What should a guest do before they leave re: cleaning/tidying?

[Jill41]

I have just had a guest who left unwashed crockery, one of the toilets was disgusting, wet towels everywhere, duvets on floor, gas hob thick with grease and dirty greasy kitchen surfaces. I wrote a neutral review saying they were friendly and communicated well before the hosting. I choose to let him know privately that I was surprised at how the apartment was left but made it friendly and offering understanding if there had been a problem but I got this back

'Did you really expect us to clean the house before leaving? I think you don't even know what kind of service you are offering. Airbnb is about renting your house as a Hotel, It is not like couch surfing, where people do it for free. I paid more than 400 € for only 3 nights in your old apartment and after that amount of money, that is almost a robbery for the quality of the flat, you are cheeky enough to tell me about the cleaning? You are charging almost a half monthly salary for only 3 nights, you must be able to clean it after all. We didn't break anything, but as you should understand like when I go to a hotel I don't care about tidying or cleaning, because I don't have to do it. .....the house full of boxes everywhere, and the bathrooms were pretty dirty when we came in. So please, stop saying bull**bleep**, take your money that you probably don't even pay taxes for that and this business is totally under the table and don't text me again. I will tell you again just to make it clear, when you pay such a crazy amount of money for a renting, you don't have to clean after being in the house, you must take care like we did and don't break anything.'

The apartment is professionally cleaned in between each guest and the bathrooms are spotless so he has lied about that. I don't charge a cleaning fee. There are no boxes laying around and there is no smell - so my question is this - how should a guest be expected to leave a rental? Everyone else who has stayed has said the apartment is really clean and have left it fine. I expect to have to clean but not this level, am I expecting too much from my guests? 

He left me a great review.

Thanks for any advice so i can put it on my hosting:)

[Karolina27]

Thank you for starting this thread! Very interesting discussion and I am very sorry that you got such a disgraceful review! 

I had few experiences from when I decided to leave only honest reviews, understanding how important it will be for the future hosts:

1. After the stay of two nights, a host has left not a very clean apartment (a good term founded in this thread - way lower than an average guest would leave). However, they were nice, thus I decided to leave a good review, just leaving 4 stars for cleanliness. However, I’ve got a terrible review without any particular explanation, when I asked the guest what was wrong, he just humbled in his message - everything... 🙄 what a useful review for improvement! 

2. I had a very sweet family staying at my place - perfect communication, very kind. However, after their check-out, I came back home to an unbearable smell of spices all over the apartment... when I say unbearable - it felt like I was in the kitchen of a restaurant. First night I was not so desperate, because I left all the windows open hoping that the smell will vanish after the night. Long story short - it didn’t even after one week, especially in the wardrobes (if you have any tips on this one - I would be very grateful to hear them, because new guests are coming soon).  

Thus, because they were very sweet I had dilemma what to write in the review, because it’s not just about general tidiness, it’s about the smell that is the hardest thing to remove in my opinion. Finally I have left a honest review, mentioning that they were perfect at communicating, unfortunately, left a strong smell of spices all over apartment and in a private message I wrote them saying to care about the future guests and close the kitchen door at least while cooking. They wrote me a message thanking for a review and they did mention next time will be more careful with cooking smells. Thus, win-win situation, I left an honest review and they will know it’s not OK to cook without closing door or/and opening window. 

In conclusion, speaking about cleanliness expectations, I don’t have very high expectations, but normally guests leave a place pretty clean. Thus, my little trick is to leave something valuable (i.e. painting).  I believe it makes them value the place more and feel guilty to leave it dirty. Plus, I don’t really have any rules on cleaning after the stay, but I take 30€ cleaning fee. 

[Letti0]

@Karol1 To help get rid of the smell simmer some white vinegar on the stove in a pot for a while. When the steam hits the air it will help to remove the spice ordors. Also leave some bowls of it around in various spots until right before your new guests arrive. Hopefully this helps.  

[Adriana100]

OK, this is how I see things. Airbnb is - or was initially - people opening up their homes to strangers. In one of my listings I think I had spelled out 'treat my home as if it was your best's friend's or your mom's.

Pricing aside, I think the degree of cleanliness left just shows what kind of people you are dealing with.

