kitchen supplies - impacting cleanliness rating

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Esther13
Level 6
Doylestown, PA

kitchen supplies - impacting cleanliness rating

I am interested in knowing what other hosts provide as far as the kitchen is concerned.  I have fully equipped kitchens and I am considering some changes.  I have 70 pieces of flatware.  If just one piece is dirty, I get a 4 for cleanliness.  Same thing with glasses, dishes, etc.  A cleaning service is not going to go through your cabinets to check and wash every item.  I do a spot check, but I sometimes miss an item.  If anyone cooks, for sure, I have to scrub all the pots.

 

My thought is to reduce the supplies to 4 of each to make it more manageable as far as flatware, dishes, glasses, etc.  I want to keep it more manageable to inspect and clean every item in the kitchen.

 

Actually, it is not worth it to supply most of the kitchen items that I do supply.  The maintenance cost are too high.  Most people don't use the kitchen to justify a higher cleaning cost.  I now state that there is an additional cleaning cost if the house is not left as found.  This is because of the huge cleaning mess left in the kitchen by some guest, but not most.  That has been working in keeping the messes to a minimum.  But I still have the problem with cleanliness ratings.

 

Also, on my listings, as well as others that I have seen, it seems to be a common occurrence for a listing to have many compliments for "sparkling clean" while also having the lowest ratings on "cleanliness".  I have also noticed that when a guests lies to justify a low rating, the next few guests make a point of countering that lie in their reviews.  While that works well for hosts and future guest alike, obviously, changes are badly needed in the host review process.

 

Any ideas on what to eliminate keep beyond the coffee maker, toaster, towels, etc.? 

 

Thank you in advance.

1 Best Answer
Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

@Esther13 I, too, attract amateur gourmands who cook elaborate meals in my space leaving a lot to clean. Our cleaners are great and we go behind them to double-check and disinfect but every now and again something small gets missed. 

 

-Cut down on what you supply. Less to check and you can rotate in new, clean utensils without having to do a load of dishes if you are in a hurry.

 

-Leave a LOT of information about where guests can eat in the area. Sometimes guests will cook because our place is sort of in the middle of nowhere, but there is a really good little mom-and-pop store that makes sandwiches within walking distance. Emphasizing how close that is and leaving a menu on the fridge and in the house guide can help guests to resist the urge to make a mess of the kitchen. 

 

-Block off holidays where elaborate meals are likely to be prepared. We do. My goodness, the last thing I want to do after making Thanksgiving dinner in my primary house is to clean up after one in the Airbnb.

 

-Check the oven after each stay. Some guests are HORRENDOUS in their oven destruction.  Leave oven cleaner and instructions in your house guide under the header "Love to cook? Here are some tips on using our kitchen." We don't demand that people do this, but we do strongly hint that they MIGHT think about checking out the state of the oven before they leave.

 

I wish that people just made sandwiches or salads in our kitchen. Or went to some of the great restaurants in the area  and just made coffee. But there are many guests who seem to spend all their time baking and cooking while on vacation. Boggles my mind, as I really can't imagine doing that when I am trying to relax!

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@Amy-and-Brian0I charge the "excessive cleaning fee" when there are several issues.  Mostly, this happens when I have guests who cook with oil.  There will be burnt on grease on the bottom of the pan and grease inside the pan.  There will also be grease splatter on the wall, under the overhead microwave and grease brunt onto the glass cook top.  The charge is minimal. I have seen a significant improvement since I put the policy into effect.  This one house has a 4 night minimum and gets guests who stay a while and want to cook.

 

I have had incidents of people staining towels and washcloths.  Sometimes, it will be several pieces of linen.  If I can get the stains out, I am happy.  But if I have to throw the linens away, I will charge.  Accounting for normal wear and tear, it is usually about $10.

 

I am very particular about my houses and my guests.  If my policies turn some people away, I am fine with that.  Due to the tremendous economy this year, we got more business than we can handle.  This year, I am making changes so that we can handle our bookings without compromising on quality.

Erica266
Level 5
Ushuaia, Argentina

i have only for the guests, no extra, 6 glasses, 6 mugs, 6 wine glasses, 6 plates, etc, that´s why i alwys say thet if the guest breaks something, please they have to let me know cause i dont have spares. 
I find it´s best to give only esentials.

Piotr48
Level 10
Wrocław, Poland

I also have only for the guests. I used to have more but some guests use every glass/plate/spoon available and leave them dirty so it's extra work for me. Some load dishwasher with dirty items and never turn it on.

@Piotr48 I have this issue with linens.  If I leave, say, 20 bath towels out for 2 guests for 3 days, every single one will be used, causing my cleaner maximum grief (towels by far take the longest for her to launder).  Even the extra bedsheets/pillows/pillowcases somehow get used!

@Pat271  Why would you leave 20 bath towels for 2 guests for 3 days? I'd leave 4. I only host one guest at a time in a private room in my home and they get 2 bath towels, a hand towel, and a washcloth to last a week. No guest has ever complained and sometimes I find only one bath towel has been used.

I looked after a neighbor's Airbnb for a month and they left all the towels accessible- 2 guys managed to go through 17 bath towels, all the dish towels, and all the hand towels in a week. They had a same day turnover, and the owner had told me where the clean towels were kept, but the shelves were bare- I had to quick quick do a load of laundry.

