A cat, a used condom and the other weird stuff people have left at their holiday rentals.

It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure a holiday goes smoothly – especially when you're hosting people in your own home by way of a holiday rental platform.

Most of these hosts do all they can to ensure their guests have the best experience. 

And it's... not an easy job sometimes. At all.

Here are 8 of the weirdest things guests have done and, er, forgotten in their holiday rentals.

Watch: Tips from savvy travellers. Post continues below.

'Poop, raw meat, and a used condom.'

"My mum lets out a room in her house and she's found some random (and gross) stuff. One guest left half a tray of raw mince in the bar fridge (note: they did not use the kitchen at any point in their stay). People also frequently leave without flushing the toilet (we're talking number twos) – but the worst was when I was helping her clean once after someone had stayed for a bit of a longer stint, and pushed the bed aside to vacuum only to find a dried condom stuck to the wooden floor…" – Laura.

'I found a cat.'

"[I found] a cat that hid behind and under the fridge. [The] people left thinking it had escaped out the door. It didn't appear for a few days. A guest who found it left me a nasty review saying I had 'clandestinely hidden a cat in the room'. Sent cat back via air shipment. [The guests were] two doctors that never really said 'thanks' for all we went to to get their cat back to them." – Anonymous, Quora. 

'My friends threw a really crazy party.'

"I actually attended a party at a [short-term property rental]. It was for a friend celebrating her 21st in the city. The house was beautiful but absolutely trashed and there were several drop-ins from the police who kept getting noise complaints. I stayed over the night and the next morning, because I was close to the birthday girl, I walked through the house and attempted to clean it up for her so she wouldn't be too stressed.

"I found some of the most heinous things ever in one bathroom, including a condom with poo on it, a very scary-looking cucumber (UGH), bloody towels and some grossly scented lubes. I heard about it a few weeks later that a couple had gotten frisky in the bathroom. I was furious because I cleaned their literal s**t up.

"Funnily enough, I moved into the home a few houses down from the party house two years later and brought it up with the neighbours. The grave look on their faces told me they remembered that night (not so) fondly." – Rory.

'Things were damaged and stolen.'

"We had guests neglect to lock the door on their departure. Unfortunately, we discovered that in the area of our little beach town, there are 'doorknob rattlers'. Meaning there's a person in the town that goes around in the vacation rental areas and tests doorknobs for such a one as ours.

"Of course, they entered our home and we had a number of things damaged and stolen. We are fortunate they were on foot and couldn't wipe us out completely." – Debi.

'So. Much. Glitter.'

"Confetti and glitter. I want to bag it up and mail it to them with a device to explode when they open it up, let the glitter and confetti go flying through the air in the privacy of their own home. It's only justice, to have them experience what I experienced trying to clean up their mess." – Anonymous, Reddit.

'He and his friends trashed my place.'

"They were all great until I allowed an 18-year-old kid (red flag #1) to book my place, against my gut feeling about this kid, who has a puff of smoke billowing from his mouth (red flag #2) in his profile picture. I'm not the one to judge anyone or turn anyone away based on appearance, so I allowed the kid to book, as he vaguely said he was returning to 'visit family' (red flag #3) for a few days.

"He and his friends trashed my place. There was throw-up around several toilets, balloons under the beds, and linen all over, including outside in the pool. Nothing was broken or stolen, so instead of faulting the kid, I sucked it up and changed my policies."  – A.C.

'I found a small butt plug.'

"[I found] a small butt plug that was under the bed… that the next guest found. Good thing the guest that checked in was good-humoured, but it was incredibly embarrassing. I knew from bed sheet stains that the guests who checked out really had some fun." – Anonymous, Reddit.

'His guest was not his wife.'

"We found four sets of bras/panties. Brand new and gorgeous. My sister not only lived in the hometown of the man who booked, but she also worked in the same block as his office. So I wrote to him telling him she could drop them off. Whoops! He did NOT want them back or to talk about it. Apparently, his guest was NOT his wife!" – Anonymous, Reddit.

Do you have a holiday rental horror story? Share it with us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Canva/Mamamia.