Oven is checked, if unused, a quick wipe out.
If used it is cleaned until there are no marks!
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I agree that nothing is ever perfect all the time, but I don’t see anything wrong with aiming for it, especially when it enhances our businesses.
As the old saying goes, if you’re a manufacturer of yard rulers, 1% out will ruin your business.
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You’ve been hosting this way for over 3 years. Apparently guests have gotten pickier because you’ve previously stated that you have no problem with this model of hosting where people stay in the house where you live.
I think the change is two fold: one there is an influx of new users. They feel that a whole house is safer than staying in a hotel. After all there are documented covid outbreaks from hotels, cruise ships and apartment buildings. These new folks haven’t been trained to the fact that every Airbnb and every host is different. The other is that yes, there’s a creeping discontent in America now. So I wouldn’t be surprised that guests are leaving worst ratings.
OTOH, if you aren’t presenting a perfect stay then you should expect a perfect rating. You don’t want to accept that most hosts believe that yes, the oven and everything else should be cleaned between guests. But you should accept that your ratings reflect that stubborness on your part.
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There is a 24 hour super high heat cycle that stinks up the house to burn off any residue in the oven. The glass door will not get any better than it already is, unless someone gives me an idea of how to get the years caked on residue off. Sorry if I came across as ?? …I’m frustrated by this prior guest and her pickiness, considering my reviews say my house is very clean, plus I was tired and grumpy when I posted and responded… 
I take pride in providing a really nice home, and I do spend a lot of time prepping for guests, this is why I am frustrated with this prior guest. My reviews generally all state that my homes are very clean. It appears that not checking the oven is something I need to do regularly.
I will need to start upping my game then, or trust myself when my spidey sense says decline, which I didn’t listen to with this guest. I also am noticing that the communication from the guests is not at the same level as before, and I’m not sure how to remedy that, when they refuse to engage. I’m thinking I’ve gotten complacent in some areas myself.
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This would probably be the option that you would find to be the most satisfactory. We can’t control other people, only ourselves. If you feel that you have a spidey sense, then definitely use it. I don’t have one. That said, don’t blame yourself, sometimes we all have less than desirable guests. You’ve already expended too much good energy on this one.
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Good thing the microwave in the str rarely even needs a wipe. If I had a real oven there it would be a black hole like the one in the house!
Bob Vila has the answer for you; thank you Dr. Google:
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What? You are renting out a home - for good money - with an oven door with year’s worth of baked-on gunge?
Sorry but that’s crazy. The goal is that when a guest arrives at a rental, there should be no indication of other people having stayed there. Of course, the guests know that other people have, but a hair in the bath, a dirty cooker, an old tissue under the sofa - all these things and more are signs that other people have been there.
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When we bought our 3-family/unit house we inherited some pretty nasty old ovens. We have since replaced them all, ours being the last of course, lol, but we were able to clean them up. And all without leaving windows open. It did take 24 hours the first time for a deep clean. Once they are very clean, if you clean them between guests they will stay clean. You don’t need the deep clean each time, only the first time if it has not been kept up. This is true for a new oven as well but we didn’t need the deep clean we just cleaned in between every guest and the ovens still look nearly new. Pro-tip: some of the baking soda will dry and fall down into the broiler or oven drawer and underneath the stove so make your last step wiping that out and cleaning under the stove. This is only the deep clean to get the stove/oven clean enough to maintain easily between guests.
The initial deep clean we did by making a paste with baking soda and painted (literally with a clean paint brush) it on inside the oven, every corner, very thoroughly and we let that sit for 24 hours and then we wiped it out and even in a nasty oven about 90% was gone. We got the extra stubborn 10% off with a variety of tools: a scraper, a razor blade (carefully) and a magic eraser sponge.
Since then we have also discovered this The Pink Stuff cleaner. It’s a (pink) paste and it has helped us upkeep our ovens when something gets really baked on, including the glass.
During a regular cleaning of one of our units it is mostly just maintenance with a microfiber cloth and some vinegar/water spray. We get all of the grease and crumbs out before they have a chance to get baked on.
