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Holiday let, disrespectful guests.

(195 Posts)
Sago Sat 23-Sept-23 17:57:59

We arrived at our holiday let yesterday for a few days, we do the change over when we’re staying rather than the cleaning company.

We always arrive an hour after check out time so guests never feel hassled.

I had sent the guests an early check in message and a courtesy text to check they had arrived safely and dealt with a special request for them to which I didn’t add a charge, not a single message back.
They then contacted me by phone regarding something they were unable to do and were really quite off hand.

Something told me we would arrive to a mess but nothing quite prepared me for what greeted us!

This was two couples of 60ish, it was honestly like 10 teenagers had been staying.

It took me an hour just to tidy before I could clean, missing items have turned up in odd places, every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen had to be emptied and sorted and they even took the hand washes which we refill from a big container
and other minor items like coat hangers etc.

I immediately called the holiday company to blacklist them.

I wish I could give them a bad review but I can’t, I am now dreading them spoiling our consistent 5* rating.

It seems so unfair.

Rant over, thank you for reading!

Primrose53 Wed 15-May-24 13:44:40

Just got back from Part 2 of the clean up and discovered they had pushed loads of blood stained tissues behind the toilet. No idea why because there is a bin in there! Make up spilt on a fabric storage box. Loads more blood under the bathroom shelf. How did that get there? Cooker was pretty bad so that’s all done. I just don’t know how people can make so much mess!

If we had had people arriving on same day, which we often do, we would never have managed to get that all cleaned in time.

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 15-May-24 13:47:10

All that blood is seriously worrying.

keepingquiet Wed 15-May-24 13:49:01

A friend of mine once wanted to open a cafe but one where only 'nice' people would go.

alchemilla Wed 15-May-24 16:37:10

One of the ironies of areas with a high percentage of holiday lets/airbnbs is that it prices out the people who would normally do the cleaning (as well as gardeners, doctors, care home staff etc). So owners and holiday cottage companies end up paying more than they used to for staff and those staff have less time to spend per property - hence the requests for customers to clean as well as tidy.

grannyactivist Wed 15-May-24 16:38:34

I get the impression that this sort of behaviour happens a lot with holiday lets. Almost every time we’ve stayed in an AirBandB we’ve had a comment from the owners thanking us for leaving the place as we’ve found it. I don’t think they would bother if it was the norm.

When we rented out a house (to a trainee vicar and her accountant husband) we couldn’t believe the filthy state of it when they left, plus the graffiti (they called it wall art) they had allowed their children to draw on the expensive wallpaper

Primrose53 Wed 15-May-24 16:45:53

Germanshepherdsmum

All that blood is seriously worrying.

We checked the shed this morning, no bodies in there!🤣. Only place left is the loft.

Can you even imagine stuffing blood soaked tissues behind the loo? Why didn’t they just flush them. Unless they were wet wipes. I do ask people not to flush those as they cause blockages. Still, there was a bin there.

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 15-May-24 16:57:34

It just beggars belief.

Cabbie21 Wed 15-May-24 17:52:11

Absolutely awful.
My daughter runs a holiday let but fortunately has had very few bad experiences. It helps that she lives next door.

Lollin Wed 15-May-24 20:39:50

I’d hate to cause you extra worry but I’d have reported the blood evidence. It does not bear thinking about what people might use rentals for but what you describe is not normal rental behaviour.

Syracute Wed 15-May-24 21:07:48

Grannynise

We don't stay in holiday lets as we are bondholders in an organisation which has properties in the UK and abroad. It used to be, maybe still is, advertised using Judith Chalmers as a spokesperson. We have never had any unreasonable demands about cleaning and, as we and other guests are 'members', we have never indulged in the type of behaviours I see described here. I hesitate to use the name of the organisation as this might be viewed as advertising - but I think if you look for Chalmers and holiday bond you might find it!

Have a family member with a HP property and you could only access property quite late and be out quite early . Plus, they were always a bit far from beaches or places of interest . Wasn’t impressed .

