This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
I agree. I think some of our guests have early flights so all that I ask is the garbage is taken out and that the dishwasher is started, due to hygienic reasons.
The home is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath. We run on septic, so ideally any water and soap used the night before check out would be less going to the septic tank on turnover day. So more of a system issue with the laundry than anything!
A couple ?'s first. How big is your home square footage? Does your listing state a cleaning fee? What is the max on guest allowed. I have several homes in the mountains of southern calif. I set the house cleaning based primarily on the size. Have a professional cleaning co give you a quote and take it from there. Put your cleaning price on the site and let the guest decide if they want to book you or not. Also being stricked on hours to me itâs not that important if you have a good cleaning person or crew. Amount of people shouldnât matter either. Price it at one set price for the max amount of guest. The housekeeper breaks even since sometimes they have 4 guest sometime the max so if she gets it done sooner because of less guest than she wins for that day. If itâs more and she had to make up more beds and do more loads of laundry she wonât win but it all evens itself out if you base it on the max which I encourage you to do then on how many guest stay.
One other thing is clear the house of excess clutter then your cleaning bill will be less. Less is BEST!!
Set your towel set needed per guest and only leave that amount out. Store the rest in a locked closet. Depending on what size mattresses you have I would leave a set or two of back up just in case of an accident. Good luck!
Itâs tough to balance a quality cleaner with a fair price. All you can really do is get a written agreement to the pricing, as well as what will be done. Perhaps a base for insuring that kitchen and baths are clean, floors done, etc. and then some layers for the number of guests who might make for more laundry. The cutoff, as youâve learned needs to be clear. You could also agree on increases for short notice even by specifying hours or days of notice. I like the idea that you have more than one available. That also gives cleaners some reason not to be too unreasonable if they know that you have another option. Iâve also see some creative bonuses for consistent high cleanliness ratings from guests.
Home is 2000 square feet. Sleeps 9. Mostly get 4-6 guests. I may decrease the max guest count to 8.
I ended up getting rid of the cleaner. She stated the guests left more trash than the can could hold and she was taking some into town. I thought great! Then the current guest messages me and states the can is full where should she put trash? Wouldnât common sense dictate to leave room for 1 bag until trash day? I paid 350 so I wouldnât have to worry about the cleaning then I get my first message ever for cleanliness. The cleaner also says the bear trash can wonât shut I tell her you need to slam it. She said she will check again as it was raining when she tried. Yet our exterior cameras showed no rain. 
The cleaner also says she has 5.5 loads of laundry at her house and she did 3.5 at my place. Why the half load? Wouldnât you fill the washer all the way for that 4th load if you were taking 5 loads home with you?
So I question her honesty right now. I just need to figure out a way to get my laundry back without her running into my current helper.
Yes that was my fault! I thought the cleaner said over 6 guests. Makes sense as that takes up more beds when you hit 7. No way was I paying 175 more for a stay with 4 guests, with 2 more just staying the weekend.
If a potential guest questions the âcleaning feeâ I usually decline that guest - after all, it is clear that that is a fee that is part of what I charge. Divided over their stay, it become inconsequential as the daily cost is very slight.
Also, some guests think that the âcleaning feeâ is a license to be careless about their trash, for example. Iâve seen them on Reddit saying how they âpaid for cleaning so they didnât expect to clean up after themselvesâ when the billionaire host rakes in riches pocketing cleaning fees. They seem to forget that the cleaning fee is not to cleanup AFTER a guest but to prepare for the NEXT guest. That, along with forgetting that hosts can review a guestâs mess and uncleanliness, makes for the âbad reviewâ rebuttal.
I have not had any question the cleaning fee. I have had a few discount seekers and I run from those! They are high maintenance guests with a sense of entitlement.
My cleaning fee lines up with others in the area and does not cover what I pay the cleaners. It is a start. With the one cleaner wanting 350 dollars and the hot tub service is 40, that is 390 for a turnover. I could never get a booking charging 400, when all other homes here charge 200 or less.
I did create an extra guest fee as well.
