To leave an accommodation as found AND justifying cleaning costs

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Has any host found a way to instil in guests that they should 'leave the accommodation as they found it' in lieu of their rental obligations whilst at the same time as charging a cleaning fee?

We charge a diminutive cleaning fee but I'm questioning whether to just delete that and add it to the nightly rate? We charge £65 cleaning fee and over an average 3 night stay and extra £20 added to the rate wouldn't be an issue.

What is the killer is this; you expect that guests would "leave the place as they find it'" as they're supposed to do, but instead, they leave it like the dustbin man has just spilled the contents of the bins all over the floor and there's been an unholy demonic massacre in the oven.

Having a cleaning fee makes the excuse that the guests "are paying for cleaning" when obviously the fee covers no such state.

What is the sensible solution?

[Trevor243]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  We include the cleaning fee in the nightly cost, and we ask guests to leave the property as they found it (we manage a lot of properties). I have lost count of the times I've read about guests leaving a huge mess because they paid a separate cleaning fee. Most guests are good and do clean up, empty bins etc - our cleaners do a full clean every time though.

[Linda108]

I think most guests come with what they think is proper guest behavior and your success in "instilling" anything into them is not usually possible.  In the first case, would the "leave it as found" rule mean you would not have to clean?  Probably not, since I would think your standards are higher than most guests.  I think a good expectation is "tidy up" which, when the guest pays for cleaning is just good manners.

There are extensive posts about this issue from both the host perspective and the guest perspective and it seems to boil down to the guest selection, which  is somewhat like picking horse race winners.  The whole idea of paying a cleaning is problematic for many guests who use the hotel as a reference.  I used the cleaning fee to keep my nightly rate lower and discourage one night booking.  Then I found a sweet spot for the nightly rate, changed to a 2 night minimum and deleted the cleaning fee.  Don't know if that would work for you.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Trevor243 @Linda108 

The expectation that a guest should "Leave as found" yet pay a cleaning fee does seem to be quite opposed. Most guests we have do try to "Leave as found" but there are a few who just leave havoc behind.

@Linda108 Your scheme to keep your night rate lower was exactly the reason we introduced the cleaning fee initially. When your headline price is lower then you expect to be more attractive to booking - which surely works. 

@Trevor243 A full clean is always necessary. There's no better time than just before guests arrive and everything is sparkling. 

I'm trying to find a solution which doesn't pacify the lazy slobs leaving the place like a dump in the belief that the cleaning fee covers a house restoration after they've left is what I'm looking for. Probably specifically aimed at them.

Would an "additional cleaning fee" work?

Perhaps discussing "Leave the accommodation as you find it" and a cleaning fee in the same paragraph is just wrong? I'm thinking here of our House Manual under the heading "Cleaning" and "Checkout". Here it is very difficult to equate the two. Maybe the answer is to charge a cleaning fee and then in checkout instructions just state "Leave as found".

Since our cleaning fee is so low, maybe it could be justified by saying its for adding that extra sparkle - which at £65 would equate to 2-3 hours work.

[Trevor243]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  A lower price attracts the wrong type of people .... sure it attracts bargain hunters, but it also attracts people with "lower domestic standards" .... and those people still expect a palace for the price of a tent pitch

If you need to do something to attract more bookings, you should list on other OTAs rather than slash prices. AirBnB accounts for only 10.4% of all of our bookings for this year.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Trevor243 

AirBnB accounts for only 10.4% of all of our bookings for this year.

I remember you stating previously. I followed you FB feed consequently. Good work on the promotional FB ads and stuff !

[Trevor243]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Oooh I've got a stalker!!!

Thanks - FB for me is about building an audience - takes time, will pay in the long term - I get twice as many bookings through FB as through AirBnB

Will get other social media up and running in due course

[Anonymous]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   "Leave the place as you found it" is too unspecific to be effective as a rule. It doesn't really make sense unless you actually expect guests to wash their linens, make the beds, scrub the bathroom and prepare the whole property for the next guests before departing.  As a guest, I wouldn't book with a host who described cleaning as "adding the extra sparkle," because it makes it sounds like they're not serious about making the place sanitary, and might not even be washing the sheets between guests (I've never seen a duvet that sparkles).

Perhaps you'll have better results if you give specific, clear instructions for the cleaning duties you expect guests to perform before check-out. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anonymous 

Yes, That cleaning expectations idea might be the best way to go.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anonymous 

As a guest, I wouldn't book with a host who described cleaning as "adding the extra sparkle," because it makes it sounds like they're not serious about making the place sanitary, and might not even be washing the sheets between guests (I've never seen a duvet that sparkles).

'Sparkling Clean' - I got that from the Airbnb review system... (cue 'sparkle effect' photos in kitchens).

[Anonymous]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   I've always been irked by Airbnb's verbiage there, as it's conditioned to the way young Americans who grew up in modern buildings seem to conflate cleanliness with sparkle (which is a word nobody should use without irony after the age of twelve). Hosts with older buildings, matte surfaces, or natural building materials can clean to perfection and still get marked down on cleanliness when the reviewer is conditioned to associate it with sparkle.

Anyway, what you actually said was Since our cleaning fee is so low, maybe it could be justified by saying its for adding that extra sparkle , which would just make it sound like you're not actually doing the rest of the cleaning other than the polishing.

At any rate, we all know the cleaning fee is just a supplemental charge for shorter stays, nothing to do with cleaning. So you could just say that, too.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anonymous 

If you put aside your dislike of the Airbnb verbiage re: sparkle. What would you think a psychologist might say or one who practices NLP when one of the last things a guest will read in the House Manual is the crusade of the Host to 'sparkle' ?

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anonymous 

I joke, obviously. But there is an interesting thread emerging. Not entirely about cleaning but the progression to that where expectations could be more easily measurable.

We use terms 'Leave as found' which can be vague or as @Sarah977  mentioned 'clean stovetop', which is more specific.  In hindsight listing specific requirements would make star ratings less of a 'finger in the air' and more of a tick box exercise. I know for one, despite trying to be impartial I am swayed by guests who are polite and (unfairly to others who are less polite) will accommodate 'more mess' because of it.

[Ange2]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   I'm all for adding it into the nightly rate and leaving clear instructions, 'clean up after yourself', which is what I have. Not foolproof and  it does mean different things to different people, despite me explaining it in person some people expect a daily maid to clean up after them, wash their dishes and bag their trash, and even mark me down because they are slobs and are affronted if I mention it!  You could get detailed and spell it out:  wash dishes, clean up spills,  bag the garbage or whatever else you would like them to do.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ange2 

Its that balancing act of informing your guests not to be slobs whilst at the same time justifying the fact theres some money exchange for a cleaning fee. It pretty wouldn't matter whether the cleaning fee was $200 or $20 the guest expectation is that the fee covers everything they can throw at, in and around the place.

The easiest way is possibly to charge the fee in the nightly rate as you say, but the competition for bookings based on price would make a listing which included the cleaning in the fee that much greater.

In the current situation advantage is found in not including the fee and then adding a fee which still makes the booking proposition still attractive.

Its just like having a free market economy.. Buyer beware.. In a competitive system where everything is not equal.

My upbringing had me stay at places with groups who had beneficial rates at accommodation, and always the cleanliness of the place always relied on the previous guests making the effort to put it that way. I think this forms expectations of others which with some guests can sometimes leave you agasp!