Charging guests for damaged sheets & towels.

[Carissa4]

i have been having a lot of damaged sheets & towels lately, & when i mention to the guests that they will need to pay for them, a number of times the respnse is: "if i were to stay at a hotel, they would not charge me for such damage."

after a comment like that, i am worried to charge them for the damage out of fear a getting a bad review, but i am also losing a tremendous amount of money having to replace damaged sheets and towels.

can anybody advise me on this matter, & also share how they handle this sort of situation?

thank you for any help!

[Melanie900]

I see that this is an older thread, but this issue is definitely ongoing! I got a tip from a friend who has hosted for years - make sure guests know right up front that any damages or unreasonable amounts of cleaning will be charged extra.

In my listing itself I have only the basic most important house rules, but with an additional explainer for guests brand new to Airbnb. One of those is - do NOT confuse me with a hotel by messing my stuff up or by stealing anything.

Then inside the room I have a printed house manual, Places to Go, Things to Know, where I again politely spell out the differences between me and a hotel chain. And mixed in with tons of tourist information is a very detailed list of house rules.

Right up front is damages to property, including linens, where I write that if a guest does not let me know that something has been damaged, they will automatically be charged an additional $100 service fee as soon as I find it. Including make up, oils, etc on towels and sheets.

And on the microwave is a label stating that an automatic additional cleaning fee will be charged if they do not use the plastic plate cover provided. I got so tired of guests leaving it looking like a splatter movie prop and the additional half hour it took to clean!

So far this all seems to be working as a deterrent.

I also have another host friend who only buys all linens on sale at Walmart, Tuesday Morning, Big Lots, etc. 

[Temickia0]

Most of y'all use white sheets and towels stop that 

[Stephen1728]

We use white because we can bleach and sanitize them. Laundry soap doesn't kill germs or bacteria.