What cleaning is normally expected when leaving an Airbnb?

[MilkyRen]

Keen for reviews on staying in airbnbs and what’s ‘normal’. My friends aren’t wanting to go and stay in an air BnB as they feel you need to clean them from top to bottom including the bathroom. I was baffled by this as I genuinely have never thought to clean a whole place before. I empty bins, clean up kitchen, do dishes and put away etc but Ive never cleaned the place as if it was my own house. They say we would need to hoover the place including the stairs? Surely that’s what the cleaning fee is for

You sound just like me @WizdomE i put a lot of effort into maintenance and sourcing nice but occasionally quirky pieces but they are always sourced from eBay charity shops or auctions or IKEA for plain basics like crockery, cutlery etc. We expect the occasional breakage but as long as people are respectful in how they treat the house, we are happy.

I've never been asked anything more than putting my rubbish in the outside bin and I've done more than 20 Air BnB stays. I have 2 holiday let's and I don't ask even that.

Most people wash up/run the dishwasher and wipe down the kitchen surfaces but I don't ask them to

I think it's a bit of an urban myth that you are expected to clean properly. Every property has a cleaner ( or the owner) who comes in after you and that's what the cleaning fee is for if there is one. I've just spent 3 hours cleaning my tiny shepherd's hut and it takes me 40 minutes to iron the bedding.

We go to Denmark a lot and the cleaning thing varies so much - these days I only book places where it's clearly included (or an extra you can pay for). A couple of times we've been expected to fully clean and it really spoils the end of the holiday. In one place there was a whole A4 ring binder full of detailed cleaning instructions including diagrams for how to dust the blinds!

Obviously you treat the stains before you wash the linen- that's why you want to be able to see them. If you don't spot the stain you can end up washing it and hot water sets some stains so they won't come out.

Most places get a cleaner or cleaning team in so I will just put breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Other than that my attitude is we booked a holiday place we are not there to clean the place. Leave a good review and usually the owner wants us to return.

Oh I forgot. I never realised I needed to specify this (I actually don’t but perhaps I need to)… please flush the toilet before you leave. We recently had three (ie all) of the toilets left unflushed. Not uncleaned but UNFLUSHED!

I do also specify in the farewell email that people count and make sure they take home the same number of children and dogs they arrived with.

This is one of the reasons I only used Air B n B when no alternative. Once stayed somewhere which gave us a bad review because we tidied but did not clean because the fee included the equivalent of £50 as a cleaning fee! The fact that reviews go both ways means guests aren't always honest. booking.com and Expedia are much better with honest reviews.

Because if you know they are there you can deal with them before washing them! If you discover a stain at the point when you are ironing, chances are that stain is never going to come out. We're not all using a laundry service, some of us are doing it ourselves.

I've never understood the huffiness over a cleaning fee, if you've always self catered then you must realise that over the years at some point someone has factored in a cleaning fee and added that into the price of the week you are paying for - they just never itemised what the weekly costs are!
Airbnb decided to show the cleaning fee, frankly if I see a low cleaning fee I actually assume the owners are doing it all themselves and maybe just charging more of a laundry fee. Or maybe they are tight and pay the cleaner very little.
But, we never really know the full facts do we, our cleaning fee is £30, but what our guests don't know is that we pay our cleaner over £130 per changeover.

Usually they leave instructions, but it never involves any actual cleaning, and you'd be mad to do any cleaning that's not required when you are paying a fee for it. You'll need to remove your food from the fridge, and not leave any dirty dishes. (Usually you can just set the dishwasher to run before you leave.) Some places they ask you to put your used towels in the washing machine and start it running - this is just so that when the cleaners come in it doesn't take them as long, and starting a load of towels is hardly a big chore. And then usually you'll be asked to take out the rubbish and recycling.

None of this takes more than a few minutes. There is absolutely zero need to clean bathrooms or hoover.

Treat them with stain remover of course? Rather that than not notice it and put on the bed again for the next guest to notice.

Generally there is a cleaning fee included when booking an Airbnb. I would always leave it tidy - empty bins, do dishes, strip beds if requested - but wouldn’t do a whole top to bottom clean.

We wipe up any spills we make as we go along (just as we would in a hotel) and ensure the washing up is done, but don't otherwise clean. Some places don't provide things like a vac or mop so it's pretty limited what you can do even if you wanted.

