This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
I agree that when you order room service where they bring you a plate of food this is the case.
However, when I’ve stayed at hotels that offer a kitchen including dishes (which I prefer, if available) I’ve always seen signs asking guests to leave the kitchen clean. There have even been times when they’ve noted there will be a charge for cleaning the kitchen.
That is a REALLY quick turnover for a 4-bedroom home. I would seriously like to know how your cleaner does it. Our ‘whole home’ takes 20 hours to turn over, whether it’s 2 people for 10 hours, or 5 people for 4 hours.
After catching up on all of the comments, I’d like to make a suggestion for you - write back to the manager and tell her:
Sorry you had a bad experience… I provide “checkout” instructions for guests, and they tend to leave the house as neat as they found it. They tidy up and I tell them not to worry about laundry because my housekeeper takes care of that. I also do not charge a cleaning fee for fear that people will feel they don’t need to be neat, but I’m reconsidering.
I do not expect my guests to clean up after themselves. I am very pleased and happy when they do. At which point I send them a message thanking them. I have designated garbage containers to allow for recycling. Most guests get it, a few don’t. Dishes are almost always done by the guests, when not it is one extra job that doesn’t take long. You have to clean the appliances, sink and counters anyway. I am hesitant about renting to the under 25 crowd as in our experience they are the ones who generally leave more of a mess, stain the sheets, towels, and are noisier to host AND they generally think they are entitled divas.
Not every guest is the perfect guest but each guest is appreciated, after all the reason we do this is for the extra cash flow. I do not use instant book, I read the reviews to determine whether we accept a guest or not. Sometimes it is a gamble if they are first time users and then I determine yay or nay by the reason for the visit.
I think a problem with guests separating recycling is that in different places different things are recyclable and they get sorted differently. I recently had a guest who asked pretty much every time he had trash which items could go in the recycling bin. This was because where he lives, in Germany, what can and can’t be recycled is different from here in Southern California.
I haven’t noticed that younger guests leave more mess. In fact as their eyesight is still sharp and they’re trying to impress me with their maturity they tend to be very clean and neat.
I am in the South if France and a decent reliable cleaner is more than 15€ an hour.
How much is a good normal rate for down there? Asking since I am planning
to become a host down there
Thanks you for the tips. I may contact her. Airbnb removed her review and my polite response attached to it.
20 hours for house turnover? Wow
I am booked back to back so guests leave at 10am and new ones arrive at 4pm without realizing that 10 people checked out the same day. House is prepped in 2 hours on average.
My cleaners start with taking all the linens out and replacing them with fresh ones. They clean them on site and always one set of cleans ones in advance. While the linens are cleaning, they load the dishwasher and start the wash. They then clean/sanitize the bathrooms (I have 4). They will then vacum everywhere, clean the kitchen, empty/clean the fridge, dining room and tidy up the pool area. Toward the end they put everything back where they are supposed to be (lots of people move stuff around, strollers, standing fans, etc). Finally they take the trash out.
If they see something broken, they will send picture to a manager who will then let me know.
They don’t dust, nor test any équipement like tv or kitchen. There goal is to make look everything clean and sparkling. It smells fresh and sanitized when they leave. I love that they create swans using hand towels. Guests love that.
Average clean is 2h. Can last 4h in extreme case.
If they notice something major damaged (hole in the whole), they call for a maintenance guy who will try to fix it before the next guest arrives.
Really? We have dust that settles when the windows are open. After all it is a city, and we are at the top of a hill with lots of wind off the ocean. When does your home get all horizontal surfaces cleaned?
Just curious. On what grounds did they remove the review? The name calling?
Enquiring minds need to know as I need to appeal to Air to remove a bad review. But they do it more readily for guests than for hosts.
I meant to say they don’t dust non-visible flat surface area like ceiling fans, top of bed columns, etc
Kitchen counters, table, etc get wiped clean (which technically remove the dust)
We visit twice a year to do a deep clean, repaint walls,go through kitchenware and donate what doesn’t look good (scratched pans, chipped glasses, etc).
