We run a couple of gites in the Vendee. people generally stay for a week or a fortnight. We don't take a "cleaning" deposit, nor do we ask people to leave the gite other than "tidy". however, the differences between families and how they leave the place can be large. witness today - 2 families left at 1000 - in one gite we found the place like a new pin, sheets stripped and folded, with the towels. The other - beds as they got out of them, gite had not been swept for a week (ie when they complained about the spiders' overnight labours), and fridge left grubby, with bits of food - takes all sorts.............