Daniel Craig must have been listening to my mind this morning. I have been mulling over a review (3 star which is not up to our usual standards) that mentioned one of our places (in fact MY place in the desert) was not clean enough. Now anyone that has known me since I've owned and managed vacation rentals wants to yell at me to just "shut up" when I talk about "deep cleaning." In fact my husband made a funny candid video about deep cleaning when I tested my Flip video camera on him last Christmas. So when a guest I just spoke to a few days ago left public reviews that I requested and said the place wasn't clean enough I winced; I lost sleep; I can't stop thinking about it. I've had the same cleaning crew for several years on that property. I pay a lot higher than the going rate for real clean. They deep clean 1 room every time they clean. I replace towels once a year or more. We deep clean at the beginning of the season, end of the season, and every time we visit the place ourselves. We spent thousands upgrading the place, get the upholstery, carpets, and windows cleaned regularly, hire the exterminator, repair everything, and owe more money than the place is now worth... I contacted the cleaners right away, not giving them the benefit of any doubt, but since then I've wondered a couple of things:
1. Why didn't the guest tell me there were dust bunnies under the furniture when I called him? Or better yet when he discovered them? After all we provide free long distance phone service, wifi, and an 800#.
2. Why is the guest looking under the couch instead of golfing or even watching one of the 3 HDTV's? (Insert smiley avatar here and laugh).
3. Do vacation rental guests expect more from vacation rentals than they do from hotels? I've never been in a hotel room as clean as our vacation rentals. I've rarely been in a vacation rental as clean as ours! Plus we are cleaning far more rooms and a kitchen to boot!
4. Why don't guests complain to us when we can fix the problem? If something isn't clean, we'll send a crew out to make it right!
5. If the issue didn't matter enough to mention it to the owner or manage, does it matter enough to leave on a public review site where it will be archived for eternity?
So please dear guests. We take you seriously. We take pride in what we offer. We want to please you. Please treat us fairly and:
Let us know if something is not to your satisfaction.
Contact us at a reasonable hour (since you know we aren't a hotel with 24/7 desk staff) unless it's an emergency.
Be nice.
Be reasonable.
Remember you are a guest in someone's vacation home. You looked at the photos before you came, so if you think the walls should be a different color, perhaps complaining about the color is a bit frivolous.
Relax; you're on vacation. Have fun.
I like the article below from Daniel Craig. It applies to all lodging in my opinion.
What to Do When Things Go Wrong in a Hotel | ehotelier.com News Archives
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