From cleaning person: "All my other houses, the guests take out the trash!" - How do YOU handle?

[Joanne-Flynn0]

HI Hosts!

Do you ask your guests to remove garbage upon checkout or leave in the house?

I am a (super)Host of a cabin and I've also started co-hosting a ski condo.

Most guests are 2 nights so I ask guests to tie the garbage bag up and leave it in the kitchen. (if someone is staying longer I let them know there's a garbage bin in garage)

For the condo the cleaning person said, "for all my other houses the guests take the trash and deposit in dumpster."

I personally don't want the last thing the guests remember as they are leaving to be the trash. For example guests may think and write in a review, "why am I paying $75 cleaning fee and STILL have the take out the trash!"

I want to be open minded about this and ask other hosts how you handle.

Do guests take trash out for short stays?

If you ask guest to take the trash have they ever commented about it in your reviews?

Thanks so much host community!

[Fred13]

I also do not ask them to 'throw out the trash' per se,  just put in back store room (50-gallon bin). The kitchen bin being the standard 13-gallon size, so will fill 1x-2x during a 4-5 day stay.

[Joanne-Flynn0]

Hi @Fred13!

Yeah I imagine for your 4 day minimum stays on your island that the kitchen bin will fill up quickly!

Thanks for letting me know how you handle this.

Are you making it back to Phoenicia any time soon?

[Fred13]

Someday Joanne. Got how I would love to see where I spend my kid summers. What great, great memories. 

[Joanne-Flynn0]

@Fred13 Glad to hear you have such great memories of Phoenicia. It is quite magical.

Hope you're able to get back.  If you do I know of a sweet cabin where you can stay 🙂

Remind me of the name of the camp you went to.

[Fred13]

Woodland Valley road, after it hugs the Esopus then heads to the left, one crosses a small creek, the cabin up the hill (about 50 feet) on the right after crossing the creek, my family owned for 25+ years. My sisters visited there a few years ago, and said it is still there. 🙂

[Karen-and-Will0]

@Joanne-Flynn0  Our typical stay is weekly with occasional 3 day stays in the off season.  To answer, your question, yes we ask guests to take out trash at the end of their stays no matter the length of stay.  Not one has complained about paying our $75 cleaning fee and still being required to take out the trash.  Actually most comment on how exceptionally clean the whole place is.  As other hosts have commented, taking out the trash cuts out the potential for bugs and I think most people get that in my area.  On the flipside, when we travel we expect and actually do take out the trash at the end of our stay feeling this is the norm.  I hope this feedback is helpful

[Joanne-Flynn0]

Hi @Karen-and-Will0,

I appreciate the insight on how you handle it and how no one has complained. That's good to hear!

[Lisa723]

In our basement suite of the house where we live, we do not expect guests to remove trash.

In our vacation homes, we ask them to remove trash and recycling at the end of their stay, and load and start the dishwasher-- because the cleaners may not arrive on that day, and this reduces the risk of mice and bugs.

[Portia6]

My 2 cents.

As I get closer to activating our rental garden studio here in San Francisco, I have put much thought into making the entire cleaning system more efficient and convenient for guests AND me (the cleaner).  When we travel using ABB we have usually been asked to take the trash out at the end.  But I would have done so throughout the stay anyway.  Sometimes when rushing to leave on the departure morning it has been a pain to add that to the many things swimming through my head.

That said, and after much reading on the subject tonight, I will simply let guests know where the bins are so they don't stress when they have full bags, OR leave them hanging around in the unit.  This is because I certainly don't want lingering garbage smells permeating my newly remodeled and furnished rental.  I mean, drapes smelling like fish isn't a nice thing for the next guest...or me.  lol. At the end they can simply leave it all in the rental and I will take care of it.  After all, the bins are literally out the garden door and 10 feet to the right.  So, by just letting them know where they are for their convenience, I am also letting them know that they don't need too at the end, but could if they are compelled.  Passive aggressive...no.  More like Jedi Mind Tricks.  But it will benefit us all and I would never be upset should they just go ahead and leave it in the unit.  This will justify my cleaning fee but also let them get rid of embarrassing garbage or recycling throughout their stay.  No one wants to be called out regarding refuse.

[Sarah977]

@Portia6  It'll be interesting to find out how many guests feel "compelled" to take it out to the bin when it is subtly mentioned. I'd wager it will be in the area of zero 🙂 But hey, you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Portia6]

Yeah, I’m expecting the worst and hoping for the best.  Always.  I won’t be upset either way.  Main things I’ll mention are to avoid ants and smells.  They can take from that what the will.  No one wants a bossy property owner dampening their vacation.

