Per-person Cleaning Fee

[Hannah1043]

I have a 3 bd, 2 bath house with a large yard, which I advertise as dog- and kid-friendly.

Two of the bedrooms have queen sized beds, and the third bedroom has two bunk beds.

Is there any way to charge a higher cleaning fee if there are more than two kids staying here?

Paying my housecleaner the same amount when she has to change upper bunks as well as the queen sized beds vs only changing the queen-sized beds seems unfair. It seems she should be entitled to more, since it's significantly more work. And I'm afraid if I raise my standard cleaning fee to much, I won't get bookings.

[Frances3408]

@Hannah1043. The short answer is no so you need to get creative. You can obviously play with higher cleaning fee for longer stays or the per person after x number, to allow for more work; assumes the bunk beds are where the extra capacity booking demand is: if you get a booking for 4 adults are they unlikely to want the bunk beds so just close off (lock) that room so less work? What is the demand split for families with kids versus adults only group bookings?

I see you have beds for 8 but state 6 max capacity. The bunks also appear to be able to split apart. With 2 baths is there a reason you dont want 8 capacity?

If you are sticking to 6 I'd get rid of one of the upper bunks and leave single- ie 7 capacity and 5 beds; one less bunk to make (as we know all the kids want the upper) plus more attractive for adults who dont want bunks.

I have a listing similar to yours. the third bedroom is smaller so we originally had a bunk bed (which yes the kids love). With cost of living crunch though I was getting more adult group bookings so we recently changed it out for a double bed- and moved in a second queen where there was the double so its easier to make and swapped out smaller for a bigger desk so now looks more like a WFH office space. I was also able to reduce the cleaning fee slightly.

When guests stay more than a week I offer a bed making service and clean as an extra fee. Most are happy with just the supply of fresh linen and DIY. Help guests to save money by showing them what they can do themselves 😉

Hope this helps.

[Shelley159 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Hannah1043 

You can only have a cleaning fee and a short-stay cleaning fee on Airbnb, not a per-person cleaning fee. But nothing prevents you from paying the cleaner the way you want to. Guests will look at the total accommodation cost and decide whether they're willing to pay that amount - the arrangement between you and the cleaner is completely separate.

I pay double on weekends and public holidays, even though I can't set up my Airbnb cleaning fee that way.

[Emilie]

Lovely suggestions, @Shelley159 and @Frances3408 😊

What do you think, @Hannah1043? While I'm here, I wanted to mention in a few other hosts who like to talk about pricing strategies, in case they have more ideas: @Dr-Jayanthi1 @Thomas3789 @Peter4379 do you have any input here perhaps?

Have a lovely day everyone ☀️

Emilie

[Dr-Jayanthi1]

Hi @Hannah1043 

per person cleaning fee makes a difference- the cleaning dates at up with the number is guests using the property. I have a 1 BHK mostly used my business travels and I see a great difference in the cleaning task when it’s single occupancy or double occupancy and not to mention a family with a kid. The app could accommodate the same. Airbnb should be listening to you. 
However the current situation does not seem to have the option. A small increase of cleaning fee as a standard set could be thought of - however not very much advisable. 
Appreciate your understanding of your cleaner’s extra task. You are an angel. 
Happy Hosting 🥰

Thank you @Emilie for tagging me in. 

[Hannah1043]

Thank you SO MUCH, everyone, who chimed in! I'm so terribly sorry it took me this long to thank you all. Either way, please know that I am incredibly grateful that so many of you took the time and energy to write such thoughtful and meaningful answers. Every one of them was extremely useful to me. ❤️