Short answer: your cleaning fee should cover the full turnover, meaning cleaning, linens, restocking from supplies you keep on site, staging back to your listing photos and a damage check. It should not be treated as profit, and it should not be set so low that the clean has to be rushed to make the numbers work.
What the fee is actually for
Guests increasingly scrutinise cleaning fees, and a high one on a short stay is a genuine booking deterrent. That has made some hosts drop the fee below what the work costs and absorb the difference, which creates a different problem: a cleaner paid below the job either rushes it or leaves.
The honest framing is that the fee covers the cost of resetting the property to the state it was advertised in. That includes several things that are not cleaning.
- Cleaning itself, including bathrooms, kitchen, floors and the outdoor areas guests used.
- Linen and towels, laundered on site or swapped from spare sets.
- Restocking consumables from stock you keep at the property.
- Staging back to your listing photographs.
- Inventory and damage checking, reported before the next arrival.
- Trash removal from the property.
What it should not cover
Being clear about this protects both you and whoever cleans for you.
- Deep cleaning. A turnover maintains a standard. Twice a year the property needs a genuine deep clean, and that is a separate job with a separate cost.
- Excess damage or party aftermath. A standard fee cannot absorb this. Your cleaner should stop, document it and call you rather than silently absorbing or silently billing.
- Repairs and handyman work. Different trade.
- Hot tub or pool chemistry. Licensed technician work.
- Restocking purchases. Checking and refilling from on-site stock is reasonable. Shopping for you is a separate arrangement.
How to set the number
Work from the cost of the turnover, not from what competitors display. Get a quote for your actual property, add anything you want included such as laundry or restocking, and set the fee to cover it.
Then sanity check it against your average stay length. A fee that is reasonable on a four night booking can look absurd on a one night stay, which is why many hosts set a two night minimum. That is usually a better solution than cutting the fee.
One thing worth knowing: a stable fee matters more than a low one. Cleaners who quote unusually low rates tend to revise them once they understand the property, and mid-season price changes are disruptive.
Should you build it into the nightly rate instead?
Some hosts fold cleaning into the nightly rate and advertise no cleaning fee. It can improve conversion, because the total is what guests compare and a visible fee reads as a surcharge.
The trade-off is that a longer booking then subsidises the same single clean, so you earn more on long stays and less on short ones. Neither approach is wrong. What matters is that the money covers the actual cost of the work.
Set expectations with guests
Most cleaning fee resentment comes from guests being asked to do chores despite paying a fee. Long checkout task lists are a common source of poor reviews.
Ask for very little: trash in the bin, dishes in the dishwasher, doors locked. Do not ask guests to strip beds, run laundry, take out trash or mop. You are charging a cleaning fee, and they have noticed.
See what our turnovers include, or the local pricing guide for what drives the number.
Frequently asked questions
Should the cleaning fee include laundry?
It should be explicit either way, because laundering on site adds significant time and paces the whole turnover around wash and dry cycles. Many hosts run a spare-set system where linens are swapped and washed off site, which speeds up the turnover itself. Both work, but you need to know which one your quoted rate assumes.
Is it better to have no cleaning fee and a higher nightly rate?
It can improve conversion, because guests compare the total and a visible fee reads as a surcharge. The trade-off is that longer bookings then subsidise the same single clean, so you earn more on long stays and less on short ones. Neither approach is wrong provided the money covers the actual cost of the work.
Should I ask guests to do chores at checkout?
Ask for very little. Trash in the bin, dishes in the dishwasher, doors locked. Do not ask guests to strip beds, run laundry, take out trash or mop, because they are paying a cleaning fee and long checkout task lists are a well documented source of poor reviews.
What happens if guests leave the place in a terrible state?
That falls outside a standard turnover fee. Party aftermath, pet damage or biohazard conditions are a different job with different time and equipment requirements. A good cleaner stops, documents the condition with photos and calls you before doing anything else, so you can decide whether to authorise the extra work or pursue the guest.
How do I know if my cleaning fee is too low?
If your cleaner is rushing, missing details, or has raised the rate mid-season, the fee was probably set from competitor listings rather than from the cost of the actual work. Get a quote for your specific property including everything you want covered, then set the fee to match. A stable fee matters more than a low one.