Unmade beds are fine and towels on the ground are fine bc I wash them anyway. 

Most of the times I am ok with dirty dishes as long as they are in the diswahser or sink and I dont have to chase after them all over the house.

Dirty stove... it depends. there's one thing, if it's light and be removed quickly and another thing if there's a lot of grease and the oven needs to be scrubbed.

My house (4 bd), when the guests are nice and leave just minor things behind, needs 3-4 hrs to be cleaned, for which I charge a cleaning fee. 

In general I compare all the guests with myself as a guest. I literally follow the host's instructions to the letter. If there are no-check-out instructions I clean my own dishes, take the trash out, leave the bed made and try my best to have the place as if I wasn't even there because this is what it means to be a guest in someone elses' house. In your mom's house, in your firend's house. Your guests have been a__holes.

However, I started to put this in my communications with my guests, so they know what I expect. I say, before you check out, please strip the beds and put the bedsheets on the floor along with the towels, clean your dishes or put them in the sink or dishwasher, take you trash out and put the key in the lock box and scramble the numbers. It works like a charm. They follow that. It's rare when I had an incident.

[Claus20]

Airbnb hosts are on Many levels. Some are professionels making huge profits and some like me are just trying to minimise their montly expences. Like myself, on holiday for month, am retning out my appartment below, my own monthly procent. The are getting the placering cheaper than what i pay monthly. Including elektricitet, cabel tv, wi fi, and All inventory. I am also a guest in my own appartment. And i am doing IT because the competition is highlights in Copenhagen, and my appartment is not that attraktive. So what they get is cheap. But to lower my expences, make It affordeble to Travel myself. In my case IT is really a shereing. I am not making any profit. When i returnering from my holiday, i have to deal with whatever conditioner the renter left the place in. As airbnb have clear expectations for hosts, they should have a build in way to communicate expectations of the guest.

[John1080]

When an indivdual makes an inquiry or request to book, I send them my policies, which includes: "Please observe all checkout requirements as noted by washing and putting away your dishes, putting all trash in trash bins and leaving extra trash in a bag in the kitchen. Please do not put any trash outside. Turn off lights, turn off baseboard heaters upstairs, check to make sure the wood stove is closed securely and lock all windows and doors."

Then a day before checkout, I send this message: 

Thank you for your stay at la Casa Roja. We hope you enjoyed your stay and that you had a 5-star experience.

As a reminder, checkout is 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. Please observe the checkout time, to allow us time to properly clean the cabin for the next guest.

We do not expect you to clean, as we have a cleaning staff for this, but please tidy up and leave the cabin as you found it by observing the checkout procedures:

~Wash and put away your dishes.
~Turn off upstairs baseboard heaters.
~Put all trash in trash cans (Please do not put trash outside, if you have extra trash that won't fit in the trash can next to the sink, please put in a trash bag and leave in the kitchen).
~Check to make sure the wood stove door is securely closed.
~Lock all doors and windows. Note, to lock the main door, push and hold the word SCHLAGE until you hear it lock.

Please notify me if there are any concerns, issues or questions or if anything has broken or you notice any issues with the property.

Thank you very much and safe travels to you!

John

So far, everyone has complied as far as I know, as my cleaning staff has not said antyhing. Having guests wash dishes and put things away they have used helps cut costs, which at $30 per hour adds up. 

[Carmen609]

So, I am hoping you all can help me. I recently stayed in a place for a few nights. Before we left, all the dishware was clean and drying. We had wiped off the counters and tossed all our garbage. We left one full garbage bag next to the can, as there was no place to take it out and I did not tidy my bed but the blankets and sheets were all on top. We also did not roll up the two towels but left them hung up (they were dry) and a little bit of my shampoo spilled in the shower and I forgot to clean it before I left. Everything else was wiped down and put away. We just got a review saying we left the place in a deplorable condition and I'm honestly lost for words. Can anyone tell me what we did wrong? We left our place in Paris in a similar condition, tidy except for bed coverings but we didn't scrub the floors or anything and we got a great review. Hosts, what do you expect? 

