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I recently had to get a new cleaning service for my full home airbnb. They want to not put any pillows on the beds, only decorative ones. The pillows will be in the closet of each room, and the pillow cases in the linen closet down the hall. I do not like the idea. If I were the guest and had to go looking for pillows and then cases, I would not be happy. For now, I will keep what we are doing which is putting the pillows on the beds, but would like input of others.
Does this sound familiar? or standard procedure? to anyone?
I agree with you, I like pillows on the bed. Perhaps due to COVID your cleaning service is leaving them in the closet. If that’s the case, you will need to let guests know ahead of time.
You’ll be even less happy as the host if your guests don’t bother to look for other pillows and just use the decorative pillows and they end up soiled and stained from dirt, makeup, hair dye, drool, etc.
Collective wisdom on this forum is get rid of decorative pillows. They look cute, get mashed up, tossed on the floor, and guests hate trying to figure out what to do with them. I actually asked guests about that and 100% said get rid of them. The considerate guests don’t want to ruin them and struggle with where to put them, pillows take up valuable space when put on a dresser or desk, pillows get tossed on the floor making them dirty for the next guests, and pillows get used as pillows!
They said it was “standard procedure” when there is more than one room. I had never heard of such a thing and do not like the idea. And that if they put pillows with cases on the beds, they have to wash all the cases, not knowing whether they were used or not.
There are definitely people who would just use the decorative pillows, so then you would end up washing decorative pillows. Thank you all for the input.
This isn’t standard where I’m from. If they’re not willing to place pillows in their pillow cases on the bed then this would be considered a red flag to me and I would search for another cleaner.
I’m so glad to find this to be the collective wisdom. I found out the hard way with decorative pillows. I dealt with too many of them. They never lasted, were difficult to clean and virtually impossible to find replicas to replace. I tossed the decorative pillow idea years ago and never looked back. I only have them in my living rooms on couches where guests usually don’t sleep.
I had 2 small ones on a king bed in the guest suite and one of my first guests said “Um… what do I do with these?” and I said “Give them to me and I’ll make them go away!” No one has ever remarked on the lack of decorative pillows.
Professional cleaning companies that specialize in short term rentals I assume have been growing and these companies may have their own system of cleaning in order to make their prices work. The point is to use their system and find hosts that fit, rather than be trained by hosts. Which is fine, given they know what they’re doing. However, the cleaning company focused in this thread somehow thinks their clients should let them leave pillows in closets, separate from pillow cases… which none of us see how they came to such a weird conclusion and resulting system of cleaning.
Respectfully disagree. I’ve always trained my cleaners to do the job to my specifications and standards. If I can do it in, say 2 hours, by myself to my level of beyond AirBnB protocols, then 2 people should be able to do it in at least the same amount of time (they charge by 2 hour increments) and do it my way. ANY decent cleaner will take more time the first time to make sure they understand their client’s needs.
The point is that it is the host who gets the reviews, not the cleaning people. Therefore the host must train their cleaning crew in the way they see fit to maximise their star ratings and 5 star reviews.
The cleaners, no matter how experienced the company is, should have no input regarding the hospitality the host is offering.
I’ve always had listing pics to show how the space is styled, I’ve never had a cleaning company tell me how my own property should appear (like not putting pillows on the bed).
Standard procedure in what world? Ridiculous! Easier for them maybe and No Thank You!
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Pillows are always on the bed in EVERY hotel or STR. What lunacy.
This just sounds weird. I have pillows on the bed, but pillows, with cases, of a different firmness available in the closet… I did away with decorative pillows when COVID hit and probably won’t put them back. Their only purpose seems to be making the pictures look nice.
Sounds like your cleaners have worked for the penal service or the military, and do not have a single clue about the hospitality sector. I’d fire their ass – if their instincts are such a bad fit for an Airbnb, eventually they will leave egg on YOUR face
