Weekly Cleaner Accessing My Property During Bookings

[Teri1105]

Hi Hosts, 

I've been hosting a private room until recently where I'm now in a position to lease out my entire place. 

I have a lo-chlor spa which needs weekly maintenance and is only accessible by walking through the apartment and takes 1.5 hours to treat and clean. Plus needs treating after each use with a filter change. 

I have put this in my guidebook, however I don't expect the guests will want to or actually do this.

For this reason I have asked my cleaner to take care of this and do a quick vacuum mop and bathroom/kitchen clean. I'm concerned my guests might find this intrusive, how do other hosts get on? Is anyone in a similar situation?

[Helen744]

Teri1105 this is a direct trust issue and maintenance issue between you and the guests,If people rent for a week or more simply negotiate linen turnover and cleaning and maintenance, ask for or add a fee from second week ,also try and clean at the same prearranged time each week . Peoples belongings are in the house so trust is absolutly paramount. this is where good hosting comes in. .... H

[Teri1105]

Do you think it's worth installing some small safes for valuables? 

Do you have a similar situation where you've got a regular weekly cleaning and turndown service or other landscaping/pool guy entering your property? 

Sorry for the 100 questions I want to see what other hosts are experiencing and how I can ensure I maintain my superhost status by ensuring the guests are comfortable and have clear communication. 

[Helen744]

Terri1105 up to you if you can justify the cost of a safe, many people who end up with bookings of more than a week find that maintenance cannot wait ,so either or ,charge a small fee and simply alert the guests , politely of times and /or organize a time that suits them .....H

[Lorna170 · Accepted solution]

@Teri1105  Are you planning on renting long term?  Or will you have guests of less than 7 days?

Treatment of your spa should be determined by how often you change guests.  We have hot tubs, and they are emptied, scrubbed, refilled with fresh water and chemically treated at the changeover of every guest, along with the other turnover tasks. If you have a long-term guests, then yes, you arrange with that long term guest for the treatment of the spa on a particular day each week.  IMO, unless the spa can withstand neglect or misuse (as you are no longer also at the property) you may want to consider removing it.

Small safes for valuables are useful.  Some guests may have difficulty with remembering the code that they entered and may lock themselves out of the safe, requiring you to arrive (on demand) with the override keys.  I found it beneficial to have a safe where I could set the code on the safe with the same code the guest received for the door access; usually their phone number. 

If you have other maintenance services like lawn care that come on a scheduled basis, include that information in your listing, in your welcome letter to the guest, and in your property guide. 

In the event that a guest contacts you about a maintenance issue that requires an outside contractor, be sure that the conversation with the guest where the guest agrees to the contractor being onsite is on the AirBnB platform messaging -- not phone, text or other app.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Teri1105 ,

Since it has been a while, did you happen to receive any feedback from your guests regarding this?

Helen and Lorna have provided some useful suggestions here, were you able to implement their suggestions?

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