If a guest does not clean enough

[Sara8016]

Most of my guests clean but not good enough. How do you do? Do you start a conversation with the guest or just pay for cleaning?

[Fred13]

Better to deal with just one person that is a true cleaner than try to teach everyone else how to do something they are lousy at and not really even interested in doing.

[Alexandra199]

Hi Sara

Before answering I took a look at your listing to understand what you may be trying to say but I'm a little confused. What do you mean by saying your guests do not clean enough? Do you mean they leave your property in a state and don't follow your check out instructions or do you ask guests to fully clean the property before they leave? 

If it is the latter, I think you need to rethink you listing. If I stayed with you in your very large property and you asked me to fully clean it, change beds and generally leave it ready for the next guests I would be very annoyed. I don't book a holiday to then have to clean to that extent. I'm afraid providing cleaning services is part of being an Airbnb host along with providing bedding, towels, toilet paper etc

Putting out rubbish, wiping down kitchen work tops and having a general tidy up is reasonable to request on check out but being asked to strip beds, wash laundry or get the hoover out is a step too far I feel. If this is what you are expecting guests to do then I think you need to change this immediately. I noted on your listing that there is no mention of your requirement for guests to clean before they check out so I may have got this totally confused and I'm reading you question wrong. Maybe you could clarify what exactly you expect and then come back to the hosts on here and we will try and advise.

However, part of being a host is to provide a service to guests who stay with your for a break and one of those services is to properly clean after every guest. I note you charge a very competitive rate for a 4 bedroom house and no cleaning fee. Add a cleaning fee, add a bit to your nightly rate and employ a team of professional cleaners to attend after every guest. This might help with your review rating as well, because with a 4.8 after only 5 reviews I would be worrying.

PS. Oh and please review your guests. You are part of the Airbnb host community and we all rely on each other to help us rent our homes to people we can trust. If you don't review guests the whole system falls apart.

[Trude0]

@Alexandra199 : From what I can see, she has reviewed all of her guests. 

[Alexandra199]

Yes you are correct. My extension was not showing her reviews and stated she hadn’t left any. I manually checked and she has. Apologies. 

[Frances3408 · Accepted solution]

@Sara8016. You dont appear to be charging a separate cleaning fee. Cant see your house rules but you need to be upfront about your cleaning and check out expectations. We have always charged a separate cleaning fee as we launched at the end of lockdown 2021 and everyone was super COVID aware so the best way was to hire professional cleaners.

Like other hosts here have said, your prices are very cheap so you can afford to incorporate this cost rather than potentially irritate guests who are on holiday with their cleaning being "not good enough".

Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Good luck.

[Helen3]

I don't expect my guests to clean @Sara8016  i pay a cleaner to ensure a consistent high quality clean.

so my advice would be for either yourself or a cleaner to clean in between guests and charge a cleaning fee 

[Trude0]

Hej Sara! Vad kul att se fler svenska/skandinaviska/nordiska värdar här inne, jag har kännt mig lite ensam…😉

I know there are some Airbnb hosts who expect guests to do most/all of the cleaning. But my understanding is that more often, either the host does the cleaning, or they have cleaners. 

You can of course decide that you want the guests to do it all, it is up to each host to decide. But make sure it is very clear to guests before they book, which level of cleaning you expect (I cannot see anything mentioned in your listing?), and that they confirm they have understood and agree to this. Cleaning a whole house after packing up the whole family’s belongings, and before a long drive home, will not only shorten the time they have to ski, relax and enjoy. It will also be a boring and maybe stressful end to what has been a great stay, and may therefore affect the rating/review. 

Do you check the house between guests, and clean, when guests have not done a good enough job? So that your next guests do not risk checking into a house that is not sparkling clean, and mark you down on Cleanliness?