What cleanliness rating would be helpful to you?

What would be the most helpful to you future hosts? I just had a very friendly family of five (three teenagers) stay with me. Condition of the apartment - loads crumbs on dining, living room rug and between couch cushions, window bench, small spots of some food ground into the dining rug, urine around base of toilet and on bowl, some sort of spill in the fridge. But they did - run the dishwasher, start a load of towels (which I don’t ask for, and adding a red towel to white ones…:grimacing:), used very few towels for a 7 night stay, took out the trash but left a large sticky spot which bubbled up the laminate floor while it was sitting by the door (an accident), food particles+liquid in the recycle bin. I was going to give a 4 based on folks who leave the apartment in excellent condition. Five previous reviews gave the guest a 5 for cleanliness, but it doesn’t appear the kids were always present. I’m torn because they tried, but I wouldn’t expect a 5 if I left a place like that. I would still host a 4, but it gives me a better idea of what to expect especially if I have a same day turnover. Thoughts?

They sound awful! A 4 for cleanliness is way too generous. I would be okay with the crumbs and urine around the toilet bowl, but it sounds like they damaged the flooring and your white towels. If I were you, I would request funds for the damages.

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Luckily the red didn’t bleed, but I would never ask guests to do any laundry. The floor was surely an accident, but it was left sticky non the less. It’s better than the guest that put dish detergent in the dishwasher causing a bubble explosion!

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Well, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to me what star rating you gave them, because as a host who doesn’t use IB, I am not privy to seeing guest star ratings- non IB hosts only have the written reviews to go on. So please remember that if you don’t make any mention of something you downgraded a guest on in the star ratings, non-IB hosts assume this was a great guest who the host would welcome back.

Because star ratings don’t affect guests the same way they affect hosts, and because their ratings are rounded up, unlike hosts’ are, and because guests can’t even see the ratings they are given, I wouldn’t worry too much about giving a 4, if you have guests who leave it super clean and tidy and definitely deserved their 5*s.

But to me, what you describe, sounds more or less normal for a family of 5 with 3 teenagers. I never mark down on cleanliness unless it requires more time than normal to clean. If I’m going to vacuum an area anyway, it doesn’t matter if there are crumbs there, it doesn’t take any more time to vacuum. Just like if they left toothpaste smeared all over the bathroom counter and sink- I’m going to wash down and sterilize the bathroom anyway, so it doesn’t require additional cleaning time.

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Go with the 4, it’s fair.

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Different strokes . . .
I wouldn’t mark down for normal family mess and I always give credit for effort even if the outcome isn’t grand.

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I wouldn’t take issue with those things. To me, that feels like normal human life mess and I expect it to happen.

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This is the bar for me. Although I’d expect there to be a little extra cleaning time after a family with three teenagers. But everything has to be cleaned, vacuumed, polished etc. anyway so I’d not see the urine, the spill in the fridge or the crumbs as extra cleaning.

But what’s important to remember is that hosts have different standards and different viewpoints.

So if I saw a review that mentioned the urine/crumbs/fridge spillage it wouldn’t bother me at all. On the other hand, other issues would. This is why I think it’s important to leave honest reviews.

I don’t particularly look at star ratings as standards vary so much. They are in the same category to me as reviews that say ‘great guests’ or ‘more suited to a hotel’. In other words, they tell me nothing.

I suspect that a rental that sleeps five will see more cleaning than my small one-bedroom apartments, especially if the host accepts children.

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