Cleaning Fees

[Yvonne-and-Tony0]

Hi!  We are guests at the Jersey Shore where people come for an overnight at the beach all the time yet we also have guests come for several days.  We would love to see a cleaning fee based on the number of days as we don't want to overcharge those coming mainly to sleep while spending all their time at the beach verses those who come to lounge for days on their mini retreat.  We feel a $25 to $50 slide would be fair.  We understand that the cleaning standards have increased due to Covid.  We are not referring to covid sanitation of wiping door handles, light switches, etc.  It's more how longer stays make for more cleaning in general, like cleaning the fridge out, lots of trash from days of takeout, the replacement of all additional use of toiletries, and all the special things we provide that takes much more time to replace.  The longer people stay, the more comfortable they get and the more work needs to be done. 

Are there any other hosts who agree with us on this? 

[Lisa723]

@Yvonne-and-Tony0 if you want it to be rated nightly, why not just build it into your nightly rate? The point of the cleaning fee is to allow a flat charge per stay.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Yvonne-and-Tony0 

no I don’t think I agree with you on this one. Given the current cleaning standards the extra time taken to hoover up 1 ounce or 10 ounces of dust is pretty irrelevant.

[Linda108]

The choice to include the cleaning costs into the nightly rate or have a one time charge has been debated over and over again.  I used to charge a flat rate, hoping to discourage one night booking but then I just decided to require a  minimum 2 nights and raised my rate just a little.  I think there are good arguments by hosts for both ways, so probably taking it from the guest perspective is a worthy approach.  As a guest, when I am searching for a listing within my budger, the search function pulls up based on the nightly rate.  However, sometimes the cleaning fee causes the total to be beyond my budget and therefore causes much frustration.  Just a different perspective.

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

Can't say I agree. You may have more cleaning to do after a longer stay, but the flip side of that is that you don't need to clean as often. I should think that would balance out in terms of time spent. That's the idea behind a one-time cleaning fee per booking, whether it's for 2 days or 2 weeks. 

And some people can make a bigger mess in 2 nights than others make in 2 weeks. 

@Yvonne-and-Tony0

[Evelyn647]

I would like to charge more for longer stays. Definitely there is much more to clean. Also, my housekeeping personnel are complaining that long stays reduce their work days and thus, make less money. 

[Dennis-and-Carmel0]

As a host, can I require the guest to be fully vaccinated and for them to have proof at booking?