Most AirBnBs I've stayed in ask you to put the bins out, not leave things in the dishwasher, and some to strip the beds and leave bedding and towels in a laundry pile. We do that.

Never had a negative review (even for the place where, I realised when we were an hours drive away, I had left the coffee maker full of used grounds!).

I had one place with instructions to mop and vac, wipe down the sides, clean the shower, etc. There was a hefty cleaning fee so I didn't do any of that and left a pretty scathing review about it. Owner's review of us was good so I don't know if they were just chancing their arm or pretty naive and new at it rather than really expecting it. I have read horror stories about owners' expectations, but I don't know anyone in real life who has actually had a problem in the end.

This is what I don’t get about Air B and B. Surely the cost of the stay includes the cost of cleaning. How can they get away charging so much on top!

This is what the cleaning fee is for. You just need to leave it tidy.

Ive never come across any that ask for more than taking out the bin and sticking the dishwasher on. The cleaning fee should cover everything else. Thankfully never been told to strip beds, I don’t even do my own, the cleaner does the sheets weekly, so not about to start on holiday.

I sweep up and put bagged bin rubbish outside. I strip beds and leave the bedding on the bed and used towels in the bath, I load the dishwasher and switch it on. I leave no washing up on the side or any mess, but I do not deep clean.

Same her. And we are tidy and nice people but it's a holuday not a cleaning weekend.

I used the robot vacuum the stripped the beds, and wiped down the surfaces. The hosts were thrilled.

For me the cleaning fee allows me to do short breaks. I only charge £30 but it means a two night stay is worth it.

Nope.

I'm with your friends on this one. If you want to stay in an AirBnB, then you stay in an AirBnB, and let your friends stay in whatever hotel they want.

This is what I do when I go on holiday with my friends. There is no reason why you all need to be in the same accommodation.

I'd rather pay extra and have my room for privacy and comfort. I'll be able to use the bathroom as long, and when I want. Watch whatever I want on the TV, at any hour, etc.

Problem with AirBnB, not only do you have to do the cleaning yourself, when you're supposed to be on holiday, is also general problems with the property.

What if there's a problem getting in? And you arrive at night. Any problem you have getting into your room at a hotel, there'll be someone at the front desk. What if you block the toilet? Taps not working? No hot water? In a hotel, you can raise it with them, and they generally sort it out quickly.

Usual hotel conveniences, breakfast can be included, room service, rooms made up for you every day, clean towels and toiletries provided.

No idea how much AirBnbs are, but I suspect they vary, and probably cheaper than hotels. But I'd rather pay for convenience and not stress about these things on holiday.

We have holiday caravans. We do charge a cleaning/damage deposit, which we return in full 99% of the time.

We ask that the bins are emptied into the big bins on the site, the fridge and freezer are empty, washing up is done and the place is generally tidy. That’s it. Sometimes people don’t do those things and we don’t generally charge them, but again 99% of guests do and leave the place looking just fine!

We don’t expect actual cleaning. Just please be respectful

Why not factor that in to the cost?

I do little if any cleaning when I leave an AirBnB. I do look at instructions, but all they generally ask for is perhaps to put the dishwasher on or put the bins out.

I do wash and dry dishes and put them away before we go. I don't strip beds unless they ask. I never vacuum or clean bathrooms, toilets, kitchens, but that said we are fairly clean people and wipe kitchen counters and hobs after each meal, and clear up any spills as we go.

This. I am am an Airbnb host. I charge a small cleaning fee.

I expect guests to wash their own dishes and tidy any excess mess they created. I expect them to flush the toilet after themselves. I expect them to put their rubbish and uneaten food in the bin, not strewn around the place.

I DO NOT expect my guests to vacuum, clean the bathroom or strip beds. They have instructions for how to take the bins out /sort the recycling because many guests like to do that by themselves as they go along.

It's true that generally European guests are very tidy, tend to clean the kitchen properly and remove shoes indoors, so the floors are fairly clean. They also usually clean up and dispose of dropped hair.

British and Americans tend to walk everywhere in shoes so the floors are usually very gritty. They also tend to brush their hair and drop the hair in every room, rather than just in the bathroom, and they don't pick up their own hair. But this is just an observation, not something I would give someone a bad review for - I expect to clean after my guests, that is why I charge a cleaning fee.