Cleaning during guest's stay

[Lee93]

A guest checked in before the cleaning person was finished in the apartment and now is complaning that the kitchen table and bathroom floor aren't cleaned to her liking.  This was after 3 hours of cleaning for a 1 bedroom apartment and the prior guests who basically left the apartment spotless.  The new guest told the cleaning person that everything was fine and she could go when she got there.  I can get somebody in tomorrow but it will be when the guest is there and I fear that this will cause problems if she is a picky guest and will upset my cleaning person who is just an hourly worker, not on staff and/or could be a liability issue.  I have offered to refund this guest some money for the inconvenience.  I cannot come up with another solution.  Curious what you think we ought to do.  At this point we are well on our way to superhost status, but I fear that this will only lead to pickier guests, so not sure I care about that.  I think that after some other guests reviewed us as having a really clean place now our apartment could be attracting the neat fanatics, but not sure.  Thanks in advance for any replies.  

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

The key:  they aren't cleaned to "her" liking.  It's your property - is it the level of clean you want and expect from your cleaning crew?  You have already offered her money off her stay - is she asking for something more?  Perhaps I would need to know more about what is dirty or unclean about these two items to be more fair, but based on what you've said, I'm not sure I would send the cleaner back unless you think she actually can get those things cleaner than she did in the 3 hours she was already there cleaning.  The only other thing you could do is offer to get in touch with Airbnb to rehouse her. She would need to cancel and I'm pretty sure she won't meet the criteria for an exception refund.  

Guests like this exist whether you are a Superhost or not.  Just last week a guest wanted to know if I cleaned with bleach because she just couldn't fathom staying somewhere where they didn't use bleach to clean the bathroom.  Declined.  I do use some bleach products, but if the assumption up front is that it wont' be "clean enough" unless all surfaces are hosed down with bleach products, I don't want to host that guest.  

[Zacharias0]

I would have declined too. Hotels and motels don't even use bleach in the rooms as its too toxic of a chemical. She needs to get a life. Airbnb isn't for everyone.

[Joanna85]

I rent out regular rentals for a living.  I NEVER show a house unless it is 'rent ready'.  Whenever I break my own rules, it is usually a nightmare because it is never, ever to the new tenant's liking because they saw how it looked before. Even if I end up evicting them or they use the house as a pigpen--they think since they saw the before they can act like they need it five diamond quality ready. I use the same exact rule for my Airbnb space.  I would advise if it is not ready, don't let the new guest go in if you can at all help it.  I"m totally sure your cleaner did a fabulous job, but the people felt that since they saw her cleaning it, they can knit pick it. No refund or whatever else they want--to me, you've hired a professional to clean it and that means if you know they do a great job, that is good enough and I cannot imagine Airbnb siding with the guest saying your cleaners (paid professionals) were not up to the guest's snuff. Stay strong and just know some people are totally goofy about certain things for no reason and take it with a grain of salt.

[Marianne-and-Anibal0]

I'd very much appreciate your advise on this topic, cleaning during guest's stay.  This is my Q. I'm hosting for the first time in a few days  and my guest is booked for a month. Would it be inappropriate of me to offer my guest the name of a cleaning lady to be hired by him to come in sometime during his stay as often as needed?   

[Jann3]

I am wondering the same thing...are guests generally responsible for keeping their (studio/house/apartment) spaces clean or is the host?

[Bridgid2]

I;d like to know the same. If guests are charged for one exit cleaning fee and I supply cleaning materials do I need to do their cleaning during their stay? If so, what? bridgid

[John498]

If you have a washer dryer in your place I think it is reasonable to allow them to use it if they stay 5 days or more. Long term guests do save you hassle of changing sheets, check-ins etc. However, if you haven;t offered laundry as a facility and they haven't requested and you agreed then you don't have to. On the other hand they are a paying customer and it is in your interests in terms of reviews and customer experience to be as helpful as possible within limitations.

I would avoid general cleaning as they as adults should be able to do that themselves. There is alsoa  privacy issue and perhaps exposing yourself as a host to accusations if something went missing or they thought you had gone through personal items. I do feel that as Brigid has done you should supply all teh cleaning materials the guest needs appropriate to what is reasonably expected to clean an apartment.

[Marzena4]

@Bridgid2 Of course not. One cleaning fee = one round of cleaning. Some hosts clean on a weekly basis for long-term guests, but it's also a way of keeping an eye on the property.