Sorry long post but in an endeavour to create less friction between guest and host, I think it is an important read.
Here we go again, every few days this cleaning fee thing drops back in here for another airing. By the frequency of posts here there seems to be an ever increasing pool of guests complaining about, not just having to pay a cleaning fee but, having to clean as well.
It seems to them that Airbnb and their hosts are double dipping!
Perhaps it's time we rationalized the cleaning fee from not just the guests perspective but the hosts as well.
To Airbnb's credit they have now dropped the 'cheapest cab at the rank' method of displaying listing prices, but it is the breakdown of extras on top of the base price that seems to be causing a lot of friction amongst guests.
Some of these extras like, an additional amount per person, guests will accept because they do understand that extra bodies mean extra facilities with extra work, and seasonal extra pricing for in demand situations. But a cleaning fee is seen as this nebulous thing that varies vastly from listing to listing, the guest still is required 'to clean' and many of them feel it has no right to be there.
So, as hosts.......
We need to be realistic with the cleaning fee we set. We have to strike a balance that can be justified from both sides.
I understand that many city professional cleaning companies will charge $40 per hour pr cleaner and the average 3 bedroom apartment is going to take 2.5 hours to properly clean with 2 personnel. For the average apartment that amounts to a cleaning cost of $200 per turnaround which most guests are going to find difficult to accept.......and when you expect a certain amount of pre-cleaning on the guests part, they are going to be outright hostile!
But why accept a company cleaning fee of $200 per clean? There are many citizens out there in almost every community who will jump at the opportunity to take on a cleaning role for $60 per turnaround.......... I do and my cleaner charges me $30 per turnaround! She does 2-3 per week, is a real cleanaholic and just loves that additional $60-$90 pr/wk that this puts in her pocket that she would not have otherwise had.
It is not hard to track down this cleaning help, I have done it for 2 other hosts in my area and it works wonderfully. If a host raises their hosting amount by $15 pr night and sets a cleaning fee of $40 and has 2 guests per week they are break even, get 3 guests per week and they are ahead and the guest will accept that gladly because they will see it as a reasonable charge and will be quite prepared to chuck the linens in the washer, put their rubbish out.
Personally I ask guest to do nothing, just walk out and leave the cleaning to us because, I know if the guest does it, it won't be done properly! The glasses and dishes will get a quick rinse over and put back in the cupboard with bits of food on the frypan and plates, lipstick smears on the glasses, all set for the next guest to give me a 'raspberry' for cleanliness! Bed linens will be put into the wash with blood and makeup stains which makes them even harder to remove. I don't want them putting there rubbish out because they won't recycle, they will just stick it all in one bag and stuff it in the nearest available bin!
I don't want to have to second guess what guests have or haven't done, I just want them to gather up their bags and leave the rest to us!
So from the hosts point of view:
Don't be some cleaning company's cash cow, seek out economical cleaning options.....they are available and they work well.
Don't expect your guests to do your work, it's up to the host to provide that clean and properly serviced listing.
Now as guests......
STR hosts are not hotel chains, they are not offering many stay options under the one roof where fixed and servicing costs can be spread across possibly hundreds of paying rooms. They are offering an individual experience and it's up to the guest to realise there is a distinction between providing that individual service, and maintaining it.
To maintain the service.......
We don’t expect you to wipe down the walls, the counter-tops, attend to those coffee cup rings on the bedside and occasional tables, checking for insects and spider webs.
We don’t expect you to strip the bed and remove those blood, alcohol or makeup stains from the linens, put them through the washing machine, dry them and iron ready for a future guest.
We don’t expect you to wash the towels and provide new face-washers to replace those that were destroyed by nail polish remover, fake tan lotion and Acne cream.
We don’t expect you to remake the bed with fresh linens and put out a new set of towels and face washers.
We don’t expect you to vacuum the carpets, rugs and steam mop the floors and wet areas.
We don’t expect you to clean the toilet, shower alcove, sinks and taps.
We don’t expect that you will wash, dry and put away the dishes, cutlery, saucepans and glassware that you have used.
We don’t expect you to restock the fridge with a cheese plate, milk, eggs and bacon, fruit juice, a beer and a cider and water from the re-stock facilities.
We don’t expect you to test that the TV, the fridge, the hot water heater, the DVD player, the air conditioning filter, the washing machine, the smoke alarm, the microwave and hotplate, the electric blankets to make sure they are all working!
This is what we charge a cleaning fee for! To return the property to the state which you entered it in.
We just expect you will put your rubbish in the bin, pick up those used nappies and sundry items that were left under the bed and dispose of and not leave the property looking like a pig sty.
Put furniture back the way you found it.
Leave the property in a relatively tidy state.
To provide the service........
There are certain overheads that must be covered in order to provide a listing for guests in the first place.
There is a property mortgage to be covered, insurances, council rates and permits, maintenance, breakages, gardening, electricity and gas, water the constant supply of condiments……..This is what you pay for in the listing amount.
It is most unfortunate that many guests do not seem to be able to differentiate between the two!!
The listing amount covers the cost of supplying the property. The cleaning fee covers the cost of continuing to offer it to guests!
I hope this can give a bit of clarity to why a cleaning fee is charged. Hopefully that will be respected by guests......... and not abused by hosts!
Cheers…..Rob
