Long term hosting responsibilities

[Julie4719]

Hi everyone,

I am new to hosting and one of my first bookings is for four months. This is for the whole of the house. I charge a one off cleaning fee at the end of every stay.

I wondered what I should do regarding bed changes, cleaning etc. do I offer weekly

clean sheets? Do I go in myself and change them? Should I expect them

to do their own weekly clean? I just don’t  know what to offer. 
Many thanks, Jules.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Julie4719 it very much depends on the discount given for a long stay. We usually offer only a small discount and we then change the bedding weekly (guest choice as to who changes it and if they need to be there). This gives us the chance to see how the place is being looked after unless the guest wants to change the bedding themselves.

[Anonymous]

@Julie4719  I'm not sure what you mean by charging a cleaning fee at the "end of the stay." If you have a cleaning fee set in your listing, it's charged automatically when the guest books. 

If your upcoming long-term booking is already confirmed, then by default it does not include any interim cleaning services that weren't explicitly advertised in your listing. If you shared common areas with the guest, routine cleaning of those areas would be expected, but your listing appears to be a self-contained property. Generally, it would be inappropriate for you to enter that unit during the stay outside of emergencies - especially in intimate rooms like the sleeping areas.

As long as you offer a washing machine and cleaning products, long-term guests should expect to sort out their own linens and clean up after themselves. But some hosts like to do as @Mike-And-Jane0  describes, and offer interim cleaning services as a pretext for checking up on the state of the home. This should be made very explicit in the listing or communicated to the guest before confirming the booking, as it's a bonus for those who like extra services and a deal-breaker for those who prefer privacy.

A middle path would be to give the guest the option of a linen exchange at their convenience: every so often, they could strip their beds and hand over their washing to you at the door in exchange for a neatly folded set of fresh linens that they could make their own beds with. But that's only worthwhile as an add-on service with an additional fee. Surely these guests aren't lugging a separate change of clothes for each of their 120 days, so they're going to be doing their laundry many times anyway. Nothing stopping them from throwing the sheets and towels in as needed too.

[Julie4719]

Many thanks for the replies, they have confirmed what I was thinking. Very helpful indeed .

[Gwen386 · Accepted solution]

@Julie4719 Just a little background. I had hosted 9 guests prior to my 2-month renter that I am presently hosting. We messaged back-and-forth many times before I pre-approved him. Since my longest guest stay had only been a week in length prior to this one, I wanted ground rules in place. 

We agreed that every two weeks, we’d touch base on whether he wanted me to tidy up and/or whether we would just exchange dirty bed linen, towels, bath mats for fresh ones. We agreed he would keep place tidy and exchange dirty laundry for clean laundry. I was ok with this because all his reviews noted that he had been a great guest that followed house rules and kept their place clean.

Imagine my pleasant surprise after the first two weeks when he messaged me saying that he was on his way to the laundromat and asked if I wanted  him to wash my bed and bath things. I respectfully declined and also thanked him for continuing to keep my apt tidy. Now, of course, I had no factual way to know whether he was or wasn’t keeping my place tidy, but mentioning this was a way of reminding him of our informal agreement. He also takes his trash to my large outside garbage can even though there’s a garbage can outside the rental that I collect on Tuesdays.

Tomorrow makes our 4th week and I’ll touch base again today. But I have to say, I feel really good about hosting this guest.

Although I feel very fortunate about this guest, I still have worries. So to alleviate worrying in the future, I plan to do things slightly different with renters that exceed 4 weeks. I do want to do a quick check of my apt every 28 days. My biggest concerns are bathroom and kitchen being kept clean, and no trash piling up. So I will add this in my house rules. 

[Julie4719]

I’m really glad that this has gone well for you. I think the opportunity to get in there and check it would be ideal. Many thanks for the response, lots of ideas there.

[Julie4719]

@Gwen386 @I’m really pleased this has worked out for you. Lots of food for thought here and I would appreciate the opportunity to check over the house. Thank you for the advice .

[Connie474]

I am new as of a few months and the majority of my bookings have been for a month for private room rentals. 

i supply and extrem set of bedding and Linens and washer and dryer.  Long term guests  clean up after themselves -and I perform cleaning upon checkout.

they are also provided cleaning supplies, available in bathrooms.

they are expected to wash their own dishes and cleanup after they cook as condition of house rules.

i also have an in-premises host so it helps if there are any issues.  I have not had any major issues with any guest this far.

i would be cautious about price point and make sure you have clear identity of who is staying.

i now am getting requests for multi-month stays and I am considering requiring a lease over 2-3 months as extra protection for myself.

[Huma0]

@Julie4719 

I host long term guests, but in my own home, so I/my cleaner cleans all communal areas. I just ask that guests leave these reasonably tidy and clean up after themselves in the kitchen (wash their dishes or put them in the dishwasher, clean up their spills).

For the bedrooms, I give them the option of having me clean them and wash the linens and towels fortnightly (they have enough towels to last for this period) for a small fee, or they can do it themselves and I provide extra linens, cleaning materials etc.

Some guests go for the former, some for the latter. Personally, I prefer to do the bedrooms myself so I can make sure everything is in order and because some guests say they will clean but then never do it nor wash their sheets. If I am coming into their room to clean (at a prearranged time and date) it also usually encourages them to tidy up a bit.

Of course, all of this needs to be made clear on the listing. I have included information about this in the house rules section and then I ask the guests when they check in which option they would prefer.

[Julie4719]

Thank you I will put these options to them.