Bed linen

[Stephen1579]

Our Airbnb is an apartment will all mod cons including a washer dryer, clothes horse and access to a clothes line outside. We have a long let coming in, two months, and I’m curious what others do with the issue of bed linen. On a short let obviously we look after it, on a long let, with all the conveniences we have provided, would you expect the host to service your linen on top of that? We will provide two of everything to facilitate changes but we don’t provide in-stay cleaning as part of our service.

What do others do?

[Lorna170]

@Stephen1579  When I did long stays (I don't any more) I would add a mid-rental or weekly cleaning fee which allowed housekeeping to go in and change the beds and clean the bathrooms.  This had to be scheduled with the guest and paid for prior to arrival, as AirBnB does not have an option anywhere to add mid-rental cleaning fees.

Allowing housekeeping mid-rental meant that I had an eye on how the guest was treating my property.  If you cannot do this, providing the guest with an extra set of sheets and towels should be adequate, assuming that the guest knows how to use a washer and dryer and will change the linens (amazingly, some do not).  

Communicate with your guest and establish what is going to happen -- they change and wash or you come in periodically to do so.

[Stephen1579]

Thanks, @Lorna170, that’s really helpful.

[Helen744]

@Stephen1579 It is really important for other things like garden maintenance and other forms of maintenance as far as I am concerned . If you have ever had an untidy guest for more than three or four days then you would not risk leaving people to their own devices for a month. To me it is non negotiable . how payment is arranged is up to you, and it is a matter of trust as your things and the renters things are both in your home. Access to the house is also important, as your guests are paying a higher rate than for a average rental, then your fee should also cover the standard weekly linen change, vacumning , kitchen and bathroom clean at a pre arranged time  and day , open for negotiation, ... H

[Christina1647]

@Lorna170 I’ve had guests stay for months at a time, and all have turned down my offer to swap out dirty linens (sheets and towels) for clean ones every couple of weeks.  I didn’t want to be pushy, so I let it go…. But really it was more for me than the guest.  I use all white linens so I can bleach between guests.  Everything turned out fine, but in the future I will be more pushy about it.  However, the home requires MUCH more cleaning after a monthly renter than after someone for just a few nights.  Is there a way to set a different cleaning fee for longer stays?