A guest left with a mess

[Pia434]

I have a guest stay for 49 nights and I charge her $125 for cleaning fee. She said she left me $20 tips when she packing out. I was like “you don’t have to”. Soon after she confirmed checked out, I realized why. She left a lot of garbage in the unit. The fridge was full of used and unused food. All the garbage bin was full.  Personal belongings are everywhere. It feels like she left everything here except herself. I collect 5 bags of garbage. 5 bags! That includes: rot apple, food, her underwear, shaver products etc. The bed lines were dirty and had a lot stain too. I have to hand wash some of them after the washer deep wash them. I have been doing the cleaning non -stop for 7 hours by myself. I also found out the vent is broken. That would cost me about $30. 

My question is: For this listing (1 bedroom&1 living room& 1 washroom), Did I charge too much on cleaning so that she feel it is ok to do that? What should I do next? 

any thoughts appreciated 

[Helen744]

@Pia434  Pia , it is always a good idea if you save such a long stay to tell the guest that a weekly clean and linen changeover is necessary , charge an extra fee but dont expect it to cover the cleaning or your time , but that way you can maintain your home and keep a general eye on things. You are not after all a long term host . This of course is a matter of trust and you will probably need to be prepared to do the weekly clean yourself while navigating the guests belongings . Good luck and remember next time to make proper arrangements with your guest as per the cleaning .H

[Helen744]

I would just like to point out that she may have done little cleaning but you did none while charging for what people do expect to be at least partly a serviced apartment

H

[Pia434]

To be honest from what I saw I don’t believe she have done any cleaning. She didn’t even pack her belongings. But I would assume that cleaning is my job since I charge cleaning fees. But sort out garbage and deal with her personal belongings should not included in cleaning plus that’s very time consuming. $125 seems high compared to the other hosts charges $50 for like 3 days stay. But it is 49 days… 

Thank you for the idea about weekly cleaning. I am considering to do that. 

[Gwen386 · Accepted solution]

@Pia434 I am so sorry that you had a guest that left your cozy rental like a pigsty. Truly disgusting!

So first things first. I noticed you really don’t have house rules. Do this immediately.

1.  Trash pickup is [day]. Please leave trash in garbage bin outside in the (green) trash can. 

2. At end of stay, remove all food from refrigerator and debris from rental.  

3. Cleaning supplies, broom and dust pan are available for keeping rental tidy during your stay. 

4. For stays longer than 2 weeks, Host requires  access to the unit weekly to change bed linen, towels, wash cloths, etc.  Host will give 24 hours notice. 

5. Dishes, pots and pans must be washed daily to prevent ants and/or rodents. 

And any other rules you can think of. 

Honestly, you just unfortunately encountered a slob and please leave an honest review for this guest because it’s no way another host wants this person in their rental!  

[Pia434]

Thank you so much! I will add them to house rules!

[Huma0]

It always surprises me when guests think it's the host's job to deal with their discarded personal belongings. 

I've had a few guests leave a lot of personal items behind because they had overpacked/done a lot of shopping and I guess couldn't fit everything in their cases, but I would never assume that the host would just 'deal' with it. 

One girl left an insane amount of stuff behind. It was a similar length of stay to the OP's guest and she left maybe fiver or six large bin bags full of clothes, paperwork, craft materials and stationery and a lot of really random things. It took me hours to deal with all of that before I could even start the cleaning.

[Pia434]

Omg! That’s a lot of work to deal with 5 bags of random things. You are right that Deal with their personal belongings are very time consuming. I feel the same

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Pia434 we always insist on changing th lined weekly for stays of over about 10 days. Partly to keep an eye on the place and partly because bedding gets ruined if not washed regularly.