Why You Are Not Getting a 5-Star Cleanliness Review on Your AirBnB
AirBnb has began separating the guest review process into different categories such as cleanliness, communication, and location. Although there are many benefits to this review process, hosts know how troubling it can be, and how important it is to maintain not good, but great reviews. Especially here in Nashville, where although demand is high, the supply is ample and competitive. Maintaining near perfect reviews across the board is a necessity to get top dollar in the busy season, and to stay booked through the winter months. Perhaps the most common issues in the review process stem from the cleanliness category. The cleanliness rating is vital to a short-term rental's success, but the guests version of cleanliness can often be blurred into other factors such as curb appeal, supplies, working-order, and maintenance. For a cleaning company, this can be frustrating, but for hosts, you seemingly can not afford to have a single thing out of order as it related to the appearance, smell, feel, and usefulness of your property. Here are some things to consider if your cleaning team is great, but you can not seem to maintain 5-star cleanliness reviews.
Walls and Paint
Perhaps the most common issue we see is scuffs and marks on walls. We often get asked to just "clean the walls", which we do, however, many of the scuffs marks and damage to the walls require attention beyond cleaning. Especially on staircases or tight corners, where guests are lugging suitcases into and out of the home, the walls tend to take a beating. Corners get dinged, walls and baseboards get scuffed, and doors get marked up. Damaged and scuffed walls, although not necessarily something a cleaning crew can fix, are often viewed by guests as a cleanliness issue, and can lead to negative reviews. Although a good cleaning company will do their best to clean off what marks they can, we recommend also looking into a monthly, or quarterly, touch up painting as a way to fight against this and to give the walls a clean look and feel.
Furniture
Stains happen. If you are in the short-term rental world, you know this is true. Make-up stains, blood stains, spilled drinks and other things I rather not think about, all seemingly work together to make host's and cleaner's lives more difficult. Using stained sheets or towels is an obvious no-no, however, what about the stained decorative pillow, or the couch cushion that has a small mark on it? what about the table that is scratched or the chair that is broken? Some of these items absolutely fall under the cleanliness category, and should be addressed by your cleaning partner each and every turnover. On the other hand, some of these things are issues that the cleaners are usually not responsible for, and as a host, need to be addressed quickly, and cost effectively. There may be a way to salvage the piece of furniture, so we definitely recommend exploring options like painting, refinishing/repair, or industrial strength cleaning before simply throwing an item away, but one way or another these issues will absolutely lead to a negative cleanliness review.
Burnt Out Bulbs
This one has always confused me a bit, to be honest, but for whatever reason dead light bulbs cause guests to get the feeling of uncleanliness. An abundance of burnt out light bulbs, especially if they are in the same room, can make a space look dark and dingy. Additionally, it gives guests the sense that the home is not taken care of, or that their stay is not necessarily important to the host. Although this is most likely not the case, it can lead to a negative cleanliness review as there is not a "maintenance" or "upkeep" section on AirBnB's website.
Curb Appeal and Outdoor Areas
The final area to pay some attention to, if you seem to be receiving unjust cleanliness reviews, is the exterior and outdoor areas of you short-term rental. Especially in the warmer months, guest will likely be wanting to take full advantage of that rooftop deck or the beautiful view from the balcony of their room. These amenities can be great selling points on your listings, however, if they aren't taken care of and paid attention to, they can also lead to negative cleanliness reviews. We recommend "soft-washing" or pressure cleaning your short-term rental, at a bare minimum, on a quarterly basis. Bugs, birds, dirt, and leaves can all gather up fairly quickly, and lead to unpleasant first impression at the front door, and an uncomfortable experience on that rooftop deck. Additionally, we recommend using chemicals to clean outdoor furniture, and to pay special attention to the exterior of ground level windows. Along that same path is the area of pest control. nothing will lead to an unhappy guest faster than bugs in, near, or around the home. Because of this, we absolutely recommend a bi-weekly or monthly pest service to ensure your home is pug and pest free, and that your guests are comfortable and happy during their stay.
In conclusion, because AirBnB has specific review categories, we often see frustration from negative cleanliness reviews due to items that we don't immediately associate with cleaning. Mainly, maintenance and outdoor upkeep can, if not done consistently, can lead to negative impressions from your guests, and result in bad reviews in your cleanliness category. At Honeysuckle, we offer a monthly maintenance program that aims to solve these issues, in order to keep your units at a 5-Star level cleanliness rating, and to make your life as a host easier, and stress free. If you are interested in learning more, please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of our team today!