Charging a separate price for one night stays.

[Julia1]

I would like to be able to charge a supplement for one night stays to make them worthwhile for hosts - I have mentioned this numerous times to Airbnb at meetings but they have failed to take it on board and their only suggestion has been to make a cleaning fee. 

Is this something others want? At present I give a discount for 2 or more nights to make up for lack of supplement but this means my search price looks higher than it will probably be.

[Suzanne302]

@Julia1 

As you mentioned, my cleaning fee is my supplement. It's low enough to be reasonable, but high enough that it covers the extra laundry and wear and tear for one night stays.

I love those one-nighters!

As a guest I'm not sure how I would feel about someone charging me extra just because I'm only staying one night and I probably wouldn't book for that reason. At least with the cleaning fee it's "hidden."

[Thomas746]

It might be a bit more complicated but you can set up a second listing for the same property if you want to get a premium for one night.   You'd have two listings one for one night the other for what you have now.  Check Airbnb to see how you can duplicate your listing but look through the clone to make certain it's all there.   

[Faruk38]

..please explain

[Julia1]

I don't charge a cleaning fee and dont want to so that doesn't work for me.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Julia1  would you charge it if it would be called " longer stay discount" or "one-night premium" ?

Because that's what cleaning fee is.

[Gaz--Gary-0]

A cleaning fee, in my experience, says to the guest "don't both cleaning before you leave, we've got that covered and you've already paid" - my cleaners work goes through he roof when there is a cleaning fee in the price.  Whereas a short-stay supplement, at least in my country, is perfecty normal (I should add this is a holiday resort so 1 week is the norm, so anything less locks out the whole week and tourists expect this and pay for it - unlike, say, a city rental).

[Robin4]

@Julia1 

Why do you have an objection to a cleaning fee Julia?

We are not like a hotel! We don't just offer a bed, a couple of towels and a sachet or two of tea and coffee. We provide a welcome experience for every incoming guest....at least I do, and so do all the Airbnb's that I have stayed in.

I, (like you) originally thought that a cleaning fee was a 'con'......isn't the listing amount supposed to cover the cost of preparing from one guest to the next? Yes, it covers the nuts and bolts of providing a clean and prepared listing for that next guest but, hosting is a bit more complicated than simply providing a hotel room.

My cleaning fee is not, as such, a cleaning fee! That money I seperate from my listing amount and that goes into a damage fund to cover breakages, 'property departures' and 'wear and tear' replacements. Because I host a high proportion of one night stays.....sometimes I host 5 a week......that 'cleaning fee' builds up quite quickly into a substantial fund.

This Julia is the premium I get for hosting one nighters, and it is fair on everyone.

Don't just dismiss the cleaning fee as a con, I appreciate it can be! Hosts who set a cleaning fee of $150....or as much as the listing amount are, in my opinion, being dishonest and should raise their listing amount if they simply want to gouge the guest.

My cleaning fee is $10 which I will be raising to $15 shortly. No guest feels this is unreasonable and most tell me I am cheap for what I offer.

I agree with @Suzanne302 , a premium pricing option for one night stays would be seen as a turn off, but when it's a cleaning fee, it is seen as OK. Don't just dismiss it Julia.

Cheers......Rob

[Gaz--Gary-0]

at Rob, culturally your 1 nighters at your (I presume) City AirB&B is not the same as a Ski resort Chalet and as such, short stay premiums and cleaning fee's mean different things - I have both city and ski chalet and am telling you this is the case - labelling matters.

[Jody79]

I wish we could do one-nighters, unfortunately here in Chicago the one-night option invites those looking for a cheap place to host a party. 😞

[Christine615]

Agreed. I hated charging a cleaning fee but it takes 4 hours to clean for a single night or multiple nights. So the cleaning fee spread over several days is actually a lower per day rate than a one night rate. Plus I charge because it’s the only way to be competitive with other hosts. 

Our cleaning sing fee is for help with the laundry. If I really charged what it costs us to clean the whole place I would have to charge $100. 

Your only other choice is pick a high rate for a single night and a discount for 2+ nights. But you’ll be lower in the rankings.

Not ideal, but its the only option right now.

Our place is big so we eliminated one nights altogether. Too little revenue for too much hassle.

one last note. You can go into your settings and change rules to “one night” for specific days of the week. Then go to your calendar and  manually override your price to a higher price for those days.

But that’s a hassle so the previous options we gave you are the best options (cleaning fee or multi-day discount)

[Faruk38]

"Your only other choice is pick a high rate for a single night and a discount for 2+ nights. But you’ll be lower in the rankings." that was what I was thinking to do but as you said I'm worried being lowered ranked..

I've also looked into second listing.  Do you know if in the second (copy listing) I set all days as 1 night maximum and price accordingly and leave the original listing as is with the original pricing? 

The problem is if I can't sync the calendar betwen the original and the copy listing it will be a disaster.  Or do you know if it can be synced?

[Kath9]

@Julia1, like the others have said, charge a cleaning fee. Why wouldn't you? I would remove your discount for 2 nights or more, drop your overall price, then add a cleaning fee. That way, one-nighters pay more than 2 or more nighters and it doesn't show up as the price in your search.

[Julia1]

I am reluctantly charging a cleaning fee - my main argument against is that this is my home and the cleanliness standard is one I am happy with an not something I want to put a price on, plus I feel it is a bit dishonest to have a cleaning fee as it makes the headline price appear lower but hey ho I am giving it a go.  I still want Airbnb to do the right thing and allow us to charge a supplement for one night stays that is just what it is called.   

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Julia1 

Good on you Julia, I totally understand you, and my feeling was the same as yours, but the fact is that, Airbnb do not give you an 'easy' option to price for random one night stays. 

Obviously there is double the work in 2 one night stays than there is in 1 two night stay, and the only way that you can reflect this extra work is to recoup it with a cleaning fee.

And it is fair Julia because, as the length of the stay increases the impact on the nightly price becomes less because the cleaning fee stays the same....it is a one off charge, not a nightly charge!

There are many aspects relating to listing your property that pose a challenge and will be misintepreted by guests simply because Airbnb do not give an option to clarify!

Many hosts like me offer some cooking facilities but we don't offer a  full Kitchen.....we need an option to offer a 'kitchenette', but we can't...we either list a kitchen....or we don't! It's not dishonest Julia, we just are not given the option.

Many hosts like me offer a private bathroom with laundry and drying facilities, hair dryer, make-up area, sink, first aid cabinet, a shower and a toilet.......but I don't have a bath-tub. The only listing options I have are, 1 x bath, or .5 x bath. the 1 x bath infers it has a tub.....the .5 x bath infers that it is simply a powder room! Julia, once again we are just not given the option!

Don't think of a cleaning fee as dishonest....or a reflection on your cleanliness standards ....it isn't. It's just a way we can get an accurate  return for the efort we put in.

All the best Julia.

Cheers......Rob