cleaning services Archives

Understanding Airbnb’s Cleaning Fees: A 2023 Host’s Handbook

Posted on 11 September 2023 - 9:42 am

When booking an Airbnb, guests often come across an additional charge known as the cleaning fee. This fee is separate from the nightly rate and is collected by the host to ensure the property is clean and ready for the next guest.

Factors such as the property’s size, the extent of cleaning required, and prevailing local rates can influence the amount charged as a cleaning fee. It’s essential for both guests and hosts to understand the cleaning fee’s purpose, its calculation, and how to set a reasonable rate. In this article, we’ll unpack the nuances of Airbnb’s cleaning fee and provide insights on its management.

Understanding the Airbnb Cleaning Fee

The Airbnb cleaning fee is a one-time charge hosts set to cover the cleaning expenses after a guest’s stay. This fee is in addition to the nightly rate and any other charges, like the Airbnb service fee. The cleaning fee typically covers tasks such as changing bed linens, laundering towels, vacuuming, dusting, and sanitizing surfaces. The fee can vary based on the property’s size, its condition, its location, and the prevailing cleaning rates in the area.

How is the Airbnb Cleaning Fee Calculated?

Hosts determine the cleaning fee based on several factors:

The cleaning fee is displayed alongside the nightly rate and any other charges in the listing.
Before confirming a booking, guests can see the total cost, including the cleaning fee.
The cleaning fee is charged per booking, not per night.
The fee is used to cover cleaning expenses after a guest departs, encompassing tasks like changing linens, cleaning, and sanitizing.
Hosts can adjust the cleaning fee at any time, but changes will only apply to new bookings.

What Does the Cleaning Fee Typically Cover?

The cleaning fee is designed to offset the costs of preparing the property for the next guest. Common tasks covered by this fee include:

Bed Linen Changes: Fresh sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers.
Laundry: Washing towels, washcloths, and other linens.
General Cleaning: Dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning all rooms.
Bathroom Maintenance: Cleaning toilets, sinks, showers, and bathtubs.
Surface Sanitization: Ensuring all surfaces, especially high-touch areas, are sanitized.
Restocking: Replenishing essential supplies like toilet paper, paper towels, and soap.

Read Now: 8 Essentials You Need for Your Airbnb Bathroom

Average Airbnb Cleaning Fee in the UK

The average cleaning fee can vary widely based on location, property size, and other factors. In the UK, the typical cleaning fee for Airbnb properties is around £53. However, a small studio might charge between £20 to £30, while a larger property in a prime location might have a fee exceeding £100. It’s essential to note that the cleaning fee is set by the host and can differ significantly between listings. Guests can view the fee before booking to budget accordingly.

Setting the Right Cleaning Fee

Determining the appropriate cleaning fee can be a challenge. Hosts should consider:

Property Size and Type: Larger properties might require more cleaning.
Amenities: Properties with pools, hot tubs, or gyms might necessitate higher fees.
Location: Prime locations might command higher cleaning fees.
Competition: Research what similar properties in the area are charging.
Cleaning Supplies Cost: Factor in the cost of cleaning products and equipment.

It’s crucial for hosts to clearly mention the cleaning fee in their listing and specify what it covers.

Read Now: How To Hire a Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb

Refundability of Airbnb Cleaning Fees

Typically, Airbnb cleaning fees are non-refundable. Even if a guest cancels their booking or checks out early, they usually won’t receive a refund for the cleaning fee. However, if a guest is unsatisfied with the property’s cleanliness upon arrival, some hosts might be willing to refund the cleaning fee as a goodwill gesture.

Adjusting Your Airbnb Cleaning Fee

Hosts can modify their cleaning fee by:

Logging into their Airbnb account and selecting “Listings.”
Choosing the listing they want to update.
Clicking on “Pricing” and scrolling to “Cleaning fee.”
Updating the amount and saving the changes.

It’s essential to set a cleaning fee that accurately reflects the cleaning costs while ensuring guest satisfaction.

In Conclusion

The Airbnb cleaning fee is a vital component of the booking process, ensuring properties are clean and ready for each guest. While the fee varies based on several factors, it’s essential for hosts to set a fair rate and for guests to understand what the fee covers. Proper management of the cleaning fee can lead to satisfied guests and hosts alike.

How To Hire a Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb

Posted on 21 March 2022 - 12:00 pm

Hiring the right Airbnb cleaning service is vital to receiving positive reviews and an Airbnb super host status.

