Here are my thoughts on cleaning fees. I am a super host, started listing with Airbnb earlier this year. To me it is imperative to have my apartment professionally cleaned before each guest. Because of a disablity I can't do it myself. It takes two hours, but I do the laundry myself. I charge $60 cleaning fee and 100 percent of it goes to my housecleaner. I often work with her, and I do all the laundry. I also do a little extra after she leaves. I charge the guest as little as possible for cleaning while at the same time trying to pay my housecleaner a fair rate.
I am uncomfrotable that Airbnb charges ME 3 percent fee for the money collected from guests for cleaning. I observe that Airbnb asks hosts to pledge to pay a living wage. So I find it curious, unfair, slightly deceptive and indeed hypocritical that Airbnb takes 3 percent of this fee.
The cleaning is a hard cost to me. I give my housecleaner 100 percent of the fee. As I said, I make no money from this fee. I lose money. I find that many Airbnb guests have stained sheets and duvet covers, broken small items, and ruined towels. I absorb the cost of most of this, since Airbnb doesn't honestly allow me to collect from the security deposit.
I have asked for an explanation from Airbnb about why takes a cut of the housecleaning fee in addition to the very substantial overall fee it charges the guest. And/or why does Airbnb not disclose to guests that it is taking 3 percent of the fee, rather than it going to the housecleaner?
I would be interested in what other hosts have to say. I agree with what's been said here about what the cleaning actually entails and whether or not it's fair to charge for it. (It is!) My question is about Airbnb reaching its hand into this pot and taking money away from the hosts and housecleaners doing the grunt work.