[Christine615]

@Carmen609

I'm a superhost and you did everything I would have expected of any guest. In fact I tell guests not to strip the bed, but to put used towels in the laundry hamper, put the dishes away (or clean them and put them on the dishrack or run the dishwasher and I'll put away). I mostly ask they return the apartment close to the way they found it, but don't sweat the small stuff.

I think that stinks what the host said about you if its true. Sometimes I think guests should take photos of the place before they leave for proof. I always tidy up before I leave.

But can I tell you - one of the worst guests I've had was a Superhost. Left my place dirty, didn't attempt to clean up much, and honestly, I wouldn't have them back on a bet. But they expected their own guests to return their apartment clean.

So maybe your host was OCD. But that rethey shouldn't be hosts if they're like that. I wonder if you can check to see what types of reviews they left their other guests?

[John1080]

@Carmen609 By your description, it sounds like you left everything perfectly fine and as I would expect in my space. The fact that you remember how you left things and you're bothering to post about it here, shows you were conscientious in the first place, I think. 

Hosts should not expect guests to clean. Tidying up, yes, which you did. A drop of shampoo in the tub is nothing, as the tub would need to be cleaned anyway. The host sounds insane. 

[George154]

 Sounds like you did very well and that the host has unrealistic expectations.  No host can expect their place to be left exactly as it was found, although I've been lucky enough on several occasions to find mine that way.  But no host can require their guests to clean surfaces and wash linens, etc.  However, if the host had left specific instructions for check-out with respect to the linens and garbage that weren't followed, then I could see them being a little upset at them not being followed.  But all sheets and linens usually need to be washed anyway, so where they're left in the space shouldn't be a big deal to a host.  If a host wants their place left exactly as it was found, then they need to charge a cleaning fee, not ding the guest for not being perfect.  This sounds to me like the host had other issues that had nothing to do with you, and he/she just decided to take it out on you.   

[Victoria567]

Hi @Carmen0

on a lighter note, these hosts perhaps were waiting for your next party trick= walking on water!

You sound as if you were a very considerate guest, so I would  sleep easy knowing that, you left the place in a good condition and that you have good standards of behaviour.

Just as there are poor quality guests there are also poor quality hosts who follow the Basil Fawlty approach to hospitality.

You just have to have  a belly laugh over them, just like we laugh over dear old Basil!

[Gretchen51]

Hi Carmen,  My expectations are similar, wash dishes, take out trash, i'll pick up towels and sheets...I have them written on the door, the book right under the Wi Fi password and in my advertisment.  However, seems most of my younger guests don't read it.  They leave their dishes and trash for me.  I have started leaving them less than perfect feedback.  I feel I ask so little.  I am not a guests mommy, but I hate to say I feel like it when someone can't or won't read a HUGE font notice at eye level posted where anyone can see it.  When I have styed at others places, I have read their rules and followed them.  Simple.  People just don't read.  Perhaps some kind of standard would help..IF guest read them!!

[Mark116]

I don't get this idea that guests don't have to do any type of cleaning.  It's not a hotel room, hotel rooms don't have dishwashers and washer/dryers or stoves. People need to respect and acknowledge the deal and privilege they are getting with an airbnb that allows them to cook and have space to relax in.  

We don't ask and don't expect that things are left fully clean, but certainly we expect them to wash dishes, take out trash and recycling, and follow instructions on towels and bedding, as well, to respect the space and not drag furniture around or go in the linen closet and help themselves to an extra comforter or 10 towels.  And, to clean up or advise of any major staining/spillage.

[Hongbo0]

I do think it's based on the education and manners they got when people grew up. I always make the bed and clean a little bit even I stay in a 5-stars hotel. You can't really expect all guests will do so. Their home probably are also very dirty and filty.

[Suzanne371]

I’m only a guest on Air BnB. But as a guest I would act as required by the host. I would act as my parents did when we went on self catering holidays as a family. Just buy some cleaning products and give a thorough clean before I left, it’s the fair and honest thing to do. Strip the beds, fold the bedding and leave in each respective room. Vacuum each room. Leave damp towels somewhere to dry in the bathroom to air them. It’s someone else’s home they’ve been kind enough to let me use. Respect is key...

[Sarah977]

@Suzanne371    You are every host's dream guest!