Must I clean when I leave?

It has become fashionable in recent years to complain about having to ‘clean up’ when leaving a vacation rental.

The typical comment is “I’ve paid a cleaning fee as part of my rental, why do I have to clean the place before I leave?”

First of all, you don’t. But you shouldn’t leave a big mess behind you either!

People making such comments are forgetting that vacation rentals are self-catering, meaning that no one is available to clean up after the guests, make the beds, do the laundry, wash the dishes, etc. each day. This is in contrast to a hotel, where such services are provided and included as part of the room charge.

Guests should understand the value equation of a vacation rental, which doesn’t include daily maid service. In our location, rental rates would have to be twice what they typically are in order to provide complete maid service for an entire home each day.

So… whether on their day of departure, or any day of their stay, guests are expected to take care of the day-to-day needs of the home; like washing dishes, taking out the trash, making the beds (if that’s your thing), and cleaning up after themselves if they make a mess of something.

These are the kinds of things that would be appreciated by your host if you were staying in their home, because that’s exactly what you are doing!

With regard to the list of check-out items that we have for guests on the day of their departure, it really isn’t onerous, most are common sense small things to do (like locking the windows and doors) and a number are just reminders or favors for guests so that they don’t forget things. We check under the furniture every time we leave a vacation rental or hotel room, but lots of people never think to do that!

The one thing on the list that may seem like a bit of an ‘ask’ is doing some laundry. This is not a must do. It is simply something that will greatly help out our cleaners if the guest can do a load or two before they leave. Turning over a vacation rental in a single day is a very tight time frame, and any help our cleaners can get, if available, is greatly appreciated.

Speaking of our cleaners, some of those mistakenly complaining about having to clean up when they leave a vacation rental, wonder what they are paying for the cleaners to do.

Here’s an incomplete list of some of the things the cleaners will be doing that guests are not expected to:

• Washing sinks, showers, bath tubs, and toilets
• Cleaning Floors
• Vacuuming carpets
• Doing ALL laundry, including sheets, towels and kitchen linens
• Re-stocking supplies
• Making all beds with fresh linens
• Cleaning mirrors, windows and glass
• Cleaning countertops and appliances
• Dusting furniture
• Changing furnace and water filters
• Cleaning up the pool deck and outdoor areas

It’s a long list, and includes a lot of real work that we never want or expect our guests to have to do.

So please, do help us and our cleaners out. Your mother doesn’t live here. Could you at least make sure the dishes are done when you leave?

We all thank you and appreciate it very much!