is that it is a shame that once thriving communities have died - I wasn't apportioning blame.

When people complain about depriving locals of housing perhaps the council should be reminded that in the past they slapped planning restrictions on conversions that they had to be holiday lets.

I think it’s better for second homes to be used as holiday lets rather than standing empty and never being used at all. Around here there are some that are used maybe two weeks in a year.

We always laugh because you can tell them a mile away as they always have either a wooden duck or a sailing boat in the window and even on the hottest day there is never a window open.

We have rented many many properties over the years and mostly they are immaculate. We aim to leave the properties tidy, with everything returned to the place we found it on arrival, with surfaces wiped down and dishwasher on. We dont empty bins unless asked, or strip beds unless required. Often cleaning materials are locked up, or arrive with the cleaning company so I dont tend to do any actual cleaning. A few times we have broken glasses by mistake, in which case I e-mail and offer to pay. So far no one has taken up the offer. I have found the worst places are run by large companies with an eye on the profit margin. We stumbled into one Canadian rental at midnight starving hungry after the journey from hell with umpteen delays to find the place totally stripped bare of everything. No food or drink, no starter pack, no loo roll. It was snowing hard (ski resort) and nothing was open. We boiled the kettle and drank mugs of hot water, shared the pack of sugar free polos from the bottom of my handbag and went to bed.

It's a shame that there are people who live like pigs, in fact pigs are cleaner!!!

I agree, and some of the stories on here are shocking! But they seem to be being set up as good reason for guests being asked to clean, rather than leave the place tidy and presentable. It's not one or the other, surely? Someone leaving dirt and mess shouldn't mean that someone else is expected to polish a leather suite. I completely agree that thieves and vandals should get their comeuppance, but also that the rental fee should cover basic cleaning.

We do likewise …. I can tell by the contents of bins that they use village shops to buy food items, newspapers, milk, crabs etc. they always write in the visitors book that they enjoyed meals at one of our village pubs.
The other side of this is that in the village where my group was stayed the village shop was only open for 2 hours on alternate days, the school had closed, and the pub was struggling. Most of the village is now owned by renters-out and weekenders who arrive with a boot full of food, don't join the WI or go to the library etc, so they have all closed and the old village has pretty much died.

I don't think it's fair for dlizi2 to be all but accused of condoning theft for pointing out that there is another side to the holiday lets industry. I appreciate that my friends and I stay in them two or three times a year for our extended meetings, leaving me open to charges of hypocrisy, but I felt really sad the last time we went. The village was one my family used to visit when I was a child, and it was bustling with locals then. It must be very difficult for people who have lived long lives there, have no transport, no friends left and nowhere to go if they had somewhere to sell. It was like a ghost town, as we were there in the winter. There were hardly any lights on in any of the houses.

weenanni59

We have a holiday let and one guest went home with an entire dinner service, wine glasses and placemats.
I am quite tired of hearing it deprives people of a home as there are many holiday lets in areas that rely heavily on tourism for income and jobs.

Weeanni59; weren't you able to contact the guests after they left to ask them to return said items? If you knew it was definitely them, I would have thought it was a police matter as it was clear-cut theft.

This reminds me so much of a holiday let we went to when the children were small. She was a “lady of title” and we felt she didn’t want to be letting but finances dictated that she needed to. On arrival we were virtually interrogated and given a long list of “do and don’t”. She remarked that our children “seemed well behaved”,but the only one she really liked was our Labrador girl. She had three of her own. She would come to the cottage every day to see the dog and bring her little treats. When we left we had to go round the cottage with her while she examined everything. The bedding was examined, all the china and glasses in the kitchen was examined for chips and the cutlery was counted. Even the box of matches was opened. I’m afraid DH and I had an awful time not giggling when it got to the matches. I had obviously left everything clean and tidy and we were eventually dismissed. She came out to the car and gave the dog a big cuddle and handed me a small package, this was half a chicken for the dog. I was also instructed to look after her properly. I am sure if it wasn’t for the dog our stay would have been rather miserable.

