Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning and checking.

[Cormac0]

Hi Folks

Commentary:

Having spent the first few months cleaning my apartment before guests arrived, I then engage a cleaner to do the job, I explained that EVERYTHING needs to be checked.

This time round I did the cleaning myself to keep my hand in, and what do I find, finger marks on the cutlery and food residues on my cooking pots.

Don't misunderstand me my cleaner is excellent and I’m very happy with her, she just dropped the ball after all what guest would put back cooking pots back in the cupboards in that condition or put the cutlery back in the draws without washing them first?

Cleaning for domestic use is not the same a cleaning for paying Guest so please no more comments about why guest should pay A cleaning charge.

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE CHECK,

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE CHECK,

 WHEATHER ITS CLEAN OR NOT THIS IS A VERY TIME-CONSUMING ACTIVITY BUT A NESSECERY ONE.

I’m sorry about the polemic but I’m steamed.

Regards

Cormac

ECK III

ECK VIII

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

@Cormac0,

Yep.  

[Ali40]

My mom helps me do the cleaning in my listing. And she checks EVERYTHING. 

[Robin129]

I hope it was just a bad day for your cleaning person. You are correct, everything must be cleaned. I rent just one room so hiring a cleaning peron would be cost prohibative. 

[Lilian20]

Hello @Cormac0  I added one Like to your post because there's something that sounds really familiar in its title..

Enjoy the ride,

Cheers 

[Linda108]

@Cormac0  So true.  My mantra is "inspect what you expect."  Used that mantra managing stafff and parenting my daughter. 😄

[Paul154]

LOL. Guests put away dirty pots into cupboard.

I  would have not caught this.

However, unlike you I would not get too stressed out. I will not create an increased more-to-do list.

While I am impressed by so many good hosts who are so willing to create a perfect home, I find that I have limits to what I can and cannot do.

During a turnover, I have limited time.

Put on clean linens, stock clean towels. Check.

Sweep, mop, wipe down surfaces. Check

Clean toilet. Check.

Anything more is over and above.  It’s not that I don’t care. It’s more that I can’t care.

I would drive myself ragged trying to be perfect.

I was enticed by Airbnb’s koolaid “Find an extra room, slap a bed in it and make money”

I still am. I hope Airbnb will still support the diversity of various levels of service for various needs of guest.

My hope is that I attract a true Airbnb’r. Someone who will see the dirty pot in the cupboard, laugh and reasonably think “A guest must have put that away”. Any other type of guest, I have no interest in pleasing

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Paul154

Yes, guests do put away pots and dishes that are not up to standards, glassware too. That's fine - their good intentions at tidyness are noted. I clean my kitchen stuff with both visual and braille methods. I do not want a guest to find anything that is less than spotless and dried-on-food-less. It really is not all that big of a job to rewash it all, dry with a lint free dishcloth and check for debris on the shelf. It is important to guests that the utensils are not spotted, and the glasses gleaming. When they have not been. things have been left out prominently, for me to find. A rebuke, perhaps, or a reminder. I have 3 hours to make miracles happen. I have found that guests leave the suite the way they find my home - my pride in cleanliness is a broad hint. 

Yes, I do thoroughly clean the bathroom fixtures, shower stall walls, and the floor. I make sure there is no hair, and on the bedlinens no fluff or fuzz. It is a loving preparation, an honoring for the guests arriving. It is a privilege to make a beautiful bed for them, and to make them feel comfortable and confident that they are not encountering leftover anything from the previous guests. It is all for them. 

I remove spiders. From long years as a professional host I know that not everyone appreciates them, and I prefer that they stay alive. I do all this to honor my guests and make them comfortable. It works, so far, for all of us.

[Rachael26]

@Kitty-and-Creek0

I am coming to stay at yours. Amazing!

Best Wishes.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

Thank you @Rachael26! Looking forward to that! 

We have family in Asheville - great place!

[Lois-and-Darryl0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0:  I so appreciate your post.  My husband and I clean our second home inside and out.  It is because we LOVE being Hosts and sharing our beautiful mountain region to visitors.  We would never try to book an incoming Guest on the same day as an outgoing Guest because we want our home to be welcoming and similarly very clean for each and every group of Guests. I envision how I would feel if I were staying in someone else's home and had to use the bathroom that is less than clean.  I wouldn't sleep in their bed very well.  Everyone around us has more Guests, but what we have are Guests who have a memorable experience that they will keep forever; and we love that.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Lois-and-Darryl0

Thank you and thumbs up!

[Theresa111]

Paul, I agree about spiders and such, I had 2 women walk out because of dust spiders or ants, not  just the bugs themselves but they did not want me to use chemicals to get rid of them.  One woman put 50 ant traps and such in the place while she stayed for 2 weeks.  My place is in a rural area and some people dont know how to handle bugs which are normal for this area.

I clean my own place however I have been dong this for 5 years now and it is alot of pressure on me to run home form work and get the place ready in 1 hour at times.  My place is small ,thank god, and usually the quest don't realize how long it takes to get here from NYC, there is always traffic.  So I end up with more time sometimes.

I am debating renting for a week at a time but I don't know if I can find out from AIRbnb if this option will be profitable for me.  Do you know if Airbnb could help with this?

[Alex460]

This bothers me as well. I provide clean towels and bedclothes and vacuum the room.  The toilet and bath are as clean as they're gonna get.  Yet people complain about cleanliness.   I've stayed in hotels priced similarly to my Airbnb. They're disgusting.   Guests seem to think they should be getting an expensive hotel for 40 quid a night. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Alex460

If your place is super clean but old and worn, say so in your description. Guests need to expect and get clean, sanitary, safe. 

As @Cormac0 says, cleanliness is next to godliness - we all know that and expect it for ourselves.