Cleaning Fees

[Michelle-And-Guy0]

I have been an AirBNB SuperHost for 1 1/2 years, and this is my second property.  Our suite is in our principal residence and we are always on-site when we have guests.  I have had several occasions where the guests have left our suite filthy, and its usually with the 4-6 day stay.  I only charge a minimal fee for cleaning, as most of our guests respect our property and leave it clean.  Lately our guests have been unusually dirty, and I don't just mean messy,  I mean absolute filth. I would love to be able to charge a little more to clean with a longer stay.  What does everyone think?

[Debra300]

@Michelle-And-Guy0,

There have been quite a few recent threads about the recent decline in the quality guests that are booking.  I recommend that you turn off instant book, and raise your cleaning fee to cover what you value as a few hours of your time.  Your place is very reasonably priced, and you have a lot of great reviews, so people will send you booking requests.  During your communication with them, you should ask questions that will help you gauge if the guest will be a good fit for your space.

[Sarah977]

@Michelle-And-Guy0  If you don't already, you need to make your expectations for guest clean-up clear. You can't just assume that people will clean up after themselves, nor that "clean up after yourself" means the same thing to  a guest as it does to you. Be specific about what you expect guests to do re cleaning before checking out. Let them know what the cleaning fee covers- heavy duty cleaning, i.e. vacuuming, washing floors, sterilizing the bathroom and kitchen, doing the laundry, but it doesn't cover washing the guests' dirty dishes, etc.

If you make it quite clear and they don't comply, then you can mention it in the review and give them low ratings for cleanliness and following house rules.

[Ann72]

@Michelle-And-Guy0  You will be surprised at something that seems counterintuitive:  raising your rate and cleaning fee will bring you better guests.

List at 79 CDN a night for a month and see how that goes.