[Danielle476]

I absolutely do not ask my guests to take out their trash.  The majority of my reservations are 1 night only, so it's not as much of an issue for me.  I make sure the guests know where the trash chute is, but I would never expect them to remove their own refuse since they're paying a cleaning fee that covers that.  I also dislike it when I'm a guest and a host asks me to strip the bed and place it in the wash.  Excuse you?  If you charge a cleaning fee above $50 (which most do), this should more than cover things like that.  I don't appreciate hosts who use their cleaning fee to increase their bottom line - I charge exactly what my cleaners charge, period.  If I felt I needed more compensation, I would simply raise my nightly prices.  Either way, a guest comes to relax and get away from life for a little while.  I'm not about to make them do my chores while they're there.

[Polina65]

I am actually now looking at other options specifically b/c of being asked to take out the trash. Mind you, I am by nature a super neat person and leave every property tidy and clean.

But over the years the cleaning fees have been climbing. Almost like an easy way for a host to make extra? One place I just looked at has a cleaning fee $100, a service fee $65, and a "resort fee." And the host STILL wants me to take the trash out. What gives?

Either the exuberant cleaning needs to drop, or don't make the guests clean up. Otherwise the only upside AirBnB has is it's more covid friendly. Otherwise might as well stay at a hotel - they have become increasingly affordable. 

[Sarah977]

@Polina65  The cleaning fee normally represents what is paid to the cleaner. The service fee has nothing to do with the host, that's Airbnb's fee. And I don't think that a host has a choice about a resort fee, if the rental is located in a place that charges that. It's a charge set by the resort to use their facilities, not something the host makes a profit on.

While I think some hosts expect too much in the way of clean-up by guests, I don't understand why taking out the garbage is some big deal. Unless a guest has left garbage strewn all over that needs to be gathered up, if the guest is clean and has been putting garbage in the trash, what does it take, 3 minutes to take it out to the bin ? 

It's usually requested not as some time saver for the cleaner, but because if there is smelly stuff in the garbage, like fish or used diapers, etc, it can really stink up the unit if the cleaners aren't scheduled to go in right away after check-out. And with the Covid cleaning protocols, a lot of hosts want to leave several hours, if not a day, between bookings, so the cleaner or host isn't subjected to breathing the indoor air right after a guest has checked out, until it has time to settle.

Hotels also charge for cleaning, you know. You just don't see it as a separate line item, it's included in the room fee. But the hotel owner certainly doesn't pay the cleaners out of their own pocket. Hotels can charge less for cleaning because their cleaners are on staff, they are there all day every day. They also tend to pay minimum wage. A cleaner for an Airbnb has to be somewhat flexible as to scheduling, as the length of bookings varies. Also most hosts try to pay their cleaner well, not just minimum wage. And as you note, Airbnbs are usually cleaned to a higher standard than hotel rooms.

Unless you know the going rate for a good cleaner in an area where you book, and how long on average it takes to thoroughly clean and sterilize an Airbnb you stay at, I'm not sure how the cleaning fee can be judged to be "too expensive" or assume that the host must be making a profit on it. Of course, you always have a choice to book something with a lower cleeaning fee or one where it is incorporated into the nightly rate.

[Polina65]

@Sarah977 

Many Airbnb (and VRBO) properties are now owned by corporations, not private owners. That's neither good or bad, just is. But much like hotels they have lots of financial breaks in property maintenance.

In terms of the cleaning person - I'm guessing that it consists of one person that goes back to back to multiple units. Maybe two people.

They give themselves maybe 30 min to clean a studio / apartment where somebody lived for a couple of days. $100 to lightly clean a studio is very generous (you're not deep cleaning an oven from years of cooking, washing curtains and windows). Even if that person spends two hours cleaning a small apartment that's $50/ hour - that's a really high hourly rate.

But my guess is, however, that the cleaner  doesn't receive the full $100 for it, and the host/company keeps a portion.

If you're staying for a quick weekend and being charged $100 for a cleaning and $65 service fee, then you shouldn't have to collect trash bags. It makes no sense.

Add the cost into your daily rates. Don't nickel and dime your customers.....
You wouldn't like it if a restaurant did it. You hate it when a car dealership or airline does that.