Guests who ask for fresh linen

[Penelope9]

What do you do with guests requesting fresh linen and towels?

I feel it’s reasonable for me to provide fresh linen after a few days but not daily. (The studio comes with full linen doona 4 pillows 3 towels etc)

a guest requested it after 5 days and I was surprised.

i think I should state my policy to avoid miscommunication.

I have a few long stay guests coming up staying 7-21 days and I imagine they expect change of linen. But there’s no way I can provide daily linen as it’s already a very cheap place and I work FT...

what is is your approach?

[Ricardo85]

@Penelope9 

Remember him you are not a Hotel

Also, you can always charge for fresh linen.

Ricardo

[Gordon0]

I'm confused, @Penelope9; you say you think it's 'reasonable for me to provide fresh linen after a few days', yet you're surprised the guests have asked after five?

I provide a linen change after a week (just like at home) but towels after 3/4 days. 

[Donald28]

Frankly, I'm surprised that you wouldn't give fresh towels and bed linens after 5 days. That's not asking a lot. 

[Susan1404]

@Penelope9after 5 days, unless I could wash the linens myself, I would also want a fresh set.  I wash my own linens and towels at least once a week.  I read your post a second time, and it appears you might mean the guests asked for fresh linens 5 days in a row maybe?  If so, that is excessive and you might want to explain that staying in an Airbnb is not like staying a hotel.  I would be tactful in your reply and offer to change them a little more often just to make them happy, just not every day.

[Sarah977]

@Penelope9  I state in my listing that fresh linen and towels are provided once a week. That way, if a guest should expect more than that, I can say " I'm sorry, but it's clearly stated in my listing that I do linen and towel changes once a week". Although in fact, that situation has never happened.

That said, in reality I adjust that to the length of the guest's stay. If they are staying more than a week, but less than 2 weeks, I'd offer halfway through their stay, as it seems silly to offer fresh stuff if they are only staying 2 more days. So if they have a 10 day booking, I'll offer at day 5.

I also offer clean stuff if the guest should really need it for some reason. I've had a couple of guests get sick during their stay and spend the day in bed. In that case, I offered clean linen the following morning, as it's yucky to sleep on sheets you've lain around on all day sweating and feeling ill. Being attentive and pro-active on things like that can earn you good reviews. 

[Penelope9]

“linen and towel changes once a week”

This is what I was after

because i am new to longer term stays I wasn’t sure the acceptable frequency

So, I should tell them I will

come in after a week to turnover the linen and clean the place as well?

in Australia we have very strict rules about not entering rented premises so I never expected to enter when the guest is staying - but now I will - to clean.

[Sarah977]

@Penelope9  I have a 2 week maximum myself, but hosts who do long-term bookings do recommend going in once a week to change out linens, add used-up amenities, and do a quick clean. This enables you to make sure the guests aren't living like pigs, keep the mess at bay, and hopfully encourages guests to keep the place from turning into a disaster area. Needs to be mentioned in the listing, also re-iterated in message to guest when they book, and a suitable time arranged for this that hopefully works for both your schedule and the guests'.

Personally, I never enter the guest space during a booking, unless they ask me to for some reason, but like I said, I have a 2 week max. Also I host in my home and the guests often leave their bedroom door open when home, as it opens onto the balcony where they have a lovely view and fresh air. So I sometimes get a glance as I walk by and can see that the guests are keeping everything tidy (plus I just tend to get guests who obviously don't like living in a mess). When I offer the linen change, I ask if they would like me to do it or do it themselves. So far they have all said they'd do it themselves, which tells me they want their privacy.

But if I did longer term bookings, I'd definitely arrange to go in and clean once every week or two..

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Penelope9  we state in our house rules : MANDATORY light cleaning and towels change 1x week.

If the guest requests it we can also change the sheets but usually, guests are ok if sheets are changed every 14 days.

Of course, it is flexible, depending if the guest stay 10 or 14 nights we adjust it somewhere in the middle of the stay

We make it mandatory so we can check the place after a week.