Susannah42
London, United Kingdom
Level 1
Hi,I need help with Guest communication.
Latest reply
Hi,I need help with Guest communication.
Latest reply
Hi everyone,
From the moment a booking is made, clear communication is key to a smooth and pleasant stay for both you and your guests. Checkout instructions are no exception to this.
Each Host will have different requirements, based on the property listed, the amenities offered, their hosting routine, house rules, or whether they charge a cleaning fee or not. You need to decide what checkout time, lockup instructions, and how much as well as what to clean is required of your guests. It can be quite challenging to find the right balance of enough to suit your needs, while not excessive so guests can fulfill your asks easily at the end of their stay.
What do you think are reasonable checkout instructions?
We’d love to hear what your ask guests to do upon checkout, whether you’ve had to adjust that over your time hosting and any tips you have that might be handy for other Hosts!
Thanks,
Sybe
Answered! Go to Best Answer
I don't ask guests to do anything on check out other than to leave the key and close the front door if I'm not around to say goodbye to them in person. I might mention the guest book, but usually I just leave it to the guests to decide if they want to leave a message. It's right near the door, so they know it's there.
However, I do expect guests to be reasonably clean and tidy during their stay, so there shouldn't be any dirty dishes sitting around in the kitchen anyway.
I don't expect them to take out trash, or empty the fridge (although a few do), but then I am a live in host, so every situation is different. I know that other hosts may have good reason to ask guests to do this, i.e. to prevent pests/smells if the host/cleaner can't get to the property straight away.
Our checkout instructions are pretty simple and are outlined in the Guestbook. Strip the beds (mainly to make sure you didn't leave your earrings under the pillow!), start the dishwasher if you used dishes and return any plugs to their original placement if you changed anything. Snap a selfie, sign the guestbook and have a safe journey to wherever you are headed next!
I love your "snap a selfie, sign the guestbook" vibes @Viola71! Do you have any particularly interesting or funny stories or messages in the guestbook?
Hello everyone here,
I appreciate so much your contributions. I am a 3-years old Airbnb host but I rent my apartment just in summertime; so I need still to learn. I charge just 60 euro for cleaning but I pay 92 my house keeper since I noted that for cleaning well my apartment it takes at least 3 hours. Then I have the bed sheets and towel to clean and iron. Unfortunately I live in another country so I have to employ a person that do the welcoming, cleaning and checkout for me. The property has a security system, so the owners doesnt approve to give remote controls for the entry gate or security keys to strangers, so I cannot use a locker but a phisical presence in the building.
Because I offer more than 30 euro for cleaning, as check out instruction I ask my guest to clean the kitchen after their meals. Also to pay attention to the washing machine not to leave dirty or hair and to empty the wastes and bottles following the recycling instructions. My experience has been not much edifying. Because I cannot check personally the apartment, some people left with the kitchen dirty, oil splashed on the walls during cooking, rice still stick in the cutlery, walls with scrapes and so on. Unfortunately, my housekeeper during the time has not been much collaborative and instead to tell me what happened, she said nothing to me and I had to discover by myself the small 'disasters' made by people entering in my apartment times to times, when I have the possibility to go in France...
Definitely, I will change:
- the cleaning price, charging all what I pay
- instead, I will ask the guests to clean by themselves letting 60 euros for the cleaning when they enter into the apartment
- I have to look for another housekeeper for sure. Cote d'Azur is extremely crowded during Summer time and to find a good person (in terms of cleaning, serious, honesty...) isn't easy!
I have shared my experience since I need some more suggestions. Perhaps some of you has the same situation I have (not be present in the property, living abroad and trust in some external help to manage their listing). Do you have some advice to give to me?
Since Covid cleaning fees have gone up and it's hard to find good cleaners. We have a 4-BR house so it does take hours to clean and disinfect the place. We tried to balance our checkout requests to guests (leaving used towels and linens in the laundry room, returning remotes and garage clicker to where they were, starting the dishwasher) and the cleaning time needed. Our guests left the place in good shape. It's no biggie if a couple of these items were missed sometimes. Some great guests did things we don't ask, e.g. taking out the trash.
I have a single page info sheet that includes info about my place, Wi-Fi password etc…for checkout I ask them to bring the trash to the bins and no need to do anything else! I agree with an earlier comment that if I am charging a cleaning fee they dont need to leave it spotless…
I put myself in the guests shoes and make my checkout list as small as possible. 3 things max
That must make things nice and easy for your guests, @Amber-And-Mario0! Do you find that the list works as intended for your guests?
I ask the guests if I do not see them on departing day to close the front door behind them, lock the door from the outside (for insurance reasons) then put the guest key though the letter box. I do tend to see the guests as some stage though there visit & am able to advise them of this information but it is also in the guide book I have.
If I know I am going to be here when they depart I check them out, take the guest key & do the striping of the bed sheets & hoovering of the bedroom my self. A small cleaning fee, €5, covers electric, washing power, etc. I do not expect guests to stripe bed sheets at all but common sense with putting rubbish into the bins & cleaning breakfast bowls & mugs of tea/coffee after use.
That's a fair cleaning fee @Una13 - do you find that the majority of your guests follow the requests that you set out?
I don't have check-out instructions. I do have during-stay-instructions: guests are expected to tidy up when using/spending time in common areas (I homeshare). After all this is what you agree to as a guest: leave the place the way you found it.
I don't expect the tidying to be up to my standards as to how I have the place ready for the next guest. But to me, cleaning up your mess and/or used cutlary, furniture, books when being a guest is something you are tought as a child. Common courtesy and politeness.
When guests ask me before leaving what they should do at check-out I say nothing. But I do expect that my place looks decent. It has only been a couple of times that things were less than perfect.
If my guests leave when I'm not around I ask that they close doors and windows and lock the front door.
However, what I find acceptable is another matter. I expect a clean (not cleaned) and tidy place. Not all leaves a place that way. So to me it is acceptable to ask that rubbish is put where it belongs, that dishes are put in the dishwasher or washed completely if no dishwasher, that towels are put in a hamper or corner and that grease, crumbles and spillings are at a minimum. These tasks are acceptable even with a cleaning fee since not doing such tasks during a stay makes people ending up in a pigstye. And who wants to spend vaccation in a pigstye?
My checkout message:
I love this @Gillian166 - it must be great to be kept in free ice cream! How many people leave beer or wine though, and is it the good stuff? 😊
@Jenny people leave weird/alty drinks, like hard iced coffee or bizarre IPAs. Never anything great.
Our check out instructions are:
put all the used towels and cloths in the bathtub
wash dishes and may leave in the drying rack
bedding -we’ll take care of it
trash-we’ll take care of it
leave key fob on the Entry table
easy and quick.
Mine are similar. It helps me keep my cleaning fee very reasonable.