I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for.
Whenever we've stayed at the lowest priced vacation homes, seems the homes were not quite as shiny and nice as the more expensive ones.
We've experienced this all over the country.
We once stayed at a 4 bedroom villa in Hilton Head Island where I had to clean the villa top to bottom before I could relax. Filthy glass and windows, Crumbs and cherrios swept under the couch, sticky counters, tar stains on the tile, food stains in sink and fridge, The toilet clogged, a closet door fell off it's hinges, found a thong in a dresser drawer (blech!) and most of the light bulbs were burned out. I called on all these things and was met with the same attitude you described. The owners rented it cheap because they wanted people in it. To rent it cheap, they had to find a cheap management company. To charge homeowners less, the management company hires cheaper cleaners, people who don't get paid much don't care as much and so on and so forth. That was the worst, but we've stayed in one that was well worn in Orlando as well. Not as dirty, but it certainly needed all new linens, pillows, mattresses, etc. We were refunded $150 for our trouble on that villa in Hilton Head, I took photos of everything when we walked in, emailed these along with a request for a cleaning fee from the owner.
Saying all that, we've booked a lower priced six bedroom home in Windsor Hills for next month. Off season it's more than $150 a night cheaper than peak season. We're hoping that's the only difference. The online photos look wonderful, but we also know how that goes. They could have been taken six years and 150 rentals ago. If the cleaner hasn't done their job, it could be a mess. Or even if the house hasn't been rented in awhile, it could be dusty. It needs to be inspected by management thoroughly before being rented and thoroughly cleaned after.
I've contacted the management (vacation by the mouse) and told them of our past experiences and to make sure the cleaners KNOW we will be picky. Picky in the fact we expect clean surfaces, dishes, linens, floors, etc. If it's not, we'll expect someone over there asap to clean it up. We're not doing it, we're on vacation.
We do not have to wash linens before we leave, just strip the beds down to the mattress pads and pile them up in a corner, as with the towels. I have never heard of washing and drying the linens and towels before you leave. Putting the dishes in and starting the dishwasher-yes. I always make it look decent before we leave, but don't do a deep cleaning. That's the housekeepers job.
Before I sleep in any bed other than my own, I pull back the covers and sheets and inspect the bed with a lighted magnifying glass for anything that shouldn't be there, including bed bugs. Everyone should do this! If I find anything questionable, management gets called asap. The inspection should take place the minute you walk in the door. I do the same at hotels.
I always bring our own small bottle of Dish soap, laundry detergent, (love the new Purex all in one laundry/softener sheets) paper products, plastic cups, condiments and spices. Sometimes a non stick fry pan as well.
Don't stop renting houses because of this one bad experience. We've had many more good ones than bad and the space to spread out is priceless!
, the scratched up cookware, etc. If you have something in particular you want a pic of, please let me know so I can post only those that are helpful. LOL Otherwise, this is going to take FOREVER and I'm sure DIS would prefer I not post 200 or even 20 pics of townhouse issues. LOL
