Hi all. Lucky to have scored a 2-month stay, my first longer-term guest. Can I ask some advice: what housekeeping do you offer? eg: once-weekly linens and towels change, clean?
and how do you arrange it so its minimally disruptive to the guest?
I’ve never offered housekeeping for stays longer than two weeks, unless the guest wants to pay.
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Going in weekly or fortnightly is a good way to make sure you can see the place is kept in a good state - but you can make it quicker by just light cleaning kitchen and bathroom(s) and linen changing. If you are providing linens I would definitely recommend change every two weeks max.
Going in is a bit of a hassle but if you schedule it when guests are out for the day it is better. Or if you are sending a cleaner in, you just tell them when it will be cleaned and it is up to them whether they are in or out.
I have done all permutations over the years - some guests provide their own bedding and towels so it is a bit cheaper, others take the clean linens at the door and hand me a bag of used linens to do the changing themselves, others like me to do it all either whilst they are out or indeed whilst they are there chatting away… I have always asked guests what they prefer, but I do now always offer the linen change if they aren’t using their own, which generally is taken up and means I keep the linens in good shape.
If you don’t clean during the two months, you need to accept you will have a deeper cleaning job at the end and I would ensure you don’t take a back to back booking just in case you need to do any maintenance as well. I always block a few days clear after a longer stay just to be sure I can get it back up to standard before new guests.
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My max stay is 2 weeks (although I would consider longer for a past good guest if they inquired about the possibility), and I don’t do any cleaning during that time, just offer clean sheets and towels after a week.
Also, as my place is a homeshare, with little to destroy or get filthy, and no possibilty of sneaking in pets or extra guests, I don’t need to keep tabs on how the guest is keeping their space.
But if I had an entire place listing and long term bookings, I would make it a condition of longer term bookings that the place gets a quick clean and linen/towel change every two weeks. (A condition, not an offer open to rejection). And make sure they have enough linens to change them every week.
I would arrange with the guest as to convenient timing and whether they prefer to be home or out during the cleaning.
I have read a lot of posts over the years from hosts with long term guests who found a horrid mess after the guests checked out, clear evidence that they sneaked in a pet, with attendant damage, etc., so these mid-stay cleanings are a way for hosts to make sure the guests are being respectful of the space. It can also encourage guests to be clean and tidy, as they know you’ll be seeing how they are living there.
However, if I saw after a cleaning or two that the guests was a clean freak, with really nothing to be concerned about or even clean, I would then say something to them like “I have these mid-stay cleanings on long term bookings to ensure that I don’t find a horrible mess after a guest has been here for a month or more, but I can see you like to live in a clean, tidy environment, so if you’d prefer to suspend these cleanings, that’s okay with me.”
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Yes. Of course
Think about it. Wouldn’t you want clean bedding after a week or two? So do guests.
As a standard procedure, I provide clean bedding and towels each week. The guest can choose whether to change it themselves, or I will send the housekeepers in to do it if they prefer.
And as you point out, it’s also a good way to keep an eye on things and minimise the work when they finally check out.
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With a longer term booking I offer a we offer a weekly complimentary clean - just checked in a Dr for 3 months
We offer access to the laundry room and cleaning supplies during their stay. We charge an additional fee for leaving the house in poor condition. Basically if it takes more than 4 hours to clean, they will be charged more.
Yeah, that’s great. How do you enforce that? And how many times do you get retaliatory reviews from it?
For a longer stay, I’d keep the mid-stay housekeeping very light and predictable: linen/towel change, bathroom/kitchen reset, trash, and a quick supply check.
The supply check is the part I would not skip. Even if the guest is tidy, it helps you know what needs to be restocked before the next turnover instead of discovering it at the last minute.