Primrose53 Fri 21-Jun-24 17:22:27

We have people booked in for 2 weeks. One week gone. I rang them today as arranged to deliver fresh linen, towels etc for second week.

As we were talking I could hear a dog barking but they had not booked a dog which is an extra £20 a week. I asked her and she said it was only a small one and she had put it on the booking form. Well I’ve heard that one before!! It certainly wasn’t on the booking slip I had.

If I know a dog is coming I always leave clean dog towels, dog bowls and treats.

I just hate thinking that people think we must be stupid. We are £40 down ……. For now! 😉

Primrose53 Fri 21-Jun-24 17:24:38

Cabbie21

Absolutely awful.
My daughter runs a holiday let but fortunately has had very few bad experiences. It helps that she lives next door.

We live literally a two min walk away. We let people enjoy their privacy and don’t go near them unless there’s a problem.
Oh well, we finish end of Sept.

PoorJenny Fri 21-Jun-24 17:27:15

The main problem is, in this day and age of social media, if you make a complaint about someone, you will find that these keyboard warriors will be on social media slagging you off and this could in turn hurt your business.

It is best to blacklist them and hope it never happens again.

Primrose53 Fri 21-Jun-24 18:56:47

PoorJenny

The main problem is, in this day and age of social media, if you make a complaint about someone, you will find that these keyboard warriors will be on social media slagging you off and this could in turn hurt your business.

It is best to blacklist them and hope it never happens again.

Thanks PoorJenny. They can slag me off if they like but it won’t have much effect as we are going back to long term tenants in Oct.

My late Mum had a sister who she always called Poor Babs. In later life I asked her why she called her that and it went back to when she was newly married, lived in a caravan and had 3 babies in quick succession. Poor Babs was actually very happy and loved her family but always laughed at her nickname.

PoorJenny Fri 21-Jun-24 20:37:05

Hi Primrose 53.

That sounds a very good idea. It must be hard work sorting things out for short let customers.

Primrose53 Fri 21-Jun-24 22:15:25

PoorJenny

Hi Primrose 53.

That sounds a very good idea. It must be hard work sorting things out for short let customers.

We have mostly enjoyed it and have excellent reviews and won 2 awards but people who try to get out of paying for dogs (which is pretty standard now) or steal stuff or leave it in a filthy mess really bug me.

I go out of my way to make sure it is spotless, if the house is going to be ready before 4 pm I message them to say they can come earlier, I leave milk, nice biscuits, tea, coffee, hot choc, sugar, usually some porridge pots for breakfast in the morning. If they book a dog I leave treats, towels and dog bowls.

It’s nice reading lovely comments in the Visitors Book but people who bring dogs but don’t pay or who pinch stuff never write in the book. Maybe a twinge of guilt. 😉

maddyone Sat 22-Jun-24 00:17:08

Oreo

You are all very lucky to have holiday homes.

I was just thinking that Oreo.
We couldn’t afford a second home.

PamelaJ1 Sat 22-Jun-24 05:59:48

Primrose53

I have just been reading that “Chelsea on Sea”, ie Burnham Market in north norfolk has held a referendum and it has been decided that no more properties can be sold as holiday lets or to non locals. The average price of a house there is £1 million.

I haven’t heard that, how could it work without some sort of official ruling?
If I wanted to sell my house and the only offer I had was from a second home owner I would go ahead.

Primrose53 Sat 22-Jun-24 09:05:45

maddyone

Oreo

You are all very lucky to have holiday homes.

I was just thinking that Oreo.
We couldn’t afford a second home.

Proud to say we have always worked and worked hard. We didn’t have foreign holidays until I was 40 and we always saved up for things we needed, not getting them on tick.
There were many times when I was first in the queue at the PO for my family allowance after we just had enough to see us through the weekend.

We had no financial help from anyone. Husband’s family were well off but hung on to it. When he started driving he asked hisDad to lend him £250 to buy an old car but he refused and said he would have to get a bank loan which he did!

Our second home we call our private pension! 😉