Expectations for a 9-night booking

[Peter3663]

Hi, we are new to hosting and have accepted a 9 night booking. Just wondering what the usual expectations around the cleaning and washing (bedding and towels) for a 9 night booking. Would we be expected to go in and clean and change the sheets and towels during the stay?  We do have a washing machine and dryer, so would we expect the guests to clean and do their own washing.  Thanks, Peter.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Peter3663 9 nights is probably ok without a bed change but it is marginal. We don't like people washing our linens themselves as, when 1 lot of men washed towels, they came out grey.

[Sammy-L-0]

I don't even like guests to do their own dishes before they leave. I don't trust them to use soap and hot water. We tell them that if they need to wash dishes during their stay, but otherwise rinse them and leave them in the sink when they leave and we will do them.

[Sherri-And-Gerry0]

We have opted to go with neutral colored washcloths, towels & sheets for that very reason.

[Fred13]

At least one change/cleaning at midpoint should be in order and offered, though oftentimes the guests rather do their own thing. Expecting the guest to fool with the washing machine and doing their own sheets and such is perhaps asking for a mistake;  having enough inventory to bypass fooling with machines is better.

[Elaine701]

Spot on, Fred. 

We offer all guests cleaning and change of bedding and towels every 7 days. Few actually take that offer. When they do want a change, most prefer to change the bedding themselves. 

Now, as we're primarily a tourist accommodation, it's rare that we have bookings of more than 7 days, so it's not a common occurrence anyway. 

But yes, I'd prefer to fully service the villa at least every 7 days because it doesn't take long for the buildup of daily life to become a much larger job to clear up. And guests are always happier in a clean and orderly environment, whether they keep it that way or not. 

[Susan1188]

ABsolutely, guests damage the linens when they try to save money and wash them, themselves.
We have a special comment about this in our guidebook!
And strongly recommend they take our mid-stay professional sheet-change service.
But nobody every wants to pay for the sheet change service!

I do leave extra sheets for them to change them, for long stays if the price was adequate.

[Mark116]

@Peter3663  For 9 nights I would offer to do a bedding/towel change at the half way point.  In our experience, some guests will take you up on that and some will prefer to not be disturbed. 

When we've done the linen changes we also do a little cleaning, take out trash, re order the area, fluff pillows, assuming the guests are not crazy messy with their stuff all around on every surface, but that isn't really necessary it's an extra.  

[Trude0]

I think most guests would not expect you to come and clean. And if they wanted cleaning, I think they would ask if this is a service you offer, for a fee. 

Nowadays I have a 7 night maximum, but I have previously allowed slightly longer stays. My listing is a tiny house/guest house on my property.

I would definitely not offer mid-stay cleaning, but I leave equipment available so guests can clean during their stay, if they want to. Also, after 4-5 days, I drop off a bag of fresh towels and sheets outside the guest house, so guests can change sheets if they want to.  I send them a message, saying that they can leave dirty sheets and towels in the same bag, outside, and I’ll take care of them. 

Good luck hosting!

[Sammy-L-0]

This exactly.

[Sudsrung0]

@Peter3663 

Depends on the deal you are offering, 

We clean every 3 days change the towels twice a week and change the bedding once a week 

I dont want our guest doing the laundry we had one recently wash the towels White with dark blue, Stupid.

We tell guest the washing machine is for their use, "Do not do our Bedding and towels" We own a laundry,

We have had some dirty guest recently I would not like to see my place after 9 days, 

Last month we had a guest who booked for a week didn't wash a pot or a pan they put all their dirty plates in the fridge were the next guest complained about the smell in the fridge, I had to go and buy them deodorizer things you can put in the fridge.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Peter3663 ,

Welcome to the Community Center and thanks for posting!

Many Congratulations on starting your journey with Airbnb.🌻

I hope the suggestions and insights from our Host members help you to get through your doubts regarding this booking.

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[Peter3663]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. 

[Sammy-L-0]

Our guests are expected to do the day-to-day cleaning. We deep clean between reservations every time. During a stay, we ask the guest to put bed linens in a bag we provide and set them outside the door once a week (usually it ends up being a Saturday but it depends on the day the reservation begins). We leave fresh linens in. Place of the used ones. For towels or for more frequent bed linen changes, we tell guests to contact us and we will bring more.  Some guests use the same towel for days on end, some use a fresh one every day. We make sure there is one towel per guest per day, with one or two extras.

We don't leave a welcome basket per se, but we have the BnB we'll stocked -- shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion, a sealed toothbrush or two, assorted snacks, drip and instant coffee, a couple of bottles of water to get them started, Earl Gray tea, sugar and sugar substitute, local maple syrup, menus from restaurants we like, a couple of books to read, etc.

[Susan1188 · Accepted solution]

I make this clear in my house rules, that for stays over 10 days we will add a mandatory mid-stay clean and charge them for it

Usually they don't want it,  and most times I don't force it unless I have doubts about how they are using the apartment.   But putting that in the house rules makes it so I don't have to provide for free.

If the reservation was a good price, I will provide a change of sheets for free left in the closet.  If they got a heavily discounted stay, I do make them pay for the service.

I have professional cleaners it costs me over 100 for cleaning and linens, if my guest is paying less than 100 a night with a long stay discount I find it unreasonable to have to pay for this additional service myself.  

For stays over 2 weeks, I impose the mid stay clean to avoid surprises at the end of the stay.  Are they smoking inside, are the airing the apartment out regularly for example after cooking garlic or fish, etc.