AIRBNB and VRBO cleaning fees ?

[gingib]

Thanks for the feedback. My business partner is convinced we should lower our nightly fee and add a cleaning fee. Still the same price but "looks" lower. I'm of the camp that rolling it into the nightly rate was the way to go. Looks like most of you guys agree with me. We shall see.

I would do what your partner said. Most people are idiots and only look at price of the stay and click on it and go with it

[Jon B]

That's the direction we are headed. I have built this business in the last three years and have been very successful by being honest about how we do business. I am afraid of losing customers by doing this and feel a bit deceptive by doing it this way.

My business partner is a very clever business man and has been right more times than he has been wrong. We have instituted the cleaning fee and I will be watching to see what happens in the coming months.

[RiverRat1]

Guess that would work for someone who doesn’t pay attention. I don’t care what it says about nightly price, I’m going straight to “Total”. An if it’s way off
From nights x rate I figure out why.


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So it will work on about 95% of the population.

[1riot1ranger]

I always look at the cleaning fee when staying for myself and if it is too high for the stay then I don't book. I totally get it though. The company (AirBnb/Evolve. whichever) sets the nightly rental fee but the cleaning fee stays constant.

I have two; one we just went up from $35 to $50. My wife cleans it and it takes almost 4 hours for a two bedroom. The second is further away so we have a cleaning company do it for $135 for a three bedroom and that is passed through. We also provide coffee, snacks, water, etc so there is a lot that goes into "fees."

If it's only you and you are only staying for a night or two or the hotel experience appeals to you then then hotels are probably a better choice. However, if you are travelling with another couple or group or have kids and don't want the confines of a hotel or separate rooms for kids and desire a little more privacy and quiet than a hotel then you may want to look into the airbnb/evolve rentals. You will also find it easier to have a meal or two in the property than eating out each meal which may save some $$.

I travel to Houston for business and often look for an airbnb to stay in a part of Houston that I was always interested in but never lived in when I actually lived there.

[justletmein]

Those cleaning fees all went way up when they're required to deep clean for Covid sanitation and all that.

[67olds442]

Those cleaning fees all went way up when they're required to deep clean for Covid sanitation and all that.

I can promise that most cleaning companies didn't change up their requirements. We have a small cleaning business and we refuse to do short term rentals. Our regular customers are clean and pay well.

[orchard]

Try and hire a maid these days and see what you get.
But hey.....we're making Somalia great again so it's well worth it.

[tvc184]

We charge just a flat fee, no additional cleaning fee. House is going to have to be cleaned, laundry done no matter how many days it is rented.
Adios,
Gary

That would sure make it a lot more enjoyable experience.

Here is our fee, everything included.

If people don’t like the deal, they can go find something else.

A long time ago I worked for a local furniture mover. He advertised free estimates (really just a final price) and that is exactly what he did. If you call him for an estimate, he would show up and look around and how many bedrooms, how many pieces of furniture, etc.

He told the people that they did not have to disassemble the beds, take the mirrors off of the dressers, disconnect the washer dryer, etc. That and putting them back was all included in the price.

When he was finished looking around, he would take out his business card and write a price on the back. He would place it facedown on a table and say that is my price. If you want me to move your furniture let me know and we will schedule it. That was it. No negotiations, no hard feelings and no obligations. If you like my price, great let me know and I will move you. If not, have a great day.

It seems like a simple concept.

[Pernell]

I have 3 VRBO/AIRBNB houses in Galveston, we do charge a cleaning fee and we have never had anyone complain about it. I can tell you it is very hard to find a god cleaning crew and the ones that are good are expensive. We dont make anything off of the cleaning.
I can tell you VRBO and AIRBNB are very greedy and charge a lot of money for administrative fees, and by the time you add in City Tax, State Tax and property Tax, Its not cheap.

[RR 314]

I have 3 VRBO/AIRBNB houses in Galveston, we do charge a cleaning fee and we have never had anyone complain about it. I can tell you it is very hard to find a god cleaning crew and the ones that are good are expensive. We dont make anything off of the cleaning.
I can tell you VRBO and AIRBNB are very greedy and charge a lot of money for administrative fees, and by the time you add in City Tax, State Tax and property Tax, Its not cheap.

We do the same on our lake house on LBJ. We don't rent it all that much; however, there have even been times when we stay there and instead of doing sheets, cleaning etc. we will even pay the cleaning fee rather than do it ourselves.

[Bruiser]

I'm by myself when I stay in them going to training. I'm just there to sleep. Rubs me the worng way to chage 50-75 cleaning fee and you cant tell I was there.

[Graysonhogs]

So it will work on about 95% of the population.

I think 95% is low.

[Bucknaked]

I don’t own one but it’s very simple- if you don’t like paying the cleaning costs then don’t rent it! It’s that simple!

We’ve rented many and we always leave them cleaner than we have found them, It’s just part of the costs! We have been refunded the cleaning fee before.

[trykonroye]

When I was booking my most recent VRBO for TAC. One of the places had a $200 cleaning fee. I went a different route and found one that had $120 fee. I figured thats close to what I pay for my house to be cleaned so it seemed reasonable.

[CrownKiller14]

Host aren't making a living off the cleaning fee. If they have the unit booked up solid. They are paying a premium to make it happens between check out 10 am and check in 3/4pm. Heck some probably cover some of the fee out of their nightly rate. That's not long to get a big house clean, linens washed and house put back together.