Hosters and cleaning

[Kostis5]

Do hosters have to clean the guest's room during their stay?

Also at the "price of the room" there is a choise we can give a price for the cleaning, but.... this price is about per cleaning time or for all the cleaning times?

[Helen3]

You clean the guest room and the house before the guest arrives, you keep the communal areas clean during the stay.

You don't enter or clean the room during the guest's stay.

You are correct the cleaning fee is a one off fee.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/d/setup

[Kostis5]

So you suggest, zero price at the cleaning price of the room and the guest has to clean the room/house as long as he/she stays...?

Did i understood well?

[Alexandra316]

@Kostis5  It's up to you if you want to offer the guest cleaning during their stay. I don't bother for shorter stays, but if the person is staying for longer - like a week or more - I offer. For one thing, it's a good idea to look at the condition of the property with guests who are staying longer. 

I notice that you have some listings that are in more of a boutique hotel setting. If your property is a hotel, guest expectations may be different than they would be if they were renting a room in someone's house. For example, my sister has a traditional bed and breakfast and she is a host on Airbnb. She does go in and clean rooms during guest stays because that's the norm when you're staying at a bed and breakfast: that's what guests expect. If I were booking a hotel room, even if it was done through Airbnb, my expectation would be that the room would be made up daily unless you made it clear in your listing that it wasn't included. 

[Kostis5]

Hi friend. You are right about the hotel rules but the prices i give to Airbnb are very lower than the normal prices i give in other sites which includes also the cleaning.

So according to the choice i have to set a price for the cleaning, does this price has to do for example 5€ per cleaning time or it means 5€ for all the times i will have to clean as long the guest stays?

[Alexandra316]

@Kostis5 The cleaning fee is a one-time-per-booking fee: it would cover all cleaning done throughout their stay.

Again, if you're in a hotel environment but not offering cleaning, I would just make that clear in your listing so people don't have an expectation that it's something they will receive. 

[Kostis5]

Where should i mention that? At the more information for the guest (at the list's infos) ?

[Sarah977]

@Kostis5  I do offer to do a quick clean for my private room home-share guests after they have been here for a  week, which is when I also give them clean sheets and towels. But I only offer, and I have never had a guest take me up on it- they say it's fine and they'll change the linens themselves. This tells me that they prefer their privacy.

I don't charge a cleaning fee, because it's only a bedroom and bathroom I need to clean and I have a 3 day minimum stay, and most of my guests stay longer than that, so for 1 clean pre-arrival, it averages out to maybe a half hour or less per day.

But I imagine you pay a cleaner, so you'd have to charge enough to cover that, either with a separate cleaning fee or worked into your nightly price.

It's also important to make your expectations clear to guests as to what you expect them to do before checking out re clean-up. Many guests seem to think if they pay a cleaning fee, it means they can leave a big mess, piles of dirty dishes, garbage all over, etc. They need to know that the cleaning fee is for the heavy duty cleaning that you do between guests, not cleaning up all the guests' personal messes.

[Kostis5]

Ooooh dear friend... guests are not always right although i write good notes like "they left the room clean" or "had good behaviour" "wish to come back again"... 

Actually I don't know really my rights as a hoster and try to be polite and good also with the ungry and problematic guests who want everything even in a such cheap cost, and i feel guilty and scared if i don't serve all their needs and they write a bad note.

[Anonymous]

@Kostis5  All Airbnb properties are required to be delivered fully clean to the guest at check-in time, regardless of whether the so-called "Cleaning Fee" is charged. So when you think about pricing, I don't recommend making any association between this fee and the actual cost of cleaning.  What that cleaning fee really is is a way of tacking a singular flat rate to each booking - effectively, a supplemental amount for short stays. That's assuming that there is no interim cleaning during the stay.

If you're allowing bookings of only 1 or 2 nights at a very low room rate, adding a "Cleaning" Fee can help compensate you for the additional labor involved in more frequent turnovers. But if you want to encourage shorter stays, rather than penalize them, it's far more effective to roll all of your costs into the nightly rate.

[Kostis5]

Thank you Andrew0. Of course i do clean the rooms before new guest arrives no matter 1,2 or 10 days. But what about during their stay.

I saw at list's infos there is a box for "more infos for the guests" should i write there that at the previews list i don't offer clean during their stay because of the low price and they have to clean the room them self?

[Anonymous]

@Kostis5 Actually I don't recommend ever making any suggestion that guests are being denied something or other because of the low price. When people receive comments like that, it feels disrespectful and cheap, and it pushes them to devalue your home. 

It's very much the norm with Airbnb properties that nobody enters the rented space during a short-term stay to provide cleaning service. I don't think it's necessary to spell this out in most of your listings, except perhaps the ones that are specifically described as "hotels." Daily room service is a standard expectation of hotels, so if you're doing a different concept it helps to be clear on that.

[Kostis5]

Υes i totaly agree with you. I think i have added new rules and instructions at my listings making clear how things are.

Thank you so much Andrew0 for your helpful words.

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Kostis5: We do not clean during a guests stay no matter the length of their stay. There is a vacum, mop and plenty of cleaning supplies in there for guests to do whatever cleaning they would like during their stay. Since we do not have a washer / dryer in the guesthouse we do offer to clean bed sheets and blankets if they are staying for more than 7 nights. 

[Kostis5]

Thank you Barry. You are wright.