blankets and cleaning

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

Ju....hind sight is what i think you are saying...can't get any more now to match the others :roll:
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debk
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Post by debk »

I agree with Ju. I wouldn't really want my guests to make up their own beds... but, then again, I don't want to guess which beds they want. (Yet another reason why I took two hours last month to email all upcoming guests for bed specifics.)

Separate question: Why would you wash a bedcover just because someone sat on it or put a suitcase on it? Couldn't you just shake it out?
Clexane
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Post by Clexane »

We make up all our beds no matter how many people are arriving. I believe our guests have paid for the villa and its their decision if they want to sleep in a different bed every night.

We are currently debating the final clean which is currently a 60 Euro extra charge. We dont know wether or not this should be included as you will end up doing it anyway to make sure the place is up to standard.

Problem we have is there is a danger of pricing yourself out of the market when others are not including all the extras we do. :roll:
So you wanted a holiday home in france ...

www.villaemmanuelle.com
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

Clexane...That is an interesting observation...I also do make up all the beds no matter how many are staying...which I don't resent...unless they take the proverbial!!!

I have just put this in the house....please tell me if you think I am being too heavy...I leave it on the dining table once they have explored the house they will find it - I have a little pack - how to do the rubbish..where to find everything...this is the last letter of 4

End of Stay Clean...

As agreed, we do the end of stay clean for you – i.e hoovering, floors washed, beds made up, bathrooms cleaned, dusting, windows and mirrors, patio swept etc. …but this is a self catering house…we are not a hotel!

PLEASE leave the kitchen as you found it…make sure for example there are no crumbs in the draws, the oven & microwave are wiped out, the china is where it should be etc.

Please leave it as clean and tidy as possible…if you would like to help us big time – strip the beds.

If you do want us to do a deep clean – please let us know – it can be arranged for an extra 75 Euros.

Beach towels & sun bed towels – if you use them pop them through the washer for the next folk. Please only take beach towels to the beach.

It’s a No smoking house – in bedrooms it is forbidden. There are ashtrays…for the garden though! – Sorry smokers…

Children, continental chocolate, ice creams, soft furnishings…sorry they don’t mix – please keep an eye on the kids…we do get lots of sticky finger prints everywhere with all the glass – if you would please wipe up as you go, before it hardens – it’s a nightmare to remove later!

I think I have the balance right - but I always will be corrected....
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

Tansy

I can see where you are coming from but..

If you say that you include cleaning in your prices I don't see how you can then say that they have to pay €75 for a deep clean.

I agree that "specialist cleaning" should be charged extra. By that I would mean any sort of dry cleaning, or specialist equipment such as floor cleaners being required.

Either you include cleaning or you don't. Even if you don't I would still expect that you would have to clean the windows and make the beds etc.

Ho hum happy cleaning!

Ju
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

I think what I am trying to get over is that we do an end of stay clean at the end of the holiday - i.e. normal

...if someone doesn't want to lift a finger and do anything...i.e. ovens etc we'll do it - also you wouldn't believe how much sand gets into the houses...if they don't do anything the showers are like a beach, the furniture is covered... but rather than go through the procedure of taking it out the deposit at the end and having the upset of it all...if you have the money that is of course :roll:

...I'm trying to forwarn as it were...maybe I should word it - if you don't want to do any housework this holiday - book extra time with our cleaners.

...the Americans seem to manage it and hand the house back beautifully!

I was pleased with the state of the 2 houses this week - but in one I found roast potatoes in the oven - forgotten, frozen bottle of Chablis in the freezer that had exploded everywhere...it didn't take too long to sort out - an extra hour of my time in the kitchen...but it is what I call deep clean...not quite a normal clean. :?
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I think Ju is right, you include cleaning or you don't. I just state that any 'extra' cleaning (such as dry cleaning etc.) will be taken out of the security deposit. I wouldn't expect anyone to clean the oven, fridge etc. on holiday, and anyway I would have to do it again myself to make sure it was done properly. In the notes I just ask people to please leave the house in the same clean and tidy state they found it on arrival, strip the beds (which EVERYONE has done and saves a huge amount of time on changeover) and also make sure the outside area is clean (BBQ grills my pet hate, but I do give them all the stuff necessary to do this!).
Tansy, I do sympathise on the sand front, I can imagine that is a nightmare to clear up, we sometimes get a few grass cuttings, but fortunately that is as bad as it gets here in the country.
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Normandy Cow
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Post by Normandy Cow »

Let me give you an example...

Every year we stay at the same residence on the Ile de Re (yes, I never thought that one day I would start going to the same place every year for my holidays, but that's another story!).

At the end of the stay, you have two options. Either you clean it yourself, or they will do it for you for 50 Euros. Most of the French women staying there in the other cottages take great pride in the level of cleaning that they do - they seem to spend most of Friday doing it!. However, I am of the opinion that I work bl**dy hard all year (not to mention the major deep cleaning that I do at my own gite in Normandy every time I visit), and I don't want to spend the last day of my holiday doing major cleaning. So I do no final cleaning whatsoever - after all I am paying hefty whack for the cleaning. (Please don't misunderstand me - I am not a total slob, honest, and would never leave the house looking like a pigsty!).

