How To Find Reliable Housekeeping?

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I had an incident where I double booked my own time on a same day turnover, so I decided to give a housekeeper a try. I gave them $60 for 3 hours with payment in advance. I stuck around for the first 30 minutes to make sure everything was going fine, then I went to my appointment. At 2pm when she was supposed to be finishing she said that she was struggling with the comforter cover and just left it off. I rushed back home to do it myself and I was able to get it done, but it would have been bad if I hadn’t been able to get back in time. I checked the video footage. She left 2 hours early, meaning she didn’t even try and tried to fake it with a text message.

Any clue how to find good housekeeping help. I think I should try to get someone lined up just in case something like this happens again and I need emergency help.

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You mean she just worked for 1 hour? Unfortunately I had similar experiences with housecleaners. They rush through cleaning just to make more hourly wage.
I have no choice when I am away to have them …but when I am home I do all cleaning myself .
I paid my cleaner 80$ and she hardly spent here 2 hours .

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That’s my experience too (before I started on Airbnb). We did find housekeepers that did good work, but if we wanted them to come on a specific day/time instead of a regular schedule, they would say they could, but then always send somebody else, and of course they didn’t do a good job. Eventually, they decided to send somebody else all the time, so we decided to do it ourselves.

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I do the cleaning myself. My mother in law as a gift used to get a cleaning lady for where I live and they charged her $75 and all they did was scrub a toilet, quickly mop the bathroom floor and vacuum. I noticed they didn’t even move the furniture when they vacuumed, so under the sofa was always dusty. After that I hired someone else, they too did a lousy job. If you can clean it yourself, that would be best.

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I normally clean myself, but when I have back to back tours and guests don’t check out early I have to call Lola, the local woman who does many apartment turnovers for landlords, and has been welcoming Air turnovers. She can turn a room and do the bathroom in half an hour, for which she charges her hourly minimum $45 (this is Alaska, where lousy cleaners charge $35). She has never disappointed me, nor any of the tenants or landlords that have used her for turnover cleans. For B&B folks she always does the cleaning herself. It’s impossible to book her at month end, when she also uses a large group of helpers, but she inspects every job, and slackers don’t last in her crews.

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Nice to hear!! Let me know if she decides to send a crew to the east coast. Lol

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I have found that using local mother’s from my community for the changes overs works great. The change over time is when the kids are in school. I do train them myself. Also, she does a deep cleaning once a month and is my back up co-host when I go out of town. I’m adding a bonus to her cleaning so that every time I get 5 starts for cleaning, she gets a bonus. Makes her invested in the process.

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Is the bonus a set amount, a percentage, or something else entirely?

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Right now it’s an extra $5 for each cleaning if it’s 5 stars. I also just gave her a random raise. I do this with all the freelances I hire with my regular business. I find that giving them a small raise every 6 months or so without them asking makes them very loyal and dedicated.

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Just had lunch with a friend who was so happy that her boss gives her a pay raise every six months without her asking, so I think you’re 100% right!

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@NE10 I wish I knew, and when you find the answer please tell me! I promised my husband I would find someone to clean this year instead of doing it myself and moaning! I think it’s best if you can get someone like @NordlingHouse’s Lola who is used to doing turnovers but the trouble then is that everyone will want her and she’ll always be booked. Some companies that specialise can be good but it’s still a bit of a lottery.

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Thank you everyone for your input! I’m super sad that there is no easy solution. I guess that’s the nature of things when you do low volume cleaning. I should really increase my cleaning fee from $20 to $35. I’m worth more than I’ve been paying myself.

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This is a really great solution. When people are invested in something, it will show in their work performance. It’s obvious really, isn’t it?

For the property I manage, I try to do it myself but during peak season it’s just not possible. Cleaners from companies (even small ones) are usually on minimum wage at best. Of course they’re going to cut corners. There is one company in my area that is advertising cleaning at such a ridiculously low cost. I told the owner of the property that I will not manage it anymore if she engages them because it basically endorses slave labour.

