Updated about 17 hours ago on . Most recent reply
Cleaning at STR
We have two STR and are in the process of building two more. Right now for cleaning we partner with a local cleaning company. Their per cleaning charges are higher than what are market charges for STR cleaning fees. What do you all do? Hire your own actual employee for cleaning? have a lower cleaning fee charged to guest, and just eat the difference (charge $125, pay cleaner $185). We have played with it and reduced the cleaning fee to compare to others in our market, and our bookings increase. When we charge the actual charge of our cleaner, our bookings slow down. We don't know if we need to hire an employee or stay with this company? We have looked at others and all charge about $185 for our size property per cleaning.
Most Popular Reply
Going with one individual cleaner can be risky. Your bookings hinge mainly on how clean your property is, and the subsequent good ratings. Your cleaner has to be completely dependable, so having only one person is going to be a problem when they're sick, or their kid is sick, they want to have days off, go on vacation, or they have some other emergency come up. The advantage of a company is that they have a crew who can cover each other during those times. When you scale large enough, you can build your own company of cleaners. But you may not be able to keep a few people busy with what you have now.
My cleaners charge more ($330) than I charge my guests ($240). I build the excess into my nightly fee.