Updated : Mar 12, 2025
Setting the right cleaning fee for your Airbnb short-term rental is vital to your pricing strategy. Striking the perfect balance can be challenging: you want to avoid deterring potential guests with extra charges, yet you must also cover your costs to ensure every visitor’s clean and welcoming environment. Several factors influence this decision, including the size of your rental, whether you employ a cleaning service and the overall price range of similar properties in your area.
In this article, we’ll address common questions Airbnb hosts face when deciding whether to implement a cleaning fee and, if so, how to determine the appropriate amount to charge.
What is an Airbnb Cleaning Fee?
An Airbnb cleaning fee is an additional charge applied to guests for preparing the rental space before their arrival, separate from the nightly rates. This fee helps hosts cover the extra costs of cleaning and maintaining the property.
Typically, it is a one-time, non-refundable fee that remains consistent across bookings, regardless of the number of guests or length of stay. Importantly, it is not part of the security deposit.
Is the Airbnb Cleaning Fee Included in your Nightly Rate?
No. It is applied over and above your pricing. The cleaning fee is displayed as a separate charge from the booking fee. It’s essential to understand that there is only one cleaning fee per reservation, regardless of the number of nights booked.
As a host, ensuring that your cleaning expenses are adequately covered is a top priority.
You’ve Charged a Cleaning Fee Should Your Guests Clean Your Airbnb?
This important question largely hinges on your expectations as an Airbnb host. Many guests wonder, “How clean should I leave an Airbnb?” Given that they are paying a cleaning fee, some may feel less inclined to tidy up before checkout, especially during short stays where the fee might seem high. To address this, some hosts include requests in their property descriptions, asking guests to leave the rental as they found it. However, it’s common for guests to leave certain tasks, like washing dishes, for the cleaning service.
Ultimately, if you have specific cleaning expectations or preferences, it’s best to communicate them clearly before the booking is finalized. Otherwise, you risk relying on guests’ interpretations, which may not align with your standards.
You should add your expectations in your Airbnb Welcome Book.
Clearly outlining your expectations will ensure that you and your guests are on the same page. This will help reduce queries that reach your desk and help your guests have an amazing experience during your stay.
Download our FREE Airbnb Welcome Book template now!What Does the Airbnb Cleaning Fee Cover?
The Airbnb cleaning fee typically covers several key expenses associated with preparing your rental property for guests, including:
- Cleaning Supplies: Costs for detergents, disinfectants, and other cleaning products needed to maintain the property.
- Labor: Compensation for professional cleaning services or your own time spent cleaning the space before each guest’s arrival.
- Linen and Towel Service: Expenses related to washing and replacing bed linens and towels, ensuring a fresh experience for each guest.
- Maintenance and Upkeep: Addressing any minor repairs or upkeep needed to keep the property in good condition.
- Deep Cleaning: Periodic deep cleaning tasks that go beyond regular upkeep, such as carpet cleaning or window washing.
You can charge a cleaning fee to ensure their properties remain clean and inviting while covering the associated costs.
What is the Average Cleaning Fee on Airbnb?
The average cleaning fee for hosts who choose to clean on their own could be less compared to the host who hires professional cleaners to spruce up their vacation rental.
This average is affected by multiple factors, including the type of listing and the property’s location. For example, the cleaning fee of a small studio apartment will significantly differ from that of a 4-bedroom villa. Also, professional cleaners charge differently in different cities around the world.
Below is a graph showing PriceLabs’ data for 2-bedroom (BHK) listings in 10 major cities worldwide.
How Do You Figure Out the Airbnb Cleaning Fee For your Listing?
Setting a reasonable cleaning fee can prove to be a tedious task if you don’t have access to real-time data revealing the fees charged by other listings in your vicinity. However, PriceLabs‘ Market Dashboards will give you easy access to all booking trends in your area, including information on cleaning fees.
