Cleaning Requests and Cleaning Fees

[Peter1]

A Guest recently complained on TikTok that her Host asked her to do some cleaning duties before checking out, even though the Host charged her a cleaning fee. 

What are your thoughts about this?

"'It does have a $125 cleaning fee as most Airbnb’s do, and I don’t have a problem with that, but this is what I do have a problem with: in addition to that $125 cleaning fee, we ask that you remove garbage, fine, remove bed linens, fine, start the dishwasher and a load of laundry,' she says in the video. 'Now, maybe this is entitlement, or privilege talking, however, if I’m paying $225 a night to stay somewhere plus $125 cleaning fee, I’m not doing any **bleep**ing laundry. Full stop. I know it’s like one load of laundry, it will take me like two minutes to do, but it’s the principle that bothers me.'"

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/airbnb-guests-clean-fee-tiktok/

[Sarah977]

@Pat271  They must be something slightly different, as I have never seen one here outside. Nor during the day- they hide out behind furniture and pictures on the wall during the day. 

I once took a switch plate cover off to clean it, and there were a bunch of little gecko eggs inside the box. I picked one up carefully, and held it in my hand and it hatched! The teeniest little gecko, no more than a centimeter long.  

[Laura2592]

We charge a nominal cleaning fee (I think $35 currently.) Our cleaners charge 3 times that, sometimes more and we just roll it into the nightly cost because we are so tired of hearing people lament these "high cleaning fees". We go between every single guest and either finish cleaning (for messy people) or touch up, disinfect and set up welcome goodies. Either way it is several hours of our time between each and every stay, so the cleaning fee should realistically be twice what we pay the cleaners.

We ask guests to:

put dishes in the dishwasher,

strip beds with towels and linens all going in a hamper,

and if the trash is stinky, put it on the porch.

We say that running the dishwasher would be nice, but we don't ask people to do it (about half will).

We explain that helping with these tasks allows us to keep our cleaning fee low. I do not consider any of these "cleaning" but merely courteous things you would do when staying in a stranger's space. 

Guests who resent being asked to lift a finger for the most minor task are better suited to a hotel where there is a staff of housekeepers who are paid to turn over rooms. When a guest kvetches publicly about cleaning up an Airbnb in a very minor way, it points to the disconnect about what an Airbnb is. Many was the year that my family and I stayed in beach properties or lake houses for a summer vacation. There was ALWAYS a check out list and instructions on what to do with keys, trash etc. Because ABB is not sure that it is a vacation rental, and sometimes tries to posture as a hotel but without all those pesky services a hotel provides driving up the cost of stays (hello, hosts, that is on you!), it sends a very mixed message to the public. Should guests be asked to clean or not? Should they resent being asked to clean? Should hosts even charge a cleaning fee at all?

Its all very simple to me. You are staying in my space. You should leave it in decent condition. If you don't want to do a few simple tasks, expect to pay $200 for someone else to do them along with everything else and don't complain about it. 

[Debra300]

The following is a sample of my checkout message.  For the most part guests follow the checklist, and no one has ever complained or mentioned anything about the checklist.

"Hello XX,
Thank you for staying with us at the Keep Cool Apartment. You are scheduled to checkout by 2 p.m. on XX. It was our pleasure to host you, and hope that you’ve enjoyed your stay.

We ask the you please do all of the following at checkout:
- Put all garbage in the trash bins, including cooked, open and unused food, and open toiletries. Do not leave items in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Pour out food and liquids from open containers.
- Wash any dirty dishes, and leave them in the counter dish rack. Or, rinse off dirty dishes and place them in the dishwasher. Do NOT turn on the dishwasher, we will do it when we clean the apartment.
- Wipe up/sweep/pick up any dropped food, and wipe/mop up any spills.
- Clean the lint trap in the clothes dryer.
- Do not remove the linen from the beds.
- Place used towels inside the laundry hamper (located in the linen closet), and leave it in front of the washing machine, make sure the washer’s door is left ajar.
- Make sure these items are turned off: AC units, TVs, lamps/lights, ceiling fans, washer and dryer, stove, kitchen exhaust vent, microwave, toaster, tea kettle, and coffee makers.
- Ensure that you’ve deleted your user account and password from the streaming devices and TV.
- Place keys, TV remote and keyboard on top of the entertainment cabinet in the living room.
- Double check to that you've not left behind any personal belongs.
We will lock the door after you depart. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Debra"

[Karol22]

Guests are travelling usually from afar and they have a scheduled itinerary (flights, transportation, etc...) which many are figuring their way through as it is. I do not expect them to do chores especially after they pay me a cleaning fee and a sizable accommodation fare. Perhaps I'm biased because most of my guests are business travelers. I don't condone an overly slobby guest, they get reviewed appropriately. But I don't think giving a guest - a paying customer - a list of chores while they're on a trip far away from home is appropriate. It comes off as unprofessional in my view.

[Reeve4]

I agree one Million percent with this guest. If you charge any cleaning fee, especially the obnoxious fees I’ve seen recently at $120, $130, $170!!! then you don’t get to turn the guest who also just paid a “$60 service fee”, taxes AND the rental fee into a freaking cleaning crew. I will soon STOP using Airbnb solely because of my experience with arrogant “hosts” who shout commands at you line it’s a privilege to pay them these glutinous rental costs and fees. Hire a crew. Do it yourself. Also, if you have these requirements there should be a big notice up front that says “you are a member of the cleaning crew for the small price of $200” and no gratitude. 

[Debra300]

@Reeve4,

The cleaning fee is for the preparation of the space before the guest arrives, and is not for housekeeping to clean up after them.  The only cleaning that I ask guests to perform is to clean up after themselves.

