5 ms·
I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find th
by klinquist 3y ago
I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning.
I ask guests to:
* Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in),
* Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time)
* Take the trash down to the garage (to avoid ants)
I pay a neighborhood kid to take the trash bins from the garage to the street on trash day.
I successfully manage my place remotely (3hrs away) via a good cleaner and home automation (detailed here: https://www.linquist.com/airbnb/automation https://www.linquist.com/airbnb/automation). 4.99 stars, superhost.
- EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y agoAs you spelled out your reasons, it makes sense. But usually, you don't go over reasons with guests, and they feel like the host is treating them as his poor relatives doing chores. It's totally different at a hotel, where guests feel like they're being served.
- klinquist 3y agoI do go over the reasons in the automated message you receive the night before checkout.
- moralestapia 3y agoTbh, those are problems that you have to solve, somehow.
- klinquist 3y agoGiven my airbnb rating and constant positive feedback, I'd say that my existing solution is sufficient.
- MissTake 3y agoGive it time. I'd not be surprised to read that Air BnB are going to curtail this behavior next. The only reason you're doing this is to game the system. Be honest and charge more.
- therealdrag0 3y agoNo the logistics and economics don’t work to run an Airbnb the same as a hotel. Why would Airbnb add regulations that make their customers less profitable or financially viable?
- MissTake 3y agoEr, because they can. And do. As evidenced by the recent changes. The point is, you should either charge cleaning costs and not require the customer to do anything other than leave it in a “used” state - or - not charge cleaning costs but require the customer at least does some basic cleaning. Charging and also requiring customers to clean is unethical in my book.
- therealdrag0 3y agoPardon what recent changes?
- MissTake 3y agoYou don’t think the subject of this story isn’t a change of their rules and regulations?
- therealdrag0 3y agoI don’t see how security cameras impacts the economics of running an Airbnb.
- 3y ago
- matsemann 3y agoAnd they've done it. As long as these expectations are spelled out before booking, it's not a scam and completely fine. If a renter doesn't like it, just don't book.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago>(otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), That is why any half decent hotel has protocol to always change all the linens anytime someone rents a room.
- klinquist 3y agoI have 6 beds. Change 6 beds when one is used? Talk about energy use and wear/tear on the linens themselves. Hotels have cleaning "scale" on their side. I'm also operating a large home with a full kitchen, balcony, garage, etc. 8 people can comfortably stay. It ends up being a LOT cheaper AND more comfortable than a hotel for 6-8 people.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago>Change 6 beds when one is used? Talk about energy use and wear/tear on the linens themselves. Depends how much you want to risk a guest sleeping in dirty linens. Maybe you have very trustworthy people you can rely on to accurately gauge if a bed has been used or not, maybe your guests do not mind the risk either in exchange for cost/environmental savings. I prefer the most foolproof option when it comes to sleeping in between linens or using towels on my body.
- klinquist 3y agoMy existing solution of asking guests to pull the linens off their beds seems to be working great :).
- madaxe_again 3y agoWe just have a card with a couple of chocolates (bribe) on each bed asking that if it is used, the card is removed, and if it isn’t used, it’s left in place. If there’s any doubt, the linens get changed. Means the guests don’t have to do anything by default, the environment takes one less insult, and we save on linen hire costs.
- MissTake 3y agoI find that abhorrent myself. What YOU pay for your cleaners is up to you. Stop nickel and dimming your customers - if you charge a cleaning fee then there's zero moral rights in my mind that you have to ask customers to also clean. Just up the nightly rates and build it in. When's the last time you stayed at a Hotel and found you got hit with a 'Room Cleaning" fee? What's next - a fee for allowing Heating to be used? A fee to allow water? Heavens above.
- klinquist 3y agoMy cleaners travel 25 mins each way to my remote home and spend 5 hours cleaning. In a hotel, with identical setups in each room, they can do a lot more work in that time. My checkout list is clearly defined in my listing, which is doing great based on my ratings and bookings. The cleaning fee is not hidden. I would re-evaluate if I were not successful.
- ihumanable 3y agoI'm confused, if the dishwasher takes 4 hours and the cleaners clean for 5 hours, why do the guests have to start the dishwasher?
- klinquist 3y agoAre we arguing over the difficulty of loading soap and pressing a button? Yes, it would be possible for the cleaner to do it, and I don't negatively review a guest who doesn't. But it makes things much easier if the cleaner can simply unload upon arrival... and once again, helps keep pests at bay. My property is in the woods and it can be a challenge.
- MissTake 3y agoThat’s entirely your problem. And sure, your listing may be doing “great” now, but what if Airbnb change the rules as they may start looking at doing? Sounds to me that your model may not be sustainable in the medium to long term. Life’s full of “we did like gangbusters last year until…”
- scarface_74 3y agoWhy wouldn’t you clean the sheets regardless after each stay? But everything else seems reasonable. If a host left a note explaining the reasoning behind the dishwasher and the trash, I would understand completely.
- klinquist 3y ago6 beds (comprising of 4 different sizes of beds/sheets) make it quite wasteful if a bed is not used. It already takes ~5 hours to clean the home.
- scarface_74 3y agoI would take the side of sanitation than taking a chance on having used sheets on the bed
- klinquist 3y agoMy existing solution does, by asking guests to remove the sheets. Obviously, if no sheets are removed, they would all be cleaned.
- scarface_74 3y agoAnd if your guest don’t remove the sheets after they sleep on them?
- klinquist 3y agoI pay my cleaners to make sure the home is clean. Simple as that.
- lotsoweiners 3y agoEwww…hosts like you are the reason Airbnb gets a bad rap. I don’t think any reputable hotel would find it ok to not clean the sheets on both queen beds in a room if only one “looked” used. Logistics of cleaning should be built into your pricing and scheduling and not be a chore or something the guests have to think about.
- MissTake 3y ago“ I ask guests to: * Strip the beds” “ But an unreasonable task is like strip the bed…” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, 2022 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbnb-ceo-guests-shouldnt-have-to-do-unreasonable-cleaning-211727092.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbnb-ceo-guests-shouldnt-ha...
- ghaff 3y agoWhatever the CEO said and, much as I tend to not be in the have to deep clean the rental camp, strip the beds and throw the used towels in a pile falls in the pretty reasonable category for me even if I don't do it in a hotel.
- madaxe_again 3y agoI’m a host, two properties in the U.K. I charge no cleaning fee. I don’t ask guests to do anything other than lock the door behind them when they leave. It’s really simple to manage - price it in. Our nightly rate is our nightly rate is our nightly rate. We have a two night minimum on our city property, so it doesn’t end up astronomical - and when we have single nights spare we open them up at a higher price point. On the other property, we have a one week minimum, as it’s in the countryside, larger, and cleaning costs more. We also price in stuff like welcome champagne, tea, coffee, cooking supplies, firewood, you name it - we give our guests everything they would have at home, and enough to throw together a meal on their first evening if they get in late. Our margin is >50% on both. Price it in.
- gnicholas 3y agoThis approach makes sense. Not everyone will take it, both because they're trying to compete on (apparent) price and because they don't want to 'force' guests to pay for things that they might have been willing to do themselves. But it's good that there are hosts out there who bundle all of these services together, like they would be in a hotel or resort. For many people, this is what they're looking for. They don't want to do chores when they're supposed to be on vacation. And because there are all kinds of hosts on the platform, the types of guests who don't want to have services bundled in can book a lower-priced listing that requires guests to do more work (but not pay as much).