What I really don’t like (and I think Airbnb/Vrbo should have to change this) is that I don’t know what the cleaning and check out requirements are until after I’ve paid in full and checked in. On an annual girls’ trip that I DID book (great house!), we had to lug the garbage up a very steep driveway AND haul it to a DUMP, in our cars! This was 4 days and 12 women-worth of garbage. I was livid and let the owner know. I did not know I would have to do this until after I paid in full and she sent me her renter’s “manifesto” a day before I checked in. In my mind, cleaners should be hauling garbage - not someone who just paid $1k/nt.
The place I stayed for D’s graduation last month had checkout/cleaning “suggestions”, which we could do if we felt it in our hearts to help out the cleaning staff (yes, it said this). I did load and start the dishwasher and I stripped the beds and left the sheets in a pile on the floor but I wasn’t going to take out the trash (we didn’t eat there so there was nothing smelly or messy), nor was I going to haul sheets and towels down two flights of stairs into the unfinished (and creepy) basement where the washer was. He gave me a great review, so he must have been satisfied with how I left the place. Also, speaking about reviews - for this same house, someone gave it a negative review for having too many inspirational/religious signage. Not being religious, the reviewer felt “preached to”
I think outer banks (NC) rentals often give you a choice to bring your own or pay extra to rent linens. When we rented there the beds weren’t made, and the linens came in a big tub, shrink wrapped and left by the door. This was during COVID, but I experienced no linens/bring your own before COVID too. I THINK they supply kitchen linens, and maybe towels, and the sheets are what was in the tub, but I’m not sure.
When we’ve rented in Cape Cod, linens came from a linen service in a tub (not shrink wrapped, but this was before Covid). It was many people/bed, I think about $100 fee. It meant we made our own bed before going to sleep, but that worked ok.
I do like it when there is a nice binder which clarifies all the rules and requirements. If there is info on local restaurants and service, better yet. In Paris we used the binder to pick their recommended shuttle service, to pick us up at 4am for the airport.
You have obviously never done a weekly rental at the Jersey shore, where this is 100% the norm. If you don’t want to lug your linens with you, then you rent them from an outside delivery source. Since we rent a house every year, I have a bin of various size sheets that are our “shore house” sheets (no need for twin sheets at home but do need them at the shore!) Oh and towels, too. Have to bring them as well. And… the rental rates are ridiculous. It’s a crazy choice for a vacation, but alas the family does not want to break tradition!
It’s the same in the Myrtle Beach area. We used to vacation with the in-laws in the 90s-early 2000s. Condos and stand alone beach houses rented from a rental/real estate company. We used to mix and match sheets that we would bring from home. My SIL had the King sized bed, we had the twins, everyone had queens, etc.
I still keep a bin of twin sized sheets (from the kids’ dorm days now) for when we rent cabins in the state park.
Yep, my friends who rent in Ocean CIty NJ every single year have a pack of towels and sheets they bring with them (they store them off season in those compression storage bags.)
To me those rentals in general seem like too much work. I like a hotel where they change and clean your linens and neaten up your room every day. Plus when I am away I don’t want to have to cook or supermarket shop.
I can understand starting the dishwasher and taking trash to the bin (if it’s conveniently located). They usually charge a hefty cleaning fee so I don’t feel I should do things I’m paying for. The family house we use free of charge but we do pay the cleaning fee which is I think $150. We always leave it tidy.
We have a lake trip this summer and that rental includes sheets but we noticed last time we were there they have a lot of sets of towels and sheets for when they have a quick turnaround.
A recent funny story about cleaning fees. Was making reservations through the property management site for 5 people. The fee went up $200 when I entered the age of the kid traveling with us. Yup, toddlers leave a lot of paw prints on appliances and sliding doors!
When we went it was a long flight with 2 connections in Frankfurt and Zurich. We went a day early to rest before the safari started. Since we did the planning through the tour they had some local activities and tours you could do if you arrived early.
Up to the owners, and often dictated by the services available. (Understandable that a guest doesn’t care if the local garbage company only picks up on Wednesday or whatever!) In some places, cleaning crew availability dictates how long they can be at a property, so they might not have time to wait for a dishwasher or washer to run. I have both rented out a home and rented homes. Especially at a higher price point, I don’t really want to have to do a lot when I leave.
As an aside, when we rented out a seasonal home we also used for half the season, we had a locked closet in which we put our personal belongings. And we tried not to leave too many traces of “us”. At the same time, there is in this same community hostility toward people who have bought homes only as investment rental units - which have no “personal” use as they have contributed to an affordable housing crisis and owners with little connection to the community. Just mentioning this as what many of us (including me) want from vrbo or airbnb can be at odds with what the local communities need/want.
When my family goes, we leave the places pretty clean. When we stayed at a really nice place with my husband’s family last fall, they left it messier than I was comfortable with, but they also left 10ish unopened bottles of wine, unopened groceries, and a reasonable tip. Nobody complained.
We’ve rented both through Airbnb and VRBO. Of late, I find myself renting at Airbnb more often. More reasonable prices.
My must-have’s: No shared room/bathroom - I want to rent the whole house/apartment. Usually need good parking. I read reviews - they usually let me know if I think this will work for us or not. Cleanliness, location are the other considerations.
I like the convenience of the hotels, but sometimes these options are just better (especially if you are traveling as a group).
And I believe we leave the place as clean (if not better) than we found it!
This seems to be a much more active thread so I’ll try again. Have you or do you know of someone who has used the Firefly Recovery device on their legs while flying a long distance? It looks intriguing and the reviews I’ve seen have been favorable - Reddit has a couple threads on it…just curious with this many travelers on CC if any of y’all have used it? I’m thinking about it for my Europe trip this fall.
We also leave places quite clean before we leave. I’ve often wondered to what degree others “clean up”. We put all furniture we may have moved back, so a quick floor sweep of the dining area, kitchen and entry area, all linens in one pile in each applicable room, empty out refrig, wipe down counters etc.
On AIRBNB the property owner also reviews the renter (always ME in our family!) so it’s insurance for me that I’m looked at as a no brainer TO rent a place!
We rented linens once at Cape Cod…the quality was awful. Sheets were actually itchy, and the towels were a terrible quality.
We bring our own to the Jersey Shore.
The Airbnbs we have rented actually tell the types of sheets used in the beds. And if it was a problem, we would go to the nearest Target and buy a set of sheets for our stay.
I’ve not heard of Firefly. I wear compression socks flying as I find it does help reduce swelling in my legs and feet. I’ve got several different brands and I used to hate them but have now gotten used to them. Hardest part is getting them on.
Yup, toddlers leave a lot of paw prints on appliances and sliding doors!