I too treat my sitters as guests. I treat anyone who stays in my home as a guest including family. I also expect, as part of normal human behaviour and courtesy that ‘guests’ leave the house as they have found it… If that means they need to vacuum or scrub then so be it; wouldn’t they do that in their own home? ‘Superficially clean’ means nothing. If I left a sparkling clean shower room I expect it to be like that when I arrive back; not ‘superficially clean’!
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I’m interested in how long the sit was for @Janeyw36 where you mention there were great clumps of hair in the drain. That, to me, means it has built up over time, not just in a week or two.
I’ve had the same experience as a sitter whereby on Day 2 the water from both the shower and toilet would not drain quickly, especially the toilet. On investigation of the shower by lifting the drain lid, I was greeted with SO much hair and muck, including toilet paper! I can tell you it was not a pleasant task to clean and I photographed all that I removed and sent to the owner who was most embarrassed and apologetic. I do not have long hair but the daughter did and I’m thinking it had never crossed their minds to remove the cap and the hair. I saved them an expensive visit from the plumber too!
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I think the main point of a review is to give information to other HOs (if it’s a review for a sitter) or sitters (if it’s a review for a HO).
When I’m looking for a sitter and go through their reviews, I have no way of knowing why they miss a star. A missing star in the cleaning category might mean that the sitter misplaced a drinking glass or that they left the whole house in a huge mess, or anything in between 
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Here the HO’s review even says “we came back to a tidy home”.
So yes, I would assume that it was something like a misplaced drinking glass, or sofa cushions “left in disarray”, or something like that.
@pietkuip
Never leave a THS home with Sofa cushions in disarray, never forget that. 
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Well tbh they hadn’t done much cleaning at all but it was the bathroom and shower that I was particularly upset about! I can’t tell you how disgusting the shower was …. Absolutely bunged up with hair 
It’s not unreasonable to expect the place to be left as it was found. I’ve done a few house sits that were shockingly dirty on my arrival, so when I find a place that is left clean it’s my pleasure to make sure it is returned in the same condition.
My advice, assuming I’m not too late, is to leave that out of the review. Maybe contact them privately to mention it, so they have the chance to pick it up next time. One bad review can take away a sitter’s chances of ever getting it right.
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No actually I was trying to as positive as I could. Parts of the house were ok but the bathroom shower room and sitter’s bedroom were not cleaned at all. The shower was filthy and trying not be unkind I left one star off cleaning. They didn’t take it well and tbh I’m beginning to feel that TH is sometimes seen as a free hostel for young people who want to travel. There needs to be respect on both sides or it doesn’t work.
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I agree as I have said in another post it’s respect on both sides isn’t it? It is a lot to welcome strangers into your home and the trust is paramount. I expect to leave anyone’s home in a clean state.
They have challenged me now and been quite unpleasant just because I gave them 1 star and tried to be as positive and kind. After all if they want to carry on some things like cleaning are important to some people.
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You described it as “superficially clean”.
And also as “great clumps of hair in the drain”.
Trying to solve the contradiction, it seems that you expect sitters to clean the shower underneath the drain cover. As a sitter, I don’t think I have ever done that.
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@pietkuip
Hmm, maybe you’re one of these young people just looking for a free hostel then? 
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Your review was very kind @Janeyw36 and you only took one star off for Clean & Tidy (not 1 star as indicated in your reply to The BoxingCheetah), giving them a 5* overall rating, so they have little to complain about. Ever since I had the unpleasant task of removing lots of long hair and muck down an owner’s shower drain I check that drain on every sit but rarely have to repeat that experience because they are mainly sits of less than 2 weeks (which that sit was).
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@Janeyw36 It’s very important to present factual reviews. If sitters left bathrooms and kitchens dirty, please let future homeowners know this. Then cleaning can be discussed during the pre-confirmation video chats for other sits.
You were more than generous in docking only one star. These sitters should consider themselves lucky.
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be mindful of what clean means. hair in the bathroom may be much, but remember, you are getting for free what is to many people a paying job. this isn’t a cleaning service.
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one more thing, the better the cleaning supplies you have, the cleaner you can expect your home. I’ve had sits where the house was not too clean, the vacuum cleaner hadn’t been emptied in ages (for three cats) and there were no pads for the swiffer. The owner’s answer was just use any rag/paper towel.
Another thing is, if you have several pets and they’re all shedding, you better have some serious vacuum cleaner. Preferably portable, can’t stress what a difference it makes to have a portable vacuum cleaner, things get cleaned immediately and conveniently so that the home is constantly clean and so no need to have a massive cleanup at the end after filth has piked up the whole time.
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Well, it is not in the soup! Or on that cola can…
I do not quite understand how hair can be such a sensitive issue for people with furry animals.
As I understand it, the hair was under the drain cover. Yes, that is not a clean place. I would not assume that an HO had cleaned there before I came. For me, that is beyond deep cleaning.
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@TheBoxingCheetah sorry but I have to agree with the sitter there. If you have specific cleaning instructions I want them in the guide. Also it appears I’m now going to have to ask in an interview how people feel about cleaning because had I known how particular some of them were before the sit I never would have accepted it. I don’t get to see the guide until after I say yes. I’ll be honest with you I’ve hardly ever vacuumed on a Sit whether they told me not to, they don’t have a vacuum or the fact that they simply have pets who shed every single day so the minute you vacuum it’s pointless. So I would want to specific list of things that you expect including cleaning in the guide and preferably in your responsibilities in your listing so that I know if I’m a match for that sit
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Thank you you obviously agree with me ! Sadly some of the comments are for me quite upsetting ??
I feel that I was not being u reasonable but at the same time trying to not be unkind.
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Funny how we can all interpret things differently. I would think vacuuming messy floors would be the first thing on the list when (taken from the checklist) leaving the place ‘clean and tidy’ and ‘keeping the owner’s property maintained to a high standard’. I feel a bit silly putting this in the guide as it seems so obvious to me. But seeing as you think I should, I will :).
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You aren’t being unreasonable. I’ve had more than 10 sitters and have never come home to a gross shower. My instructions for bathroom cleaning are on a brief exit list and are pretty simple: “Don’t leave the bathroom gross.” I’d do one of two things: If the sitters were otherwise pretty much fantastic and I didn’t want to rain on their parade, I’d send them a message as private feedback that they really need to do better on this and I wouldn’t deduct points. If I felt that would be dishonest and they aren’t going to get the message I’d deduct a star or two for cleanliness but maybe keep the overall rating as a five, unless there was other stuff as well.
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