How clean do you leave a holiday place?

catkins

Whenever I have stayed in a caravan, cottage etc I have left it clean and tidy.


Last week me and OH spent a week in a cottage and, as usual, clean before we left. The place was spotless and I stripped the bed (as I always do).


I have just received a really lovely email from the owner thanking me for leaving the cottage "immaculate" and thereby helping her out.


I know, from past experience as a chambermaid and years later cleaning a B&B and holiday cottages, that a lot of people do no cleaning or tidying at all. In fact I used to wonder how some people managed to make such a mess in just a week. Crumbs and bits of food all over the table and floor (kitchen and dining room), filthy cooker, filthy toilet, often newspapers spread round the house (often the pages had been separated and the pages spread on coffee table, bedside tables, even the floors!


The B&B and one of the cottages mainly had Americans staying (often quite rich ones) and they almost always left the place in a disgusting state.


I would guess from the wording of the email that not many people leave the cottages (she has 4) very clean but I don't understand why not. Even if you don't do a good clean surely you would leave it tidy with things like cooker and toilet cleaned?

GwylimT

We leave hotel rooms etc in the state that we find them, I think it's rude not to.

AlwaysAllie

I would always try to leave it as I'd found it and yes I usually strip beds too.

AA

karenann76

I would make sure it was tidy rather than clean. The cooker top and toilet would be cleaned though along with any obvious grot caused by my family!!

mummyroysof3

I do my best to leave it clean and tidy

Ms_Chocaholic

I too leave it clean and tidy. Stack towels neatly and strip the bed, though we stayed in one cottage where the owners asked that we did not strip the bed which I thought odd (in a booklet in the cottage not personally).

catkins

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

I too leave it clean and tidy. Stack towels neatly and strip the bed, though we stayed in one cottage where the owners asked that we did not strip the bed which I thought odd (in a booklet in the cottage not personally).

Seems a strange request! I always strip the bed because I personally think that is one of the worst jobs and can take quite a while if the cottage/caravan etc sleeps quite a few people.


Forgot to say that I always strip the bed in hotels too. Although it was almost 40 years ago that I was a chambermaid I know that most hotels employ too few chambermaids and it is a rush to get all rooms clean, beds made etc in the time allowed

JIL

Over the years I have had many holidays in caravans and chalets, as we were leaving I made a real effort to clean every room, hoovering, cleaning the oven, hob, bathroom and fridge.
I did it because my mother did this to all the caravans we stayed in as we were growing up.
I realised all too late, that my mother did all the cleaning as she hired the caravans we stayed in from friends and neighbours.
We on the other hand rented the caravans and chalets from holiday parks and they had paid cleaners.
Thats not to say, i leave the place in a state but I dont go to the extremes I used to as I now know there will be a cleaner after we have left. I just ensure I have swept up, the work surfaces are wiped down and the furniture is where it should be.
Last time we hired a caravan on a haven site, it was obvious the cleaners had been in, the furniture was wet, from the steam cleaner.
I dont strip beds in hotels, but i dont make a mess and try to leave it as I left it. with things in the bin and not all over the place.

peachyprice

I clean and tidy before we leave and strip the beds.

We once stayed in a chalet in Switzerland, the owner said the liked having British guests best because we always leave it much cleaner than any other nationality.

PasturesNew

I'd have a general tidy round and leave it clean but you pay a premium price for a holiday let/home, to include the cleaner that will come in between lets.

It's a holiday you're having and potentially a long/tiring journey home and you want to get off to "beat the rush".

liney

Tidy - kitchen surfaces wiped, floor brushed, and beds stripped. However, I do not go on holiday to clean toilets and ovens!