3
Great Beach Stay, sad follow-up
Pelican's Perch was a great place for my family to get together with my mother's family for a couple of days. There were beds all over the place for everyone who came. While we were unsure at first because of how far away it was from the city center, we found the isolation of the beach down the road to be fantastic. The place was well decorated and a relaxing place to collect in between Galveston attractions/ the beach. When I first looked at the pictures I thought there would be a large couch in our room and not too much floor space for a playpen for my infant, so I didn't bring it. I regretted that once I saw that the couch was gone and there was space. But lo and behold, I swiftly found a playpen available to us in the master bedroom! I was relieved! Overall, the place was very accommodating and well stocked. Just one or two stars knocked off for the voicemail my husband received the evening after complaining of how the place was left. Both families live in other states (my parents and their 3 kids under 10 live in CO), and we were not able to dedicate the some half day of cleaning work the list demanded. I tried my best to compile things and start things washing... but being pregnant with two young children I wasn't exactly able to scrub the place down and was more than happy to pay a cleaning fee. Had there been auxiliary bed things we likely would have made the beds up, but obviously we couldn't stay for several hours to wash everything. Having tended to tenants in the past myself, I have to say that the way we left it was pretty good. All we did there was sleep and shower. After his description of the voicemail, I would probably not stay there again. Which is a shame.
Owner's Response: We give a choice to pay for $75 for usclean up or do it yourself. 99% of guest do it themselves to save a money. We always check on the house to see if we need to do any extra cleaning and stocking before the new guests arrive and 95% is is awesome and I spend about 30 minutes doing the little extra things like fans, refrigerator, air vents, etc.
I've checked and most house rentals charge cleaning fees of $75-$150, plus deposits of $250 and more (we paid $500 for one we rented). I have always wanted to avoid these fees because I just want to be trusting so it will be more affordable.
SO, when my husband and I went there after this visit, the sheets were pulled off the bed, one load of towels in the washer, and trash taken out. We always say, leave it as you find it. So we were shocked and panicked because we both worked nonstop for over 2 hours to get it ready of the next guest.
SO, we were upset and I called and then they were upset and agreed to pay for clean up, which I will not do. LESSON LEARNED: This group was 9-10 people which even was 4 adults and 5 kids, it's just too many people for the house. So from now on I'll keep the visitors to 8 or under. I started to add a deposit/cleaning fee up front, BUT I took it off, because I have to look at the overall 2 year renting experience and it is good most of the time.
BOTTOM LINE: We rent to cover some of the expences. We do NOT make any money as we have put more than $45,000 into improvement plus 100s of free labor hours over 6 years. I want it to nice and fun for all and try to leave little extras (chalk, bubbles, wagons, movies, etc) so it nice. So we just want people to take care of it.
IN THE END: I thing this was just a misunderstanding and I'm sorry I called upset and should have just done the work to get it clean. But we were tired and surprised, so I called. It was just a miscommunication on what the cleaning expectations were, so I'm sorry for that because I know that this family meant well.
Helpful votes: 1/1
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