Having cleaned holiday let's in the past, I always strip beds, hoover up any mess and leave clean and tidy. Family meet up recently hired a large house which was nice and clean, but my sister ended cleaning the kitchen bin which had long been forgotten.
It's a shame that there are people who live like pigs, in fact pigs are cleaner!!!

We have a holiday let and one guest went home with an entire dinner service, wine glasses and placemats.
I am quite tired of hearing it deprives people of a home as there are many holiday lets in areas that rely heavily on tourism for income and jobs.

We always clean round before we go empty bins etc apart from one occasion when I genuinely wasn't sure which bin we were supposed to used outside the flats - it wasn't clear - so I left the rubbish in the pedal bin .Sure enough i got a comment about it on air band b - which seems to stay on forever ! So annoying !

Sago

dlizi4

No sympathy
You are I assume making a profit?
You are also keeping a property that people could be living in
Again no sympathy

Yes we do make a profit, as do the many pubs, restaurants and visitor attractions that out guests visit.

We are not in a small village or a national park where property for locals is hard to come by.

We also use the services of a local housekeeping company, painters/decorators, electricians and plumbers.

In lieu of a welcome hamper we leave a voucher for an artisan grocer that supports local farmers and business.

dlizi4 perhaps our light fingered guests had an attitude like yours and decided it was OK to steal and leave a mess because we make a profit.

Good reply Sago.

We do likewise …. I can tell by the contents of bins that they use village shops to buy food items, newspapers, milk, crabs etc. they always write in the visitors book that they enjoyed meals at one of our village pubs.

We have done our bit for local tenants as we rented the house out for 14 years before we did holiday lets. Like you we use all local tradesmen …. Sparks, decorators, carpet fitters, kitchen fitter.

Wouldn't a guest damaging a worktop come under the owner's insurance policy?

A friend of mine had a flat that she inherited whilst living away. She rented it out but was, IMO very unrealistic about wear and tear, which should have been her responsibility, as she got the rent as well as the appreciation on the property's value, which was considerable. If there was so much as a scuff on the paintwork she got really annoyed, and expected the tenant to redecorate via her agent. Once or twice there were accidents or breakages and again, she saw this as the tenant's responsibility. As she was effectively running a business I would have thought that it should be up to her to have insurance that covered that sort of thing.

In the end, she decided she wasn't temperamentally suitable to be a landlady and sold up.

As a holiday home owner I didn’t realise how lucky I have been over the past 20 years. Most of my visitors seem to repeat year after year. Some move furniture and cushions around but nothing major. Maybe my cleaning people just don’t complain to me about what I don’t see. I do hear from them about some of their properties where people leave them in totally unmentionable states - usually large parties.

Sago

dlizi4

No sympathy
You are I assume making a profit?
You are also keeping a property that people could be living in
Again no sympathy

Yes we do make a profit, as do the many pubs, restaurants and visitor attractions that out guests visit.

We are not in a small village or a national park where property for locals is hard to come by.

We also use the services of a local housekeeping company, painters/decorators, electricians and plumbers.

In lieu of a welcome hamper we leave a voucher for an artisan grocer that supports local farmers and business.

dlizi4 perhaps our light fingered guests had an attitude like yours and decided it was OK to steal and leave a mess because we make a profit.

I assume dlizi4 campaigns for more affordable housing to be built, or campaigns against unscrupulous landlords that rent out mouldy properties at exorbitant prices? Perhaps she can come back and tell us if this is the case?

Something I had completely forgotten until now.

We did have one guest who completely forgot to tell anyone that she, or another member of her family had taken a very hot pan off the induction hob and put it on the work surface leaving a horrible burnt ring . We had to arrange for a
complete new work surface to be fitted at hugh cost. She paid £600 pounds towards the cost which she claimed from her insurance company.
What really annoyed us was her attitude.
She was a University lecturer and should have known that you should at the very least let the agents know what’s happened and not just walk away as if nothing has happened.

