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I think there’s a great deal of variation in the way guests search for properties. For instance, a digital nomad may not be bound to any specific dates, or even any specific town or country- they might look for the kind of properties they like, in various places they’ve always been curious about, and book dates that they see on the calendar are available.
My current guest just told me he searches using the Airbnb map and Google aerial and street views, because he prefers places that are out of the main busy areas, with a lot of nature around, rather than shops and restaurants. He said the environmental and construction aesthetic (something artistic rather than cookie cutter or monochrome modern) is more important to him than whether it’s an entire place, a homeshare, or whether he has a private or shared bathroom. He also said he almost never uses the price filter, or much of any filters, because he wants to see everything that’s available in an area, and is just as willing to pay $200/night as $50/night if he likes the look of the place and the reviews indicate that it’s his kind of place.
I actually didn’t realize that Airbnb shows the total price everywhere- I know they have had to do that for quite awhile in Europe, because of EU regs, but didn’t know guests can see that anywhere now if they opt to see the total price.
Agreed! I charge $150 cleaning fee for a whole house rental for 6 guests with use of patio, backyard, kayaks, BBQ and firepit. I rented an Airbnb room in August and the cleaning fee was $65 for just one room with a small bathroom and no kitchenette. Worst of all, the bathroom wasn’t that clean. There were hairs in the shower. I felt that charging that much for just one room was a bit excessive.
Do you think there should be a sliding scale for cleaners? Per room? Or level of clean? What do YOU think a cleaner should be paid for ‘one room’? Oh, and ‘a small bathroom’… lol does that gets cleaned too for $65? Would YOU drive 30 minutes and spend 2 hours cleaning for $65? Why would you expect that to be a fair wage for someone else?
If the local cost of cleaners is $65, is it unfair to pay them for their work? What if the cleaners charge a minimum of $100 to show up? Or $200? What if the cleaners you use travel 30 minutes each way (an hour) to the airbnb and charge you for travel time?
Each airbnb has different situations. Cleaners may not be available for the ‘one small room (and bathroom remember)’ for the perceived ‘good rate’ that the airbnb guest decides is appropriate - what then?
So you think a guest finding the bathroom hasn’t been properly cleaned is no big deal? That guests shouldn’t object to paying a hefty cleaning fee only to find it hasn’t been very well cleaned?
When people are charged for a service they shouldn’t expect that service is properly provided?
And a private room/bathroom listing is more than likely cleaned by the host, not a cleaner who works for 2 hrs and has an hour of travel time.
The fee is not the issue - and the amount has nothing to do with the quality of the clean. It is the host’s responsibility to make sure the property is ‘super’.
And assuming things like who cleans the rooms does not have anything to do with the cleaning fee. The host is in charge of making sure the property is ready, whether it takes 40 mins of a quick cleanup or 6 hours. I do not recall negotiating with a cleaner for my private room in my house for pricing based on quality of cleaning - and yes, I host a private room and do employ a cleaner from time to time. Why assume that does not happen?
If a specific ‘cleaning fee’ is levied on top, whatever price it is set at, I would expect the place to be properly clean on arrival. That is a reasonable expectation.
Seems to me risky to charge a separate fee if one has an indifferent approach to cleanliness. Safer to merely cover those costs within the nightly rate. At least that way guests won’t feel so aggrieved at substandard cleanliness they’ve actually had to pay for.
Sadly, this is something that hurts the guest - If you increase the nightly rate by x, and they stay 20 days (for example) they are paying 20x that increased price, for something that should be a one time charge. That’s why it has always been a one time charge.
If I would normally charge $65 as a cleaning fee, but change my rate an extra $20 a night, the guest now is paying $400 for cleaning. It does not make sense to do this just because the concept of one time fees flies over the head of a guest - and they do not see how advantageous it is for them as a one time charge.
Also, your higher daily rate makes you less competitive.
That depends on whether your competition has a separate cleaning fee or includes it in the nightly rate.
Really, Airbnb should not allow both options- it should be one way or the other, so everyone either includes cleaning in the nightly rate, or charges it separately, which would eliminate the issue of appearing to be more or less expensive than the competition, when you really are not.
And, wasn’t it Air that was trying to discourage people from tacking on the cleaning fee 4-5 years ago? Didn’t they want people to include it in cost of the rental?
This must stay as a separate tax due of different taxation levels for the companies in this field and for a good cost controll. The cleaning services and hosting services are differently treated for taxation purposes in many countries, VAT is 19% vs 9% in my country… For an individual this separation maybe makes no difference but if you act like a company this is really important.
Good point, but there is an easy fix: use “RULES” to impose calibrated discounts after 3 days, 5 days, one week two weeks etc etc. We’ve been doing that (successfully) since we eliminated our cleaning fee several years ago.
The host owns the entire building in NY. She converted all the apartments into Airbnb rooms. She even named her Airbnb “hotel.” Although on the listing it says “One private room in Bay Ridge.” I saw the “hotel” name when she texted me. She communicated with me mostly through text and not on the Airbnb platform. We saw the cleaning lady in the hallway preparing other rooms although she only cleans at checkout, no daily cleaning. I didn’t mention the hairs to the cleaning lady, because I felt that she looked overworked and tired so I decided to let it go. I felt not only that the cleaning fee was excessive for one bedroom but also didn’t like that host converted the building into a “hotel.” I used to live two blocks away and it made me sad to see that building and others in the area turned into Airbnbs. Apparently this host owns another building also in the same area. I guess I shouldn’t complain because I stayed at this Airbnb during my visit to my old neighborhood but in all honesty, I thought it was in someone’s home and not a “hotel.”
The nightly rate is listed.
The total price, including all fees is shown and even in the filter it says that the selected price range includes all the fees and taxes.
What you are missing is that the search page doesn’t look the same in Europe as it does other places. EU regulations mandate that the total price is shown. If I search incognito, without any filters, dates, etc. I only have the option to see total prices before taxes. And if I don’t check the box that says to display total before taxes, I only see the base price and when I click on a listing, only then do I see a different price when cleaning fees, taxes, and Airbnb fees are added.
Yes, I said I could click on “see total before taxes”.
If you look at the screenshot Hosterer posted, it says “including taxes and fees”.
And, as I said, when I search without using that buttton and just using the general search with no filters or dates, as Hosterer said they did, listings show nightly rate without any cleaning fees, service fees or taxes.
OK, that’s the explanation which doesn’t make any sense - even though I spent some time in the US wondering what the benefit would be to regular consumers to see sale prices without tax included - just show the people how much money they have to have in their pockets before they actually buy it…
