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 totally agree with all these points. Although I rented out the accommodation with the cleaning fee several times (it was still offering a good value for money, plus it seems to be a standard thing at certain locations), I wouldn’t charge it as a host. Besides the reasons that you mentioned, I think it also creates a certain sense of entitlement to mess and dirty the space on behalf of certain guests. “I paid for the cleaning, and now I’ll use my money’s worth and make you clean, ha!” kind of mentality, which I despise, but unfortunately often encountered among the people I know. When you’re not charging the cleaning fee, people tend to a) have more understanding to certain “imperfections”, if they happen, and b) they tend to care about cleanliness more as they are not buying the permission to leave mess behind. I have to admit that I also caught myself judging the cleanliness of the place that charges the fee more harshly than the ones that do not, although increased cleanliness probably wasn’t the intention od the host when setting the fee.
Personally I rather give a proper weekly discount for long term stays (10%), it makes a better psychological effect and it really encouraged longer stays, at least in my case.
So you want your sales and use and/or lodging tax to include your cleaning fee? As well as your income tax? Makes no sense to me. We charge a mere $15 for cleaning, which covers our monthly professional cleaners and our own labor for turnarounds. And of course, we pay income tax on it but no reason to pay sales tax on it.
Here in NC the cleaning fee is considered part of the cost of the stay. All lodging taxes are applied to the total. Cleaning fee is not considered “optional” labor. Since you would not rent out the house/room in an unclean state, then it doesn’t matter if you include it in your nightly rate, or if you separate it out. It’s all taxed. Even our guest booking fee is taxed…although most states do not tax the booking fee.
Many accountants and tax preparers have wrongly told hosts that the cleaning fee is not taxed like the rest of the rate and later they found out these “professionals” were wrong. So please just be 100% sure that you are correct for your area.
FYI- I have had several people tell me that the cleaning is considered labor and not taxable. Then when I went to their area to look up local laws, in every instance it was taxable the same as the nightly rate. Not saying that some areas do not tax the clean fee, but often times it is misinterpreted as falling under “labor” that shouldn’t be taxed.
I see the cleaning fee as a prep fee. It covers the laundry, stocking disposables, the cleaner who comes to wash floors, scrub bathroom etc. One time things for each stay. I don’t expect my guests to clean the toilet for the next group.
I have to take garbage and recycling to a dump, a 24 km round trip, and it is only open a few days a week. Guest access to dump is problematic as a pass is required. The last weekend guests left 2 large bags of recycling and one of garbage. (It filled my tall outdoor bin to the top)
Indeed. Although I think they’ve changed this recently so they factor in all additional costs when you search for specific dates? I could be wrong, though, and maybe it’s just the Air service fee they factor in to the headline price.
This is exactly what I meant by point 3 in my post above. You might see it that way but to me, as a potential guest. what you’re really saying is “You want me to actually PREPARE the place for your arrival? Oh well in that case you’ll need to pay me an extra $xx”. Whaat??
Interesting point! It adds to the case against viewing the additional charge as a ‘preparation fee’, I think.
The solution would be to allow hosts a more flexible pricing structure, I suppose, so that the whole ‘cleaning’ issue is gone. Eg, the price gradually decreases the longer you stay. Cleaning is a basic procedure in this business and shouldn’t be on the pricing menu. It’s not an optional extra, after all.
Rather than set a two-night minimum, I use the cleaning fee to encourage longer stays. I don’t want to completely shut out the (usually here on business) person who needs only one night, but – I work full time (so I leave a day in between bookings) and after a long day at work, those one night turnovers, particularly a few in a row, are killers.
If you stay one night I have to do this, if you stay 3 days I only do it once. I’m not renting out a bedroom, but a 1,200 sq foot, three bedroom cottage. I can reduce or delete the fee by not providing sheets and pillowcases, more than one roll of toilet paper, remove all the pantry items, paper towels etc. Most cottages in this area are bare bones. No bedding, crappy dishes, old comforters which may not have been washed for months.
Guest’s would also,have to take their garbage home or pay dump,fees.
I understand the need to charge extra for shorter stays, I really do. What I am saying is that ideally it should be factored into the overall pricing structure not presented as an additional “cleaning fee”. It makes it seem as if cleaning is some kind of special service when really it should be standard.
