Charging guests was a decision made with the best intentions. We believed that by imposing a cleaning fee, guests would be more inclined to take responsibility for the condition of their units during their stay. This was also a way to help offset the cost of laundry and linens.
It’s become evident that there’s a significant misunderstanding about the cleaning fee. Without clear departure procedures, guests may interpret the fee as a license to leave a mess, as one guest did, stating, “I paid a cleaning fee so that I would leave all my trash, dirty dishes, damaged linens, and popsicle-covered walls.”
It’s best to leave guest departure procedures inside the vacation rental and list them in the guest rental agreement. Maintaining a high standard is impossible when the guest has no house rules.
Guest Check-out Procedures
Housekeeping started displaying departure procedures over ten years ago. Since then, we have only walked into a few properties that were considered trashed units. Our procedures are simple, such as removing all trash. This procedure reduced the pest control inside our units and helped the guest gather their belongings. We asked the guest not to remove the bed sheets; this procedure reduced the amount of hair on our sheets and enabled us to identify damaged linens quickly. We ask the guest to maintain dishes daily by supplying ample dish soap. This procedure meant we would no longer find a dishwasher filled with a week of dirty dishes and minimized pest control.
Remove all Trash
What is trash? Everything the guest brought inside the vacation rental property that the guest is not taking home.
Place soiled bath linens in tubs
Gather all soiled bath linens and place them inside the nearest dry tub or shower. We had to add the word “dry” because guests would soak linens in tubs. Housekeeping can carry 25-pound bags, not 50-pound bags of linens. We ask the guest to leave the bath rugs and kitchen linens in place. We only want the guest to do the minimum. Our job is already defined procedure after procedure. Asking guests to place our rugs with bath towels serves no purpose.
Do not remove bed sheets
Experience taught us having guests remove our bedsheets served no purpose and left us in the dark on damaged linens and inventory control. When guests remove their bed sheets, they usually place them on the floor. This process creates other problems, such as hair. In addition to guest removing bed sheets, they would also take it one step further and remove mattress pads and pillow protectors.
Return to cabinets clean dish-ware and cookware
No daily maid service is available for your stay. This statement reminds guests that no one is coming to clean their everyday dishes. However, we know that a property continuously displaying dirty dishes creates a pest control problem. We also know that dirty dishes saved for departure day result in dirty dishes inside cabinets. Supplying only one or two tabs of dish soap is a procedure built for failure—supply amble amounts of automatic dish soap for guest to maintain their dishes daily.
Remove excessive use from surfaces
If a guest spills a pitcher of cool-aid, we expect the guest to clean that area. A toddler who is spreading popsicle juice throughout all surfaces is excessive.