Are my expectations too high? Beach house cleanliness

[Anonymous]

I'm at the beach right now, in a house that has been broken up into four rental apartments. Every single rental I researched online had bad reviews for cleanliness: this one was the best in the area.

All the surfaces are clean - so, bathrooms for example are sparkling - but the drawers and cupboards are gross and the dishes are dirty. We found perishable foods (think raw meat) in kitchen cupboards, OTC medication and random trash in drawers, hair in the dish cabinet. The unit did not come with dish soap and it's clear that prior guests didn't buy any. There are a million pots and pans but all in terrible shape: I actually threw out one that left Teflon shards on our nice local seafood.

I want to say something to the owner when I check out, but I also want to make sure I'm not crazy. I mean, it's gross that the dishes are dirty but also maybe unrealistic for the maid to check every dish in the cupboard? What is normal?

[Anonymous]

Part of the problem is that the cleaning services rushes - they have a TON of houses to clean in a short amount of time before the next check-in. The turn-around window is very small.

Having said that, there is a threshold to cleanliness - raw meat(?!) in the pantry (is that supposed to be a prank?) and trash in drawers is a bit much.

Petty things like no dish soap and crumby pots and pans are just that - annoyances, yes. But a lot of times things like soap and paper towels, extra trashbags, etc. aren't a gurantee. WOuld it be nice to have? Yes. Is it required? No. And technically, the unit has pots and pans. Crumby ones, but pots and pans nonetheless.

Are you renting through a rental company? Air BnB? A private citizen?

You can try and complain, maybe get a 5% discount if they're feeling generous.

[Anonymous]

My mom cleans houses. Unacceptable level of gross. Though the dishes thing they wouldn’t know if they were in the cabinet.

[Anonymous]

My only thought is it is early in the rental season. Imagine what it will look like in August.

[Anonymous]

Well, pots and pans are almost always beat up and knives are dull. I started bringing my own frying pan and one good knife with me. Dishes should be clean though. That said we always run everything through the dishwasher the first night. There should be no food that can spoil, but condiments are ok.

[Anonymous]

We’ve rented a variety of houses for over a decade and have never encountered what you’re describing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve rented a variety of houses for over a decade and have never encountered what you’re describing

I should say the raw meat and trash in drawers. Lack of dish soap, totally normal. Sometimes a previous renter will leave this but there’s no guarantee. Pots and pans and knives will be beat up.

[Anonymous]

The only thing out of ordinary is raw meat in a cabinet and trash in the drawers. But that is the fault of the previous renters, I imagine the cleaning staff doesn’t have time to open every drawer and cabinet and clean them. The beat up pots and pans is typical. I have a friend who has a beach rental and she said people steal the pots and pans and knives and blenders and anything else that isn’t nailed down! So they buy cheap stuff since they end up replacing it every year if it isn’t stolen.

[Anonymous]

This is OP, thanks for the feedback. This is an apartment owned and run by the independent hotel next door -- not a chain, but not a small operation either. Sounds like all this is pretty normal, which is helpful to know. I usually stay in timeshares, which provide little in the way of kitchen gear but what they provide is newer.

There's no dishwasher. My point about the soap was not that I minded buying it so much as maybe providing it would mean the tenants would clean the dishes before putting them back ...

The meat in the cupboards looked like stew beef in multiple large mason jars, not in a preservative of any kind. I've decided it must be intended for fish bait because that's the least troublesome possibility. There was other food too but the meat was definitely upsetting.

I don't plan to leave them a review online. I do think I'll suggest to the owner that her staff look in the cupboards, but I won't mention the dishes.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the problem is that the cleaning services rushes - they have a TON of houses to clean in a short amount of time before the next check-in. The turn-around window is very small.

Having said that, there is a threshold to cleanliness - raw meat(?!) in the pantry (is that supposed to be a prank?) and trash in drawers is a bit much.

Petty things like no dish soap and crumby pots and pans are just that - annoyances, yes. But a lot of times things like soap and paper towels, extra trashbags, etc. aren't a gurantee. WOuld it be nice to have? Yes. Is it required? No. And technically, the unit has pots and pans. Crumby ones, but pots and pans nonetheless.

Are you renting through a rental company? Air BnB? A private citizen?

You can try and complain, maybe get a 5% discount if they're feeling generous.

Airbnb? You should complain because the amount of cleaning fee they charge the hell should be in better shape than what you describe.

[Anonymous]

You sound very picky OP. Maybe buy a beach house instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound very picky OP. Maybe buy a beach house instead?

I am NOT PICKY and rotting meat in the cabinets/drawers is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound very picky OP. Maybe buy a beach house instead?

I am NOT PICKY and rotting meat in the cabinets/drawers is bad.

Yes you are. If you don’t want to pay thousands a week, plus several hundred dollar cleaning fee, for a not totally clean house, then so be it. Someone else gladly will. Sorry to break it to you, but that’s just the reality, especially this year.

[Anonymous]

what's the price point? i do think that determines some of these things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, pots and pans are almost always beat up and knives are dull. I started bringing my own frying pan and one good knife with me. Dishes should be clean though. That said we always run everything through the dishwasher the first night. There should be no food that can spoil, but condiments are ok.

+1. I have a box with beach supplies and it includes a good frying pan and a sharp knife. Rental frying pans are airways scratched, shedding nonstick. I don’t know who the animals are that use metal utensils on non-stick, but they’re apparently ubiquitous.

It sounds like the rental owner asks people to run the dishwasher as they leave (most rentals ask this) & the cleaning crew didn’t confirm that this happened. Or the cleaning crew got there & didn’t have time to clean up after an especially dirty group. This is why I would never rent my own house. People are pigs in rentals.