Holiday cottages

Well happily we no longer have to rent it out (which was only for a few years for complex reasons associated with health cover) and it has gone back to being the cottage in our garden for family and friends.
I agree that prices in the UK are very high and if you are paying that much then I would expect people to be employing cleaners, but that is also very much cheaper to do in England than in France.
It has always been customary for French owners to expect a very high standard of cleaning by the people renting a gite and in the past we have often waited for the owner to inspect the place from top to bottom and count the teaspoons before we could leave. We have also met owners who have been horrified by the fact that British tenants haven't cleaned, but I think that is just a cultural misunderstanding on both sides.
Funnily enough, many years ago, we gave up camping when we found that gites were cheaper!

I do think it is cheeky to insist on thorough cleaning before leaving a property. I always put crockery and cutlery in dishwasher when I arrive at a house, I have never stayed in one that came up to my own standards. The cheekiest owner was in Provence where she took a very large damage deposit and would not return it until she had inspected every inch of the house and swimming pool area, even inspected the pool shower. This was a hose that cost £2,000 + a week and did not even have an oven in the kitchen, who lives in a house without an oven ?

I am sure your place is lovely Mamie and very reasonable, but just have a look at places advertised, it is not unusual as Marmight found to pay in excess of £1000 per week, even more when it is in a sought after holiday area. And, although obviously one shouldnt leave the place like a tip, should clean up dishes and food, fridge, clean up any spills on cooker etc., but I would not pay that amount of money and then clean it for the next clients, a couple of hours cleaning at £10 or so an hour is not unreasonable! It was while looking for a holiday home to accommodate 4 adults and 3 children in Norfolk ( around £1200) that we decided to spend our money more wisely and both families bought a tent and equipment for less than the cost of one week in a cottage. the weather is the same, and you still have to pay for food.

In the past I have always stripped the beds and left the place as I found it, without going totally overboard although I did once, years ago, have a letter from the owner thanking me for leaving the place even cleaner than she had!
Last month, I rented accommodation in Berkshire to accommodate 3 DD's and various grandchildren (not all at once) - 3 en suite bedrooms (which the owner uses for B&B when not letting that part of the house) and a miniscule kitchen/dining room - no sitting area which was a bit of a surprise to us especially as I paid over £1000 for 8 nights! Luckily, the weather was lovely so we mostly sat outside. It wasn't particularly well equipped (mis-matched plates etc). I had to ask for a broom as I really didn't want to grovel on the floor with the provided dustpan and brush and I also had to ask for a chopping/bread board so not to ruin the new work surfaces! We had to pay extra to use the washing machine/drier which I found a little hard to stomach bearing in mind how much I was paying for the place. When we left, we emptied the rubbish and left the place presentable, but no way was I using the squeegee mop which arrived with the broom!
If I hadn't forked out so much, I would probably have done more, but I felt that at that rate the owner could have employed a couple of cleaners and still not felt the pinch

Well they are not all rented at exorbitant rates! We used to charge 250€ a week which included heating, a very generous welcome pack, cleaning, towels and linen. Then we had to pay half of everything we took to the French government.
We asked people to leave it clean and tidy so that they could leave late morning and the next guests could arrive mid-afternoon and most people very kindly did.
I guess when you have been the one doing the cleaning you see it a bit differently!

Real cleaning is the responsibility of the owner, but those who can't even leave a holiday cottage in the condition that their own home is in between cleanings are just being squalid. If a bin is provided, then rubbish should be in it, not spread around. Dishes should be washed up even if they are not stacked away - there is usually a dishwasher these days so that is not a chore. If they don't want even to do that much, they should be in a hotel with constant service.

I think for the exorbitant rates charged by holiday cottages they have got a damned cheek asking people to do anything! Obviously as a courtesy, always fold bedding back, empty bins, and dont leave food in fridge or dirty dishes, but I am not ruining my holiday by spending the last day cleaning and nagging other family members to help. We once exchanged homes with someone through house swap scheme and we both agreed to arrange for cleaners to come in and clean after we had left. Worked very well. Holiday homes are a business, not a favour, would you scrub the bath/kitchen floor/strip the beds in a hotel?

I've always stripped down the beds and left towels in the bath/shower when we leave and as a matter of habit always washed the cutlery on arrival,the last cottage we stayed in at Newton Stuart Scotland was fully stocked when we got there with milk/eggs/bread which made life easy for the first morning and directions to the nearest shop for provisions.
I really don't mind doing a tidy before we leave it,I know it has been left as we found it and we can always book again.

I often find I have to wash out the cutlery tray on the day we arrive. It can be sticky. And always gets missed in their cleaning.

I think the price usually reflects the expectation that, when you arrive it will be clean and tidy, and when you leave, you leave it clean and tidy ready for the cleaner!
I wouldn't expect to strip beds or match up sets of crockery, but I would empty bins, and make sure the kitchen and bathroom were clean, plump up cushions etc, but not vacuum.

I can't see the point in stripping beds. Like jingl says, you've paid a fair whack to stay in their cottage and it's your holiday. We always have a tidy up, empty bins, clean out fridge etc., but unless asked we don't hoover.

We sometimes stay in a friend's holiday cottage or in my brother's house in France and that's different because we are guests. We leave the place gleaming because we want to be asked back!!

The one thing I can say is nobody ever emptied toast crumbs or got hairs out of the shower trap in our cottage. Not everybody stripped the beds either, but it does take a lot of time and you are caught between the need to deep clean and people wanting to leave late and arrive early.

Yes, that's true Humbertbear. You can get very good welcome packs. But the last one we went to, although a very nice cottage in itself, did n't even have a pint of milk in the fridge. I felt very deprived

I object to being asked to strip the beds. That should come under their cleaning. Throw back the covers to air the bed, but that is all. You are NOT guests in their house. You are paying customers.

DH always does a sweep up, and empties the bins, and empties the toaster of crumbs.

We have noticed a change in holiday cottages over the years.they used to be fairly basic but now washing machines, free boxes, microwaves, freezers even wifi seem to be standard. We arrived at one to find a tray of home made scones and jam and last Xmas the cottage came with a tree, decorations, crackers, mince pies and mulled wine.
We always empty the rubbish and clean as we go.

When we ran our holiday cottage we used to ask people (politely) to strip beds, empty rubbish and leave the kitchen and bathroom clean. We used to do a top to bottom full clean anyway, but if it was left dirty, you really struggled to get it done in the changeover time.
My pet hate is when people expect you to clean and don't leave any cleaning materials. Oh and the one that left four pieces of toilet paper to keep us going until we went to the shops.

I always leave things as I would hope to find them when I leave a holiday home. It isn't too onerous as everyone pitches in and strips the beds on the last morning and then we all seem to have a favoured task and get on with it. I think the cleaner's job is to wash the bedding/towels and remake beds and 'fill in the gaps' where the previous holidaymakers haven't left things quite up to scratch. I once found some filthy saucepans had been put away in a cupboard by the previous people and when I informed the owner she was absolutely mortified.

I've never stayed in a cottage that had a list of chores to do! If it did I'd just ignore them.

That must take up a lot of room in the car, and if you travel by train .....

Exchanging kitchen sinks???

When I go on holiday I loathe exchanging kitchen sinks and would prefer to pay for somebody to clean the place immediately it is vacated.

I will leave it tidy and I may strip the bed but no more.