I had a rental home in Florida for some years.
Most interesting example of moving items was one of the bedrooms where the twin beds had been relocated to a different wall. And not put back at the end of the visit.
Other incidents included the couple who complained about their landline service - I immediately called the phone company who repaired the fault the next morning (it was outside the property and their responsibility). As soon as the 1 week let was over they emailed me saying they had no service for 5 days, so I called the phone company to check - they sent me a list of all the calls made and received as soon as the fault was repaired. I emailed it to the renters - no response.
Another lot ripped down the ‘No Smoking’ poster - this was part of the contract all renters signed agreement to. I happened to go there for a holiday a couple of days after they left, and was immediately hit with the stink of smoke. It was everywhere, including the bedding. They had brought a dog (without paying the small extra fee) and it pooed all the time on the neighbours’ lawn. Better than mine, I suppose! They tried speaking to the renters, without success.
Items went missing over the years, or damaged.
All in all, a huge variety of renters, many of them decent people, but too many who were a law unto themselves, liars, or light fingered - or all three.

This brings back memories! We rented a lovely villa in Majorca, dealt with the owners regarding deposits, payment etc but we knew that an agency was employed to clean before guests arrived and on departure. We were sent the keys, we arrived, looked great from the outside but on entering the beds had been slept in, the kitchen sink was full of washing up, there were two blown up lilos in the hall, BBQ covered in grease. We rang the delightful owners, they were horrified and within a few hours we were moved to a sparkling new villa. It turned out that the owners had not rented the villa out for some weeks but the cleaning agency they used were aware of this and had been subletting it and keeping the money. Our last minute booking had caught them unawares and they were sacked immediately. We used to have a rental property, the tenant was there ten years and was fantastic but when she left we sold it, we just couldn't face all the hassle.

dlizi4

No sympathy
You are I assume making a profit?
You are also keeping a property that people could be living in
Again no sympathy

Yes we do make a profit, as do the many pubs, restaurants and visitor attractions that out guests visit.

We are not in a small village or a national park where property for locals is hard to come by.

We also use the services of a local housekeeping company, painters/decorators, electricians and plumbers.

In lieu of a welcome hamper we leave a voucher for an artisan grocer that supports local farmers and business.

dlizi4 perhaps our light fingered guests had an attitude like yours and decided it was OK to steal and leave a mess because we make a profit.

Doesn't surprise me one bit to be honest. Many years ago my sister & I used to clean caravans and chalets on a holiday site. what we saw and found was unbelievable. Beds which had been urinated in, human faeces on a floor, used condoms under beds, grill pans full of fat etc. I could go on forever. No respect for other peoples property at all.

I'm quite amazed that people actually strip the beds before they leave a rental property. I've never done that.

On holiday I always leave a note for the cleaner saying thank you and €5. I should imagine not a lot of people think of them but they are there every day cleaning and making up the beds. Sometimes we have seen the state of other hotel rooms as we leave and it is not always pleasant.

So sorry for you and so disrespectful.Absolutely disgraceful! They should be ashamed of themselves..

Years of using airbnb and house/pet sitting and always leave as we find. So far always had 5 star reviews and almost always feedback from the owner/manager of the let/house sit saying thank you for leaving everything so pristine. I cannot understand how some people treat other peoples property - be it their own home or a let.

This year we stayed in a lovely villa with swim pool in the south of france. But it was full of the owners clothes, paperwork, toiletries etc. and both fridges were half full of her food. It was difficult finding any space to put our things. The advert described the lovely village and many local walks.

When we got there we found the property entrance led directly onto a dual carriageway in the middle of an industrial estate and the village with shops, bars and restaurants was a 10 min drive away. There wasn’t a footpath leading away from the property.

It was a property for 8 guests. I booked for 7 guests and that’s how many there were, but in her review for us she complained that we had far more than 8 guests, I have no idea how she worked that out. She also complained that we hadn’t cleaned, we kept it clean as we went along but having paid £137 for cleaning didn’t feel it was our job to do a final hoover etc.

Fortunately we have used Airbnb for years and all previous reviews have been good.