What do you think about sending this note to guests?

[Inna22]

One of my homes gets consistently downgraded for cleaningness. It is old. The hardwood floors are extremely worn, cabinets are patched up, there are really old odd sized air registers (can not be replaced). There are many layers of paint and some have dirt specs stuck in the paint. It is scrubbed clean every time. All furniture and bedding is brand new. Anything I could do (stair treads, , wall decals etc) has been done. Now I just need perspective of the guests and see old as old not as dirty. I am thinking of sending this message to every guest prior to arrival:

I am looking forward to hosting your group. One note about the house: it is a traditional older Wicker Park home. I hope staying here will contribute to your authentic experience of Chicago. I have put a lot of time and effort into making it sparkling clean. Every corner has been scrubbed, every linen washed. It still remains to be an older home with worn out hardwood floors, multiple layers of paint and squeaky stairs.

I kindly ask that you consider these factors when judging the cleaningness  of the home. If you find that the actual quality of cleaning has been compromised – please contact me immediately so it can be remedied. My goal to offer an all around five star service.

[Alexandra316]

@Inna22 I like it: I would be fine with receiving this type of message from a host. You're not begging for a favorable review, you're just setting expectations clearly and appropriately.

[Ricardo85]

@Inna22 

Take a look at this video. It might help.

Ricardo

[Pat271]

Looks fine, except change cleaningness to cleanliness.

[Inna22]

@Pat271 thank you. I always struggle with that word and autocorrect never helps. 

[Lisa723]

@Inna22 Content seems fine. Re. English, I would change "still remains to be" to "remains", "worn out" [implies past end of useful life] to "worn", "I kindly ask that you consider" to "I ask that you kindly consider", and "My goal to offer" to "My goal is to offer".

[Inna22]

@Lisa723 Thank you!!

[Ute42]

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@Inna22   

Very good move.

I have the same problem You have. I have a house that was originally built in 1870 and until the summer of 2017 again and again I had issues with cleanlyness. After an unpleasant confrontation with guests in august 2017 I changed my policy, and ever since I send out a pre booking informtion to guests that is very similar to Yours. I even tell the guests that they will find dust in some corners. Ever since I do that, cleanlyness complaints have come to a complete stillstand.

The last sentence of the information I'm sending to guests is:

• This place is no good choice for picky people.

You may think this is a little rude, but it works. Since August 2017 only 2 groups of guests decided not to book my place after they received this message. But 75 Groups of guests did book my place and I had my peace of mind with them.

Here's the original text, I have no time to translate it but run it through google translate and You get the idea of it.

-------------------------

Hier noch zwei Hinweise.

• Die Grundfeste dieses Hauses stammen aus dem Jahr 1870. Trotz aller Renovierungen ist und bleibt es ein altes Haus. Die Dielen im 1. Stock knarzen, die Türstöcke oben sind niedrig und man muß den Kopf einziehen, und es gibt überall Ritzen und Ecken in denen man Staubkörner finden kann wenn man genau sucht.

• Sowohl das Haus wie auch die Einrichtung weisen Gebrauchsspuren auf. Ich vermiete auch an Familien mit Kinden, ich kann nicht jedesmal wenn ein Kind einen Fleck oder einen Kratzer in den Tisch macht die Platte abschleifen lassen und den Gästen 500 Euro berechnen.

Dieses Haus hat Hüttencharakter und eignet sich nicht für penible Gäste.

[Susan17]

@Inna22 

I agree with @Ute42 - definitely a good move!

My home is far, far from perfect, and from day one, I've had in my listing.."And finally, if it's a sterile, generic hotel environment you're after, our place is probably not for you"

Seems to have worked well - I've actually been pretty shocked at how few guests have complained about stuff they'd probably have been perfectly  justified in complaining about  😉

[Clara116]

@Ute42 love it and your honesty. Having lived in and married to a German guy for 10 yrs I really appreciate your direct and straight forward approach. Most folks from Germany would flip out about what the cleaniness standard seems to be here in the US. Way below those in your home land. I am hopeful I don't get alot of negative reaction from other folks about my last comment. It's how I've lived it. Best regards, Clara

[Robin4]

@Inna22 

Inna , I can't find issue with the fact that you want to try to head off any criticism by fore warning guests, after all I do exactly the same thing with my review explanation page in my house rules folder.

Like you and @Ute42 , I host in an old run down property, and like you I do feel the need to 'apologise' for the state of it.....everything is not new and shiny!

But when I read that statement of yours Inna, it does to me seem that you are trying to get future guests to excuse you for things that you maybe should be proud of! It reads like you are responding to criticism!

How about something like......"The Ritz, my place isn't, but if you are looking for old world charm and character, you will find it here in bucket loads. Because it's old so much more effort goes into retaining that character and I hope you will enjoy and appreciate that!"

You may find something like that will get guest to appreciate what you do rather than criticise you for it Inna.

Cheers......Rob

[Rowena29]

@Inna22 , I SO hear you on this one.  I have an older style house and I was getting marked down on cleanliness also. When I asked what was dirty, guests would refer to chipped laminate, or scratches on the floorboards.  So I do a couple of things in a similar vein to your idea.

I say in my listing  "Large, practical, OLDER style kitchen. (It's dated and a bit worn around the edges in places but it's scrupulously scrubbed)"    and    "the ensuite's dated, but CLEAN and the water pressure is FABULOUS - we guarantee you will LOVE to have a shower here."

in my welcome message after booking I say, amongst other things,  something like,  as per the listing description both the kitchen and bathrooms are far from state of the art - there is minor cosmetic damage. However everything is routinely scrubbed, and it's large, practical and functional.

and finally in my house manual

The kitchens and bathrooms are routinely scrubbed.  . In some areas there are cosmetic issues – as repeatedly noted in the listing. There’s a bit of peeling of some laminate, there’s some discolouration, there’s some staining, especially the grout in the bathrooms. This is not from a lack of cleaning. It’s age.  If you feel something is genuinely dirty or there is a problem, just let us know and we’ll do our best to rectify

Not foolproof but since i've implemented it's helped a lot.   

I think the info in the welcome message packs the biggest punch so IMO you're on the money

Cheers

[Inna22]

@Rowena29 I like the expression "cosmetic issues". I should use it. Great idea to put in the house book as well

[Sarah3195]

Just a grammatical note that in this context 'linen' is an uncountable noun, so it should be 'all the linen' not 'every linen'.

Sorry, for being picky.

[Robin4]

@Sarah3195 

Hey just an aside....that building in the background of your profile photo wouldn't be Malahide Castle just outside Dublin by any chance, would it. We had a great experience there in 1999.

I would so love to redo that trip, a return to my roots!

Cheers......Rob