However, if the final cleaning was charged at an hourly rate, then I would do sone of the cleaning, and just let the cleaner finish it off.

So, at our gite, we ask that guests leave the house in a clean and tidy state "as they found it". In reality I don't expect them to leave it exactly as they found it, as I have a cleaner who goes in and does two hours, plus any extra time for linen changes if necessary (linen hire is optional). But if the house is left in such a state that it is going to take her more than the normal two hours, then we deduct 15 Euros per hour from the deposit.

...So far, we have been very lucky, and have never had to do this, but I think that if the cleaning was an "all or nothing" alternative, then I think we may have had different experiences.
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

Catherine, I love your take on it! You've summed up exactly how we address it with our customers.

To be honest, I expect the house guests to run the dishwasher, take out the trash, and maybe even vacuum -- but I don't expect anything higher-level than that. So as long as they don't destroy things or muck up the plumbing, I figure it's included.

Of course, we don't tell them that! We just ask them to leave the house as they found it.
Brooke
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

That is what I expect....I get it from the Americans but not from the British - that is the house back as I handed it over. Of course we have to clean it - but 2 women 2 & half hours ...at the moment everytime I have a changeover with British I'm doing 2 women 4 hours i.e. 8 hours ...it isn't adding up on a monetary basis - I've tried it both ways...100 Euros for end of stay clean...then this year included it in the price...

I am looking at it on the basis it is a SELF Catering house...for my own house I pay someone to clean...if I haven't time during the week to do housework then I have to pay her extra...so surely folk on holiday can work that one out themselves...the house in a state someone has to pay?...

I allow 5 hours, (so that's 50 Euros + taxes alone on cheque Emploi), cleaning in the costings + laundry another 85 Euros per house....by time wear and tear, electricity, taxes, marketing, garden and all the relative costings are subtracted the profit margin isn't huge...I do think this end of stay clean is something that needs to be watched...because where is the line drawn?

CatherineS - I'm probably like the ladies you are describing on the Friday - clearing up....but that is my pride...

I don't expect folk to be on their hands and knees cleaning before leaving their holiday - but I do expect it to be handed back to me in a reasonable condition where it only takes 5 hours to finish it off...not a huge marathon each week...

Maybe it is an age thing - I don't know - my girlfriends that are younger than me - some of them make my hair curl watching their 'housekeeping skills'...we did Domestic Science at school in my day....now there are TV programmes teaching folk how to clean...what is it all coming to? :?
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Ciapolin
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Post by Ciapolin »

I've been watching the cleaning discussion with interest.

I must admit, that when I've been on holiday, I wouldn't dream of cleaning before I left (other than the normal level of keeping things tidy during my stay). Of course if it was part of the rental contract then that is different, but I expect the cleaning to be done by the person renting out the property. (please don't blacklist me!!! :oops: )

I suppose what I'm saying is maybe people aren't being deliberately dirty, but just have different expectations about what's included.

I think Catherine's idea of making it clear is a great one - I would like to think that we Brits aren't all slobs, just misunderstood!
Carole-Anne
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debk
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Post by debk »

Ciapolin wrote:I expect the cleaning to be done by the person renting out the property.
Me, too.

In fact, I don't want my guests to spend their last morning running around cleaning house.

We've only had two slightly "slob" families and I don't think any amount of notes left would have changed that fact. I do have the briefest of "checkout requests" and almost everyone does more than I ask.

You know what I love? Female doctors. They leave the house as clean as an operating room. Oh that I could fill my calendar with female MDs...
Clexane
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Post by Clexane »

We have now included in our rates a 'reasonable final clean'. I actually put it this way on our website and listing sites.

What I mean by that is that I expect that it should take no longer than two people two hours to clean certainly no more than six total !!

I think the idea of leaving a note is a good idea but Tansy your note reads to me a little harsh - but you do have more experience so that may be a product of that experience.

I intend to put in the contract a note that says that unreasonable state of cleanliness is defined as requiring more than four hours cleaning after handover and will result in a charge of €15 Euro per hour for over four hours cleaning.
So you wanted a holiday home in france ...

www.villaemmanuelle.com
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

It's possible that Tansy's letter needs to be more specific because her larger house tends to get more large families. We get mostly couples, so they would think it strange that we'd ask them not to put chocolate on the couch! But it makes sense in Tansy's case.

If there's one thing I'd add to that letter, it'd be to change the line about the deep clean. Maybe something like:
If you don't want to do any tidying up at the end of your holiday, and want us to do a deep clean – please let us know – it can be arranged for an extra 75 Euros.
Something like that could very clearly define the line between a normal cleaning and a deep clean -- brings all the rest of the requests (which I find reasonable for a large-family or multi-family house) together.
Brooke
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

I think Brooke is right, when we have a lot of cleaning to be done, it tends to be in the house sleeping 12 when there have been families with children. All adult parties or French families are no problem! I guess the Mums want a holiday too and don't want to have to spend their holiday cleaning up after their families. I think in France 50€ is the normal amount to pay for a final clean, but as Brits tend to be much messier, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for 75€!
I think that if you have the opportunity to meet the guests on arrival, you tend to gut feeling about how they will treat the property(like Tansy and her Scousers), perhaps you could reserve the extra cleaning fee option for them and not the tidy Americans?
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