If you were an Airbnb guest...

[LadyBadluck]

...would you expect/prefer a cleaner to come in and do a change over of linens midway through your stay, or would you just prefer to be left enough of these iterms to last two weeks and change the bedding and towels yourselves when it suits you?

If you'd prefer to be left linens to just change yourself

• how many towels would you expect to be left per guest by your host for a two week stay?

(So how many bath towels, hand towels and tea towels etc).

• Same for bedding per occupied bed? One set per bed per week, or more?

(I'm not a host btw, but a cleaner who's in a bit of a debate with a host about client expectations and what's acceptable)

Yes, I don't think a lot of men people would be that bothered - and probably don't change their own sheets and towels at home that often.

Theoretically, if a towel is only used to dry off a just-cleaned body/hands, it should never need to be washed or replaced!!

The main thing in being fastidious about bedding being changed very regularly in a guest accommodation context is that people don't want to sleep in sheets that strangers have slept in, and the usual position is that there is a high turnover of (different) guests.

Same here. It's what I do at home. But there is only me.

I would have expected to change the bed myself but wouldn't have minded the owner coming in and doing it by prior arrangement. It had a washing machine and drying rack, washing tabs also provided but I wouldn't have wanted to get involved in trying to get the king sized bedding washed, dried and back on the bed during that length of stay.
We often rent for a month or longer at other places and then additional sets of linen and towels have always been provided and I expect to sort the bedding myself in those circumstances.

I'd prefer a cleaner to come in...I'm on holiday, and I don't want to be cleaning, changing bedding and doing laundry when I'm on holiday!

For people saying this, I do think maybe a boutique hotel or a b&b with a host onsite is probably more what you're looking for.

For Airbnb, when you choose to hire an entire property, you generally have to accept you won't have an onsite host. It's more like when you rent a self catering apartment abroad. You don't generally get your cleaning and laundry changed during your stay, that's why they're usually cheaper than proper B&Bs.

The general expectation of an Airbnb that doesn't have an onsite host means you have to accept a little less of the 'luxury' services and do some of it yourself for the lower price.

I recently rented an Airbnb that cost even less than a travelodge! I had no midway clean, and just the bare minimum of towels provided. But there was cleaning products supplied and a working washing machine & airer. I accepted taking the responsibility of doing a bit of my own cleaning and washing laundry for a more budget friendly price, the privacy of being left alone and more space than just one hotel room.

Of course, some Airbnb hosts offer a very luxury service but at a very luxury price. The price, and the airbnb listing tends to determine what you can expect from your stay. If you don't want to compromise on certain luxuries, you can filter your search to only show properties that have onsite hosts/provide laundry servicing during your stay etc.

My client is looking to go mid-range. It's a great sized property, well equipped, beautifully decorated and has everything you need for a self catering stay. But they're not looking to target the high end luxury market and offer the same services as a hotel/hosted B&B/boutique stays. However, I still feel they shouldn't compromise TOO much on what they do/don't provide, as a property that size is still rather expensive and they have to rely on constant 5 star reviews to keep them visible and at the top of searches (Airbnb are fuckers for punishing even 4 star reviews by making hosts' listings less visible).

I have just had a stay in 2 bed 2 bath holiday accommodation with very nearly unlimited use of an indoor swimming pool, for one week. We had 2 large towels provided per person, plus there were swimming towels provided as well. There should have been 3 tea towels (in fact there was only one) and there was one hand towel per bathroom. I would have liked some smaller towels for hair, but otherwise this amount was ample for our stay. There was a washer/dryer which we used every day, but not for towels (it took forever to dry!) and they provided a folding drying rack.
If we had been there for more than a week then I think it would have been nice to have had the option of a mid-stay clean, and I would have expected another set of bedding for each bed to have been provided. However we probably wouldn't have taken up the offer of a clean as we like our privacy. If we had, then I would have wanted to know an approximate time slot, for instance Tuesday morning, after 9 but before 1, so that we could have arranged to be out. I don't think you can expect guests to be out unless you have given them a time-frame and, in fact, I don't think you can expect them to go out anyway. We would have been because it would be more comfortable for us, but for others, especially those with children, it might be more difficult.