Below, we’ve put together a short guide on why you need an Airbnb cleaning service. It includes how to find the right service for your property, and what questions to ask in the hiring process.

How To Hire a Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb — Airbnb hosts need high cleaning standards to earn five-star reviews and remain successful!

Why Do I Need an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

While Airbnb’s are quickly becoming a more popular option over hotel stays, guests still expect the same level of cleanliness, which is best achieved with a professional cleaning service.

And if you’re hoping to become a Superhost, you’ll want your Airbnb so clean that your guests notice and mention it in their reviews.

Hiring an Airbnb cleaning crew can be simple, affordable and even automated once you’ve set everything up.

What Services Should a Cleaning Crew Provide?

Often as a host, you won’t have the time to manage both the property and the cleaning.

Automating a cleaning service will free up your time and energy to focus on securing bookings and giving your guests the best experience.

Airbnb cleaning services should offer these essentials between all guest stays:

Making all of the beds
Cleaning and putting away any dishes
A thorough wash of the toilets, showers, and bathtubs
Emptying all bins and recycling
Sweeping, mopping, and hoovering
Wiping down counters and high-touch services such as door handles and light switches

Read now: Top Tips: How to Promote Your Airbnb

Important Additional Services to Consider

Above are the baseline of services a cleaning crew will offer. But to go above and beyond for your guests, look for services that offer these additions either within their flat rate or as add-on packages:

Deep cleans: Once a month a cleaning crew does a thorough clean of the entire property that includes hard to reach or often overlooked places.

Washing linens: Having your cleaning crew take care of the laundry service can be helpful instead of sourcing this separately.

Help with property damage: If the crew notices damage to the property, they will communicate it to the host, take photos, and potentially create a temporary solution. Having your cleaning crew take photos of the space between every guest can be a great way to keep track of any damages.

Report inventory: A cleaning crew can agree to report back to the host when the inventory on supplies is low.

How Do I Find an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

When hiring an Airbnb cleaning service, you can choose between a personal cleaner or a professional management service.

A personal cleaner offers a more customisable experience, as you’ll be training one person to know the ins and outs of your property. However, if you are dependent on one person this can be problematic when they are sick or take holiday.

Working with a property management service is great for high-quality and dependable scheduling but will likely be more expensive.

Both options have their benefits and it really depends on the needs of your property.

There are many options online for you to choose from. For example, we at Keey provide full-time management that includes a professional housekeeping service.

Read now: 6 Subtle Tips for Cleaning Your Airbnb

Cleaning Service For Your Airbnb — A cleaning service can save you time and energy!

What Questions Should I Ask When Hiring an Airbnb Cleaning Service?

When hiring an Airbnb cleaning service make sure to ask the following questions so you both know each other’s expectations and to see if they’re the right fit for your property.

What are the scheduling requirements and notice time for the cleaning crew?

It’s important to work with a service that is organised and has a strong scheduling system in place. This is especially important for remote hosts who use self-check in.

Does the cleaning crew have experience working with short-term rentals?

Short-term rentals often have last-minute bookings, so ideally, you’d want to work with a cleaning crew who is familiar with this and used to the schedule changes.

What is the turnaround time?

A general rule of thumb is that a three-bedroom house should take 90 minutes for a cleaning crew to do a standard clean between guest bookings.

Who will provide the cleaning supplies?

Usually as a host you’ll be expected to buy the cleaning supplies in bulk and then store them in a locked cupboard for your cleaning crew.

Are employees screened?

Remember you’re giving the crew access to your personal property while you’re not there to supervise so it’s important to know each employee is trustworthy.

Will you pay a flat fee or by the hour?

Working with flat fee’s is better for budgeting as a host, usually a one-bedroom house for a basic service would be £150 per visit.

Read now: How to Impress Your Airbnb Guests

Hiring a cleaning crew for your Airbnb is a great way to free up time and become a better host for your guests. Once you find the right cleaning service for your property, you can relax and watch the positive reviews come through!

For further advice on how to manage your Airbnb and hire a great cleaning crew, contact our experts at Keey today.

Why All Landlords Should Outsource Their Cleaning Services

Posted on 27 May 2021 - 4:00 pm

When you’re renting out your property on short-term rental sites like Airbnb or The Plum Guide, your guests will be expecting a premium quality that they can’t get elsewhere. With so many landlords opting for short-term rentals, guest expectations are only increasing.

