Additional fee for guests who are home all the time

[Alys0]

Hello! I’m new to hosting this year and I’m trying to figure out a fair way to approach a problem I’ve now had a few times with guests.

My city only allows me to rent per month due to our zoning, so I have followed the law and done long-term bookings only. This has led to, unfortunately, a scenario where I feel like I have a vampiric roommate who never helps with housework, uses all my paper products and hot water, and in a few cases never seems to leave the house!

In the case of one guest it was all of the above, which has led me to a few amendments to my listing. First, I’ve included that my house is not suitable as a work-live space. The guest in question had a job for a few days, but quit it very shortly after arriving. Since after that they were home, in the room, I would say 98% of the time. Since I work at home, needless to say this is awkward for me, and led me to amend my listing to clarify that I am not able to host work-live, but am happy to recommend local co-working spaces.

The second change I am thinking about is where I would love some feedback from other hosts. I am contemplating adding a more full-service option to my listing, where, for an additional $100 I would do additional cleaning, bedding changes, dishes, and provide all sundries. Alternately I have thought about increasing my cleaning fee (currently $50, to cover professional cleaning of a white rug), to cover this. I hesitate because some people do want to provide their own TP, dish soap, etc, and have the agency to run and empty the dishwasher without handholding (unlike my current guy, who has told me he hates cleaning)-- so is it important to keep this optional?

Thanks so much, Airbnb-fam, for your thoughts!

[Christine615]

That's a hard one, because most guests would be expecting use of the house for the full month. I think I would, even when I'm working in an area.

With "roommates" there is an expectation that cleaning will be shared but with room rental some people have different expectations. We finally had to put in our listing "return the apartment the way you received it," and spell out that guests are expected to wash and put away their own dishes.

I looked at your listing and you've done a good job explaining what guests do and do not get. You might want to spell out  the additional rules you want (provide your own toiletries and food, change and wash linens once a week, wash and put away your own dishes).

But for the most part, what I've found is that some of my guests are a dream, others seemed to expect someone who cleaned up after them. If your guest "quit" their job shortly after arriving - it sounds like they are depressed (new place, no job, no friends in the area). If that's the case reach out.

But for them to leave so soon sounds like they might have been fired. If that's the case, combined with being lazy there's a red flag. Either way, you might explain it's not a good fit and ask them to start looking for an alternative.

As for charging for cleaning for the rug? I wouldn't. I put white and light beige rugs down to give the apartment a "clean look" and am already seeing the folly of that because I had to buy a rug shampooer. Winter is going to mean mud - sigh. But that's a host issue not a guest issue. For guests, you might want to switch to something darker.

[Alys0]

He told me about why he left the job-- he chose to leave, and he is a writer so he is writing/working at home now, and didn't ask me if the status change worked for me. I have now clarified in my listing that I cannot host people who want to work out of the space, and say I can recommend a co-working space nearby. I also added that guests need to help with basic housekeeping like taking out the trash and putting away dishes, etc. I've also upped the cleaning fee, to cover my time if I do a lot of cleaning up after them. I feel like I may be too high now, but I guess I'll find out.

I do charge the cleaning fee specifically for cleaning the rug, it is $50 to take it to a local professional cleaner, and I do it maybe every other guest. I've gotten a lot of compliments on the decor, people really seem to like it. Since they cover the carpet cleaning cost it's not a big deal that it's white. It covers spills etc on the rug, as well as wear and tear, etc. 

What I haven't taken into account thus far is taxes, and obviously I need to start doing that as well. I've had several guests tell me I'm in a very reasonable price range so I've just increased $3/night with the thought to cover the taxes to some extent this way. I guess I'll see if anyone books, or if I get other feedback about it.

PS. I'm in the southeast so we don't have that whole snow/mud thing to contend with, just sand.

[Gordon0]

Lose the rug. Get a more practical version if you think you need to. Guests won't notice the difference. 

[Paul154]

The solution is easy. 

Take away the kitchen amenity.

This will solve one million problems.

They will not make a mess, they will leave to go eat.

To hang around your house and in your space is not as attractive.

Surprisingly, you won't lose a lot of business. You will attract working people who just want a place to sleep.

Sorry about your bad regulations.

[Gordon0]

Not sure if people will find a 'no kitchen' rule attractive for month-long stays. 

[Alys0]

Paul, re: regulations. There is a contingent of wealthy white people in the city, in the area where short term Airbnb is allowed. They wish they lived in a gated community, and get angry when that illusion is disrupted by People Living Lives, so to speak. So they complain to the city about the evils of Airbnb, when really their privilege is showing. The city still hasn't got definitive rules about homeshare vs Short Term Vacation Rental (ie whole house for a weekend, etc). They are working on it but the people in this single neighborhood are disproportionately Heard, unfortunately. I am just trying to make enough to start repairing this 1930's house, which is getting there, but next up is an exterior paint job which will, I think, really level things up 🙂 Going to take 5 or 6 mo to get there though, at this rate.

[Philippa52]

Thanks Paul, appreciated- I'm just offering the bedroom and use of the main bathroom. I've had tenants for years and despite promises, they sulk when it comes to plugging in the vac. AND I think my listing is under-priced by AirBnb. I followed the Tip that advised to keep it low, it's reduced by a Special til end of Nov yet my Listing Appeal is low, apparently due to my room price which is the cost of a couple of pints in a trendy pub round here. Yet when I look at the Airbnb Home page, there is a series of glamour shots, possibly from Vogue showing listings in my neighbourhood for $200 etc. Do I increase the fee now or suffer until i get some wonderful reviews... thanks Philippa

[Alys0]

I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies. I posted about this on airbnbhostforums.com and got a very negative response and was told I was an unfit host! Further, the moderators there were snarky when I asked to delete the post and my account on the site. Apparently they are unable to remove me from the site (??!)-- so I'd recommend avoiding them or any other unofficial forum. There are enough trolls on the internet, and I was super disappointed at how, in spite of community guidelines, people were allowed to say what they did. Anyways, thanks to the folks who replied here, you addressed my question and replied kindly.