make the bed or not

[Margaret273]

Hi everyone, I am a newby only starting to airbnb this month so excuse if this is a stupid question.

I have only had a few one night stays which is good for me to get the hang of things. 

I now have a 5 night stay booked and my question is, do I go into the room and make the bed, refresh tea, coffee etc or do I let them have total privacy and me not open the door until they go?

I do not charge a cleaning fee just the basic price.

thanks all.

[Elena87]

@Margaret273

No need to provide a maid service Margaret, let them manage themselves and give them privacy.

You can ask in the passing if everything to do with tea/coffee/towels is fine.

[Robin4]

@Margaret273

Hi there Margaret and welcome to the best hosting platform on the planet!

Home hosting is not like a hotel where the guest puts the card on the door handle to either have the room made up or not. Most guests know the difference, and they know they are coming to a hosts house and do not want (or expect) you to be hammering on the door to do this or that at regular intervals.

I tell guests who are staying for more than a week when they arrive that, with their permission I like to enter the cottage to change the bed linens, towels and give the listing a quick vacumm and going over every 4 days. This is what I do for us in the main house and guests should be no different. Some who are staying a week will say, 'don't bother'....so I don't! Some will simply say can you leave the linens and towels on the bed and they will do it themselves....and that is fine. Or they will give me the go-ahead to service the listing every four days.

Margaret, let the guest make the decision, don't arbitarilly make it for them.

Cheers......Rob

[Cormac0]

@Margaret273

Only if you think your running a hotel business....

@Robin4surely you mean the universe!

[Robin4]

@Cormac0

Cormac my friend, I am detecting a subtle shift in your stance where Airbnb is concerned!

It wasn't so long ago you were heartbroken about a series of less than perfect guests and were considering other hosting paths.

From the tone of this post you must have struck a 'motherload' of 5 star guests!!....And mate I unreservably hope you have!

An Irishman needs a few good breaks in Krakow!

Cheers......Rob

[Margaret273]

Thanks everyone, this has really helped. As its only 5 night I will just ask if they need anything replenishing when I see them. I do not really want anyone long term over a week anyway so this will work well. thanks again all.

[Barry54]

We've been hosting for 18 months now. We let one room in our house.
We do reserve the right to enter the room and clean if necessary and empty bins (so many guests bring food into the room). We don't make the bed as a rule, but may straighten it while we're vacuuming etc. If a guest is staying for up to 5 nights we'll not change the bed linen, otherwise we change it every 3 or 4 days. Towels get changed (or at least refreshed in the dryer) every second day. Our tea & coffee table is not in the room so gets replenished daily.

[Rachel0]

@Barry54I have made it a house rule that no food is allowed in the room as I got blasted by the smell of noodles that come in a tub to which you add hot water far too many times - it's a difficult smell to get rid of.  These days I tell guests that they are welcome to eat their noodles or take away food in our kitchen diner and I will provide them with crockery and cutlery.  However, I do tell guest that I empty the bins every couple of days, make sure the fresh flowers haven't died and also ensure there is enough loo paper etc.  

[Barry54]

@Rachel0, we have that in our house rules too, but as has been pointed out many times on here, guests don't read. They may use the kitchen or dining room, but they don't.