There's cleaning... and then there's cleaning

[Patricia55]

I read on a thread recently – sorry, can't remember where – about some guest saying that if they were paying a cleaning fee that meant they didn't have to lift a finger...

Whut?!

OK, full disclosure: cleaning isn't my forte or my joy! But since we started hosting we realised we'd have to raise our standards, given that we're sharing our home with others. I figure the same applies to guests.

To my mind, someone using the cleaning fee as an excuse for not doing ANY house-keeping is probably a lazy slob.

I reckon there's slow muck and quick muck; I WOULD'NT expect a (short term) guest to do any dusting, vacuuming, shower-cleaning, (window-cleaning!) etc. I WOULD expect any guest to clean up after any sudden, accidental spillages... (or at least let me know so I could help!).. cos, otherwise they're just wallowing in their own filth, if they're staying for any length of time!!

Jeebus, it's just common sense.

[Patricia55]

@Sally221 

Yay! Good thoughts, thanks 🙂  Mind you, I should probably do a little less of the comfort-eating/drinking, methinks 😉

[Linda-And-Richard0]

@Patricia55  Our listing in a 3 beddroom, 2 bath house..  Ew charge a cleaning fee of $50.00..  Guests are not aked or expected to vacuum, mop or do laundry such as towels and linens. We do not ask them to strip beds at check-out.  I do expect them to wash dishes and other kitchen items they may use during their stay.  I expect them to leave the refridgerator and range as clean as they found it.  Guest are requested to place garbage and other trash in the outside trash can.  I expect them to clean up spills that occur.   I don't think this is too much to ask of any guest.

[Sandra957]

Most of the guests I have hosted clean up after themselves , however my last guest stayed for two nights and has ruined a duvet cover, pillow cases and protector with what appears to be lots of make up or something similar, whatever it is it won’t come off the bed linen . The guest had stripped the bed and left the dirty linen screwed up in amongst the towels . 

I have given her a bad review however I’m presuming that she hasn’t completed one as no review has shown up as yet.  Is there anyway to warn any other hosts of her unacceptable behaviour ?

[Rowena29]

@Sandra957 

Leaving an honest review is the best way of warning future hosts.

Many hosts will look at the reviews of guests left by hosts and can and will cancel if they see something that makes them uncomfortable. I hope you marked down on stars also - ie didn't just use words.

Your review of the guest will be visible to all when the guest leaves you a review OR 14 days after checkout, when the window to review closes.

Regards

[Sandra957]

Thanks. @Rowena29 wasn’t sure if my review would show if the guest didn’t review me. 

[Nancie5]

One of the most basic issues I find with guests is that they DON'T READ!  My manual clearly states that the $50 cleaning fee covers changing and cleaning of bath & bed linens, cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming and dusting.  It also clearly states that they are welcome to use the Keuriff, micorwave, toaster and stove for tea water but that the stove is off limits unless they are here a week or longer and that they are expected to return the space to me in the clean condition they found it in, specifically the kitchen.   My in-houe manuals states the same thing.  And, I have a small "gentle reminder" in my welcome letter which is in a picture frame on the kitchen table.  Most of my guests are great about this, but some simply DO NOT READ.  But, all this effort I think cuts down on the issue substantially.

Of course, I have very specific check-in & check-out times, clear and complete instructions on how to check-in, etc and house rules that do not allow drinking or parties & events as we live on the first floor of the three-family that we rent out.  So .... I have had guests bring unregistered guests to our home and have found them lounging around on our private front porch, ringing our doorbell and asking directions to "the party", have had guest try to break into my private front entrace in the middle of the night rather than arriving on time or reading their check-in instructions and guest who have entered the wrong apartment and yelling, sometimes at midnight, through the hallways that the space they entered is deficient, when it was the wrong unit to begin with.  

If you have a unit in a building that you also live in and that is less than 5 units in total, you DO NOT have to accept "service" dogs.  That is one of the first caveats in my listing.  I have found folks try to trick me into bringing their "service dogs" that are not really service dogs, by just showing up with them.  

And, one of my biggest bugs is that people only reserve for 1 person then bring a their spouses, children, parents and baby sitters so they don't have to pay the extra fee.  So, upon registration, confirm the dates and number of people and tell them that no unregistered guests are allowed in your unit and what your maximum number is.  If their needs fit into your parameters, change the reservation by editing it to the correct number of guests.

Some of these defense moves do help.

Nancie

[Yulianna0]

@Patricia55, I’m afraid that some people are thinking that things are done and cleaned by miracle. They will literally try not to move a finger. But will open their mouth to complain, for sure:) 

In my case I ask guests not to make dishes. I trust myself and I prefer to keep my standards. Many people are trying to ignore it, as it is unthinkable for them not to clean after themselves. 

Those who leave the room dirty are getting negative review for sure. Home sharing is for people, not for pigs! 

[Patricia55]

@Yulianna0 @Nancie5 

I could be wrong but really don't think ever-lengthening house rules have the desired effect – TL;DR and some people just don't, or can't, do cleaning. I reckon you could have a big poster on each wall, giving explicit, step-by-step instructions, with diagrams, on how to clean that particular area of the home, and it would still be ignored by some. (And your place would look like some institution...)

I agree with those who've said that the solution would be for hosts* to have control over the deposit and to be able to use it to cover extra cleaning costs. But Airbnb just does not co-operate with hosts** in that regard; instead they control the deposit and they take the side of guests. Presumably they think hosts should just absorb the extra costs, who knows...

