How do you guys determine your cleaning FEE?

@KKC

(You do not have “a sliding scale based on happiness”.) <-- I like!

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@jaquo how often do you wash your walls? I mean a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and a drying towel, floor to ceiling plus the baseboards. I need to do mine again but since I’ve gotten busier over the last few months it’s harder to find the time. Since you are the gold standard of cleaning I though I’d use your opinion as a starting point and adjust from there. :slight_smile:

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Well, economists are used to that kind of reaction. Don’t worry, just keep your prejudices and be happy :slight_smile:

Well, actually, this is based on four years’ experience hosting people on Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Wimdu and others. I’ve had hundreds of guests so far, and yes, as a rule of thumb, couples staying with me seem to be happier than single travellers. Of course, I’ve hosted lots of very pleased and jolly single guests, too, but not one of the really depressed ones were couples or groups of guests.

Same to you! :wink:

On the couples versus singles topic, I have found the opposite to you @Eberhard_Blocher. My most miserable guests have been been couples by a huge margin. And they leave the lowest ratings, again by a huge margin. Perhaps it’s because many of my guests are doing a long trip across Europe and so have fallen out with each other by the time they get to me. I don’t know. I used to have two guest rooms, one twin (two single beds) and one double. The double went to a long-term lodger six months ago and since then I have got dangerously close to SuperHost status with all the happy friends and singles staying in the twin room!

Also, I find my poorer single travellers to be much happier and appreciative of my place than the many penny-pinching couples I’ve hosted who always imagine that they are very special, for some reason. There’s a psychology PhD in this, for sure :smile:

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Me??? It would do my old mum’s heart good to hear that :slight_smile:

And I’m going to disappoint because I can’t remember the last time I took a bucket and cleaned all the walls. I do (of course!) wash away any scuff marks, might wash a kitchen wall occasionally and keep a touch-up can of paint in the cleaning closet.

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:: hanging head::

I wash the walls regularly, especially the bathroom and wall behind the coffee machine. In the winter, when the windows are closed in the bathroom, the walls get wet from those long showers that guests love, and then they stand in front of a wall using the hair dryer. Hairs collect in that area, and the condensation runs down the walls, collecting urban airborne dust. Behind the coffee maker, how do they splash so much? I have the exact same machine downstairs and have NEVER splashed coffee all over the wall. And then, once you have a bucket of sudsy water, why not do the rest?

I do not do this between every single guest. But I do check those two spots during each turnover.

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As do I. Is that “regularly” meaning annually, semi annually, monthly, weekly?

Since I don’t have a kitchen and it’s so dry here I have some different issues. Mostly it’s just dust that eventually is even clinging to the walls and doors. I also vacuum the walls sometimes but periodically I want to wash them. I was really thinking about this the other day when I heard the fellow sneezing in the guest room.

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I charge a cleaning fee because that is what is customary in our market. I pay a cleaning lady for almost all turnovers. I charge about $10 more than the cleaning fee because I am often paying her extra for this and that. I split the pet fee with her. I am not renting a room; I rent my entire house and a studio out building.

During the winter months, about every 2 weeks (and sadly, after most Asian groups.) In the Spring and Fall, it is about dust, so I don’t wash the walls as much as clean then with a swiffer-type thing. When the A/C is on in the Summer, the walls stay much cleaner, except for that nasty coffee wall. So between every two weeks and once a month, guest dependent.

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@anon67190644

What a mystery with your identical coffee pots! Yours performs as it should and the one in the guest room splatters coffee residue on the walls.

You could try switching your machine for the one in the guest room to see whether the guest pot sputters or performs differently. Or, you can see whether guests using your kitchen coffee pot produces the same result on the wall.

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We constantly have construction going on in our immediate area. This means that the place gets very dusty. After every guest - even one-nighters - the place needs to be thoroughly dusted. The baseboards need cleaning, the windows and every surface including the headboard and footboard of the bed. Grrrr!

@SandyToes. I have used both machines. I have never splattered. Guests just aren’t as careful is my current theory.

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@SandyToes you really need to add some emojis to your snarky comments.

I have added my kettle and a small dish of instant coffee, teas and vanilla creamer as well as a couple of disposable hot cups to my room periodically. Not fancy at all and not all guests use it. Of the ones that do a number of them, splash, spill, drip or something, coffee or tea in the room. These rings where they set the cup down, drips on the walls, in the bathroom, etc. make me wonder if it’s worth it to offer it at my price point.

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Was that a snarky comment from @SandyToes ?

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At my price point, there is no question that the coffee-tea-oatmeal, hot chocolate, breakfast options are essential. Only one group has not done a breakfast, but they sure drank some coffee!

I thought she was joking! Maybe not.

I try to make the room according to what I need to be comfy. Like extra pillows and I have to get coffee in the morning. So it’s emergency rations.

@KKC

@SandyToes you really need to add some emojis to your snarky comments.”

Huh? What, me…snarky comments? Where…when…?
Ohh, you’re probably kidding!
(Okay, where’s the emoji laughing and smacking his knee.)

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I guess this is a very subjective way of looking at what is happening. Might also have to do with the way things are at my place.

Couples having fallen out with each other aren’t necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. At least they have someone to talk to once they get to my place, i.e. each other. Also, they usually stay in my room with the double bed, which has lots of my personal things (books, vinyl records, clothes) in it, so they will talk about this, to each other, making them happy.

Single guests, on the other hand, usually stay in the other room, which has been completely refurbished to accomodate Airbnb guests, so it is much cleaner, but also, quite empty by comparison. Single guests staying there tend to feel lonely, and sometimes get depressed and miserable.