Ensuring your short-term rental is spotless for any and all guests staying in the property is therefore essential.

This isn’t just a matter of a quick vacuum and a change of sheets after each stay. It’s essential that your property is exquisitely maintained, as guests will notice any corners that have been cut.

It’s particularly important in 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting how crucial keeping your property clean can be for potential guests.

The cleanliness of your rental could have consequences for your business, with word-of-mouth and online reviews having a huge impact on the number of enquiries you’ll be getting and how much you can charge your guests.

While some short-term rental hosts clean their properties themselves after each stay, more and more landlords are turning to professional cleaning services. With a high quality of cleaning products, quicker turnarounds and the peace of mind offered to hosts by knowing their property is being taken care of, these services can often be worth the price.

Here are five reasons why landlords should be thinking about outsourcing their cleaning services:

1. Your Property Will Look Pristine

Even if you or someone you know consider yourselves to be impeccable cleaners, you probably won’t have access to the resources or the efficiency of an outsourced cleaning service.

Professional cleaning services will offer you a number of options to get your property to the highest standard possible given your time and budgetary constraints.

Whether you’re working with an individual cleaner or a more specialised team, you’ll be guaranteed a quality of service that would be very hard to achieve on your own. There’ll be a thoroughness to the cleaning process that will ensure every nook and cranny in your rental is taken care of, including bits that you might overlook.

This can have a transformative effect on your word-of-mouth feedback and the reviews left on your rental. Don’t forget that a clean property is one of the most important factors when a guest is looking to rent a place.

2. It Saves You Time

Managing a short-term rental doesn’t have to be strenuous, whether or not it’s your main source of income or a side business. Investing your own time into cleaning your property between stays can prove stressful, particularly if your property is booked up in the high season.

In the summer months, you might even find that luxuries such as holidays are an impossibility if you constantly have to be on hand to clean properties each day.

By outsourcing your cleaning services to professionals, you’ll be able to have more time to pursue other ventures and opportunities outside of work.

3. You Can Manage Other Areas of Your Business

There’s a lot to take care of when you’re renting out a property. You’ll need to be keeping on top of new enquiries and bookings. You might be personally checking guests in. There are also maintenance issues you might need to take care of, such as broken light bulbs or damaged furniture.

If you’re investing a vast quantity of your time into cleaning your property after every booking, you can easily lose track of your other responsibilities.

By outsourcing your cleaning services to a professional company, you’ll have more time not just for your personal life, but also to ensure that other aspects of your property are in great shape.

This will result in happier guests and better word-of-mouth feedback for your rental!

4. Specific Care and Attention for Your Property

When you’re choosing a professional cleaning service, you’ll have a lot of input on the details of the service you receive. If you’re pressed for time and one room is particularly messy, you could request that more attention be placed on certain spaces in your rental.

Likewise, you could ask for your bedsheets and linen to be folded in a certain way, or for towels to be washed according to specific settings.

You’ll be able to have as much control over the specifics of the cleaning service as you would if you were doing it yourself. This way, you get a precision-engineered approach to cleaning whilst also not having to supervise every aspect of the process.

5. It’s a Must in the Pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing in many parts of the world, it’s vital that your property is kept as clean as possible. If you’re meeting and checking in guests, you’re increasing your risk of exposure to the virus – even if you’re socially distanced.

Why not give your guests peace of mind by leaving your cleaning to a professional service that has strict enforcements as to their COVID precautions?

This way, you can be sure your rental is kept in a pristine and highly safe condition, so that any guests can enjoy their stay without worrying about surfaces having been used by previous visitors.

Though you’ll have to spend a little more on a cleaning service, it really can be worth the time saved and the quality of service provided. Next time you’re snowed with bookings, consider going that extra step to ensure comfort and safety for your guests.

With the constant care and attention required of your cleaning, as well as the safety measures that a pandemic requires, a hands-off approach is a more and more intuitive way of handling your property.

Looking for more property rental advice?

It can be an enervating process keeping up to date with check-ins, cleanings and handling problems guests might have. That’s why rental management services such as Keey are becoming more and more popular.

Professional property management services take the stress of handling a property full-time out of your hands, allowing you to increase interest in your property whilst saving you a lot of time and energy.

Using cutting-edge technology and an intimate knowledge of the letting process, property managers can be a great way to propel your rental property to the forefront and increase demand.

If you feel you could benefit from Keey’s services, take a look at what we can do for you.

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