Guest smoked in apartment, how much in penalty?

[Monica2422]

What is a resonable penalty for guest smoking in the apartment?

I have cleaned the walls and floor with special products for reducing smoke, I have vacuumed sofa and bed with a special vacuum cleaner with water/product. The smell is reduced but not totally gone.

Of course I understand I can charge the price for the products

But it also required a lot of hours to do the sanitation cleaning.

Washing all the fabrics.

I had transport time and cost back and forth to shops for buying products.

Maybe next guest complain about the smoke and either give me bad resume, cancel their stay, or something else. That I do not know.

In that case maybe I need to buy new furnitures or call in a cleaning company specialized on sanitation.

So what is a resonable penalty I can claim my guest? It has to be done within 14 days according to Airbnb, so I can not add additional fee later on.

[Sangeeta8]

Minimum one night stay AND call the cleaning company and book a date but get an invoice from them to share with the resolution centre.

[Monica2422]

Yes, that would be a good solution if I had the time. The smoking guest was leaving Sunday at 11 and the next guest just arrived, Monday at 14:00. So I had to do the best I could within the time span. My concern is what to charge?

Product I bought has cost me around €30.
Washing powder and softner not so much since I already have it.

Then add the time and hustle to clean, iron and wash everything.

Maybe €100 total?

The rest of the apartment was not cleaned either as would be "normal" for such guest who just doesn't care of at all.

[Helen3]

You charge whatever you state you charge in your house rules @Monica2422 

Have a look at the Airbnb guarantee to see what they cover but you should be able to charge for materials and labour.

Do leave an honest review.

[Jesus808]

We have cameras in our property which we can use the videos as proof of guests smoking on the property.  All cameras are within AIRBNB guidelines. 

We are having to submit issue from our recent long-term guests.  We'll see how it goes with the video footage and cig. butts that we found in the sheets. 

Good luck to you, 

[Patricia2526 · Accepted solution]

Hei  @Monica2422 

We have $100 penalty for smoking in our listings. Establish a clear NO Smoking policy stated on your listing description and house rules that smoking is not allowed and extra cleaning fees/penalties fee of $100 for this violation.  I suggest prior to guest arrival to send a friendly message to your guests, reminding them of the no-smoking policy to avoid  smoking issues. Hope this helps. 

[Monica2422]

Thanks for telling me your fee of 100 dollar. That gives me at least a hint..
I already have No smoking policy stated in my listing description. Now I have added information of a penalty fee as well.

I read a post in this community of someone have indoor smoking penalty of 2000 dollar. That is a high fee, but if a guest stays for a longer period, the walls/roof have to be deep cleaned and repainted. All interior sanitized or in worst case - you need to buy new ones. Cancellation for upcoming guest since fixing everything takes time. So I think that is a resonable prize.

[Patricia2526]

Hello @Monica2422 , yes depends on property type. We priced ours for $100 because it is only a studio unit.  

[Bhumika]

Hi @Monica2422, How has it been after you updated your listing description and house rules to accommodate the No Smoking policy and a penalty as per Patricia's suggestion? Is it well-receiving?

Do keep us updated on how it is working for you!

[Monica2422]

Yes I have a non smoking policy in my listing. After this I have updated the policy with "booking question" that force the guest to accept before booking. I have also added about 1000 dollar penalty. I got the suggestion from another host in another post in this community and found it deterrent. The solution for the guest to avoid the penalty is just to not smoke indoor.

I still struggle with airbnb wanting additional documentation. How can you document smoke? Airbnb require documentation from a professional cleaning company but since it was on a Sunday and next guest was arriving on Monday, there was no time to contact any cleaning company. I guess my own work has no value from airbnb perspecitve?