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For those of you who rent a full space, and require a once a week clean…do you charge full rate for the second clean?
I only advertise maximum length as 7 days. I have an inquiry for a 2 week stay, and would require a cleaning after 7 days. At the minimum I would change out sheets, remake beds, and switch out all towels, etc. Of course the other reason is to make sure the place isn’t getting trashed.
I know some people charge a second clean fee to the guest (as a requirement) and they go in and basically clean the entire place. Not so sure I want to go there…people’s “stuff” everywhere…ugh.
Do some of you just require a partial cleaning - and do this complimentary just so you can check on the place? Do you charge a small fee?
Also, I would be interested to hear from anyone whose guests consistently hire out your housekeeper for a daily, or 3 time a week service. Any idea what she does for them? I would think make the beds daily and make sure dishes are put away, etc. But what would she not do daily? - etc. mop floors, scrub bathrooms??
If you don’t offer some sort of discount for that length of stay (or even if you do!), I would just say it’s a part of the service to come in and change bedding and towels and not charge extra. It will keep them from trashing the place, or if they do you can boot them without them causing further damage. I think since it honestly will benefit you more than them, to charge extra for this might cause them to turn it down. I definitely wouldn’t clean the whole place, but a chance to check the place under the guise of changing linens is worth the time.
[quote=“cabinhost, post:1, topic:7195, full:true”]
I have an inquiry for a 2 week stay, and would require a cleaning after 7 days. At the minimum I would change out sheets, remake beds, and switch out all towels, etc. [/quote]
Do they require the cleaning, or do you require it?
We switch out the towels every 2-3 days. (They only get 1 set per guest).
When they stay 2 weeks we offer to change the bedding, often they just want the sheets and covers and do it themselves.
We do no cleaning, if they want a cleaning the would have to pay the full fee.
Guests staying longer periods often ask for the materials to do some cleaning themselves.
This is a separate home you are referring to? You enter and change out their towels every 2-3 days??
As far as if I require it, or if the guest does…I don’t have a set policy because I typically do not rent to guests for more than a week. The situation has never come up. But I know owners have varying policies on this. Some do require the cleaning and the guest does pay for it whether they like it or not. Or they may just do a changing of sheets that is complimentary. Or they may charge a small fee and do partial cleaning.
In this particular case the guest has expressed interest in possible cleaning throughout the week. But even if she didin’t, I would still require something. I may just refer her to someone local for her daily needs.
If a guest is here for 10 days or 2 weeks I do a mid-stay cleaning which includes change of sheets, fresh sets of towels, vacuum, clean bathroom sink and toilet if needed. It takes around 20 min (it’s a small apt) and I don’t charge since I consider this time saved having avoided doing 3-4 turnovers during the same period.
We do a mid-stay clean and linen change for a stay of a week and for a two-week stay we generally do two “room refreshes” . We don’t charge for it but then we don’t charge a cleaning fee at all - it’s not really very usual here and we build it into a somewhat higher rental figure than is usual here.
It’s a bit of a hangover from our B&B days when I cleaned every day. What I (or my cleaner) would do then was make the bed (always hoping the guests had done that themselves …), pick up any clothes that are on the floor and put over back of chair, clean toilet and wipe down bathroom sink and surfaces, wash and replace any used mugs and glasses from the tea/coffee tray, hang damp towels to dry on the balcony, dry mop the floor with a swiffer (quicker than vacuuming) and spot clean the bathroom floor if needed, empty bins and replace liners. This could take anything from 5 minutes (older French couples who you wouldn’t know had actually used the room) to almost an hour for 20-year old Brits on a “girls’ weekend” …
One reason for moving to Airbnb was to cut down on this work, but I have to say that old habits die hard … I do like to know that my space is staying tidy and looking good, and
If I could afford it (i.e. charge a high enough price to make it worthwhile) I’d like to have my cleaner come in every day.
I rent a full space (small 1 bdrm condo; max: 2 occupants/strict). I have recently changed the max stay to 7 or 8 ni., though I still have a handful of 9-13 nighters on the books and one 16-nighter.
My charge for a mid-stay (partial) clean is $50, which is just under half of the normal prep and restocking fee between guests. Guests get fresh towels and linen, including bed covering (for a new look!), the floor vacuumed/mopped and bathroom thoroughly cleaned.
My instructions to the housecleaner are to wipe down all the hard surfaces but not to move/touch the guests’ personal belongings. The guests are informed of the day the unit will be serviced and if they don’t put their stuff out of the way, the cleaner will clean around it.
I tell the cleaner not to empty the trash or do dishes or clean the range or oven…those are the guests’ duties and are specified as must-do’s in the checkout list to avoid an extra cleaning charge. (Housecleaners in the area are in great demand and charge extra for those chores because they are especially time-consuming…and I’m certainly not paying for it.) My cleaner receives every penny of the fees.
In over 6 yrs., I’ve never had a guest hire out the housecleaner or request additional servicing.
