House Rental Question

Judy · Guru

House Rental Question

Michele Erdvig · Host

Judy,

No, I've not seen that before. In some instances I've left the house cleaner than when I entered it (dusting & vacuuming). Some places have a deposit for breakage and cleaning. But they should expect to have to clean any self-catering place between lettings.

Since many self-catering places require you to vacate by 10-11 am. It could be a problem trying to do all that in the alloted time. And I've never heard of having to clean the toilets! I wouldn't mind stripping the beds, but would pass on the rest unless I made a real mess. And I'm a neatnick.

Such rules should have been communicated to the renters before they rented, not on arrival.

Michele

Judy · Guru

Thank you Michele, I thought that those might have been excessive rules, but I wanted to check if others had that experience.

When I write my trip report, do you want me to mention the name of the place? We did rent another house in another area that was truly a great experience.

Judy M.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Judy,

Sure, why not? We like to hear about Ireland, warts and all.

I do note that each self-catering place has their own rules and most will have a clause about "excessive cleaning" or breakages incurring an extra fee. I'm sure that on occasion people that stay will trash a place. That clause would be for them. But the average person would "neaten up" the place before leaving.

I always put all the used towels together either on the bathroom floor or in the tub. If we have tracked dirt or leaves in, I sweep it up. Put out the trash. Make sure all the dishes are clean. Just general stuff that any normal person would do. I leave a note if one of the bedrooms was not used at all (that will save them changing the bed and cleaning the en suite).

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

Never seen rules posted. We do clean up and leave a place as we would wish to find it but part of the cost should include someone to come in and do a couple of hours getting the place spotless for the next guests?

stewh · Guru

Hi Judy

Only once have we seen an extensive set of 'house rules'. Ironically, the dishes required a good washing before we would use them. We did not rent the house from the owners but from people who managed a number of Holiday Homes in the area. They did not accept any responsibility for the faults but rather blamed the previous tenants - "probably trusted their children to do the dishes". This situation was certainly far from the norm; our experiences with self-catering have otherwise been varied but always good. I suspect laziness.

Stewart

Judy · Guru

Tony,

Thanks for clarifying my thoughts about rentals in Ireland.

Yes, there was a laminated paper of rules left in the kitchen as we arrived at the rental. The rules stated in my posting were only part of the written rules. We did receive our 100 Euro deposit back, so obviously we did leave the house clean and tidy (toilets and all).

When I emailed the agent after our return home that I thought the written rules presented to us on arrival were excessive, he wrote back that the rules for cleaning the house was typical in most of Europe, particularly France and Germany. After writing back to the agent that I had never heard of such rules in Ireland, He wrote back stating that he would not open any future emails from me.

Stewart,

We also stayed in a lovely rental house in Killarney where the owner greeted us and we were not expected the provide maid service upon departure, although we did sweep the floor and remove the trash on our own.

A lesson for future travel to Ireland, we will deal with the owner and not a rental agency.

Judy M.

tony2phones · Guru

Who are the agents? Pretty poor customer service attitude. Only once have I had a problem with a rental cottage. It was booked through Shamrock Cottages and by the side of a small lough, obviously used by fishermen and filthy. I phoned Shamrock immediately, they didn't have another local vacancy but they provided me with a number for another rental agency and refunded our credit card within about an hour no questions asked. Just one reason I continue to use and recommend them.

Judy · Guru

Tony,

It was a lovely house and everything they said on the web site was true, however the list of cleaning requirements were not issued until we arrived at the rental. I did not think to take the agents phone number with me (my mistake) and there was no phone number provided on the list of cleaning requirements, so I had hoped he would take my comments as constructive criticism. There was also an issue with not providing linens for the 4th bedroom which we plan on using. I guess he can't handle the truth.

Judy M.

tony2phones · Guru

As long as you enjoyed your stay thats the main thing. For Spiddle I generally recomend Tuar Beag which is a really good B&B with a couple of self catering flats behind.

http://www.bandbgalway.com/

Michele Erdvig · Host

Judy,

I have heard some people say they like to deal with a big agency because then they have recourse if things are not as described. Personally, I would much rather deal directly with the owner. I prefer to stay at places that have one owner with one or a cluster of cottages. I have stayed at a wonderful place that was "managed" but where the owners were there too and that was Tankardstown in Co. Meath. My stay at the lodges at Waterford Castle was less than stellar. And I absolutely adore Doire Farm Cottages outside Kenmare. The family that runs them are hands-on, kind, generous and can't do enough to make your stay special.

I'm thinking that maybe we should come up with a list of questions to ask before renting a self-catering cottage. That might be fun. Some of mine (if not mentioned on the website):

No smoking

Heat/electric extra

Coin meter for heat/electric

WiFi Internet in cottage or nearby

Quiet area

View

TV - how many channels

dishwasher

washer & dryer

coffee maker

unscented (I hate places that smell like a perfume shop)

# bedrooms

# baths

linens, towels, tea towels

microwave

any extra charges

off-street parking

offensive farm smells

terms and conditions

payment method

cancelation rules

discounts available

Anyone else have questions to add? The list could get even looooonger!

Michele

Judy · Guru

Michele,

Both the Killarney house and the Galway house posted that towels were provided. The Killarney house had a closet full of towels, however the Galway house had only one towel per person. We need to ask "how many towels", luckily we all took extra towels from home.

The Killarney house had a coffee maker, but the Galway house did not. That is a good question from your list.

You can not depend on comments from the agency web sites, they will only post the positive feedback. It's people like you and others here that I will only ever trust again.

Judy M.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Judy,

Good idea to ask how many towels per person. I've been to places with few and others with lots.

Besides the lodges at Waterford Castle not being particularly clean my big gripe was no coffee maker. When I inquired they said "We haven't had time to install them yet." So the lodges were a couple of years old and they hadn't got around to it? Lame excuse. They loaned me a broken French press and some filters. On my last day when I was washing it the whole inside plunger thingie disintegrated. Oh, and one of the showers didn't work. Needless to say, the lodges at Waterford Castle did not make my list!

Michele