You may or may not know this but I’ve noticed in some Airbnbs that it looks some people don’t know that the oven/stove knobs pull right off. I can tell that they’ve wiped around over and over because there’s a little brown ring around them. If the oven or stove top has been used by the guest we just pop off the knobs and put them in a bowl with some Dawn dish liquid and let them sit while we do the kitchen.
This way that whole area with the knobs is easier to clean and gets entirely clean. Then we rinse off the knobs, pat them dry and stick them back on. It makes the whole oven/stove look so much cleaner. Like I said, you may know this already, but I am sure that some hosts don’t because of how the knob panel looks on most stoves in an Airbnb.
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I honestly can’t believe you’re renting out a listing with a grotty, filthy oven.
As a guest, that’d be a red flag right away suggesting that the host wasn’t that fussed about the level of cleanliness.
A well used oven will often have the odd baked on marks that refuse to come off, but the other ninety odd percent, including the glass doors, should be spotless.
Checking the oven is one of our first jobs, mainly because the oven cleaner we use needs to sit for 20/30 mins and sometimes needs a double dose, especially when folks buy the supermarket pizzas here, with their cheap shitty cheese that sets like lava!
JF
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Well, that isn’t true in the type of hosting model the OP is doing. She goes to stay elsewhere when she gets bookings, is what I gather. Meaning all her personal stuff, including her food in the fridge, is there.
I know there are quite a few listings like this- personally I find it an odd concept.
It’s exactly like a shared room listing except without the host being present, isn’t it? No? What am I missing?
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So do I. I imagine it to be a budget option? I find it a bit strange though that people would leave all their stuff in the house. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
Not really. In the shared spaces, yes, but for instance, my guest room and bathroom has nothing of mine in it- it’s all set up purely for the guests.
And also, it’s quite different because home-shares are listed as such- a private room with shared common areas with the host and possibly other guests.
The model Bendmom has is normally listed as an entire home, so it sets different expectations, even if the host explains in the description that there will be some of the host’s food in the fridge, clothes in the closets, etc.
It’s one thing for a friend or family member to book your place and be fine with your stuff all being there, but I think strangers would have a different feeling about it.
I know if I were a guest, it would feel strange to me to live in what is listed as an entire home, but be surrounded with a stranger’s belongings.
I would also feel that way if I booked a home-share, but found the “private” room closet or bureau had the host’s things stored in them.
I’ve read posts by guests who complain that the host keeps having to come into their room to get things out of the closet.
I’m not saying I think there is anything inherently wrong with the OP’s listing type, but I do think if it’s listed as an entire place, the host can’t expect guests to be okay with things that we may not be fussed about in our own homes, like a dirty oven window, a broken blind, or a broken or missing knob.
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When it’s someone’s vacation or second home it doesn’t seem weird at all. I’ve stayed in several. One was a shared home where a friend and I rented two bedrooms. The owner unexpectedly had to go out of town and we met her as she was literally backing out of the driveway. So it was unexpected but not weird. Another was in that same area but was the vacation home of couple that lived in Houston.
@CatskillsGrrl also rents her home with all the stuff in it and has done so quite successfully for years. I don’t think anyone in the Catskills thinks it’s wierd, they’ve done it for a hundred years.
Anyway, a lid for every pot. You’d think it was strange so you wouldn’t do it. But as long as it’s disclosed what kind of rental it is, it’s been done successfully for decades.
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Bar Keepers Friend is amazing and I use it for regular cleanings of the oven glass. Do the deep baking soda clean everyone is talking about and us Keepers each time you clean (a quick wet and wipe usually). It quickly removes pot marks from my ceramic sink, also. And it’s so cheap.
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I get that, and that probably wouldn’t weird to me either, because while it would have some personal things in it, if it’s a place the host uses themselves occasionally, it doesn’t seem like it would have an overabundance of personal stuff, (although maybe I’m wrong on that assumption).
But renting out one’s vacation home is different from
I don’t mind at all if the host lives in the house when I’m not there. In many cases I prefer it. Places like that usually have more warmth and a real-home feeling than many neutral please-everyone- set-up-just for guests places, though I may surely be in a minority of guests.
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