Guest Cleanliness Ratings

[Traci1]

How do other hosts rate guests for cleanliness? I hate to insult anyone but I've been giving a 5-star rating for guests that we can't even tell they were there, 4-star for great, 3-star for average... but again, I don't want to insult potential return guests but do want to be honest. Any thoughts?

[Letti0]

@Judith71  I would give them 1* for everything. There is no excuse for leaving a mess like that. They know better, but they did it anyway. A thumbs down and Guest name is not suited to an AirBnB evironment they would not be welcomed back.  

[Zoya-and-Julija0]

0... plus a claim at the resoution center

[Victoria567]

Well @Tra0ci

They are either clean or filthy take your pick and rate accordingly.

[Helder28]

We had the nicest guests but they didn't do any of their dishes, they left the counters dirty, and they left a glass and dirty fork in the living room! We don't charge a cleaning fee and all of our past guests have always done the dishes before leaving.

I don't know how many stars to give these two very nice girls for cleanliness. Is it their job to clean up after themselves or is it our job?

[Helder28]

We had the nicest guests but they didn't do any of their dishes, they left the counters dirty, and they left a glass and dirty fork in the living room! We don't charge a cleaning fee and all of our past guests have always done the dishes before leaving.

I don't know how many stars to give these two very nice girls for cleanliness. Is it their job to clean up after themselves or is it our job?

[Daniel1992]

5 stars for everything but cleaning, and then range it based on how much cleaning you personally had to do.

[Linda108]

I don't see any posted rule about cleaning up as an expectation so unless you specifically communicate that expectation, perhaps it is unfair to downgrade the guest too much.  As a host, I would never trust the cleaning by any other guest to meet my standards, but it is a nice gesture when the guest tidies up.

[Zoya-and-Julija0]

Diorty dishes... definitely not a 5

[Daniel1992]

My rating system:

- 5 Stars: All I have to do is wash the linens and towels, and vacuum.

- 4 Stars: You left a few dishes for me to clean (it's in my listing that you need to wash your dishes).

- 3 Stars: You leave dishes or trash in the room.

- 2 Stars: My dog goes crazy because she can smell food that's been left over.

- 1 Star: Stains on the floors, bed, or furniture.

[Sarah977]

Personally, I'd give 5 stars to any guest who left the place reasonably clean and tidy. 3 stars for messy, 1 for filthy. If they left a few dirty dishes, I'd maybe just mention this in private feedback to them, especially if they're young. Just letting them know that washing their dirty dishes is something hosts expect guests to do, and that you didn't mark them down for it this time, that hopefully they'll be more responsible in their future bookings. If guests left it incredibly clean, I'd be sure to mention this in the written review.

Guests use my kitchen, as I host in my home, and I've never had a guest not clean up in the kitchen after themselves. Most of my guests have actually comported themselves as if they were friends who have come to visit- if I have a few of my own dirty dishes on the counter, they'll wash mine as well as theirs, and I'll do the same for them.

But if they had their own kitchen, I'd still give 5 stars if they only left a few breakfast dishes, as long as  the place was otherwise clean (no greasy stovetop, no food left out, countertops wiped down). Sometimes guests are rushing to catch a plane, get on the road because the baby's fussing, etc. and are trying to honor check-out time. I think both guests and hosts should cut each other a little bit of slack.

[John1459]

So I was just told by Airbnb support that a host cleaniless rating below 4.8 is a violation of hosts standards and 4.8 or higher is passing. So my 4.5 rating on cleanliness is causing less than pleasant automatic emails. 

[Ana7]

I also agree with Paul. I charge a cleaning fee (actually a ridiculous amount of 8 dollars), but my space is very small and I manage to do it myself. I don't expect them to leave the place sparkling clean, so my expectations are always met accordingly 😄 
I try to see things from other perspectives, too.  If I would be scared of how my host will rate my cleanliness, I would stop using airbnb altogether, and go over to Booking.com where guests are not rated in such way.  

[Stacey387]

My guests stayed for a month. They had never cleaned the bathroom and I had to scrub the whole room to get the layer of dirt off. The toilet made me want to vomit. I found 2 peach stones and one prawn tail on the balcony. Crumbs all over the house. All the crockery, cutlery and pans had a layer of grease on them. One pan was put away in the cupboard dirty. I had allowed them to stay one night free of charge because their car needed repairs and I told them that this was my cleaning day so they should leave the place clean. I was truly horrified and hurt. They had not separated their rubbish correctly which could incur a fine from our council. I gave them a 2. 

[Gwen386]

After hosting a dozen guests, I realize now that I rate each guest similar to a performance review/ evaluation; and I’m ok if guests review me the same way too. I don’t charge a cleaning fee and I go above and beyond to ensure my apt is spotless for each and every guest. TBH, my rental is more spotless than the rest of my home. I wish I had the energy to clean every nook and cranny in my personal space as I do in the rental. As most 5* hosts know, it takes a lot of work to maintain a high average.  

So, I give guests the following rating based on previous guests:

5* - ALL house rules followed, no trash left behind, furniture returned to it’s original place, no dirty dishes lying around. It’s obvious guests were extremely tidy. I haven’t had stained bed linen or towels, but if I do, I’ll treat that as the cost of doing business. Accidents happen. 

4* - Break a major house rule (ex., didn’t park in dedicated parking space—blocked my car in; or flushed things down toilet that’s on my NO flush list, which required a plumber). 

3* - Invite extra guest (ex., overnight) without asking if it’s okay. 

2* - Unplug outdoor security camera. This has not happened, knock-on-wood, but if it did. 

1* - furniture damaged, sneak a pet in, continuous and excessive loud noises, apt left filthy. 

I do want to say that I have had amazing guests and all have been given 5*, except one that was a 4*. I do wish there were also half stars because if there had been, I would have given the 4* a 4.5*. 

Again, I base my rating system on previous guests’ behaviors. 

[Kirsten266]

Sometimes I have guests who I'd love to give a diamond star for cleaning 💎