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:)

[Helen3]

Yes it sounds like a hotel is a better fit for your needs @Lane311 

[Karen-H0]

I have really been fascinated by reading these messages--- I have been having a conversation with current host in Venice.

As a guest I do not want to clean --  I expect it to be clean when I come in-- I am paying for that -- I think the host has the responsibility to provide that. I am a landlord so I have the experience from the landlord side also.

as I read through and learn I think having an Airbnb rental is probably more difficult than some rentals -

[Sarah977]

Karen, you seem to misunderstand the conversation here. No hosts are expecting a guest to clean WHEN THEY COME IN. And no host here has said they expect their guests to clean- just leave it tidy and not filthy. Garbage all over the floor, wet towels moldering in a pile on the floor, food garbage left behind, etc. are not acceptable when staying in someone's home. It's called basic respect.

[Sandra856]

Karen I liked your comment even though I don't agee with you. The page somehow didn't allow me to tag you. So it seems to be the only way for you to notice my reply to your comment.

I don't expect my guests to clean at all. But as I'm renting out one room in my shared apartment I expect my guests to tidy up after themselves. When they use my kitchen to cook I expect them to wash the pots and pans afterwards, put the plates and cutlery in my dishwasher etc. I had to add to my houserules "Please make sure to clean up after use of kitchen and bathroom (remove hair in sink/drain)" as I was litterally speaking standing in all kinds of hair (if you know what I mean) to my ankels several times. It is just disgusting to leave a shower like that when it is a shared bathroom. Do you really think that is to much to expect?

If I were renting an entire apartment I would definitely not leave the house with food leftovers all over the stove and dirty dishes in the zink. 

[Adriana100]

This reminds me when someone colored their hair in my bathroom and ruined one towel. Another time someone burned a towel. these are not normal things to do in someone;s home. you can color your hair without ruining a towel, i do it all the time.

[Adele28]

I rent out my own apartment while I am travelling, and I use a co-host to help me with the guests (check in/check out, clean after each visit).

I charge a cleaning fee - and that money plus extra goes to the girl who helps me clean and co-host.  She just messaged me a few hours ago with pictures, after having someone stay in my place for a month.

She said the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned once since she let them in, the kitchen and bathroom was very dirty and the hard wood floors had several food stains and there was pieces of food lying aorund. She did point out that there were no visible damages but basis her own experience as host, and as a co-host for mine, said she has never seen anything like it. 

As other mention here, people have different standards when it comes to cleaning (and my rate has a cleaning fee included), I do feel like others on this site - this is my private home, not a hotel. And while I don't expect the place to look like when they got the key (spotless! :)) Basic tidying up and wiping up visible stains is just common curtesy in my opinion. 

I am torn between leaving an honest review of my guest, for the sake of other hosts OR message my guest directly with my comments - and writing a more neutral review. I take great care to vet my guests, and always have some emails going back and forth before I accept, where I always point out that this is my personal home so please treat it with care. As such, I am even more upset that the person left my apartment they way she did. 

[Claudia-and-Matthew0]

Hi Adele,

I'm curious what you decided to do about the review?  I had a guest who also happens to airbnb his own place stay at my place for 3 weeks with his dog.  It actually states no dogs on my page, but after reading previous stellar reviews about his stay with his dogs in other places, I decided to let him have his dog, in hindsight I should have required a deposit.  Contrary to other reviews, he left the place a mess, dirty kitchen, bathroom full of hairs (not sure is it was dog hair, human hair or both), stains on couch.  It took my cleaning person loger than usual to clean.  I charge a $25 cleaning fee, and my rate per night is actually pretty cheap because I was new.  I do collect a deposit, and I'm wondering if I should collect an extra amount for cleaning, and I'm not sure how to go about the review, this is the first person who has left the house a mess, but again, he was there for 3 weeks.  Any thoughts?

