Are 'Cleaning fees' turning guests off

[Robin4]

Sorry long post but in an endeavour to create less friction between guest and host, I think it is an important read.

Here we go again, every few days this cleaning fee thing drops back in here for another airing. By the frequency of posts here there seems to be an ever increasing pool of guests complaining about, not just having to pay a cleaning fee but, having to clean as well.

It seems to them that Airbnb and their hosts are double dipping!

Perhaps it's time we rationalized the cleaning fee from not just the guests perspective but the hosts as well.

To Airbnb's credit they have now dropped the 'cheapest cab at the rank' method of displaying listing prices, but it is the breakdown of extras on top of the base price that seems to be causing a lot of friction amongst guests.

Some of these extras like, an additional amount per person, guests will accept because they do understand that extra bodies mean extra facilities with extra work, and seasonal extra pricing for in demand situations. But a cleaning fee is seen as this nebulous thing that varies vastly from listing to listing, the guest still is required 'to clean' and many of them feel it has no right to be there.

So, as hosts.......

We need to be realistic with the cleaning fee we set. We have to strike a balance that can be justified from both sides. 

I understand that many city professional cleaning companies will charge $40 per hour pr cleaner and the average 3 bedroom apartment is going to take 2.5 hours to properly clean with 2 personnel. For the average apartment that amounts to a cleaning cost of $200 per turnaround which most guests are going to find difficult to accept.......and when you expect a certain amount of pre-cleaning on the guests part, they are going to be outright hostile!

But why accept a company cleaning fee of $200 per clean? There are many citizens out there in almost every community who will jump at the opportunity to take on a cleaning role for $60 per turnaround.......... I do and my cleaner charges me $30 per turnaround! She does 2-3 per week, is a real cleanaholic and just loves that additional $60-$90 pr/wk that this puts in her pocket that she would not have otherwise had. 

It is not hard to track down this cleaning help, I have done it for 2 other hosts in my area and it works wonderfully. If a host raises their hosting amount by $15 pr night and sets a cleaning fee of $40 and has 2 guests per week they are break even, get 3 guests per week and they are ahead and the guest will accept that gladly because they will see it as a reasonable charge and will be quite prepared to chuck the linens in the washer, put their rubbish out.

Personally I ask guest to do nothing, just walk out and leave the cleaning to us because, I know if the guest does it, it won't be done properly! The glasses and dishes will get a quick rinse over and put back in the cupboard with bits of food on the frypan and plates, lipstick smears on the glasses, all set for the next guest to give me a 'raspberry' for cleanliness! Bed linens will be put into the wash with blood and makeup stains which makes them even harder to remove. I don't want them putting there rubbish out because they won't recycle, they will just stick it all in one bag and stuff it in the nearest available bin!

I don't want to have to second guess what guests have or haven't done, I just want them to gather up their bags and leave the rest to us!

So from the hosts point of view:

Don't be some cleaning company's cash cow, seek out economical cleaning options.....they are available and they work well.

Don't expect your guests to do your work, it's up to the host to provide that clean and properly serviced listing.

Now as guests......

STR hosts are not hotel chains, they are not offering many stay options under the one roof where fixed and servicing costs can be spread across possibly hundreds of paying rooms. They are offering an individual experience and it's up to the guest to realise there is a distinction between providing that individual service, and maintaining it. 

To maintain the service.......

We don’t expect you to wipe down the walls, the counter-tops, attend to those coffee cup rings on the bedside and occasional tables, checking for insects and spider webs.

We don’t expect you to strip the bed and remove those blood, alcohol or makeup stains from the linens, put them through the washing machine, dry them and iron ready for a future guest.

We don’t expect you to wash the towels and provide new face-washers to replace those that were destroyed by nail polish remover, fake tan lotion and Acne cream.

We don’t expect you to remake the bed with fresh linens and put out a new set of towels and face washers.

We don’t expect you to vacuum the carpets, rugs and steam mop the floors and wet areas.

We don’t expect you to clean the toilet, shower alcove, sinks and taps.

We don’t expect that you will wash, dry and put away the dishes, cutlery, saucepans and glassware that you have used.

We don’t expect you to restock the fridge with a cheese plate, milk, eggs and bacon, fruit juice, a beer and a cider and water from the re-stock facilities.

We don’t expect you to test that the TV, the fridge, the hot water heater, the DVD player, the air conditioning filter, the washing machine, the smoke alarm, the microwave and hotplate, the electric blankets to make sure they are all working!