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I agree with you that low wages are bad, and you get what you pay for. High wages don’t guarantee that you are going to get the results you’re looking for. The person who ditched early was a working mom, trying to start a cleaning business no less and she was paid $60 at $20 per hour for a single room.

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True. It’s the investment aspect that is most important, I think. And you can demand a higher service (politely!) when you’re paying more. Right now I have a young student helping me out. For her it’s good money and I’ve trained her and I tell her when things are not up to scratch. It can be hard work to find the right person. But when you do - hold on to them!

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100%. When you find someone good, keep em’

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Wow. When I had my own cleaning business, I could finish an entire small house (under 2,000 sq ft) on my own in three hours or less. And those were homes where people actually lived and kept all their stuff, not a vacation rental with very little on the counters and other surfaces.

:roll_eyes:

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I’m in the Indianapolis Indiana area and have a team of cleaners that are very particular. We clean private homes but are happy to help the Indianapolis Indiana Airbnb hosts.

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Hi. I’m a housekeeper. I Googled, “How to find realistic hosts to work for”- ended up here. :laughing:

I’ve been a pro-housekeeper, 5+ Years. I am background checked, verified, registered, and have insurance.

I personally, live in the middle of the US. I charge $32.50hr/5% fee, the app charges- therefore, I make $30hr.

I have five, 5 syar reviews, and have cleaned airbnbs 8months, now.

I won’t do it for less. This is just my experience. I understand, it’s about making money.

Us housekeepers, work our tails off. We’ll, I do. I am reliable. I arrive 1 hour early-10 mins early tops. I’m never late. I wanted more work. But, I’m quitting airbnb.

Why? I don’t take breaks. I go above and beyond. I cannot give a spit shine clean. I am proud of my work. We are alloted 4 hours, no matter the size. Most of my clients, that have multiple airbnbs, have laundry service. We stage. We run errands. We stock. We gold towels, professionally, so they look good/fit the drawers/cabinets, efficiently.

My last straw, was yesterday. I am expected to clean a 5 bed, 2.5 bath, in 3 hours. I can, but my host moved the next day after meeting. To another state. I had them ship stuff to my door. She expected me to not get paid for running and errand for her. :exploding_head:
She was brand new to this. Wasn’t prepared. Asked me for tips, which some advice she took. But they want more for less.

Us, decent housekeepers won’t stick around, if we are paid janitorial pay, for management jobs. Period. I will not give a spit shine clean. I love cleaning. I truly enjoy it.

My other hosts whom could sleep 10 guests, had a team.

Some of your comments, shocked me. I would never leave someone early and lie about it. Smh.

Those having issues with housekeepers, is usually due to unreasonable expectations/and demands. Do you want quality over quantity?
You get what you pay for. It goes both ways. It’s a give and take relationship.

Outside of airbnb; I charge $40hr. I have 5 clients and I’m growing. But, I deep clean, high to low. Baseboards. Fans. You name it. If you want a spit shine clean (which is what most housekeepers do- then there’s the reasoning)

If you cannot clean a 10bed, 3 story home, in 4 hours, as you expect us to do, along with Staging, refiling, laundry, dishes- then don’t expect us to!!!

We deserve to be paid fairly. We deserve to be treated with respect.

I’m not saying everyone is this way. But, clearly I’m good at my job. Happy housekeeper =happy host. And happier guests.

I’ve been on both sides, which is how I got into cleaning for airbnb. And let me tell you, it wasn’t clean. Dust on top of the fridge. They didn’t sweep/mop under the floors, and my socks were black. The linens, are not clean. They come from amazon/target/and aren’t washed. Gross. Would you want to stay in these? Probably not.

I wanted to comment, because I think hosts don’t think about quality over quantity.

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Whoops. A lot of typos.

If seems like a lot of money…
Housekeepers outside of airbnb, can easily make 40hr and up.

We deserve 30hr and up. Why? We provide the cleaning supplies. Gas prices are ridiculous. And taxes… we have to set back 30%. So, under $15hr is robbery.

Don’t like it- clean them, yourselves.