Long term guests

[Vic7]

We're very new to airbnb hosting. We are in a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 airbnb rooms and our own master room. Two guests booked one of our private room for a month. We were very excited since it's booked out just one day after we listed. However things did not happen the way we imagined...

I would like to ask hosts who have experiences with guests staying for a month or longer to give me some tips. 

1. How much of the living room and kitchen should be shared? 

In my description, I said guests are welcome to cook. However, I didn't expect my guests would cook everyday, that means a breakfast and full meal for dinner. At first we didn't wanna be too serious about it, but we felt pretty uncomfortable. We told them that this is an apartment and please try reduce heavy oil cooking. But still they cook very often. If I say no oil cooking, only light meal/microwave heat up, does it sound fair for guests staying for a month or longer? Also should guests be provided with their own tablewares separately from ours or will this make guests feel offended? 

2. The bathroom is shared between the 2 airbnb rooms,  we hosts do not use that bathroom, should we clean the bathroom during their stay? or expect them to keep it clean?

The previously mentioned long term guests didn't do a good job to keep the bathroom clean, they throw towels everywhere, hair and water on the floor, floor mat was so wet it even dripped. Now we have another guest coming to stay in the other room and will be using the bathroom. We don't want to disappoint the other guests. I've mentioned many times to the long term guests to keep the bathroom clean becuase it's a shared bathroom but it didn't work out. In this case, should I go clean? In addition, I'm pretty confused with the cleaning fee. Guests staying for a month are charged with the same amount of cleaning fee as guests staying for one night. Please help me if there is anything I can do to change that amount. 

3. Laundry 

The long term guests have been doing laundry every second day using both our machine and the dryer. Is it too frequent? We only charged 15 AUD for cleaning fee. Should we charge more for doing laundry? 

Thanks for your time to read it and give us tips! Very appreciated!

[Sandra126]

You can set your charges to a per load of laundry. You need to clean the bathroom, your responsilibity as host. If you want more cleaning fee, charge more per night. It is there to make one night bookings more expensive than two night, for instance. You can set whatever kitchen rules you like. Even no access, but that will reduce your long term bookings assuming you want them. You will need to be extremely clear from the get-go about standards in the kitchen, and what can be done there. You can give a little as time goes on if you like, but start with no rules and there is nothing to fall back on.

Look at some experienced ''share'' listings (with plenty of reviews) and see how they have ironed out their kitchen/laundry/bathroom rules. Everyone is different.

[Vic7]

Hi Sandra,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I cleaned the bathroom before the guests arrive. Should I also clean during their stay? The situation was that I saw period stain on the bathroom floor and toilet seat. This is pretty personal. So as a host, do I have the responsibility to clean things like that? I mean I'm totally fine with tidying up some towels and wash the floor mat...

Thanks,
Vic

[Allison2]

Since it's a bathroom shared by two paid rooms, you're ultimately responsible for making sure one guest isn't disturbed by the mess of another. There are a lot of unsavory things that come along with hosting - get a good pair of gloves because you're bound to run into period, **bleep**, and other body fluids at some point.

Like anything else, lay down ground rules, post them, and show guests what you expect when they arrive. Sometimes making the "right" thing really easy gets the behavior you want!

In your shoes I'd probably leave some disinfecting wipes for them to wipe up messes (but expect that you'll need to if they don't), and plenty of hooks to hang towels. (I painted some shelves and hooks, so the person with the yellow hook has the yellow shelf) If you don't want people leaving their toiletries in there, maybe provide some caddies that make it easy to transport stuff back to their room.

[Regina38]

You can limit use of kitchen by putting it in the house rules.
Also you could say laundry is not available to guests or say one ir two loads a week.
Shared bath: I would give it a good clean before other guests arrive andvout a nice sign in there saying to leave bathroom as you found it. Leave cleaning supplies out.
I would check it after they bathed and if it wasn't clean I would tell them to vk eanb up or I could do it for an additional fee.
You should probably supply towel racks in their rooms so they can keep towels separate as well.
Spell it out in your house rules and hold them to it.
You should also raise your cleaning fee.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Others have given tips on house rules, but you have to think of something in my opinion. Anyone staying over say a week becomes in effect a lodger - they share your space, they hang around more, they cook, they wash clothes. It is completely different to having someone stay for 3 or 4 nights while travelling, on holidays or at an event. Short stays will be out and a about making the most of your area. Long stays will be working or studying, etc and need a home... Consider limiting the time people can stay with you if you are uncomfortable with that.