I don’t think whatever your competitors are doing has any bearing on this, to be honest. Actually how do you even know all these details about these other places - have you stayed in them?
Where my place is based (Ireland) the headline price seems to be the hosts cheapest rate excluding all other costs and fees. There is new host near me and they have a a rate ( the headline rate) which is much lower than mine but when you add their additional costs then it becomes similar to mine. So a guest has to do more homework than, in my opinion, should be necessary to compare costs.
I agree with a lot of this reasoning, which is why I don’t charge a fee. I also rent 2 rooms in the same apartment on different calendars, and sometimes guests arrive in the middle of someone else’s stay. Even if I clean in the morning the day of guest A’s arrival, if guest B uses the apartment after I cleaned it may not be spotless when A arrives. My building is really old, with lots of old parts that just won’t ever be “clean” to some people’s standards.
I try to mitigate this by reminding guests that our building is old and the space is shared prior to accepting a booking. Recently I added a line to my initial request response message: (you’ll also notice you aren’t charged a cleaning fee). I was mostly mentioning it to try to set expectations of “hey, this place isn’t the cleanest you’ll ever be in but it’s pretty cheap and close to transportation so hopefully that’s still worth it to you!” But, ever since I added that line I have noticed guests leaving the room nearly in the condition they found it (even to the point of making the bed) much more often. I don’t get people leaving garbage all over the floor and wet towels in a pile on the bed anymore. Some of them even strip the bed and start a load of laundry for their used linens. It has been a pleasantly surprising side effect. Cleaning actually got easier for me when I reminded guests they aren’t paying me “extra” to clean! Amazing.
I don’t agree. Airbnb listings are not a hotel with a staff of cleaners. If I want to get my unit cleaned, I need to pay for a service each time. It is much more transparent and fair to everyone to pass the actual charge on to the renter.
You’re missing the point, mate! It’s nothing to do with hotels or cleaning staff. Whether you employ someone to clean or whether you do it yourself - the cost should be included in the overall charge to the guest, imo. There is nothing transparent or fair about passing along your own business costs to the customer.
Following your logic, where next? You will charge extra for electricity, gas, wifi, wear and tear on furnishings, use of utensils in the kitchen…?
There is probably a big cultural difference here. In many US states you are all used to add-on taxes and random miscellaneous surcharges. In Europe it’s not the norm and we really don’t like it.
Yet more U.S. bashing. Yes, in the U.S. sales tax is added to the price of goods. In Europe it is common to charge for bread. As a rule, restaurants in the U.S. don’t charge for bread. Restaurants here don’t charge a premium for sitting down to eat. Many in Europe do. In France, I saw a menu that said in English that customers weren’t permitted to order a salad and no main dish. In the U.S. you are permitted to order as little food as you like. In the U.S. many restaurants offer free refills on soda, tea, ice tea and coffee. European restaurants do not. When I’ve traveled in Europe I had to pay extra for a shower in my hotel room. I’ve never been in a hotel in the U.S. that didn’t have a shower in the room. Our sales tax is appreciably less than your VAT tax.
If hosts want to charge a cleaning fee it is their right. It is your right not to.
When I’m a guest, I’m always surprised to see listings that don’t have a cleaning charge. As others have pointed out, we clean the room once for each stay, however long the stay is, so one cleaning charge per stay makes more sense than increasing the price per night.
Yes, a guest expects a clean place. I’m upfront that it costs me xxx dollars to provide this. As i don’t provide daily cleaning, it is the same charge for 1 night or 15 nights. Under your system I would need different nightly rates for every different stay length. Would be impossible.
Yes, if practical, such as long-term rentals, it is completely common to pass on cost of electricity, wifi, etc to tenant. That way they control costs and usage.
My brother takes care of maintenance at an Airbnb nearby. He was the one who told me about it.i read local listings to see what is expected, common practice. At the time I was very tight for cash and couldn’t afford to buy towels, I needed to know if towels were necessary in our area. I actually offer more than my competitors for a number of reasons, mostly due to family culture re hospitality. If I raise the price to cover the cleaning vs a cleaning fee, my place will look overpriced, its also unfair for people who stay longer.
I’m out of town and had to pay twice for my Air to be cleaned. If I had absorbed the cleaning, I would have been in the negative. I paid the cleaner what I charge the guest. People can skip me if they don’t want to pay the cleaning. Which should really be called a turnover fee.