My place is marketed as a “Luxury Villa” so it must look good. I lost a star once due to scratches on the front door…
Airbnb didn’t say but Host violated their policy for review is only what they say. Pretty sure it was name calling.
Amazingly, rep said he was going to remove my response as well as it violated their policy to include prices in review. I had reminded the host how much I had pay for a cleaning fee. Apparently you can’t.
John the issue down here is it is a centre for the enormous yachts and the millionaire villas. The cleaners are always tempted away by the big bucks offered on the yachts and the villas. France imposes approaching 50% social charges on top of wages if the employee is legal so owners avoid that then outbid on an hourly rate.The cleaners make their money when and where they can and who can blame them. You will not find one to commit to regular days or hours it is pretty much a first come first served basis every week but be prepared to be cancelled at short notice if they get a better offer. The only guarantee of a regular cleaner is one of the management companies who use the ‘cleaning and laundry fee’ as the salary for the person managing the property. In this instance you will be required to buy particular towels and bedding as it goes to a central laundry for which the manager pays out of their fee. The management company will also take a minimum of 30% of the rental for their fee.
This year Nice has brought in mandatory license which limits you to 13 weeks short term rental as they have a problem with available rental properties for the students and locals. If you exceed this limit it will be treated as an income tax misdemeanour. If a regular income stream is necessary for you my advice would be think long and hard before you do it. Yes you can get 13 weeks over the summer but after that again the law is very clear on rentals. You can rent to students for 9 months and that is a specific contract only for students. Any other rental is a THREE YEAR CONTRACT. There is also a law that you cannot evict renters for non payment of rent between the end of October and the end of February as the weather is too cold, yes really in the South of France!! This is well known so brace yourself for tenants who pay no rent for 4 months a year.
Sorry for being so negative but the market has changed out if all recognition in the 5 years that I have been doing it. Five years ago no owner would accept bookings for less than 7 days in July and August, this year you were lucky if they wanted more than one night.
Wow, this is quite the hot topic. Personally, I rent out the bottom half of my house and do not charge a cleaning fee. I have instructions posted on the door so they can see it as they leave, that I expect they leave it as they found it within reason. I also have it included in my description online.
They do not have access to a vacuum so I don’t expect them to clean the floors. I do expect dishes to be washed and counters to be reasonably wiped of messes.
That said, it still takes 2-4 hours of my time to get it ready for new guests. I clean every surface of the bathroom, kitchen countertops and I launder all sheets, towels, washcloths, hand towels. I also vacuum. It takes me 2-4 hours depending on how many people stayed.
The only reason I don’t charge a fee is because it factors into average nightly cost when people are searching. I decided instead to require a 2-night minimum and slightly raise my rates so my time was covered in most cases.
If someone didn’t at least leave it tidy and devoid of obvious messes, I’d definitely ding them.
If I charged a $120 cleaning fee I would expect that people would assume I’d clean up after them. That said, if that $120 fee was for 7 days I’d still expect people to be reasonably tidy. If it were for 2 days I can see why they’d just assume I’d clean up after them.
At the end of the day, I don’t want to rent to people who won’t leave it reasonably clean. So I design my business that way.
I never leave a house anything but the way I found it but it is hard to know what you are supposed to (not supposed to do) if there are no instructions.
Rarely do I ever give anyone in the rental business less than 5 stars either…
That being said, I DO NOT use AirBnB as a guest. I’ve had way too many odd guests from there to use it with peace of mind.
Live and learn I guess.
Can you confirm that they were able to remove both the review AND your response?
Completely disagree. Cleaning fee is for …wait for it… cleaning!
I have not had a single guest in my private apt Airbnb take out the trash to the bins they see everyday walking out of the house. I don’t expect them to clean up at all - that’s why I charge a cleaning fee.
Not taking out the trash or leaving dirty dishes is not “disrespecting” the place.
As I stated, different strokes for different folks.
In turn, I stand by my post and completely disagree with you.
I completely agree with you and believe anyone saying you’re in the wrong is just off base entirely. Sharing a home is different than an entire home to themselves. That was quite an expensive cleaning fee – if it’s not to actually clean after a guest, I’m not sure what the hee haw it’s for!