@LadyBadluck we had a premier footballer stay in one of the lodges for 3 months while his new house was being built.
Absolute pig!
Asked for twice weekly cleans but every time we went in, he was permanently walking around the place in his underwear, shouting loudly into his phone (think dom joly). The place was a complete tip with lots of unmentionable items laying around and a very large hairy dog!
After 4 weeks I'm afraid we evicted him. He'd done loads of damage to the lodge, holes in walls etc and it took 4 of us 3 days to clean it! I assume he must have had a permanent housekeeper at his house that must of trailed round after him all the time clearing up his mess. Hope she was well paid!

I think it is not unreasonable to offer a clean after one week.. even if it's less than a full clean that one might expect between guests.... bathrooms, bed changes, hoover, kitchen clean including floors. I would not want to do this myself when on holiday nor would I want a house full of people not to be cleaned for 2 weeks.

I see you don't agree...

If it were new guests coming in, the owner would have to schedule a clean. I don't see that a clean after 7 days is unreasonable or impossible to schedule. I would imagine that the owner and any supporting business like yours, would assume if they have X houses on their books, that they would have weekly changeover cleans for all of them.

I don't see that it would be unreasonable to ask that the house be empty or that you guve a window in which it would be cleaned..

Eg.. For 2 week stays, we offer a mid stay clean, including change of bedding. We request that the property be empty. It will be scheduled between the hours of 10am and 4pm, the precise timing will be confirmed the day before. We ask you to bear in mind that it will not be a deep clean due to the presence of guest belongings which hamper this process and should you wish to decline this service or if the property is not empty, we can deliver fresh bedding and towels without entering the property.

Me too.

I've been running a holiday let for 20 years. For 2 week guests I ask them half way if they would like a change of linen. I always have it prepared in case. Around 7 in 8 say no. Although about half request new towels.
We are with a big mid-market to fancy agency and they don't offer a mid stay clean.
I have noticed Mumsnet is generally very keen on changing sheets alot!

I'd expect someone to come in and change them, and if that wasn't offered I would use the same sheets the whole time (and not be happy about it). I'd knock a star off my rating if there wasn't a mid-stay clean, I don't go on holiday expecting to change my own beds. I think it's part of running a holiday let doing things like that, so I don't really care how inconvenient it is for the owners, they should have something in place.

For towels, if no one was coming in to I'd expect to be left at least two body towels per person, two medium sized and two hand towels. Ideally three of each.

Perfectly happy forbeds not to be changed but spare around if needed and most of the places we stay you have to take own towels but again would be happy if there was a pile left to save anyone coming in

I don't change my sheets at home every week (slattern I know) so no. But a spare set just in case would be good.

From this thread it's apparent there's no hard and fast rule that we all agree on with this.

Personally I've never liked anyone coming to clean during my stay anywhere. In hotel rooms I put the do not disturb door hanger on.

But for many it's clearly an expectation and they'd be unhappy if it wasn't done.

I think the only way is the host will have to ask the longer term guests directly if they do or don't want it and then schedule it in with me as soon as possible so I can give them a slot time.

We often stay for 10-14 days. We are given hand towels for all bathrooms and then everyone has two bath towels and two hand/hair towels each. Half way through the week-at a mutually agreed time, they come in and clean, change all beds/bins etc and replace all towels.

There is usually a drawer full of tea towels which we use and they do top this up.

We put towels/tea towels in the washing machine as well.

If we have guests for more than a week in our holiday let then we ask them if they would like fresh towels and bedding half way through. We don’t offer an actual clean though.

Some of them want the linens, some not. Our cleaner will either go in and change the bed or just drop off the clean stuff. Depends what the guest prefers. We tell them what time she will be coming.

I wouldn't want a cleaner turning up. But I'd recommend allowing longer after a 2 week stay. And providing cleaning supplies. I have when there's not even a hoover. Hoover and bags if needed. Bin bags. Cloths and sprays. Sponges.
4 bath towels and hand towels per person. Two sets of bedding per bed.