[*possibly only hosts who have a proven record, in order to avoid scammers?]

[**Oh I forgot! Except for the big professionals, who are allowed to request CASH deposits from guests on arrival, according to threads on here...]

Maybe a solution for hosts would be to put aside a certain amount of money each month, as a contingency fund, for the hopefully rare case of guests leaving places in a terrible state. Hosts could then take stock on an annual basis, and determine whether or not it's financially viable.

(We're an on-site hosts; we do the cleaning ourselves; haven't had any gross guests, just a few about whom we have a good old grumble... but I still feel outraged when I read about guests' behaviour...)

The only other “weapon” we have against slobby guests is the review... ha! That only seems to work if we make sure we haven't given guests a clue that we're p*ssed off about the state in which they've left the place, which would alert them to the fact that we were going to give them a bad review, and thus triggering the retaliatory review! (The review system is SO broken...)

[Ange2]

@Patricia55   I always tell guests right away, it took a bit of practice to get to the place where it could be delivered in a light-hearted, matter-of-fact, neutral way.  But now it is no big deal.  Half the battle is not caring what review they give you.  I'm at that point,  rather a bad review than having to endure a slob for days expecting me to clean up after them.  Most of my guests are respectful, responsible and clean so it doesn't happen that often. But cleaning up after themselves is part of my spiel when they arrive, I just throw in the mix of showing them around.  I also realized that if I said nothing and didn't do their dishes or clean up after them (apart from feeling frustrated and annoyed)  they dinged me for their uncleanliness!  Only one couple retaliated, that I know of, with peevish feedback and a dinged rating.

[Helen350]

I think we UK hosts are more fortunate than those in the US @Patricia55 . Most of the horror stories about dirty guests seem to come from the US..... My experience is that in the UK, the type of person that books airbnb, tends to be the decent sort, thankfully. 

[Lucia152]

Maybe there is a difference in cleaning expectations between a place in the city vs. a vacation rental. I have the latter, in a ski/summer vacation area - a converted barn in the Catskill mountains. Most of our  rentals are weekends, but we do get a few week-long and longer term rentals as well (we've rented to one family for the entire winter season for the past few years, who pays for the entire season just to be able to drive up on weekends to ski). Our guests are mostly well-off Manhattanites and Brooklyn hipsters.

In any case, I don't have a problem with people on vacation not wanting to do cleaning as part of their vacation. I charge a $100 Cleaning Fee that actually covers the work that needs to be done (cleaning and laundry) after they vacate. With a recent rental with a dog I raised the fee to $160 to cover the inevitable extra washing. No one has ever complained. 

Nor has anyone yet left a big mess or caused substantial damage. The worst of it is big, sheddy, or oily dogs (like labs) that require the sofa covers and quilts to be washed, which can add hours onto the cleaning time, so I try to screen those out. Once our seasonal renters' kid left scratch marks in the butcher block and stair railing that had to be sanded out, but they were happy to pay for it.

I have little signs around the kitchen that explain what sort of cleaning supplies to use on each surface, and everyone cleans spills and the like up after themselves.

[Patricia55]

Thanks, y'all, for keeping my perspective straight! Most guests are good (I think). [My partner keeps telling me I get too worked up over things 😉 - just as well one of us is laid-back, eh?]

@Ange2  Love your attitude of telling people straight – but nice! - and not giving a *** about reviews, though it does help if you have a good stock of reviews/statistics in place – I feel sad for new hosts who feel they can't tell the truth because they're so desperate for good reviews.

@Helen350  Yes, me too, I was getting the impression that the bulk of the hosting horror stories were coming from the US, but I guess that's because of their higher population and that Airbnb is more generally used there. Here too, I'm thankful that our guests are pretty well-behaved 🙂

@Lucia152  Glad to hear all goes well for you – as mentioned, it's a story I needed to hear 🙂 - and that your gentle reminders to guests are doing the trick!

[Kath9]

@Patricia55, common sense, hahahahahahahaha! Good one!

[Nancy26]

There is cleaning and tidying up.  If someone is paying the cleaning fee then they should NOT have to clean including stripping beds, washing anything, mopping, sweeping.  YES they should wash dirty dishes or load dishwasher and that is tidying up  after themselves. YES clean up spills and messes, broken glass, etc. 

[Brian-And-Elizabeth0]

We clean everything, but we have to cater to city folks who expect the world for $125 a night, and large parties that trash the place.  I lost my superhost status because a lady felt the baseboards were dirty and there was a moth in the light fixture.  We live in the country, the place is Huge and has dozens of amenities, and yet some picky lady can publicly trash my ratings, even after I let them check out late and asked repeatedly if there was anything they needed.  It was her first time as an Airbnb guest and I imagine she felt she was a travel writer, who knew all about Airbnb, but if she wants clean baseboard and a perfect place, well then she should go to Odell Lake, where she can rent a real dump for $250 a night, or maybe Belknap Hot Springs, but there it will cost her $450 a night.   How do you keep these pennypinchers from expecting the Ritz Carlton in Paris, while having large groups attend for summer fun?

I am frustrated with paying more for cleaning than I charge, spending all my time cleaning to have some arbitrary lady critique me unfairly online, because I have no recourse if she decides to screw up my business for a one night stay. 

I tried to reply and Airbnb wouldn't allow me to explain the comparable values to this guest.