This is what we charge a cleaning fee for! To return the property to the state which you entered it in.

We just expect you will put your rubbish in the bin, pick up those used nappies and sundry items that were left under the bed and dispose of and not leave the property looking like a pig sty.

Put furniture back the way you found it.

Leave the property in a relatively tidy state.

To provide the service........

There are certain overheads that must be covered in order to provide a listing for guests in the first place.

There is a property mortgage to be covered, insurances, council rates and permits, maintenance, breakages, gardening, electricity and gas, water the constant supply of condiments……..This is what you pay for in the listing amount.

It is most unfortunate that many guests do not seem to be able to differentiate between the two!!

The listing amount covers the cost of supplying the property. The cleaning fee covers the cost of continuing to offer it to guests!

I hope this can give a bit of clarity to why  a cleaning fee is charged. Hopefully that will be respected by guests......... and not abused by hosts!

Cheers…..Rob

[Helen744]

@Robin 4 I was not specifically talking about your situation which I do not know but simply participating with an alternate view for this type of work and the way it is paid for and the salient facts which are that it takes a lot of time and should be factored in and that I support the cleaning fee. Those who only host one bedroom to two people have a lot less wear and tear and work and actually are probably the most sensible scenario and the most lucrative and can possibly think the turnover is negligible but not three bedders and not during covid or ever.When I am making enough to hire someone else to do what I do then whoopee . They will be recompensed correctly. when people run businesses or little endeavours such as mine they expect personally to put in more hours for free rather than otherwise. many businesses during covid went out of business in and around Melbourne and in Victoria in particular in some instances simply because their profits were built on the exploitation of migrants ,who then went home. In victoria we are often called 'mexicans ' by sydneysiders but although our illegals were not from Mexico they were left high and dry and in an untenable state. they had no rights to government income and those who had previously found them useful simply did not support them . add this to the fact that more hosts are women than men and forgive me if the steam escapes . A huge tourist meca is my hometown of Daylesford where I can no longer afford to live and which is very fashionable and jammed with delightful Airbnbs but the cleaners cannot afford to live there. There must be a balance but pretending that the cleaning does itself is not now or ever one of them.H

[Michael5689]

We have a 4 bedroom 3000 sq. ft. home that is ~15 minutes outside more populated areas.  To get somebody to come at a moments notice that also does a very good job I guarantee my cleaner $265 no matter the length of the job.  If the job runs really long or is just a real pain sometimes I even give her $50 or $100 extra sometimes without asking the guest for additional money after check-out.  I have a bit of an add-on to my standard cleaning fee that I add into what I charge guests to cover the lost towels, dishes, small items, etc. that walk from the house, but are impossible for her to keep track of.

Guests have never complained about the cleaning fee and actually often comment over messaging and on also on reviews on how immaculate the house is upon arrival.  Pay your people well and they will go out of the way for you, be dependable and on-call sometimes, and do the little things you ask of them.  If you are going to have a sizeable cleaning fee then it also needs to be reflected in the state of the house upon their arrival and the stocking of the house.

[Robin129]

I roll all "fees" into the room rate. I am considering extra fees for damaged linens or towels, as I've had the make-up thing, and a nail polish incident. I dont' see any advantge in "adding" a cleaning fee. 

[Robin4]

@Robin129 

Hi Rob, I originally covered all my cleaning costs in my listing amount and that was fine, I set my listing fee to cover my costs and make a bit of money.

When I took my help on for 2-3 cleans a week I could not just absorb that money I was going to have to payout into my listing amount, there would be nothing left in it for me.

So I raised my listing amount by a small $5 pr/night and introduced a $15 cleaning fee. 

In combination both of these amounts are a pittance in the great scheme of things but, they enable me to keep my listing amount to something that guests don't complain about and lets me help someone who really needed it!

Rob, I couldn't employ a cleaner and cover it without either raising my listing amount $20 a night or introduce a cleaning fee, so I opted to 'burn the candle at both ends'....raise the price slightly and set a cheap cleaning fee, neither of which guests object to.......it works all round for me.

I have to be conscious that what I can ask for a facility like mine is limited and by the time Airbnb put their service fees on my $102 per night listing turns into $127.00. From the guests point of view, Airbnb service fees are my single biggest hosting expense!

Cheers........Rob   

[David8879]

@Robin4 

Agree on most counts.