[Vic7]

Very good point Gerry and Rashid! I definitely felt the difference! Hosting short stay is a lot more fun!

[Rosemary19]

Hi @Vic7, 

Great questions!

1. I personally think dealing with guests doing a lot of cooking is part of the cost of being a host. Some guests will cook a lot, and some won't, so you take the good with the bad. In my opinion, asking them to limit their cooking is going to be slightly awkward. If you really dislike it, then I'd suggest ruling it out altogether, and updating your house rules to reflect that.

2. As for the bathroom cleanliness, whilst the situation you've describe (wet towels and hair) is slightly gross, but it is probably in line with what you should reasonably expect to deal with as a host. These issues are just part of the good and the bad that come with hosting. If you want people to keep it very clean, it sounds like you want housemates, not guests. I agree with other commenters who said that you probably should clean the bathroom. It's not very fair on the guests if you have two separate parties who rely on each other to keep the bathroom clean, I think they are contracting with you (not each other) and could reasonably expect a clean bathroom. In my opinion, it's quite problematic that you're taking multiple guest bookings simultaneously, particularly if you're not able to provide them both with a satisfactory experience (due to the fact that they'r erelying on each other to clean the bathroom). I personally would not be happy with that kind of experience as a guest. 

Regarding cleaning fees, I normally tell long term guests that their cleaning fee covers one clean (ie: it's clean when they arrive and it will be cleaned when they depart) and if they'd would like additional cleaning services, that can be organised at a cost of $50 per clean. However, if you're hosting multiple parties of guests, you're in a slightly different boat. In your situation, you could consider charging the guest multiple cleaning fees, proportionate to the number of times you need to clean up after them. I personally don't vary my cleaning fee depending length of stay, although you're entirely right that long term visits require far more cleaning effort than overnight visits. 

3. Yes, I would consider charging extra for laundry if they are doing a lot. Again, I think if you include laundry in your service, you need to expect that some people will take advantage of you and do excessive amounts of laundry. But if it really bothers you, then you could increase your cost. 

Good luck with your hosting!

Rosemary 

[Melanie33]

Hi

Think all the points made have been very good but if your guests are still there then it is very difficult to change your house rules now and expect them to co operate.

Definitely tighten them up for any future guests if you are unhappy about anything or you feel uncomfortable.  We all learn as we go along what we feel right with.

Good luck

Mel

[Helen3]

Here's my take. I don't take long term guests because of the issues you are experiencing.

However if you are going to take them you need to have very clear guest rules in place and when you are introducing them to your home reinforce these.

This will help minimise the impact of having guests in your home.

Don't have Instant Book turned on. Talk to your guests and understand more about their plans for their stay before agreeing to accept them.

How much of the living room and kitchen should be shared? 

Whatever you agree in the description of your listing and house rules is the simple answer. If you say guests are welcome to cook (without any restrictions) then you can't complain when they do.  Making breakfast and dinner is normal.

Going forward you can change your rules, but not fair to the guest if you do it halfway through a booking. What you can do is agree with your guest a time when they will make breakfast and dinner and use the kitchen and dining area, so it doesn't interupt your family life.

Yes if you want have a cupboard guests can use for their own tableware.

2. The bathroom is shared between the 2 airbnb rooms,  we hosts do not use that bathroom, should we clean the bathroom during their stay? or expect them to keep it clean?

If it's in your house rules for guests to keep the bathroom clean and they refuse, you can let them know that if they aren't able to do this, you may need to ask them to use.

3. Laundry 

I would have it in your rules to do laundry - a couple of loads once a week.