As Mumsnet shows, self-catering demands to clean up and get out put tourists off - Jayne Dowle

And I’ve always followed the rules, replacing broken glassware, once even an Ikea TV cabinet that ‘just fell to pieces mum’. Until now, when I’m beginning to feel less welcome than a positive Covid test in a holiday camp.

Hotel stays, though rare, were stressful affairs involving many whispered threats to behave at the breakfast table and makeshift ‘quiet corners’ of cramped, hot and stuffy so-called ‘family bedrooms’, pulled together with travel cot blankets and towels so at least somebody could get some sleep. As my two grew older – they’re now 19 and 16 – renting a cottage, apartment, lodge or caravan has given us all the freedom to be able to afford to take short breaks and holidays in the UK, often at the Yorkshire or Lincolnshire coast, and to explore other countries, too.

When we Inter-railed around France in 2018, we stayed in apartments in Paris and Marseille and on a caravan site near St Tropez; it would have been simply unaffordable to do this nine-day family holiday any other way.

However, as with so many things since Covid, this thing we once took for granted suddenly seems so much more difficult. I know people invest in and run holiday accommodation as a business and overheads are getting higher, but making guests do all the work is a very cynical way of clawing back the cash.

And it seems I’m not alone in my concerns. Mumsnet, that reliable barometer of middle England woes, is currently up in arms over an ‘Am I Being Unreasonable’ (AIBU) post entitled… ‘To think many people have confused their paying holiday rental with house sitting?’.

Resoundingly, Mumsnetters are agreeing that yes, it is unreasonable.

The last time we booked a caravan at the Yorkshire coast, we were instructed that the check-in time wasn’t until 4pm to allow for ‘deep’ cleaning. And we had to be out at 10am sharp on the day of departure, with a long list of domestic tasks to complete before we popped the key back into the safe on the wall. How long does ‘deep’ cleaning take in a 35ft x 12ft space, I wondered? This was quite a posh caravan – although it was pet-friendly, there were also strict warnings of penalties if the one dog allowed was found to have put one tentative paw on the sofa – and beautifully-appointed.

But I must say I longed for the more relaxed affair we’d rented previously.

There’s nothing worse than a dirty or dishevelled holiday let. I once stayed alone with my two in a converted train carriage near a heritage railway; the wardrobe stank and the catch on the window in the children’s room wouldn’t lock. After the first restless night, I decamped and spent the rest of the week sleeping on the children’s floor with my feet wedged up on the window; this was around the time Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday let in Portugal.

Paranoid through sleep deprivation, I couldn’t be too careful.

And there is nothing worse than a paying guest who trashes the place. I have a number of friends and acquaintances who let out holiday accommodation and the stories they tell make you cringe; condoms left under beds, toilets unflushed or seemingly uncleaned for a week, fatbergs in the plumbing and chewing gum stuck on bedposts are just some of the ones I can share in a family newspaper.

My husband grew up caravanning with three brothers, who were instructed to always leave a place as they found it; this explains why he voluntarily bleaches everything in sight wherever we stay. However, this new obsession with demanding that guests do all the work seems to me spectacularly ill-timed, considering that the British tourism industry – which is estimated to be worth £9bn in Yorkshire alone – should really be gearing up for bumper times, considering the cost-of-living crisis, the hassle of airports and lingering fears about sudden and draconian Covid prevention measures stranding holidaymakers abroad.

Why then, this seeming disregard for making paying punters feel welcome and comfortable, valued guests rather than guilt-stricken skivvies? Especially when the cost of self-catering accommodation in some of our region’s most popular coastal and countryside areas can now exceed that of a hotel. It’s not unusual to find two-bedroomed cottages or lodges asking £1,200-plus a week in high season. And often there’s a £100-£200 ‘cleaning fee’ on top, and always a hefty ‘damages’ deposit which hangs in the balance until your own efforts have passed muster.

Holiday homeowners, already under fire in Whitby and elsewhere for helping to price locals out of the market, should tone down their demands and take note.

There are only so many rules and regulations a guest can take; and plenty of British hotels and guest houses willing to pamper us.