Even though my airbnb listing is quite new (I bought a property in Portugal and have no intention to advertise myself), but I have been in this business for a while.

So, I do put "cleaning fee" in the list of charges. If guests do not understand what they for - I do NOT need these guests - they are trouble and will complain.

My cleaning fees are $60 in US (multiple 1brs) and 65E in Portugal (1br)

Broken as follows: 35 actual cleaning, 10  is for replacing of destroyed towels (I do not skim on towels, people need to see they ARE clean and DECENT), 20-30 laundry as it is done in industrial facility to really clean the linens as this is one of the most important things for guests - CLEAN LINENS and TOWELS

Why I am not just rolling cleaning fees into daily price? First of all - I do not waste my time readjusting price in relation to duration. Secondly - I try to cater to normal people who understand that it is NOT a hotel and we have our costs so we could be able to provide service.

Just liek I am not opting for this new, convenient for AirBNB "all in price" that just hides how much money AirBNB makes on Hosts AND Guests. Outright crazy, close to 20% of gross booking.

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4 

I'd really think before making statements about how "easy" it is to find people who will clean for cheap.

1) It may be the case for you, but not everywhere. I don't know any hosts in my area (and I know quite a few) who find it easy to find cheap cleaners. What they're really looking for is a cleaner that will do a good, consistent job and be reliable. That, is not cheap. And they gladly pay for a good cleaner because they know the ROI is worth it.

2) There is truth in the phrase "You get what you pay for." (I understand, it's working for you, but you cannot make a blanket statement based on your single experience.)

3) A good cleaner is worth what they are worth. The idea of always trying to get something as cheap as possible is, well, CHEAP. People should be paid what they are worth. The mere idea of trying to get someone to do something as cheap as possible instead of valuing what they do just isn't the way I live my life. Do I want a fair price? Of course. I want it to be fair to me AND to the person I'm hiring to do the work.

An educational campaign to make guests realize what they're paying for makes more sense. In my area, cleaning fees are common, and expected. We know that we pay a rate for the home, and then we pay a cleaning fee to ensure it's ready for every guest. I understand that's not the case everywhere. Just as in most beach houses in my area, it's not common to have linens or towels included. When I would vacation, I knew this, and simply brought my own. Airbnb changed this requirement for those who host on this platform, but still, renters did just fine without it. And having linens and towels as a requirement actually INCREASED cleaning fees because now hosts had the extra labor, time, and wear and tear to deal with.

Cleaning fees do not make as much sense for smaller spaces, and I can see how they might easily be rolled into a nightly rate.

[Robin4]

@Suzanne302 

I understand what you are saying but we are talking about 2 different things!

I thought about this for quite a while before posting because I knew there would be a considerable backlash regarding my stance on cleaning but Suzanne, I am not advocating a return to slavery, or having a substandard job done!

The average cleaner salary in Australia is $53,372 per year or $27.37 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $49,860 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $64,543 per year.

The last thing I am trying to to do is browbeat a recognised cleaner into working for half the rate they are entitled to.

If we set out to buy a new vehicle, it's just human nature, we try to secure the best deal. When we go supermarket shopping we take advantage of store specials. Am I exploiting my local supermarket by getting cheeses for my cheese plate at 5-7% of their retail value Suzanne? The store offered that deal, I didn't demand it!

Now if a host is prepared to add whatever it cost to have their listing cleaned without at least looking at cost effective options, so be it.

Where an education program to inform guests what cleaning fees are all about will fail is because you have .........

Listing A.......Entire space/aprt   6 guests, 3 bedrooms, cleaning fee.....$50.00

Listing B.......Entire space/aprt   5 guests, 3 bedrooms, cleaning fee.....$323.00

Guests are confused, they don't understand that in listing A the cleaning is done by the host, or in part subsidised by the host and the cleaning has been allowed for in the listing nightly rate, while host B is a remote host or has a number of listings and uses a cleaning company.

What I am saying Suzanne is, there are options out there to limit what you have to pass on to the guest, sure you may have to do a bit of 'leg work' to find them but when you do, everyone benefits. 

Cheers........Rob 

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4 

Ah, don’t confuse wanting to get a good deal with paying people what their worth. Those are completely different things. 

A person shopping for the best deal on cheese has nothing to do with a person paying a fair price for someone’s labor. 

[Karen114]

@Suzanne302  Well said! 

