i have been getting 4 stars for cleanliness a few times lately
but I am an OCD clean freak and the place is spotless, I clean the cutlery, light switches, window sills, literally every single surface. i don’t understand 
What did your guests who gave you four stars say when you asked them? They will help you understand why they gave you this rating.
It’s probably just the idea that nothing should get 5 stars? One neglected thing is often air quality, is the room well aired and fresh smelling and are fans used in the kitchen and bathroom?
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May be you just had one of these guests tht nothing is good enough for them.
I would advice everyone here to not stress so much about lower ratings if your overall is good. No one will ever know that someone gave you 4*. Then why to add even more stress to your life.
One of my rooms has 70+ 5* reviews and now 3 1* reviews. Those 1* were one after another. Within 2 weeks.
One said that shared bathroom
Was dirty. I know for sure it was not dirty but for her when she saw a piece of hair meant 1* for cleanliness. There are 4 people used tht bathroom. If you book something with shared bathroom you can’t expect not see even occasional hair there since a host can’t possibly clean 18 times a day after each use.
One paid high price for the weekend as all hotels were sold out and was sad about it and decide to trash me.
And another wanted to accommodate himself here like he rented a whole house , insisted on breaking every rule I have and when I told him to get control of himself got mad at me.
I just smiled when I saw these reviews . 3 out of 70+, they won’t make any difference in my life and my business. I know I do the right thing and I work hard. They are just miserable people who want to make others miserable too
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It’s also possible that people are marking you down because something is older and worn looking. That doesn’t mean it isn’t clean but things that look new also look clean. For example I live in an area with many minerals in the water and it leaves spots and mineral deposits on sinks, faucets, counters, walls. If it’s scrubbed and polished daily it looks clean. If not, over time, it looks dirty.
Without seeing what the guest is seeing it’s impossible to know if their complaints are valid or if there is something more you can do.
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Wouldn’t you love to go into some of these guests home and see how clean they are?
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I agree with k9karma. Does anything need replacement? Carpet,sinks, sheets? Etc…
Since I started hosting I’ve noticed I look at friend’s houses differently. Most people I know have a very different standard of both cleanliness and home maintenance than I do. I think some of them are actually living life! LOL.
Seriously though I think it’s fair to hold your rental to a much higher standard than you do your own home. Like I was talking to Mags about. on another thread…just because I allow spiders in my home doesn’t mean I allow them in the Airbnb room.
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A close friend of mine ran a cleaning business.
He said you can clean all you like, but smell makes a huge difference in people’s perceptions. If it smells clean, it probably is clean.
That’s why I make extensive use of pine based cleaners, bleach with everything, and open windows.
I also use a spray of fresh flowers and a handwritten welcome note. These have nothing to do with cleanliness, of course, but they give the impression of attention to detail.
Just my thoughts.
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Those sprays can cause cancer and terrible for environment .
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What sprays? If you are referring to
The word spray here means a bunch or collection, not an aerosol in a can. LOLOLOL.
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Hello @Cocoanouk, I realized that for some guests nothing will be fine. I have a co-host that is super host and even him collected a 3 on cleanliness today.
Phone a friend. If I get a run of 4 stars for cleanliness I bring in my friend who is a clean freak and used to be a head housekeeper in hotels. She writes me up a list. I give her a bottle of wine as thanks for being honest. It is usually something I don’t see but guests do - like light dust and cobwebs on the bed lights because I clean in the day time and don’t lie in bed with them switched on. Or someone has spilled something in the refrigerator which I haven’t cleaned up.
Also, in my guide book where I ask guests to leave a review, I ask that if they leave less than five stars for cleanliness let me know what I may have missed.
Well said. When using Tripadvisor for travel and checking out hotels I figure 80%+ 4 or 5 star reviews is good enough. Then I read the 5% of 1 and 2 star reviews to see how deluded some people are eg. no “turn down service” in a basic hotel or complaining about the smell of sea lions at La Jolla.
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A ok, never heard such expression. I thought she meant those awful air fresheners
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I also like " low water pressure in showers" and not " enough breakfast variety" in motel near highway😂
Absolutely! It’s just I imagine some of these super picky people living like pigs in their own place. The rooms we rent and common spaces are always much cleaner than our own room. We are in the middle of Spring cleaning now after constructing a new bathroom. Construction dust everywhere! I told my wife, we start with our room first this time. Scrubbed it top to bottom. It’ smells so nice and clean! Now to finish the rest of the house!
I agree too. I am sure our bedroom is the dirtiest in the house. But I also think that these super picky cleanest people on earth are just being picky and nothing else. Also I think that hosts shouldn’t be replacing and renewing anything in their houses unless they want to themselves.
It’s impossible to cater to every person. The only thing that I replace regularly is stained sheets and towels. But I will not replace my kitchen cabinets if someone thinks they are outdated . It’s non of their business . May be I like my outdated cabinets and call them " antiques".
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(Yana, you are so refreshing!)
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If a sheet has a discernible spot, it gets tossed, or downgraded to my personal use. One of my first guests discounted me on cleanliness due to a spot on the pillow cover believe it to be dirty. In the beginning I did ask a LOT of questions of guests about what they liked or how they liked the room. And I would also tell them if something “looks” dirty please tell me immediately and I will take care of it.
My last guest piled the sheets on the washing machine and he had been here 3 months and was great guest (quiet, respectful, pleasant). I didn’t inspect them and threw into the washer, only to discover after they were dried that there were multiple blood driplets on the top sheet. Ugh. I guess it was time to retire that set anyway…