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A guest and her niece checked out 2 days ago, I went to clean up the flat yesterday and was very surprised to see that, contrary to what was written in her 13 very positive reviews, she wasn’t that clean. The dishes on the dish drainer were poorly washed. I had thought that maybe they were in a rush to the airport early in the morning. So I checked all the dishes in the cupboards and drawers and took out more poorly washed ones and rewash them. There were also a lot of small pieces of food residues on the floor. I think they might have wiped the bar table and transferred all the dirts on the floor. Because they had asked where they could work and I had suggested the bar as it is very long and wide and can sit at least 6 persons (they could use half of it for eating and half of it for working). The induction stove top and the kitchen counter top were also poorly wiped and they didn’t clean the microwave nor the Nespresso machine.
Besides saying that although they weren’t champions of housework and have room for improvement, they were polite, cheerful and independent. I may sound very picky because of her 13 almost very good reviews.
Perhaps it is time to reevaluate what your expectations are from guests. If guests are not cleaning your dishes to your standards, perhaps a dishwasher would be a better thing to have. Or, ask the guests to put the dishes that they clean in a rack and not back in the shelves.
I would consider cleaning the microwave and the coffee machine to be part of the host’s cleaning chores.
And as far as “clean” dishes that aren’t really clean- I had a lovely guest who cooked a lot, always cleaned the kitchen after herself, but there were usually bits of food and grease on her “clean” dishes. I didn’t consider it to be a big deal to mention- as a home share host, I just rewashed the ones that weren’t clean. I’m sure if I had mentioned it, she would have paid more attention, I just don’t nitpick my guests like that. I considered her a 5* guest.
Some people aren’t detail oriented and just don’t notice, or, like 2 of my close friends, they don’t see that well up close and don’t bother putting on their reading glasses when washing dishes. When I go to pour myself a cup of coffee at their homes, I usually have to scrub out the old coffee ring from the “clean” coffee mug in the cupboard.
Perhaps you being seemingly surprised these guests had 13 5* reviews has more to do with you having rather overly high expectations of guests than that past hosts were somehow being dishonest.
You expect your guests to clean the Nespresso and microwave? And do more than wipe down the stovetop?
I agree with @Rolf it may be time to reevaluate your guest expectations. I’ve had guests clean the bathroom to sparkling and guests leave a lot of hair. I don’t mark them down on cleanliness unless they’ve tracked sand in the house and never mentioned it or the ones who smoked pot outside and put their pot in the dresser (causing me to close for 2 weeks to clean).
Recent deduction of start for HR and cleanliness was donut crumbs in the bedroom and glass by the pool deck, among other things.
Might be time for a dishwasher.
I think you sound picky because you expect them to leave it as clean as a cleaning company would instead of understanding that they didn’t realize they were paying to stay and clean your listing.
Admittedly, they would fall below the standard of guests we’ve been having, generally, since Covid, but cleaning the hob, microwave etc is part of our normal cleaning routine.
We would host them all day long, and we expect that we’ll do minor extra cleaning for some guests.
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Summary - they were pleasant, did not smoke, break or stain anything? 5 STARS!
They were not careless and didn’t damage anything at all and I‘m very happy about that. You guys are right, I can’t expect guests to be as maniac as I am. But would you have given her 5-star like the other 13 hosts, the same score I have given to many meticulously clean guests?
Yes. You can’t expect guests to be meticulously clean. If they are, that’s bonus for you.
A guest who leaves the place relatively clean and tidy is a 5* clean guest to me. I get some who leave it immaculate, and some who don’t, but obviously made an effort. If they washed their dishes, instead of assuming you to be their personal maid, that’s all you can expect. That they were lax dishwashers and didn’t manage to get them really clean is just part and parcel of hosting.
I only had to give a less than 5* cleanliness rating to one guest, who left piles of used tissues under the bed, bits of garbage strewn around, half empty pop and beer cans in her bedroom, clothing she didn’t want anymore, etc. But I didn’t even mark her down too harshly, because she was otherwise a lovely guest and I’m familiar with the demographic she comes from. Upper class city Mexican, grew up with maids, and was only 20 years old.
I wouldn’t deduct a star. If I have super tidy guests who leave everything sparkling, I call it out in my written review of them as being above and beyond.
Guests are not “expected to be meticulous”. They are expected to leave a place in good condition, without stains or damage or breaking big house rules like “no smoking”. Super clean guests get 5 stars plus a rave review.
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We assume that you vacuum and mop floors between all guests? And, clean every surface and the microwave, right? So, what’s the problem? 10 extra min washing a few dishes?
I’ve read hosts complaining about toothpaste splatters all over the sink, counter and mirror. So what? Was the host not planning to thoroughly clean and sterilize the bathroom?
That’s funny. And about the kitchen: I hand check all my dishes anyway. About 10% of the time I don’t rewash or polish (such as water spots). I don’t expect my last guest to clean for my next guest.
Now here, I do have an issue if my micro is food splattered (I provide a shield). I wouldn’t take off stars unless they’d stayed 2 weeks and crusted the thing beyond recognition, though.
People always leave used k-cups in the machine and coffee in the spill tray. Expected.
To me, it’s when they do gross things I consider knocking off a star. Such as: pee on the floor or walls…yep, walls; sticky/nasty food spills on the floor, major beverage/grease splatters on the cabinets, beans on the windows (true story). That kinda stuff. And in combination.
I agree with the others. 5 stars. Maybe up your daily rate a tad or your cleaning fee if you feel you’re doing more than you expect to. Really, sometimes that’s an issue…you charge no fee or very little and then you might feel upset about “the mess” left for you.
I would call it “as expected” which gets 5-stars on Airbnb. I’ve stayed at some mediocre listings with multiple issues that have had 10 times as many positive reviews. It’s only fair.
We also don’t have dishwashers in our units and, apparently, hand washing dishes is a skill that has been slowly evolving out of humans while I was busy doing other things. I was unaware of this perversion until we started hosting but work around it by checking each and every dish between guests. A microfiber cloth that is made for glass (the smooth ones) and a spray bottle (we do vinegar, water and a few drops of tea tree oil) is your friend.
I’m a big fan of tea tree oil and use it for lots of stuff.
I know it’s helpful to mix in the wash water for floors to discourage crawling insects, but what does it do in the cleaning mix for the glasses?
Of course, I didn’t meet the guests or see the rental after their stay. But I don’t see anything that wasn’t a five star stay.
The cleaning jobs you mentioned (cleaning the microwave, the dishes in the cupboards., the coffee machine, the stovetop and so on) are largely immaterial because those items are going to be cleaned during the regular turnover anyway.
Please don’t expect too much from your guests - you’re going to thoroughly clean the rental anyway.
I have to be honest - your guest seems to have done what would have been expected of a guest. While it’s ideal that a guest leaves a house clean - they don’t have to leave it spotless as if no one was there. That’s what the turnover cleaning fee is for . As long as they didn’t trash anything - didn’t leave it a filthy mess etc - I think they are a good guest in my book. A Phenomenal guest leaves it spotless but that’s not expected.
After the flip I just did I would love to have your "messy"guest stay at my space. The last guests spilled some boozy red drink all over my brand new carpet then proceeded to clean it up with my new towels and I kid you not 19 washcloths which are all now stained and ruined. Accidents happen, but we have plenty of cleaning supplies in the apartment and live below and would have gladly provided additional rags to be used instead of the nice ones.
