Leaving a mess - etiquette

[Mikki0]

So Cal, USA

Asking fellow hosts - is there a level of cleanliness you expect from your guests upon check out? I have a plus property, with a full kitchen including a dishwasher. I charge no cleaning fee on my listing.

Some guests have used the kitchen, then left me with the dirty dishes/stove/countertops. I would think they they would at least LOAD the dishwasher if not run it.

When guests leave, is it acceptable for them to think "I paid for the accommodation, so someone else can clean my mess"?

For myself, even if I pay to stay somewhere, I treat the place respectfully. In hotels, I've my beds, piled my towels, even wiped down bathroom counters.

In the one airbnb I've stayed at, I washed the cup I used and left it on the drying rack, in case the host was more  anal about cleanliness.

[Mikki0]

@Dimitar27 

I've been doing this for over 7 years now. I have spreadsheets of information on all kinds of data points. Cleaning fees, instant book, long term discounts, last minute deals, higher prices, seasonal pricing, various types of cancellation policies...I've experimented with it all. 

As a part time data analyst, I can tell you that charging for cleaning in my place cut my books by 10%, and raising my prices cost me bookings. 

The prices I charge are comparable and competitive with what's offered in my area and suited to the travelers to this area. 

[Dimitar27]

OK, but if you compare the number of the cut bookings, to the number of the "messy" guests...what is the result? Again 10% less?

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mikki0 

As a part time data analyst, I can tell you that charging for cleaning in my place cut my books by 10%, and raising my prices cost me bookings. 

Our cleaning fees are pretty much 10% of bookings, so I guess that would even out over a season providing more free time or additional booking opportunities?

[Mikki0]

Thanks all, for your input. 

With all that in mind, if I were to write a review of these guests and mention - left dirty dishes in the sink, used pots and pans on the stove, a mess on the counters, would I sound nit picky, and if you read a review like that, would you want them staying at your place?

[Fred13]

@Mikki0 My basic instincts tell me - not worth it. Little to gain, much to lose.

[Mikki0]

@Fred13 Not worth writing the review, or not worth it for you to rent to them if they inquired? 

[Fred13]

Oh the mess on the counter, if overall they were solid guests and we are speaking about your public response; those responses should take into consideration the host is also 'speaking' to future potential guests.  

[Sarah977]

@Mikki0  Yes, that would sound nit-picky to me in that you are recounting every detail  (I can tell you're a detail person, I can relate :-)) . I would simply say something like "It would have been appreciated if these guests had made some effort to leave the kitchen in a reasonably clean state." That lets other hosts know that they were slobs and gives future guests an idea of your expectations, without them thinking "Jeez, if I leave a coffee cup in the sink is she going to give me a bad review?"

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Mikki0 

My experience is actually........ many of my guests (who were in their 20s) seemed to have no idea whatsoever how to do dishes by hand.... or even rinse a cup decently. 

My biggest complaint regarding kitchen use from guests was that they seemed to NEVER clean up drips or crumbs from the counter or kitchen table - we host a private bedroom and the kitchen is shared. To some extent Henry and I just accept the fact that people have different levels of what "clean" implies and charge enough to cover the extra effort we need to keep things up to our standards. 

Unless your guest left a mess looking like this on the kitchen table...... and at least, threw away used napkins and put the dirty dishes in the sink then I'd just let it go. 

[Mikki0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

They didn't leave it on the table, but they put it all in sink, just as is. Ice cream in a bowl melting, some gooey breakfast congealing on the plate. Plus the dishes from whatever they had at dinner. 

They also left all the pans they used for cooking on the stove, with the grease splatter that comes from cooking. Not to mention the mess on the counter from the prep work. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Mikki0 

In the end, you should leave whatever review YOU think is appropriate while keeping the tone professional as possible and respecting the Airbnb review guidelines. I'm all for leaving honest reviews. FYI, the link is the rant I posted about MY problem guest last year and below is a screen shot of the review I left for that particular guest. Based on what you wrote... sounds like your guests and mine were cut from the same cloth. Dishes in the sink with ice cream melting I can let go. Used pans with the grease and splatters left on the stove with no effort to clean up and dirty counter tops from prep work equals a 1 for cleanliness in my book.  

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/mini-rant-about-current-guest/m-p/1156985#M280373

[Sarah977]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  Sometimes I wish we could leave reviews for these kids' mothers, who apparently just scurried around cleaning up every mess their kids made, even after they were tall enough to reach the sink.

Before I had my own place here and just used to rent, I lived on a property that had caretakers- a young Mexican couple and their 5 year old. They were caretakers for the property and the big house the owners came to on the weekends, they didn't clean my place, which was just a little 2 room cabin. The woman and I became quite friendly, and she was trying to teach her 5 year old to put garbage in the bin, not just drop it on the ground or the floor. But her husband would tell the boy- that's okay Junior, you can just drop it there, that's your mother's job to clean up.

Thankfully, she left that guy a couple years later and found a better man.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Hi @Mikki0 , It sounds like the teachings about cleaning up after yourself you were given during your upbringing were excellent but I think the host feedback system is more dependent on general guidelines and observations and not the "plus" standards your listing is.   Messy probably isnt public review dingworthy, dirty or damaged is!   That said, no reason you couldn't mention borderline mistreatment of your space in the private response.    In the end, guest responsibilities during a stay end at "do no harm",  if they stick with that, they should be good to go.  Stay well, JR

[Lisa723]

@Mikki0 if you have check-out expectations, you should communicate them. If you don't, many guests will assume you have none. Whether this is polite or impolite is immaterial; it's just a fact. A simple check-out request list posted on your fridge or other obvious location is wholly appropriate, and you can remind guests of it with a friendly message on the evening before check-out. If they ignore it, that is review-worthy. But failure to read your mind is not.

[Mikki0]

@Lisa723 I have a check out list, both digitally, in my listing, and printed out and hanging by the door. The problem with communicating expectations it that it can become an ever growing list of grievances. At what point should some of these offenses be common sense/courtesy? 

Flush the toilet? Don't leave wet towels on the bed? Use the coasters? Don't remove my fridge shelves? Don't leave your bag of ice on the counter, melting into my cabinetry? 

I would just assume that people who pay the price to rent an entire house, with a full kitchen, including a dishwasher, would use the dishwasher!

At the end of the day, if I read review of this couple that included - "left dishes in sink with food caked on them instead of loading dishwasher" i probably wouldn't have rented to them. And not because the dishes were dirty, but because I would feel it was indicative of general disrespect.