Newish Host Questions

Research
21

How often does everyone wash the walls? Since my black light revelations I wash the wall by the toilet after every guest but the other walls only twice a year. Unless, of course I specifically see something on them, which I never have.
I have to dust them about four times a year.

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22

Well, I had one guest tell me that my house wasn’t clean because my purse was sitting on the counter. Sometimes people have very high standards for cleanliness aka hotel-level.

They’ll mark you down for anything - furniture wear, old carpet stains, just anything. So when I clean the house, I try to think about what that room would look like if it were a hotel.

I clean the switchplates, top edge of the switch plates and outlet plates, tops of all the towel racks, top of the fridge, chair rails, baseboards, the doorknobs, area around the doorknobs, dust all the panels on the doors, picture frames, anything where dust may rest.

If I have time, I iron the sheets - while they’re on the bed though. And the duvet - once it’s on the bed.

I wipe all the lamps so there’s no fingerprints. I clean the mirrors with a solution of half isopropyl alcohol and half water. Also use a toothbrush around the bottom of faucets, always wash all mirrors. Etc.

You just never know what the standards of the guest will be.

If you have wood floors, be sure to wash them with Murphys oil soap pretty frequently - they should not ever see any dust or any kind of prints or anything on the floors. Also you should scrub the baseboards pretty well with Murphy’s, make sure to dust all the grates, just anywhere. If it feels like overkill, you’re doing it right LOL. Oh and the kitchen cupboards should never have any prints of any kind. No prints anywhere.

Oh and of course there’s furniture wear. Hotel rooms usually don’t have this. So I keep a furniture pen handy. My nightstands are from the 30s so I’ll make a couple square doilies for those.

23

Was this the kitchen counter? I’m sorry, but I would have a problem with a purse being on a surface where food is prepared myself and my standards of cleanliness aren’t very high. I don’t mind dust, cobwebs, dirt, etc. as long as the food preparation area is clean.

24

There is a ton of counter space in my kitchen, and my purse wasn’t filthy. Additionally, she wasn’t cooking. If one was indeed going to cook they can always wipe the counter.

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25

I was given 3 for cleanliness because there were a few bugs. As I live I the deep woods, by a river, it would be impossible to not have bugs. I’m an RN and I know about hygiene,my place was very clean. Once I started to warn folks that there will be bugs, and put up a poster explaining how essential bugs are to nature and 99% aren’t harmful, my ratings went up to 5’s. Guests use cleanliness to convert a multitude of impressions of discomfort. One guy said the place was more rustic than he had expected based on the pics. Not sure what pics of river and trees didn’t shout rustic. There is running hot and cold water, a flush toilet etc, true rustic would be a well and an outhouse after you’d hiked a few km down a trail. You can’t please everyone.
If I was at an Airnb with cats walking on kitchen counter/table, I’d mark it as a 2. Handbag, no problem.

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26

My dogs are pretty smart. If we don’t push the chairs in all the way, they’ll problem solved onto the kitchen table, then onto the kitchen counter. Drives me nuts!!!

27

I think that the best thing to take away from this is that no two guests will have the same expectations of cleanliness.

The only thing that I can really do is to basically have a certain routine that I use to clean my house. And I also like to compare the cleanliness of my home to say a hotel which is going to be almost perfectly clean if it’s a good place and free of clutter.

That’s one reason why in my home we have a private family room. That’s where the clutter is LOL. In the rest of the house everything is put away.

I think that if you’re hosting in your house and you’re living there along with the guests then it’s probably a good idea for you to have a private family space if at all possible. Everyone has their own style though. This is just something that has worked for me. This has really helped me a lot in terms of maintaining my sanity. And also because my daughter lives here and she’s a bit of a clutterbug and of course I can be too.

28

Like others have said:

  1. Reduce the clutter to zero. Hire storage or find a place to put stuff away from guest’s eyes.
    When we first started out we essentially moved all clutter into our room (which made things pretty terrible in our room) and then graduallybdecluttered our room by throwing and giving away huge amounts of stuff.nits amazing how much unneeded unused stuff accumulates over the years.

  2. Ensure beddings, linen, towels are always clean and pristine and folded neatly when the guest first arrives.

  3. Ensure toilets always flushed, you always clean your own dishes after use and never leave them on countertops and in sinks, and make sure you ask guests on check in to clean up after themselves.
    Guests will follow your lead - if they see any dirty dishes left around, they’ll leave there’s out to and the situation quickly spirals.

  4. If you have a bin in kitchen, try and keep it covered if it isn’t already.

  5. Bathrooms be clean.

That’s it from me. But like others have said de-cluttering is a biggie!!

29

Yes, people with cats really just shouldn’t be hosting.

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30

Sorry but that phrase always makes this Brit think of taxidermy :slight_smile:

We tend to call them ‘cuddly toys’.

Just adding to the USA/British lexicon here :wink:

31

You mean if you saw the cats on the table? LOL. I have lots of dogs here and if someone were obsessive about cleanliness they wouldn’t want to stay in a house with dogs. I had one guest dog that would get on tables and counters and I finally had to ban her. Dog hair and slobber get on and in places that are surprising.

I love having the separate entrance to the guest room so if guests come into my part of the house it’s sort of “at your own risk.”

32

Is that disclosed in the listing? It would put me off.

33

I like your place a lot but agree with the others - the stuffed animals need to go. I would also make up the bed - it looks messy in the pictures. The kitchen counters should also been cleaned off - why is the blender on the counter? Put it away. I think I see paper towels on top of the refrigerator and they look messy. With a few changes - and updates pictures - I think you will be able to charge more. I also think your rates are too low. I would not stay in your place because of the stuffed animals (they look dirty to an obsessive compulsive person like myself), and the bedding looks messy. It needs to be neat clean and sophisticated looking.

34

I disagree that kitchen appliances on the kitchen counters are considered unclean. I keep all my kitchen appliances out on the counters (stand mixer, toaster oven, blender, food processor, etc.) because I cook every day. I have a five star rating for cleanliness.

35

I don’t think the items are “unclean”, but having a lot of stuff/clutter on the counter looks a bit messy in my opinion. Maybe the clutter is what contributed to the hosts 3 star cleanliness ratings.

36

If guests are giving 3 star cleanliness ratings for reasons other than cleanliness, they are being unfair.