Airbnb Cleaning Fee in Canada: How to Get It Right

The Airbnb cleaning fee is an additional charge that you, as a host, should consider when setting a pricing strategy for your STR property based in Canada. So, how much should you charge your guests to cover your cleaning costs while remaining competitive within your local market?

In this blog post, you’ll find some tips on setting an appropriate Airbnb cleaning fee for your rental in Canada to cover your expenses and avoid scaring off potential guests.

You may also want to check out our article about Airbnb service fees in Canada and how to minimize their impact on your bottom line.

Airbnb Cleaning Fee in Canada: What Is It?

Airbnb cleaning fee is an additional one-time fee charged to guests by hosts. It’s not mandatory, but many hosts include it in their pricing (like Airbnb’s extra guest fee) to help cover extra costs.

Airbnb cleaning fee is an extra amount on top of the nightly rate when guests book a listing. It covers the costs of cleaning the property after the guests have checked out to prepare the place for the next guest. This fee remains the same for every booking, no matter how many guests book a vacation rental and how long they stay at the listing.

When guests make a trip request, the nightly rate and the cleaning fee are listed separately in the price breakdown. The cleaning fee is part of the booking total and is not returned to guests once a trip is completed.

When you operate an Airbnb in Canada, maintaining a pristine and inviting space for your guests is crucial for your success on the platform. Since cleaning a vacation rental property involves more tasks than regular cleaning of your home and requires more time, it makes sense to outsource this job to professional vacation rental cleaners.

This will allow you to free up your busy schedule and have more time to manage other aspects of your STR business. Using vacation rental management software like Hospitable to manage your cleaning team, you’ll save even more time. With Hospitable, you can set your own rules, and our system will assign tasks to your cleaners automatically.

What Can a Cleaning Fee Cover?

Incorporating a cleaning fee in their pricing strategy helps Airbnb hosts keep their listings in good shape. When setting a cleaning fee for your Airbnb property in Canada, you should consider the following tasks if you handle cleaning yourself:

• Tidying up the rooms
• Sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping
• Changing bedding and linens
• Cleaning the cupboards, the fridge, the coffee maker, and other kitchen appliances
• Washing the dishes
• Scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen
• Restocking food items, toiletries, and other Airbnb supplies

Your cleaning fee should also cover the cost of cleaning products and household supplies and the time you spend cleaning and restocking Airbnb essentials for your guests. And if you don’t clean your property yourself, your cleaning fee should cover the costs of hiring a cleaning service.

Airbnb Cleaning Fee in Canada: How to Set It?

Staying in a clean rental space is a top priority for Airbnb guests, so adding a cleaning fee to your listing can help you pay for your cleaning supplies or a professional cleaning service and delight your guests. Then, they are more likely to leave you 5-star reviews that can help you win more bookings and increase your revenue.

Managing an Airbnb property involves a lot of work. Still, meeting your guests’ expectations and ensuring a fantastic experience will be easier if you streamline your routine operations using vacation rental software like Hospitable. Our tool will allow you to automate almost all repetitive tasks.

Deciding how much to charge for your Airbnb cleaning fees can be challenging. Remember that a cleaning fee raises the total stay price, and if you set it too high, guests may be discouraged from booking your space.

That means you must balance what works best for your listing and the amount that will keep your guests happy. Here are some points that you should take into account to set a reasonable rate for your Airbnb in Canada:

• Establish your total cleaning costs during each turnover and use the fee to cover your actual cleaning expenses, but not as a way to earn extra money.
• Consider the size of your rental. Larger STR properties require more time, supplies, and work to clean. Cleaning a 5-bedroom house costs more than a tiny home.
• Location matters. In larger cities, the cost of supplies or professional cleaners can be higher, which means higher cleaning fees compared to their small and midsize counterparts.
• Know your competition. Research cleaning fees at the local Airbnb properties of the same size and type (including amenities). This information will help you set a competitive rate and attract more bookings.

If you are new to hosting and are just starting an Airbnb in Canada, you may consider waiting to add a cleaning fee to your listing until you have a few positive reviews to attract bookings.

It’s also essential to manage the expectations of your guests about what your cleaning fees include. You can explain this in your house rules and your welcome letter.

If you set a relatively low cleaning fee, it’s quite reasonable to ask your guests to tidy up after themselves, for example, to put dishes in the sink before they go or throw food into the trash. But remember that guests don’t want to do unreasonable chores, like vacuuming, stripping the beds, and laundry.

And if guests have paid a considerable amount for cleaning, they expect you, as a host, to take care of everything. So they won’t like the idea that they must take out their trash and clean up before leaving.

Bottom Line

When you set a cleaning fee for your Airbnb rental based in Canada, it’s crucial to ensure that your rate is reasonable and competitive. The amount you charge can affect your rental listing performance, so you should balance covering your hosting costs and offering the best value to guests.