The entire amount that I charge goes directly to my cleaner.  I pay her a living wage and it takes her 9-10 hours to do a complete turnover of our 2 bedroom apartment as outlined in Airbnb's cleaning handbook for the Enhanced Cleaning Process which all hosts must commit to and perform between each stay regardless of the duration.  You should take up your complaint about the service fee with Airbnb, because it is charged and fully kept by them, and none of it goes to the hosts.  

[Andrea5683]

I could not agree more, the fees and rules are making it less and less desirable. Airbnb is now a hotel service, you pay extra for the cleaning, let the maids do the dishes—otherwise wtf am I here? Lol 

[David8879]

My housecleaner wanted me to clean. It is a different housecleaner now.

Mental note to myself - when @Andrea5683 will request booking charge her tripple for cleaning and let her skip tiding the place up

[Andrea5683]

Oh stop. I leave everyone place clean, it’s just ridiculous to charge a cleaning fee and then ask guests to clean as well. The cleaning fees are always $200+ as it is. 

[Kelly149]

@Andrea5683 my place has both a cleaning fee (sometimes large, sometimes small... depends on how the rate is currently set) AND asks guests to do a few things before they leave. Let's see if this list offends you:

-My house instructions say to keep the place tidy at all times, not just at departure. So, this means wipe up spills, use rubbish bins, don't leave behind Stains, Stink or Damage.

At departure:

-take all rubbish out of the house to the outdoor can (once you've seen adult diapers left in the bathroom can, you start asking guests to take out the trash)

- put dishes inside the provided dishwasher (but you weren't leaving them piled up dirty in the sink anyway, were you??)

- leave any wet towels on hooks in bathroom (I would like a word with the person who started the "leave all linens piled somewhere" idea)

- turn off the lights

There's CLEANING and then there's leave a place tidy (which btw should be your standard in a hotel or an ABB). I'm all for, guests aren't here to CLEAN, but the flipside of that isn't "live like a pig for 3 days and just walk out the door".

@Peter1 people like this are why ABB should rename this fee: Admin fee, Host fee, preparation fee, setup fee... anything other than cleaning

[Andrea5683]

 
I’m not the only guest who feels this way. Check out the original tik tok thread.
 
Despite my complaints, I always do what’s asked, but I’m also very clean. I understand some basic things have to be asked of guests because not everyone is clean. 
 
But try to see it from the guest's perspective. Airbnb used to be staying at someone’s house when they were gone. Now, most are managed properties.
 
If you book a house for a weekend, you check in Friday at 4 and have to check out Sunday at 11.  You’re in the house less than 48 hours. There are no late checkouts anymore because hosts need to turn. Okay, fine, but now there’s a list of chores (which widely varies per host)  that need to be done. That's even less time to enjoy your stay.
 
I think the disconnect is that Airbnb used to be something different than it is today. Now with the fees/strict checkout times, it is essentially a hotel. When guests see that they are paying a fee specifically for cleaning, that's where the frustration comes from.
 

[Mark116]

@Andrea5683  Hosts became more strict because Airbnb almost always sides with the guest when there is any dispute or damages.  Thus, there is no benefit to being lenient or indulgent anymore, not only does it invite worse behavior but when you get a bad guest who damages items, Airbnb is not helpful.

What tidying up is asked of guests varies widely from literally asking guests to do nothing all the way to asking guests to sweep up, and start laundry.  We ask guests to do the dishes they used, hang used towels on hooks and depending on the day of the week take the trash outside or leave it for us.

@Kelly149  I like your idea of 'keep the place tidy at all times, e.g. wipe up spills, grease, etc.' and am adding that to our house rules.

[Kelly149]

@Andrea5683  Maybe. But maybe not. My place is definitely my place, not a hotel, & I do expect guests to act accordingly. And even so, a listing should tell the tale of which you have. Not that abb displays it well, but the listing text, house rules & reviews should give you an accurate picture of what you’re booking: “Hotel” or an actual person’s place. If you prefer one over the other then book that. 

There’s always a reason why things are the way they are. Hosts wouldn’t go to the trouble to tell adults to clean up after themselves if it wasn’t entirely necessary. 

@Debra300 🤢🤢🤢🤢

[Debra300]

@Kelly149,

I have similar house rules that tell guests that they are responsible to clean up after themselves during their stay, and give some examples of what that means, wipe/sweep/mop/vacuum up dropped items and spills, throw away full trash bags from the interior trash bins into the outdoor bin, and wash the dishes that they've used.  When I've had to enter a rental during a guest's stay I have seen that the definition of cleaning up after yourself has a very wide definition.  Unfortunately, many people are comfortable with living in slovenly conditions.  We recently had guests that stayed with us for two weeks, and instead of washing the bed linen in the compact washer (it has the capacity for one king sheet and two pillowcases, so two cycles would be required to do both sheets and four pillowcases, about 1.25 hours total) they turned the bottom sheet inside out, and put it back on the bed.

[Mark116]

@Debra300 It's weird.  Before the pandemic for stays of 8 days or more we offered a linen change and light cleaning at no extra charge.  I was truly shocked to see the total chaos some people chose for their vacation.  Why are you living out of your suitcase when there are dressers and closets w/hangars?  Do you enjoy coming back to see glasses and plates in every room and the kitchen counter full of bags?  We even had to start mentioning that basically we would only do a light cleaning if we didn't have to move guest's items...if your clothes are thrown all over the bed Ill just be leaving the sheets and you can put on the bed.

I tidy up a hotel room, not because I care about the hotel but because it is more enjoyable for ME to spend time in a place that is tidy.