 

@Sarah977  Being an ignorant new host, I used to just casually leave everything in the linen closet, assuming guests would use what they need.  I learned. 🙂

 

That brings up another question.  Lately, it seems some guests expect there to be enough of a supply of linens and towels to last their entire stay, even if they are staying a week or two.  They are expecting the same level of linen replenishment as if it were a hotel.  I was told by one guest, “There aren’t enough linens and towels here for our (1-week) stay.  This should be stock”.  

 

I do provide a washer and dryer for their use.  

 

Here is an excerpt from another review I got:

 

“The beds were comfortable and the kitchen had everything we needed to cook a variety of meals. I would suggest stocking more bath towels and kitchen towels, as we were constantly washing ours to have clean ones on hand.”

 

Imagine, they had to rewash their 2 sets each of bath towels for a 10-day stay!  (a little sarcasm there)

 

Always trying to improve, I did run out and buy more dish towels (I only had 3).

 

Anyone else experience this expectation lately?  Also curious if anyone provides ”number of nights times linens“ depending on length of stay.

@Sara977  I used to leave a closet full of towels.  Then I had a guests who used every towel in the closet for a 5 night stay.  Despite the fact that there is a washer and a dryer, they never used them for the towels.  They then left a 3 star review and said they didn't like the towels. 

 

a week after that, I had guests for 2 nights.  They too used all the towels.  After that, I removed the extra towels.  I now have one towel for maximum number of guest for each house. 

 

I have a washer and dryer in all houses except one.  The house without the washer and dryer had guests for 2 weeks.  They complained about lack of a washer for the linens in the review which is the worse review I ever got.  Then again, I also had several stays of guests who stayed a month and never complained and gave 5 star reviews. 

 

Given the tall tales I have seen in bad reviews I have gotten, I know the problem is with the guests and not me.  My goal now is to maximize my enjoyment of hosting and minimize the occurrences of accepting unappreciative guests.

 

The hosts should have an opportunity to answer the review question "would you have these guests again" until after we see their review.  Many times I have said yes, but after seeing their reviews, I would never accept them again. Going forward, I should skip answering that question since my answer depends on the guest rating (appreciation).

@Esther13  Can we actually skip filling out some part of the review and still have it submit and be published? I didn't think so.

True, you can't please all guests all the time. There will always be someone who complains about something not one other guest has had any issues with. All we can do is vet guests as well as possible and let absurd complaints roll off us and move on. The fact that they can tank your rating, though, is the bummer.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Pat271  Most hosts here advise not allowing guests to wash the towels and sheets. This is because guests will just throw everything in a hot wash, setting in stains so they can never be removed. Hosts like to inspect the linens and pre-treat any stains appropriately so the stuff doesn't end up being trashed.

As a home-host, it's easy for me to offer a guest clean sheets and towels when needed. I offer a change once a week. (I have a 2 week max booking setting) If the guest stays for 10 days, I'll offer halfway through, at the 5 day mark. Depending on your hosting situation, you would have to adapt that if it's inconvenient for you to drop clean linens off, of you could leave enough for their stay (but not 20 towels for 2 guests for 3 days  🙂

And of course, I'll make exceptions for some circumstances, as when one of my guests was sick in bed for an entire day her 3rd day here. I offered her clean sheets the next day, as it would seem to me to be yucky to have to sleep on sheets you laid around sweating on all day and night.

As for those guests who expect hotel-type service, I think you just have to politely explain to them that an Airbnb isn't a hotel and that it doesn't work the same way. I state in my listing description that I give clean towels and bedding once a week.

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Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

@Esther13 I, too, attract amateur gourmands who cook elaborate meals in my space leaving a lot to clean. Our cleaners are great and we go behind them to double-check and disinfect but every now and again something small gets missed. 

 

-Cut down on what you supply. Less to check and you can rotate in new, clean utensils without having to do a load of dishes if you are in a hurry.

 

-Leave a LOT of information about where guests can eat in the area. Sometimes guests will cook because our place is sort of in the middle of nowhere, but there is a really good little mom-and-pop store that makes sandwiches within walking distance. Emphasizing how close that is and leaving a menu on the fridge and in the house guide can help guests to resist the urge to make a mess of the kitchen. 

 

-Block off holidays where elaborate meals are likely to be prepared. We do. My goodness, the last thing I want to do after making Thanksgiving dinner in my primary house is to clean up after one in the Airbnb.

 

-Check the oven after each stay. Some guests are HORRENDOUS in their oven destruction.  Leave oven cleaner and instructions in your house guide under the header "Love to cook? Here are some tips on using our kitchen." We don't demand that people do this, but we do strongly hint that they MIGHT think about checking out the state of the oven before they leave.

 

I wish that people just made sandwiches or salads in our kitchen. Or went to some of the great restaurants in the area  and just made coffee. But there are many guests who seem to spend all their time baking and cooking while on vacation. Boggles my mind, as I really can't imagine doing that when I am trying to relax!

@Laura2592  I wouldn't want to spend my holiday cooking either, but there are lots of people who really love to cook. There isn't anything not relaxing for them about it- they find it a joy, not a chore.

@Sarah977 I know. But I don't get it. My mom used to always tell us it was rude to use someone else's kitchen lol. I think she would say this to get out of cooking when we were on vacation. 

@Laura2592  As someone who can think of 100 things I'd rather do than cook and wishes I could just live on air, I don't get it either 🙂 But I have friends and family who love nothing better than preparing meals and have had guests like that, too.