Excessive cleaning- any ideas?

[Dawn241]

We have a 2 night minimum and 3 night maximum. We charge $49 for cleaning. It cost me that much for gas to make the four hour round trip to clean. We have very strong  language in our house rules about excessive cleaning and still we just had a lady with two kids turn the place upside down.

I’ve debated not charging a cleaning fee and telling people to clean back to how it was when they arrived or refunding cleaning fee if they leave the place as it was when they arrived but there are loopholes with both. People that don’t pay a cleaning fee won’t clean and people will want a refund even if they don’t clean. I don’t really have a solution but I have seen an increase in excessive cleaning in the past two years. 

I remember seeing a video that Airbnb was going to allow hosts to start tracking guests with excessive cleaning and undisclosed guests right before pandemic started but it never came to fruition. 

[Helen3]

@Dawn241 why don't you pay a local cleaner to do the cleaning rather than drive 4 hours each time ?

I certainly wouldn't stay somewhere where the host left the guests to clean up after themselves, particularly during Covid. What if I turned up late and tired and the place was a tip ?

[Dawn241]

It’s my second home and I visit with my mom who lives close by. I stay overnight when I clean.

[Linda108]

I am not clear what you mean about "excessive cleaning".  Are you posting that a recent guest caused you to have to clean more than usual?  IMO that goes with the territory unless there is damage created.  Your review of the guest is where you address the problem.  Perhaps this guest will not be using the platform because of your review.  

I would never accept guest cleaning in lieu of my cleaning, but I don't think you are suggesting that you would, right?  I think you are just expecting guests to "tidy up", in reality, there is a wide range of guest responses to that expectation.

Maybe you increase your rate by $25/night and drop the cleaning fee.  That way you will get $50-$75 more per booking. There are many guests who are unhappy about cleaning fees and use it as an excuse to be especially messy.  

[Dawn241]

No I’m not suggesting guests clean instead of me. 

examples of excessive cleaning- food and hair in every room on every surface. Smells from cooking, trash, cologne. Toys, clothes, other personal items in every room, under beds, under furniture, in closets, in dresser drawers. Excessively dirty, sticky, greasy pots/pans/dishes that don’t come clean in the dishwasher. Dirty clothes, tissues, face masks left behind. Poop smeared on white towels - this one was for spite due to me calling him out on undisclosed guests and visitors. Pancake batter all over the kitchen. Oven left on. Tea kettle handle melted because they left the stove on when the left the house. Every book, game, and coaster set moved all over the house by a kid whose mom let them do it. Furniture rearranged. Lamps, tv, etc unplugged.

Just more than the usual vacuum, mop, sheets, kitchen and bath sanitizing that you would expect. Instead of taking three hours to clean it takes 5 or more hours. 

[Dawn241]

With regards to raising the nightly fee and lowering the cleaning fee, we are already at the top end of nightly rates charged in Bisbee AZ for a few reasons. We are a full size house with central air, covered parking, fully stocked  kitchen, washer & dryer, king size bed, remodeled bath,  etc. most of these things are rare for bisbee. There are plenty of no frills places if people are just looking to crash for a night. 

[Sarah977]

@Dawn241  I have always disliked when hosts say to "leave it as you found it" in terms of cleaning, because that isn't really what most hosts mean, nor what they should expect of guests. 

"Leave it as you found it" to me would mean expecting guests to do what I do when I clean for upcoming guests- vacuuming, mopping the floors, dusting, cleaning and sterilizing the bathroom, etc, etc. 

Most hosts just expect guests to clean up their personal messes- wash their dirty dishes, wipe down the countertop and a greasy stovetop, don't leave garbage strewn around, put furnishings back where they were if you moved them. That's what I assume you meant, although others seemed to infer you wanted guests to do major cleaning. 

I take it this guest just left the place dirty and messy, i.e. made no attempt to clean and tidy up. I think you'll just have to chalk this one up to Oh Well, and leave an appropriate review. 

If this is a one-off, I don't think you need to change anything, but as Linda suggested, you might consider upping your nightly rate a bit.

[Dawn241]

Correct, clean up their personal messes not do any major cleaning. 

not a one off. It’s about every other guest and seems to have gotten worse past two years. 

[Sarah977]

@Dawn241  Then I think you  should raise the cleaning fee to at least $60 or $65 if it's every other guests leaving a mess. You are already not catering to the budget market, so an extra $10 or $15 isn't a big deal. 

I agree wholeheartedly that offering to return the cleaning fee if the guest leaves it clean is a really bad idea. Your idea of clean and a guest's idea of clean may be worlds apart- it's just asking for arguments. 

What isn't a bad idea if you up the cleaning fee is to maybe reward the special guests who leave it super clean by surprising them with a reimbursement after they leave of a portion of the cleaning fee. I could see that leading to repeat bookings, or them encouraging their friends to book because the host was so nice and appreciative of the clean-up they did.