Guests leave a mess before the next group...also partly my mistake so not sure what to do?

I am sorry but I can’t understand why originally you were going to refund them? For what? You don’t provide towels it says in your listing.
They found condoms? So? I don’t get it at all. Condoms are bad?

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I think you were being hair-triggered in offering a refund for finding a wrapper when an apology would suffice.
Rewarding some people for finding faults can motivate them to find more to see what else they can wring from you.

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Nobody wants to think about what happened in the room they have rented before they got there - a left behind wrapper make it very obvious!

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So? It’s obvious that we humans have sex, all of us… I hope😂. To refund for found condom wrapper?
In my stays with Air I saw so many overlooked things left behind that were pretty explicit.
It’s someone’s house. Things happen. I paid little comparing to hotels and was very forgiving as everyone should be too. If they want to fuss hotels doors are wide open .

I’m impressed that’s worked. Has to be your communication :smile: If the next guest ever answered that it wasn’t clean upon their arrival, how would you/have you handled that?

Check this thread for the answer

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Whoa, this forum is much more useful than expected:)! Huge thanks to all of you for taking the time and especially @Annet3176 for writing such a detailed and super useful answer - this is exactly what I need to do since I personally prefer charging less and letting them do the cleaning. It is also interesting to see different perspectives on this. Finally i did refund more than one night (out of 3) for the later guests and half of a one night price to the first ones - even if I don’t really think they deserved it. I didn’t get any review yet, but i am thinking to leave a worse review for the ones who left a mess.

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LOL. Welcome. Hope you stick around. Some people we only see when they have a problem and that’s somewhat disappointing.

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@KKC

Thank you for posting info about my follow up. I have two condos at the beach: a 2BR & a 1BR. The $75 fee is for the 1 BR & the $150 fee is for the 2BR. I didn’t think to mention it earlier.

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Sorry I don’t mean to be rude but i’m Very surprised that you get away with not cleaning in between stays!?
Is it stated clearly in your post?
Personally I would never ever pay to stay in a place where the cleaning was left to the previous guests!
I always brush hoover mop my place. Dust regularly. Wipe shower screen and tray. Empty bins. General cleaning.
To me it’s all standard and I would expect every host to do the same.
You would probably get zero stars from me.
And what about bedding? Do people sleep in the same bedding as previous guests? Yuk.
We are all different. Guests are all different. Some might be happy about paying chips to stay in a dirty place but I think most people would expect a minimum amount of cleaning in between stays. Whatever the price.
I would defo expect a refund

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Yes, people are different. I always clean properly before i leave but if i am traveling then I have to leave it for the guests. As a guest I also prefer to pay less and do the cleaning myself - it is less gross to clean your own stuff than others. @Annet3176 wrote a very constructive (as opposed to aggresive) reply and she manages this in a great way as I’ve seen. I do not expect hotel standards from an airbnb - this is why it is cheaper. And honestly I had over 20 groups of guests until now and all of them left the place as clean as it was when they arrived (and i know that because usually i don’t have more groups staying unless somebody can check between them! I’m not that idiot you know…). In terms of bed linen, I have lots of extra clean linen, but then the guests should put in on the bed themselves. And so far I always got 5 stars with cleaning, so it really had to do with common sense than with anyhting else. But clearly not everyone has it, which is why i need to have a clear cleaning list and write that part of the deposit will be kept in case this is not done)

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and 2 of my favourite ‘aggressives’ weren’t even on this thread, you got off light! x

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Hi @liciab

Is your response to me or the thread initiator @anac?

About the linens—in my area with vacation condo rentals it is not uncommon for guests to bring their own. Repeatedly in my information to guests, it is clear that if they use the towels & linens in the unit, they must wash them before they leave.

I recognize that some guests prefer that someone else handle the cleaning. After my initial communication with guests restating the cleaning expectations, I’ve had 3 potential guests say they would prefer a place with a cleaning service. That is OK—I’d rather them be happy.

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Haha yes sorry this wasn’t meant for you. I’m new to the forum and don’t really get how to answer correctly!
Amazing, didn’t know some hosts left the cleaning up to the guests.
Great that it works for you! Wish I could do it. I’m sick of cleaning! :joy:
Your information is very clear so it makes sense. Didn’t think it could work.
Thank you for answering anyway

The more I think about your idea of guests cleaning after themselves the more I like it. I am imagining if as a guest I had an offer of not paying 150$ And just cleaning ourselves .
The only thing : can guests be sure that they will get their deposit back. People have different standards of cleanliness ranging from 1 to 10.
One guest who was so messy that it was borderline with insanity said: of course I am not that clean as you and your husband . We couldn’t help but laughing.

My last guests “cleaned.” They were very busy with the Swiffer and so on. I set Roomba loose in there after they left. He brought out a half-full box of cereal, and empty drink cup, and a sock.

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@anac @Annet3176 If your system works good for you, that’s great, but I was just wondering whether you also have a “big cleaning” 2-3 times per year that you do yourself or with a professional cleaner? Maybe you wrote about it but I missed it.

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@inna

I do the deep cleaning and routine maintenance myself over long weekends Usually after peak season rentals slow (oct/nov), before snowbird LTR (Jan/feb) & before THE season (may). I pop in the unit between rentals in July to restock & check on things.

So every 4 months or so I deep clean & maintain. If a guest notifies me of a problem I have a local friend who will check it out and let me know what is needed.

If I have a weekend empty or last minute cancellation I pop in as a little beach vacation for me and do any cleaning or repair needed.

How can you let your guests clean in between, it would be filthy! :scream::scream: what about shower drain, bedding dirty dishes

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@Cocoanouk

Please read the entire thread. I don’t believe you read my long info about this process. My unit is not filthy.

My guests clean between stays. My guests more often do a better job than the local services that basically do as little as possible between guests to make the unit “look” clean.

My guests are budget conscious and appreciate saving the cleaning fees which can be up to $150-$200 for a 2BR 2BA condo plus $75 linen fee.

In a separate thread I posted a link to my reviews; many comment on how clean the unit was. That thread is also referenced in this one.

It works for me. If it is not what you want to do that is OK. If someone prefers to stay somewhere with a cleaning service; great. I want them to be happy with their vacation rental.