Cleaner for one long session or two short ones?

[EColi]

I need help with the cleaning and can afford 5 hours a week via a local agency. The agency recommend a minimum of 2.5 hours in one session to minimise the time spent getting the Hoover out etc. They also recommend having longer sessions rather than splitting into shorter ones as they say the cleaner's travel time will be less and they will be more likely to stay in the job.
But isn't 5 hours in one go in what is a physical job going to be asking too much of a person?
House is big and we have pets and children so it gets mucky quickly so I dont want to cut the hours down. So, any advice?

I wouldnt care what the agency want- of course they would rather 1 * 5 hour session, but what do YOU want out of it?

If I could I would have two sessions- 1 midweek and 1 Friday personally

Things to bear in mind are that you will need to have the house ready for cleaner- will that be easy for you to do twice a week? It does take me some time the night before to get the house ready, and at the moment I am glad to only have to do that once a week.

Are you hoping they will change beds etc, or just clean?

I would like ideally to have floors all done twice a week then the kitchen and upstairs done one day and bathrooms etc done the other day

Not sure if that helps, but think about what you want to achieve

Thanks for replying DTG. I was thinking that she could do kitchen and downstairs on one day, and kitchen (again) and upstairs on the other. The kids tidy their bedrooms at the weekend so it would make sense to have the bedrooms cleaned on mondays, and then the downstairs done sometime later in the week. My mum lives here and likes to be the 'housekeeper' so shouldn't take too long for us to tidy enough for cleaner visits. Mum tries to help with the cleaning but she can't reach shelves for dusting or stand on a stepstool.
Am only wanting cleaner to hoover and dust surfaces, not change sheets, iron etc.
I'm working on a task list now, the agency supply one but it doesnt cover the rooms we have (home office etc) .

As the last post said - you need to think about what you want to achieve. if 2 shorter times would suit you better then go for it no matter what the agency say.
I can see pros and cons in both. If you go for the 5 hour then, yes, it is a lot in one go. 4 hours at a time is the maximum I have had. Any more and I would have felt obliged to give the girl a meal break, which of course adds to the time cleaner is in your house.
Other drawback to having only once a week is that unless you can keep on top of it between times - the house is still going to get pretty mucky.
Disadvantage of 2 short visits is that you will have to prepare by getting toys and other obstructions out of the way twice a week. Also, are you going to let the firm have keys or do you intend to stay around when the cleaner is there? If you want to be in the house then the 2 visit scenario will be more limiting for you.

Two shorter sessions is better - if it's 5hrs your cleaner will stop for a break & you'll end up not getting 5 hrs cleaning. How long does it take to get organized to clean - 2mins.

Cross posted with your latest message. if your mum could be around when the cleaner is in then that would solve the last problem I mentioned.

I have tried 3,4,5 hour cleans at various points. I have decided that only a 3 hour clean is wort hwhile, after that they don't do a huge amount more and it decreases in quality. I end up notcleaning the bedrooms myself. I found most cleaners are used to doing a 3 hour shift.

I don't want a cleaner in twice a week as I am at home and find it quite disruptive with little kids around.

Yup my mum will be here so no problem with being around when cleaner is here and mum runs the Hoover over the worst bits to keep on top of things so a weekly proper clean should do. Will only have to pick up toys etc once a week if the aim is to do upstairs one day and downstairs on another.
Thanks for letting me ramble...tried discussing with dh but he couldn't see the subtle differences :)

Fiddledee - very useful to know that 3 hrs is a practical maximum. One lot of 3 hours would not be enough for this place, but I don't work at home and kids are at school so no problem with multiple visits in that way.