Originally Posted by
stef315
Perception is key and hosts are pretty stubborn about not listening to what customers say. If it looks greedy to a customer, than it is greedy to them.
This may well be true - and it's a problem. But we've all watched restaurant TV shows: sometimes they suck, and sometimes the customer clearly isn't always right. It's hard to please all.
Your reply was great to read because it seems sincere and highlights what I see as a few misunderstandings:
I do find it funny that hosts keep repeating that cleaning is a "fixed cost". Aren't there a lot of fixed costs?
Actually no... not really. Most utilities are based on usage, as are some additional taxes. Certain costs occur even if empty: internet fees, essential maintenance, and some fixed taxes. Those are all factored in.
Cleaning is not fixed in an accounting sense, but it's a "cost of goods sold" and it's a
fixed amount irrespective of length of stay. By contrast hotels offer daily housekeeping: it's a daily cost. They also handle this in-house for a very low cost per clean. I admit $190 sounds steep for a clean - and in my opinion this should not be marked up (any profits should be part of the base rental) - but obviously nobody knows for sure how owners are pricing this. On the other hand $190 can be plausible depending on location. How much would you charge to go out your way in the middle of nowhere and clean someone's property for several hours? In some countries / cities, a low amount is not worthwhile.
If you don't want to penalize long-term rentals than give a discount.
Here's the other problem: we can only do what the system allows. This is why I say the animosity would be better directed towards the likes of Vrbo or AirBNB.
For a $93 per night property... if I absorb a $100 cleaning fee (which is below cost BTW) we'd be looking at an additional $33 per night. For a one week stay that amounts to overcharging by $132. Whilst Vrbo does let you set a % discount after 7 days (so I can set a 12% discount in this case to even it out)... what about a 5 night stay? They will get overcharged $66. Or for a longer stay, that 12% discount becomes unfair on me.
Unless Vrbo provide the tools to calculate rates more accurately, we are at the mercy of what the platforms allow. What I've done above is actually the
fairest for the consumer, even though at a glance it may seem "greedy".
It's especially bad when they then demand I do a bunch of the cleaning myself while still being gone by 10 am.
I must admit I'm on the fence here. I work in the service industry (unrelated to our holiday home), and high end segment at that. Clients pay and they demand service. If you pay a cleaning fee you expect cleaning. I totally get it.
Our housekeeper is someone local from a nearby village. It's a rural area. It may be a sophisticated country, but rural still means rural, and the lifestyle goes with it. Ideally I'd want someone who can not only clean, but prepare a small amenity kit for each booking, replenish supplies as necessary, have attention to detail. Heck I'd be happy to supply fresh milk and eggs in advance: it's a small cost but a nice gesture. But it stretches the limits of what one local lady can already handle. Of course there's a price for everything: but then see problem above.
We never defined what "cleaning" meant: she knows the end result is to have a clean home. Once in a while she'd complain about guests who made a huge mess, who didn't throw out the rubbish, or left LOTS of dishes in the sink or a fridge full of unused food. I'd send reassuring words, but my thoughts are "
win some, lose some"... if you're a taxi driver, you can't always expect a distant fare. Ultimately she'd get the job done. (Of course, can double her pay but then again,
see above).
I've talked about this with many Europeans though, and many of them have an understanding that guests should do basic cleaning. By this I mean emptying rubbish and cleaning dishes after meals. I
don't mean cleaning toilets and mopping: that's for the housekeeper. By and large, most of our guests do this and have no problem with it. Very occasionally we do encounter slobs who think they're staying in a serviced apartment or hotel.
(Rubbish is a large taxed bag which we provide and is used to dispose of non-recyclable household waste, maybe once every 4-5 days and deposited to a receptacle 400m up the hill on the way out of our village... it shouldn't be left to rot indoors).
The cleaning issue is definitely a cultural one, and there are differing expectations, even amongst Europeans. It's impossible to cater to everyone, but as the saying goes of course "When in Rome......"