Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 38 posts · 15 votes
Hi STR investors,
I'm genuinely curious/interested to know if it's typical to charge your guests a cleaning fee AND also ask them to do a list of things as "checkout procedure" like stripping beds of sheets, washing dishes/starting dishwasher, taking out garbage, etc.
If I am paying a cleaning fee, I wouldn't expect to have to do any cleaning. Doesn't mean I'd leave it a mess, but I wouldn't do things like strip a bed or take out the trash.
Lots of recent threads on this. Most listings have some duties asked, mainly at least one of those you listed above, but this is creating a lot of controversy in the space. If you give them a bunch of stuff to do and they pay a hefty cleaning fee, they may leave with a bad taste in their mouth and leave a less than stellar review accordingly.
Anything beyond what you have listed is unreasonable IMO unless it is the standard for your market. For example, in some east coast beach destinations it has always been customary to rent or bring your own linens, so if that is what people are accustomed to it is probably not a problem. Or if your cleaners simply cannot do it because of their own logistical constraints and work load. If that's the case you should be upfront about it and your cleaning fee should reflect that.
It is increasingly common to charge a hefty cleaning fee and provide a list of things to do at check-out. It's one of the things turning me off from vacation rentals and I'm probably not the only one.
I prefer the cleaning fee to cover the cost of cleaning. Too many Landlords see it as another profit center and gouge their guests, which is going to create backlash.
I feel exactly the same way, but to be honest, these "cleaning instructions" are actually low on the totem pole of things that have compelled me to stop using STRs on my vacations a long time ago. Not to get off topic, but there are a number of other things about STRs that I find more annoying.
I leave my hotel rooms very clean and do the dishes etc, before I leave, so I'm not fighting for my right to leave a mess. But some of these cleaning fees are a joke.
I'm genuinely curious/interested to know if it's typical to charge your guests a cleaning fee AND also ask them to do a list of things as "checkout procedure" like stripping beds of sheets, washing dishes/starting dishwasher, taking out garbage, etc.
Thanks,
Justin
People are paying to stay somewhere for a reason, just charge them more and offer a full quality cleaning for them, you'll get less complaints overall that way.
“1) 🧺 Place used towels in the bathtubs. 2) 🗑 Place your trash in the black kitchen trash can lined with a trash bag. Please do NOT put any trash outside or on the screened porch. Bears 🐻 will break in. 3) 🧼 Run the dishwasher if you have any dirty dishes. 4) 🔥 Turn off the fireplace if it is on 5) 🔒 Lock the doors on your way out.”
I’ve had no complaints or poor reviews on this from guests. I have two sets of sheets and towels for each clean, in case a quick clean is needed.
I recommend having items like “lock the door”, as I’ve encountered doors left unlocked/not fully closed by guests before that.
Of course we don't want the place trashed. We have strategies to mitigate that risk: not renting to locals, smaller units, multiple-day stay requirements, no pets, must have a picture and at least one other review on your platform profile, must respond to an email from us, exterior cameras, etc.
And 99% of people naturally tidy up after themselves.
If there are stains or damage, the cleaning crew takes a picture and sends it to us. Then we ask for the release of some or all of the security deposit. That user also gets a bad review. People generally understand the sharing culture.
If it works then it works. I am quite a bit stricter. A dirty place will get them a one-star review form me and they know it. Fortunately, virtually all of our guests have been wonderful people to this point, as you said partially due to our screening policy and messages...and overall tone.
When I stay at a hotel, I tidy the room up a bit..... towel in a pile in bathroom, trash in can or piled together.... but I'm not "Cleaning" it..... I don't take the trash to the dumpster.... if I have dishes or left over food, I'm not doing the dishes, stripping the beds or any of that stuff
I rarely stay at a STR but I view them as its basically a privately run small hotel.... I'm not paying a cleaning fee AND cleaning it. Choose one or the other. Don't charge me a cleaning fee but expect me to do 50% of the job.....
Stripping bed....doing laundry....doing dishes and taking out all the trash..... more than 5-10% of what gets done at a STR turnover IMO
If the cleaning fee is pretty small, then ok.... I'll do some basic clean up .....but not much more.
If a larger hotel expected me to do all that AND I had to pay all the "resort fee" and all that other add on stuff, I'd be pissed.
Nobody on here is having people do laundry. We're talking less than 3 minutes: 1) clean off your dirty dishes 2) take the trash outside to the trash can 3) put the linens that you used on the bath floor.
I really wouldn't want guests to do laundry at all. We have a pretty specific procedure to sanitize and keep things nice and there is no way guests could do that. I have had guests wash some towels and I had to toss them as they didn't do any pre-treat etc.
How important are good ratings for you? I just stayed at a place where the cleaning fee was $175 + 95 Service fee, and I was asked to do laundry and make the dishes. Best of all drive the trash to the next dumpster! The owner wondered why I was so unhappy howling trash in my small 2-seater convertible and paying his cleaning crew.
And...
"I used to ask guests to start a load of laundry (TOWELS, PLEASE) since I live in a beach market and bath towels + beach towels + sheets + kitchen towels = a lot of laundry."
So @Bruce Woodruff, yeah some people actually have "start the laundry" on their list of expected guest "checklist" of items to do before leaving
To each his own.... if your criteria is working for you, then more power to you. I'm just stating how I would feel if I was a guest.... others may feel differently.
New changes will also come to the guest checkout experience, Airbnb announced. Hosts won’t be able to require guests to do labor-intense chores, like vacuuming or doing laundry, but can direct them to do light cleaning and housekeeping tasks, like throwing food away or turning off the lights.
Chesky called those smaller tasks reasonable on Twitter, noting they’re things you would do “when leaving your own home.”