Lay My Hat

And what exactly is her problem with "scrubbing the septic tank with a toothbrush"? I only hope she used a clean one.

Mols

I'm guessing that, despite what she says, she's not actually prepared to pay enough to get the kind of place that has staff to do everything for her.

We're definitely not in that league but we don't have loads of rules - turn down the beds, towels in the bath, do the washing up/put the dish washer on, empty the bins & leave the place tidy. After all, it is self-catering.

Joanna wrote:After all, it is self-catering.

Nail. Head.

And she's been paid to write an article that is provoking and what the readers of a particular daily newspaper want to read.

Brilliant. It is written of course in a way to provoke comments.

She sounds like a slovenly old whatsit. Maybe she should take her butler and a couple of scullery maids on holiday with her.

The quality of 'journalism' in the UK press is shockingly bad these days

Contrary to everyone else, I absolutely agree with this Telegraph writer.

...The truth is that having paid £900 for a week, I do not want to vacuum the dining room free of charge. Of course I will always ensure a rental property is tidy and respectable, but sorry, scrubbing the shower really isn’t my job. If it were, we wouldn’t be turfed out so early for the cleaner (the clue is in the title) to make the accommodation ready for the next arrivals, would we?...

I wouldn't even dream of putting up a "to do" list for guests to deal with when they leave. I don't know what standard of guests one get in a cottage in the UK, but it wouldn't go down well with guests where we are. They are not paying that sort of money to have "school rules" put under their nose.

AndrewH wrote: I wouldn't even dream of putting up a "to do" list for guests to deal with when they leave. I don't know what standard of guests one get in a cottage in the UK, but it wouldn't go down well with guests where we are. They are not paying that sort of money to have "school rules" put under their nose.

I agree, and most guests do leave the place clean and tidy, although we never know until we open the door.

The Olive Grove wrote: I agree, and most guests do leave the place clean and tidy, although we never know until we open the door.

Precisely, and that's all most of us ask. Where this article irritates is in the implication that such requirements are usual in the rental business (although lamentably it does happen occasionally). So we're p*ssed off at the broad brush treatment, which does nobody any good - the martinets only feel more justified in their demands and everyone else suffers by reflection.

Mols

AndrewH wrote:Contrary to everyone else, I absolutely agree with this Telegraph writer.

Not entirely alone Andrew, I agree in part with her too. However there's an enormous difference between "not cleaning" and leaving the place like a pig sty.

People, no matter how wealthy, or how much they've paid for the cottage or villa, should be prepared, on a self catering holiday, to put away their washing up after their last meal, dispose of their leftover food rather than leave it in the fridge, bag up their rubbish and not leave unwanted possessions behind. That's called manners, having respect for someone else's property and I don't classify that as "cleaning".

For those of us that welcome dogs however, the owners should be prepared to hoover the fur up regularly, cover furniture with throws, not cover bedlinen with dirty pawprints and most certainly pick up every piece of dog poo. That should never be the job of a cleaner, whether you pay extra or not. It's your dog, your responsibility in my book, the same as we're responsible for our children as parents.

I do have a departure list; it's not school rules, it's a gentle reminder that they've stayed in a self catering place and the cleaner that will come and clean after them isn't their maid. There's no cleaning needed but taking away all their detritus is all that's required so the cleaner can actually clean the minute she steps through the door.

Nemo wrote:I do have a departure list; it's not school rules, it's a gentle reminder that they've stayed in a self catering place and the cleaner that will come and clean after them isn't their maid. There's no cleaning needed but taking away all their detritus is all that's required so the cleaner can actually clean the minute she steps through the door.

Horses for courses, I guess. Out here 'maid service' is expected, whatever the level or quality of the accommodation and you take what comes. But then these jobs are easily filled, because of the unemployment situation. I should add that we do our own maid service at the end of a stay, though otherwise "self-catering" means self-catering. OH is a bit of a perfectionist and not a good delegator!

Wow! I would be furious if guests chucked their surplus food away instead of leaving it up to me to decide what to do with it. I do expect people to do their own washing up but nothing more. They have a ferry to catch and they are usually out of the door by 7:30am. I don't want them stripping beds or piling up wet towels. Perhaps Judith Woods should holiday with someone other than her husband

It's just clickbait...plus what Moliere said. No-one gains by this kind of 'journalism'. It just reads like a disgruntled tripadvisor review - which is what it probably started out as, and should have remained.

Tivoli wrote:Wow! I would be furious if guests chucked their surplus food away instead of leaving it up to me to decide what to do with it.

Interesting Tivoli. I can quite see why an owner might want to pick through the leftovers to save waste, but my cleaner may be doing two, or sometimes three cleans a day, at least twice, or sometimes three times a week. All for off site owners. Can you imagine how many leftover bags of peas or chips she might have to deal with if the guests didn't take it or throw it away? Sadly there's not usually any more exciting leftovers at ours than this.