@Debra300
We have a whole house rental and don't charge a cleaning fee. But we also clean our Airbnb ourselves. It takes us 1-1.5hrs to clean a 850sqft house and a porch. It's only the two of us. 5-6hrs seems very long but not uncommon.
We minimize our time/money by:
• having multiple sets of linens, towels and cleaning rags.
• wash off site at our residential home before the cleaning.
• buy bedding that requires little work. We do not like duvet covers or unfitted bed sheets.
• we charge per guest. On average, less guests means less resources being used.
• we allow same day check-in if they booked before 11 am(our checkout time)
• allow only (1) body towel, (1) hand towel per customer per 3-day stay.
• higher nightly stay with small incremental discounts for 2+ day stays but longer term stays tend to be a little higher or on par with the competition.
When we add all these procedures and pricing, 1 day stays are worth it. Guests book us because other hosts charge a large cleaning fee.