Ratings

[Mattias29]

Hello! I have a question about how you hosts rate the cleaning of a guest. If a guest does not clean at all after themselves, even though it is clearly stated in the advertisement that the cottage must be left in the same condition it was in on arrival, all cleaning is on the guest. How do you put the stars on the cleaning then? 1 star or more? Regards Mattias

[Helen3]

It depends what state was it left in you can't expect a guest to do a full clean obviously but you can ask for washing up to be done. Rubbish emptied etc. 

[Mattias29]

So if the houserules says that guest should clean, and you as a guest accept it when you book, I still can not expect it?

[Lenore22]

After reading your listing, I would probably rate cleanliness as:

5 stars: they did what was expected (maybe you pass through and spruce it up for the next guests?)

3 stars: The guest made an effort, but didn't do a very good job (once our children washed the dishes and they were still greasy when they were put away)

1 star: no effort was made to clean. (You might ding them in house rules as well and mention this in the review.)

[Fred13]

@Mattias29 Guests vary widely in what they consider 'cleanliness' why most  hosts do their own cleaning regardless how a guest leaves a place. 

[Gordon0]

Asking a paying guest to accept the property that’s been cleaned (quite possibly to questionable standards) is beyond bizarre. Who are the guests rating; you as their host or the previous guest?  

[Lenore22]

Only you can decide how well the guests have followed your instructions, but here are mine:

Leave the house the way you've found it...

Before you leave:

- Start the dishwasher.

- Place dirty towels in the bathtub.

- Do not strip the beds (we will take care of it)

- Take bagged trash out to the cans outside behind the garage.

- Let us know if anything is damaged or broken.

...

In short, we expect the guests to clean up after themselves, but understand that we will be sanitizing, washing linens and setting the property for the next guests.

Based on this, here is my rating system; maybe it will help you as you develop your own rating system:

5 stars: they did what they were asked. The house is relatively tidy and ready to be cleaned for the next guests.

3 stars: garbage not taken out. Dirty dishes. Messy kitchen. The house has been "ridden hard and put away wet," but can still be put back together in a reasonable amount of time.

1 star: Extra time needed to clean. Possible damage that hadn't been reported.

We expect guests to tidy after themselves (wipe up spills, wash dishes, etc) but NOT CLEAN (mop, clean mirrors or tubs, laundry), as they will likely cause more damage. 😅

We also recognize that the Airbnb rating system is oddly narrow, so while I as a teacher would have given mostly 3 & 4 stars with the occasional 5-star rating for those that go well above my expectation, in Airbnb, I give nearly exclusively 5-stars unless the guest poses a specific problem.

As a host, I find guests with a "4.5" rating on cleanliness confusing and those guests have almost always taken great care of my place & followed instructions to a "T." I think a lot of "4 star" ratings come from lack of clear instructions and hosts being disappointed that someone didn't follow an unspoken expectation.

Hope this helps,

Lenore

[Mattias29]

You and I think the same way, thank you for your thoughts.

[Mattias29]

@Lenore22 

[Sybe]

@Lenore22 This is really thorough and useful, thank you so much for sharing!

[Fiona256]

I can never understand why you would want dirty, wet towels left in the bath, where they won't dry and can get smelly. Why not ask guests to hang them up so they have a chance to dry a bit? Even if it's for a short time before you come in to clean, it's better than them festering in a bath with no air circulating. You know they've been used, so there is no need for them to be in the bath or on the floor.

[Mattias29]

@Fiona256  Who said I want wet towels on the floor???

[Lenore22]

@Fiona256 

The bath is meant to hold water/wet items. Our floors, beds, sofas and furniture are not. It's just mitigating damage.

[David8879]

I, in general, do not let guests check out unless they did loundry of linens with proper amount of starch, polished silverware and rotated generator enough to compensate for the electricity they so frivolously wasted

[Basha0]

@David88/9

You forgot about doing the windows!