Hi all, me again.
I now want to make a point about cleaning charges.
We have guests staying between 7 nights up to 90 nights.
It takes about 5 hours for 1 person to exit clean a two bedroom apartment ready for the next guest. That includes the laundry of bedlinen and towels etc.
I pay my cleaners AU$35 per hour.
So if I charge $150 for the exit clean I am not over charging.
Now we can include the AU$150 in the nightly charges.
That would put up the price by AU$22 per night.
But if a guests stays for 4 weeks I would be overcharging.
For 4 weeks it would only cost me AU$6 per night.
So it is only fair to charge the excit cleaning fee as an extra charge.
We also do a weekly clean, and that, of course, can be included in the nightly rate.
Yes, we do get guests who ask to not pay and do the cleaning themselves, but really, would any guest spend 5 hours cleaning after they need to leave?
And we could not be sure that it would be to our very exacting standards.

And, when I have used private accommodation for our own holidays, we have had both ends of the scale.
From places so pristine that they even put my standards to shame, right down to places with bedbugs, cobwebs, used bedlinen and green fluffy stuff in the fridge.

So, yes, you pay more for places that are professionally run and have a good reputation.
But if you want cheap then you can expect low standard accommodation.
Although you can be lucky and get the best.
But do think; you can not test the beds or look at a place to see how clean it is before you book.
And also realise that high standards cost money.
So the feedback from previous guests is soooo very important.
A bit tough on new listings.
Happy holidays.