As someone that owned and operated a professional cleaning company for 17 years you are spot on.  I did sell it last fall and one of the many reasons was not being able to hire and retain reliable help.  When I sold they were averaging $25/ per hour.  That's not peanuts to clean toilets working at a W-2 job,  however that's what needed to be paid if you wanted someone reliable to work for you. The work is hard! 

Your cleaning team is the backbone of your rental business.  If you don't have well performing cleaners you won't have any reservations and or bad reviews.  I charge less to the guest than what I pay my cleaner because it would be too high in the eyes of the guest. They do a great job and are very reliable which is priceless to me. 

And once again coming from the cleaning business world, there is a difference between "cleaning" and tidying up the space.  We would require things to be tidied up so that we could actually clean.  Spending time picking up logos off the floor and putting things away takes away from the actual cleaning time that they pay for. 

An educational campaign to guests and hosts alike that asking a guest to take the trash to the trash receptacle, load the dishwasher with their dirty dishes and start it is not cleaning.  That is acting like a responsible adult.  Now on the other hand, if we were asking guests to dust, vacuum,  mop, scrub toilets, showers and appliances   upon departure and charge a cleaning fee I could see that as a valid argument. 

[John5097]

@Robin4 

I did some research on this before listing. Originally I was working full time so would need to rely on a cleaner. This was by far my biggest concern. 

Most apartments like mine charge $75 cleaning fee, they have high nightly rates, and maintain 4.98 ratings. I read a lot of reviews and can’t recall any that complained about cleaning fees. I think guest just consider the overall price. 

What guest do expect is for it to be clean. Very clean. This fits the adage, “You only had one job.” 

I thought I would hate cleaning but as it turns out I like it! 

My only fear is Airbnb making some kind of change. As it is now my guest have been exceptionally clean and considerate. I charge a $25 fee but think it would be fine to charge more or go up on nightly rate and no cleaning fee. It does add up at the end of the year. 

Mostly I see host complaining about other host who charge a cleaning fee and expect guest to clean. Some of it does seem excessive. But guest get to include that in gone review. I have read teviews that complained about excessive cleaning for larger house. Most host would rather not have guest strip beds or start the dishwasher, so these listings may not be as clean or maintain good reviews, if it takes too long. 

It really depends on how much ckeaning cost. Especially now with high cost of fuel. Host may just be trying to save guest some money by letting them clean some or at least clean things they use after cooking, for example. 

Although from all the reviews I’ve read guest don’t mind cleaning fees as long as the place is actually clean. I also don’t think a host would change their cleaning standards even if they decide to charge twice as much. People are generally very much set in their ways which is why the review system is so successful. 

[Fred13]

@John5097 "What guest do expect is for it to be clean. "

Aye, if going to charge a noticeable cleaning fee, then better be clean. It is amazing how important this subject seems to be. If we ask a guest to move by one day so we do have a full day between guests to clean (what we always shoot for) they jump to move and say how appreciative they are about us worrying about cleanliness.

[John5097]

@Fred13 

So true. Whenever guest ask about checking in early or late I explain that it takes three hours to clean but that guest really appreciate it being as clean as it is. I even mention all the bedding gets washed between guest, and every one of the guest who didn't get to check in as early as they would like, let me know how much they appreciate how clean it was. 

Its by far the most important and prefer doing it myself, although could see being too busy at some point with other obligations and would need to pay someone at least $50 in not $75 for one bedroom apartment. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I wish Airbnb changes CF to turnover fee, then this theme wouldn't be a subject at all

The cleaning fee turns off one-night guests. in fact, I raised it to 50€ for my 3 bdr apartment and I get longer stays now than before when it was 30€  🙂

I never had a guest who complained about the cleaning fee and they almost never leave a mess.

[Lorna170]

@Robin4   I don’t cater to the one night guest. Most of my rentals are 4+ nights.  I charge a separate cleaning fee which pays for 4 hours of my housekeeper’s time, an hour of outside maintenance by her spouse, a complete changeover and scrub out of the hot tub, and a trip to the dump (15 miles) to dispose of the guest generated trash.  My nightly rate is higher than that of my neighbors, my cleaning fee is higher, I charge a pet fee and I am booked in excess of 300 days a year.  So, in my case, it appears that my guests are okay with the cleaning fee as I have had no pushback or complaints.  

[Judy819]

Your cleaning person is nice to do a "turnaround" for $30 but you are cheap

You make good money for your rental you should offer her more

Spread the wealth for crying out loud