Is this usual?

[Carla]

You'll probably find poet that the villa is booked back to back and if your departure day is a Friday or Saturday (most popular days) then the cleaners will be extremely busy and tight for time.

I've always stripped the beds and put the towels on to wash whenever I've been in a home. If we're up early enough I do as much of the laundry as I can. If you think about it a 4 bed home generally only has 6 beds, so that's only 12 sheets and 8 or so pillow cases, a maximum of 2 loads if all the beds have been used, and the US washing machines can do a load in less than 30 minutes.

My guests tend to do most of the laundry when they leave, although I don't ask them to, unless I know that time is likely to be very tight for the cleaners. When Brits are leaving and Americans are arriving on the same day this could be a recipe for problems. Frequently Brit guests have late afternoon flights so aren't in a hurry to checkout, and then the Americans drive down and arrive early!! When I know that I have this situation I always ask the guests to start the washing, particularly the towels.

I've been lucky and all of my guests have always kept up to date with the laundry throughout their vacation, so no huge piles of laundry for the cleaners!! It isn't a big job to strip the beds and put the first towel wash on - takes only a few minutes.

[Jo]

Do owners generally supply washing powder/liquid for this wash?

Thinking you may get someone who doesn't use the washing machine and therefore won't have the necessary stuff to put in it.

Jo

[Carla]

They would be extremely rare guests Jo, if they didn't do any washing whilst in the villa!!! Most guests wash all their own clothes before going home so that they bring clean stuff back. I'm sure that every guest would have some washing liquid to spare to start a load for the cleaners before leaving. It's not much to ask, really.

There aren't many places where you can go for a week or two and come back with a suitcase full of clean clothing that's only cost you the washing liquid to do.

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[i]
When you clean homes for a living.....to get it down to a fine art......so maybe she knows she can do everything in the time she has....so she wants you not to worry about it....[msnsmile2]
[/quote]

Maybe. Alternatively, she probably knew the villa would be cleaned and made up anyway. She used to drop in now and then for a chat and to help out, and I am sure she noticed that everything always was in order. Even my little 9 year old niece did her bit. I have a great picture of her struggling with the hoover!

[Jo]

Carla ,

I don't want you to think I'm one of those people who don't wash [}] - clothes I mean. I like to do my domestic duties whilst on holiday to save the depressing task of doing it all when we get home - besides I don't think we have enough space for clothes for 2 weeks for the 5 of us!

I am about to become a villa owner and just want to make sure I am not expecting unreasonable things from my guests.

Jo

[daxon]

We would be grateful if guests strip beds & put the first load in. Travelling around Florida & Gulf Coast over last four years, this has always been requested of us. Having said that we wouldnt complain if this wasnt done.

[fiona]

I say "if you have time please put on a wash - preferably the towels, and if possible strip the beds you have used and place the washing in the utility room". Now whether or not they do it is another matter, but I know we have had guests who have used every towel in the place and washed none of them which is every hard if there is a back to back rental.

Certainly whenever we stay anywhere I always do the same and am happy to buy some washing powder and dishwasher powder. Having memories of staying at camp sites where you lug everything to the launderette and if in a tent the washing up to the loo blocks then staying in a villa is the lap of luxury! And oh the bliss of arriving back home with minimal washing instead of the whole case full of dirty clothes.

[blott]

We request that our guests put the towel wash on and strip the used bedlinen and put this in the utility room. It's only pillowcases and two sheets per bed so it shouldn't be a big hardship. As Fiona says, whether they do this or not I've no idea. We don't find it any problem to do this ourselves when we stay at our home as our check out time is 11 am and we have to pack too.

As has already been said, one of the joys of renting a home is that you can return home with clean clothes and not have to face a mountain of dirty washing and ironing the minute you open your suitcases. Oh boy, did that ever bring you back to earth with a bump after a lovely holiday!

[chrisj]

We stripped the beds etc last year and put them in the wash, we also spent a few hours tidying up
and cleaning the Villa

Just thought we entered a lovely clean Villa and felt we should leave it in the same way

[Carla]

We rented a place in France, down in the Dordogne and had to sign to say that we would leave it at least as clean as we found it or they would charge us an extra 60 Euros!! Just wiping the surfaces in the kitchen area, mopping the floor and throwing bleach in the toilet would easily have meant that we'd exceeded their standards, never mind doing anything else!!! No cleaning materials were provided.

We also had to pay extra for bed linens, which had to be returned to reception on departure AND had to bring all of our own towels. Two washing machines per 30 units.

You couldn't swing a cat in the 2 bedroom rectangular box that we called home for 7 days, however on the plus side the view was phenomenal and having accepted the fact that we were staying in a "shack" in comparison to what we had become used to, we had a wonderful time.

How they get away with what they do (or rather don't do) in both the UK and the rest of Europe never ceases to amaze me!!!