Cleaning during guests occupancy

[Lorna15]

I have a guest who has been here since Sept. The space has 2 rooms: the full bathroom, living, dining room and kitchen is shared. There was no one in the other room for about a month. The guest took over the entire space; didn't clean at all. I messaged her that another guest was checking in and to ensure the space was tidy.

The new guest checked in (late). Upon entering prior to the new guest's arrival, I realized that the space was unacceptable and cleaned the common areas for hours the same night.

The new guest left recently and her review was negative; suggesting that I should clean the space regularly. The cleaning fee is applied once (after the guest leaves). Is it expected that I should enter the space and clean while the guests are there? 

[Barb6]

@Lorna15 Decide which way YOU want it and suggest that you discuss this with future guests. From September till now is a long time for the space to go uncleaned. It should have been cleaned by someone during that time. I think it is unfair to expect a guest to make sure the area is tidy for another guest. Do you leave cleaning supplies available? What are you house rules reguarding this? If they share a common area, if you had not discussed it prior, you should clean it. How do you know that what is acceptable for you would be clean enough and acceptable by your guest if they did the cleaning?

[Lorna15]

Thanks for your response. As there was only one guest, the space was cleaned thoroughly upon her arrival and the house rules clearly show that the space should be kept clean and maintained as she found it.

I agree that the space should be cleaned for any new guests. At $50.00 an hour for a cleaner; and $55 for nightly stays, it seems there is budget conflict.

There are LOTS of cleaning supplies. 

I did go in to clean prior to the next guests arrival. 

Will consider adding cleaning fees for long term guests.

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

If there shared common areas, they should be kept clean and tidy. It is your responsibility to see this is done or do it yourself.

We don't do long-term stays, but if we did we would establish a clear understanding about responsiblities. We would set an expectation about level of cleanliness for both the guest sleeping rooms and common areas. I've seen some hosts give guests the option of cleaning their bedrooms and washing their bedding, to agreed upon standards, or to pay for the cost of a housekeeping service.

[Lorna15]

Thanks.

Good suggestion.

[Giovanni103]

That's a good point you're making. . .I think the new guest had the right to expect to find both the room and common areas clean and tidy and yes, since the original guest only rented one room you had every right to come and go from the apartment considering they had not rented the full apartment. 

While many guests understand that the cleaning fees they pay only covers a couple of hours of regural tidying up, sweeping, dusting, and mopping, some feel entitled to be slobs and leave the premises a pigsty "because they paid for the cleaning."  I learned my lesson and bring it to their attention that they are only entitled to using one towel per week and should clean after themselves regularly during their extended stay.  I listed this in my "house rules" and make sure they know that they can be charged extra if they don't abide by them.  I find that it's harder to enforce it on guests who stay longer periods because you know that nothing is getting done to upkeep the premises while they're there, which is why you should feel entitled to go check on them when you only have one room being rented.

[Liz-And-Steve0]

Whilst we don't offer guests long term stays we have had them for 11 days and 6 and 7 days.   I changed the bed linen at the week mark and usually change the towels every two to three days.  I've not yet had an issue with anyone leaving the place untidy and not clean when they leave however we don't have more than one group staying at a time, even though our listing offers two bedrooms and guests own lounge and bathroom.   I wouldn't expect our guests to vacuum or dust either and would do this weekly if there stay was longer than a week.  I see it as they pay more than if they were renting as flatmates or such and therefore think we have a service to provide.  

[Martha77]

Quick question about your 11 day guest, do you clean the room and bathroom when you exhange bed linen and towels? My rules state that guest clean up after themselves and I'll change the bed linens and towels after six days, if they are long term guest. I normally don't clean guest bedroom and their private bathroom until they leave, I normally don't have guest longer than 10 days. My current guest, who's been staying with me for a week and is with me for 4 more days, demand that I clean the bathroom as its dirty. I might add she's the only one that uses that bathoom. I explained to her that I don't normally clean until after the guest leaves and she got really upset. I've checked out the bathroom when I replaced the bathroom towels the other day, as I noticed she colored her hair bright red and I was concerned she got hair dye everywhere, but it wasn't dirty mostly messy with all her cosmetics and hair products. I'm afraid she'll give me a bad review if I don't clean the bathroom. Should I just let it go and clean when she leaves as is my norm and wish for the best? 

[Paul154]

@Martha77, Nice to see a neighboring airbnb host.

As a superhost you are obviously doing right. If you think you are a superhost because you have short-term guests,  then discourage long-term guests by removing your weekly discount. 

As for your 10 day guest, consider a weekly LIGHT cleaning of the bathroom as a service. No more the 10- 15 minutes to dry down the tub, wipe the rim, swirl the toilet with cleaner, shine the mirror and fixtures. There are advantages to this.

1. You get to guage your guest and stop abuse.  I hate red dye on brand new towels...

2. You don't get surprised at check-out.

3. You are already  in their bathroom and taking the time to replace the towels so taking time to clean it not so problematic.

4. You can give the guest an option to improve her own space by saying "tomorrow, I'm going to lightly clean your bathroom. So that i can do a good job, could you organize your belongings?"  This gives the guest the option of saying "No thats ok, you don't have to clean my bathroom'.

[Andrea9]

And by for example bringing them fresh linnens weekly you automatically have an idea of which state the space is in.

Have a lock on each bedroom door. That way guest 1 couldn't have annexed the 2nd room.

I as a guest would have my doubts about renting a room somewhere with another guest that is a stranger and then in a space that guests are expected to keep clean. My experience and throw-back to room-mate days is that this doesn't work. Constellations like this need a clear Boss and not a vague DIY regulation.

[David641]

We recently added the option to not have bookings the day after a guest leaves, giving ample time to allow us to clean or have our cleaning person in to clean. I agree that having a cleaning person in for $50 with a room rate of $55 doesn't make much sense. You may consider adding a cleaning charge, or minimum booking. Sometimes raising the rate makes a better option, but you need to be competitive. You may want to put something in the "House Rules" about access for cleaning, and if the stay exceeds X days, the space will be accessed for cleaning. As others have said, lock the other room, so a guest not renting it doens't have access.