[George154]

They're not staying in a hotel, and I've always felt guests should treat the place like their own property.  But I learned my lesson that a good percentage of guests apparently don't feel this way.  So now I rent my townhouse on the beach for more than the rate I started off with (by the way, I find that the Airbnb recommendations for rates are woefully low); for not less than a week at a time; charge a $60 cleaning fee; and require a deposit.  I'd rather rent to a more "quality clientele" -- and i'm not sorry if that offends the politically correct these days -- who respect other peoples property.  I don't get as many rentals, but also don't go through the stress of walking into a total mess or even destruction, either. 

[Adriana100]

@Adele0 yes, do and do put in your review what he did. this is the reson I don't rent long term  and I do not accept any pets whatsoever. I was a landlord before and my tenant had 2 big dogs in my house without my knowledge and they chewed and scratched 3 french doors. plus the stink because they werent washing their dogs...

But even with the smallest, and the most behaved dog... there might be allergic guests coming after this person. no matter what you do you can't take all the dog's hair and dander from all the crevices of your house.

[Des3]

Hi Claudia,

Always charge a cleaning fee. Nothing outrageous, but what it would cost to pay I cleaner. I charge £50,  but in reality, it costs around £70 including laundry.

I also offer a mad stay clean and linen change for bookings over 2 weeks. That way, my flat never gets filthy, and the cleaner won’t have a nightmare when the guests leave.

It also makes guests happy, and you can keep your eye on the flat.

My property is around £1100 per week, so I can afford to absorb the additional clean fee, though I realise not all properties can..

Regards 

Des

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

Hello Adele,

I am sorry to read this has happened to your home.

Regarding your question, please, please make sure you leave an honest review. If this person had stayed at another Airbnb and had received an honest review you probably wouldn't have accepted this person's booking request.

Many months ago I posted a thread called "A plea to all hosts" which is an experience I had and has, since then, been voiced by other hosts with experiences like yours that could have been avoided by an honest review.

I trully hope that this does not happen to you again and that everything can be cleaned and there are no permanent damages.

[Tanner3]

I have to agree with David above - Airbnb hosts can't really expect their guests to pay to stay and also spend time cleaning the lodging. 

[Edwin57]

 I tell my guest at there cheack out a cleaning company is coming for a full clean out of the place 

  Which is S&B cleaning services inc  so far all the garbage is tidy up in the kitchen with the bags I supply pluse all the towers in the barthroom I don't charge for a cleaning fee you going to understand we all come from all kind of places diffent habits so it comes with the territory is how we present our self always greet your guest befor cheack in and cheack out 

[Lyndsey2]

Most of my guests stay for a few days. I certainly don't expect them to scrub the floors or clean the toilet, but I do request that they  wash any dishes used and leave the space "tidy." To me, that means putting things back generally where you found them, wiping up any spills, and throwing trash in the proper recepticals. The sort of thing you'd do if you were staying at a friend's house. Most guests do that and sometimes also do something to show effort to leave the space nice - making the bed, folding the towels, wiping down the sink, etc. Totally unnecessary but it does make me feel like the guest is trying to show they care. It's clear that many of my guests don't read the House Rules or Manual so I have to assume that this is just standard Airbnb guest behavior.

On the rare occasion that a guest leaves me a bit of a mess but doesn't cause any actual damage, I will add a line to their review: "So and so left the space a bit messier than we are used to seeing from our guests." Or "It took a little longer to clean up after so and so's stay. Perhaps they were in a rush." I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but also gently let them and other hosts know that they fall below the average Airbnb guest in terms of cleanliness.

I know the original post on this thread is from a while ago, but I think this is an important and interesting topic.

[Þorsteinn1]

I have a cleaning fee. I also have this in mind, "When guest leave he might leave it in a bad state cleaning wise." That way its win win for me.

If the guest leaves it dirty, then thats what I expected. I leave 1-4 star in cleaniness depending of the state of the house. I do not get annoyed.

If the guest leave it tidy, then I give them 5 star, leave in review how awesome and tidy guests they are. Everyone is happy.