I have had all kinds of problems with cleaners with my resort town property. The whole town runs off of tourism and thereâs always a shortage of competent workers, so cleaning rates are through the roof and itâs hard to find anyone whoâs reliable and thorough. You have to trade off quality and price, and figure out how much you can afford. Then watch your cleaner like a hawk to ensure theyâre actually doing a good job. I suggest getting a Ring doorbell camera or similar so you can monitor when they leave and when they arrive.
I had been working with a local property manager who used the same cleaner to do my place every turnover. It was reasonably priced, better than some of the mass market cleaning companies. Unfortunately she started to cut corners over time and was leaving my place early rather than deep cleaning different areas each time, and tended to throw out soiled linens rather than try to save them, etc. Iâve hired a new company thatâs more expensive but seems to be more professional, plus Iâm paying by the hour so they have no incentive to cut corners (hopefully).
I started with nice thick hot tub towels from Costco and switched to thin ones from Walmart.
RE: setting the price paid at the max number of guests
Shouldnt it be set at the average number of guests or average cleaning time? Then sometimes itâll be more , sometimes less and itâll balance out.
We have a 1750 sq ft house with 4 bdrs ( one has a futon only and is downstairs), 2 baths. Our cleaner charges by the hour and it usually costs us $135 but it varies . We charge the guest $150 . Before , we had a cleaner who charged the same every time- a set fee of $150 , but I think she rushed through and didnât spend enough time. This one takes home what laundry canât be done during the time sheâs there cleaning.
We have 2 sofa sleepers ( and the futon) that we donât even mention on our site. We used to sleep 12 , then we lowered it gradually over the years and now we pretty much only sleep six.
We also had trouble finding competent Hot Tub people so finally paid to send the cleaner to the class to be certified to do it.
I have a wonderful cleaner now - ÂŁ25 for 2.5 hours and she works really hard and the cottage is cleaned and sanitised throughout. I try to pay her more, but she wonât accept it! She also uses all her own equipment and products.
Before this I had a cleaner who expected me to clean with her, and would tell me I hadnât worked quite hard enough. (she was 20 years younger than me, and I was doing all the washing and ironing etc) She didnât want to wash the floor, and felt the vacuum that she had recommended me to buy, was too heavy for her to carry upstairs. She was always late turning up so I would start the clean without her and she would be phoned at least 3 times during every clean by members of her family. I felt such a mug!
They can make your life such a misery - or a joy!
Yes we have a ring doorbell. Thatâs how I knew my cleaner wasnât there for long even though she was paid by the hour.
Iâve come up with what I think is a solution. I make sure she has at least 4 labor hours available. If not I will find someone else.
350 for a clean on a 2k sq foot home is crazy! No way is my cleaner making more than me on short stays.
We may go to this. We wanted them to feel warm and a touch of luxury. It just increases the drying time and isnât really noticed.
Yes that was my mistake! I thought it was over 6 so that was less than half my stays. Then she says at 6 which added costs to several more stays.
I agree it was messy and stupid on my end. Plus I needed to make her a cohost so she would know the number of guests. When the last guest said their party of 4 was having a couple come up for a weekend, she immediately messaged me saying to message the guest asking is it 4 or 6 . Seriously?! I told her the pricing structure wasnât working. She said she would look at it that night. Never heard from her and let her go 3 days later.
On top of that, she said the previous guests had more garbage than the can could hold so she was taking it whet her. But she left no space in the can! So the new guests messaged at 730 am on a Sunday asking where to put their garbage. I had paid 350 for that clean to not worry- then I get my first message out of over 100 guests about cleanliness, to me garbage is cleanliness also.
Yes I feel that would have started happening. The cleaner said she liked Airbnbâs cause they are âeasy.â For 350 I am better off paying 150 for a clean and 100 for a laundry service.
The cleaner I switched to now will take laundry home. I pay her extra for that and she gets paid hourly.
We have a hot tub lady who is amazing. She is only 40 dollars and comes day of check in. She cracks me up she will message and say â Cleaned your tub filters were a mess. Did Bigfoot bathe in there ?!â 
This 100 percent! Our season will be ending soon. Iâm glad! Seems like current guests use it to stay home when it used to be a base for exploring.
I donât really understand the cohost thing. Canât you just let her know the number of people when you give her cleaning dates?
Yes I could have- then she may message and say more guests look like they stayed, etc. That whole thing was way too complicated! Never again!