You’ll be presented with real-time data of similar properties. You can see what they are charging and how many bookings were made when the cleaning fee was set for specific prices. The comparison data also includes a variety of other policies like weekly discounts and extra person fees.
You can create comp sets in Market Dashboards to make search results more relevant to your listing. Then, you can choose your filters to provide you with relevant data for longer and shorter stays depending on what kind of bookings your listing typically receives. You can also make multiple comp sets to see what professional hosts are charging for allowing pets, having more bathrooms, hot tubs, etc.
Once you are done creating comp sets, head to the Policies and Fees section to review the cleaning fee chart for listings similar to yours. This chart will help you determine the most common cleaning fees offered in your vicinity.
Pricing Strategies to Consider While Setting Airbnb Cleaning Fees
There are a few Airbnb pricing strategies that hosts can take into account when setting their Airbnb cleaning fee in PriceLabs.
Strategy 1:
Your cleaning fee should be appropriate for the length of stay your guests typically book. If you typically get 1-2 night bookings, compare your fees to listings with similar stay durations as opposed to 14+ night stays. Longer stays typically require more cleaning. Distribute the fee over more days for a lower average nightly cost. You can filter listings on Market Dashboards by the average length of stay to see their associated cleaning fees.
Strategy 2:
Charging a higher cleaning fee can help discourage guests from booking short stays at your property. For a guest booking a one or two-night stay, an extra cleaning fee of $100 might sound like a lot. However, the fee will seem more reasonable to someone booking a week-long stay since it is spread over more nights. Additional fees can make a massive difference in the average nightly cost, which you need to consider so as not to scare guests away.
You choose to keep your cleaning fee of $100, and your guests decide to book your accommodation for two days. They’ll pay $50 a night in addition to the nightly charges. However, for a seven-day booking, they’ll just be paying $14.29 a night for the same service.
Keeping a higher cleaning fee discourages short stays since they become less affordable for your guests. This way, you don’t have to mandate long stays. You can be open to 1-2 day bookings if guests are willing to pay the relatively high nightly fee.
Strategy 3:
Comparing the final nightly rate that guests will book your listing for with hotel rates is advisable if your listings compete with local hotels. This is because hotels don’t charge separate cleaning fees, and their nightly charges include housekeeping service.
Not taking your fees into account puts you at risk of overpricing your listing, resulting in your potential guests choosing nearby hotels because of their lower final price. By comparing the final nightly price with hotels, you can ensure competitive prices for your listings that’ll prevent you from losing guests.
Strategy 4:
Remember that the total payout of any stay includes the nightly rate and any additional fees charged to the guest. This means that by charging a higher cleaning fee, you will have the flexibility to lower your nightly rate while still maintaining the payout you expect from your listings.
This lets you set a more competitive minimum price for your property in the low season, which can also lead to more long-term bookings.
How Do I Change My Cleaning Fee Price on Airbnb?
Modifying your cleaning fee on Airbnb is a straightforward process that you can manage through your Airbnb profile. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Log in to your Airbnb profile.
- Navigate to your profile dashboard and click on “Your Listings.”
- Choose the “Pricing” option.
- Locate and click on “Edit” next to the “Cleaning Fee.”
- Enter the new amount you wish to set for the cleaning fee.
- Click “Save” to apply the changes.
Cleaning Fee is Essential for You as a Host!
The Airbnb cleaning fee has become an even more relevant topic after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. The introduction of the Enhanced Cleaning Protocol by Airbnb has caused hosts to be even more careful with their cleaning measures and go the extra mile to ensure their guests’ safety. Unfortunately, these new cleaning practices are driving up hosts’ cleaning costs and, in turn, increasing cleaning fees. However, Airbnb does not give a recommendation for the enhanced cleaning fee, so hosts must determine their new fees themselves.
Being a professional host can seem to be a daunting task if you don’t have any guidance. You have to decide everything on your own. However, PriceLabs provides you with help from real-time data.
