What would you consider reasonable expectations of a sitter to have for the cleanliness of your home upon their arrival? We had a sitter leave three stars on the cleanliness aspect of their review for us. They never mentioned anything during their sit and only provided the feedback once I messaged them about their review. They claimed that the counters had crumbs on them and that the oven and microwave needed cleaning and that there was “grime” (actually just hard water stains) in our tub. Now I will admit that our place probably wasn’t as spotless as you may expect from an Airbnb who may typically hire a cleaning service. But I did spend several days cleaning to prepare for her arrival. Should our place be spotless for a sitter?
I am a sitter but, if you search the spyglass for your question and/or the blog you’ll find answers to this question.
As for the 3 stars given, that may have been accidental as it’s easy to hit the wrong button. Also, as has been discussed a lot on here, everyone has a different standard of cleanliness. I was in an Airbnb and had to clean out the shower trap of lots of hair which was preventing water escaping. Not unusual for people to forget that area.
It should be a basic Airbnb standard as your sitter is your guest. In my profile I state early on that kitchens and bathrooms shouldn’t make me think ‘Yuk!’ this includes crumbs, sticky work tops, microwaves splattered with food, hard water stains are easily removed….basically the home shouldn’t remind us of the HO’s bodily functions ….
I think a sitter should arrive to a spotless home. If cleaning or deep cleaning is not your thing, I would suggest hiring a professional cleaner to clean before their arrival. That fee is still hundreds less than what a paid sitter would cost you.
I personally think its a sign of respect, If I turn up to the house and it’s spotless I feel welcome and appreciated. I then make sure I return the house in equal or better condition.
But some homes will never seem “spotless”. Mine is one. There’s just too much clutter and STUFF around. I wish there weren’t, but there is. The place isn’t dirty, but it’s not all shiny surfaces and glinting floors.. And never will - or could - be.
It depends on the description and the home pics and if they match the expectations they set. There isn’t one level. If a host has 3 dogs & 3 cats & they’re all allowed on furniture then it’s going to be hairy. If descriptions say things like “lived-in” or “well-loved” or a “relaxed family living space” then you start to get the picture. Some homes we’ve sat in haven’t been anywhere close to spotless but the images showed that so we accepted it as part of that sit. What did your description say @Chadwyck98 & did the home match your pics? #livedinandloved
‘Spotless’ - no, but for many sitters, myself included, a sit is a working holiday, and one that I’d prefer not to have to start with a cleaning spree. It’s just depressing and sets things off on a bit of a negative note.
I replied to your Reddit post. You have since deleted that post, so I am guessing that you didn’t like the answers. Most people, including me, felt that you hadn’t cleaned enough. The stove and microwave should be clean. If the hard water marks can be removed from the tub, then remove them.
Your replies to the Reddit comments suggested that the sitter should have mentioned these problems to you privately, not in a review. However, saying it privately doesn’t guarantee that you will change anything. THS sends a cleaning list to HOs before every sit. If you didn’t comply with that list, why would a sitter assume that their private feedback would work?
And so you’ll never attract sitters for whom this aspect of a sit is important. Similarly at the other end of the continuum some sitters feel uncomfortable in spotless show homes.
Transparency is key to making matches… provide the facts and let sitters decide whether it’s for them or not. We all have our preferred lifestyles. We prefer nowadays to life as if we’re in a 5* hotel, but it wasn’t always like this. We had a 400 year old converted barn and 5 horses, in the winter wet saddles and wellies littered the kitchen… this was normal for 28 years. For 8 years after downsizing we’ve lived a minimalist shiny life.
I was suggesting that the review shouldn’t have been a surprise. There was no indication that the home wasn’t meeting our sitter’s expectations of cleanliness, and I would have preferred to have had a chance to address it or understand the misalignment prior to seeing a 3-star rating. I want to emphasize that we did spend several days cleaning prior to the sit. These were just things that were missed or overlooked. And certainly not representative of the home overall. Though, we will certainly hire a cleaner prior to the next sit. This is only our second sit, so we are learning. And it makes me very nervous that the poor cleanliness rating on only our second review will unfairly hurt our future as hosts.
There is nothing unfair about an honest review. What is unfair is leaving an unclean home for a sitter who isn’t warned.
I believe that you spent days cleaning, but I have been doing this for long enough to realize that everyone has different standards of cleaning. If your listing mentions that the house is lived-in and not spotless, sitters who are scrupulous about cleaning will know not to apply. You can also screen out the fastidious sitters during the video chat.
The sitter might not have wanted to mention the cleanliness before the review, because she feared that you would retaliate by leaving a negative review for her. That used to happen before THS introduced the blind review system. It can still happen if one side knows that the other is likely to leave a bad review.
Whether you think that the review is fair or unfair, you can respond to the sitter’s review. You can only leave one reply, and there is no time limit on replying, so I would take a few days (at least) until your emotions are more settled. Nobody likes criticism, but responding with defensiveness (this showed on Reddit) and emotion will deter more sitters.
Hi @Chadwyck98 ,
Welcome to the forum.
If I understand correctly, the sitter gave you 3 stars for cleaning but did not explain why in the review. When you privately asked why, then she mentioned the issues. If that’s the case, you’re already on the right track and should not worry
What I would suggest is addressing this in your reply to their review. If you haven’t replied yet, you still can. You can only write one reply but there’s no time limit for it. I would say something along the lines..
“We only found out that cleaning was not up to X standard when reading this review and we are sorry that it was too late to do something that could have helped improve their experience. Although we did clean the house for X arrival, we might have missed some spots. We have certainly taken note of the shortcomings and we’ll hire a cleaner for future sits. We do appreciate X help and feedback. We’re learning ”
I hope it helps. Some sitters might avoid applying for your listing but only those who need a spotless environment, most would appreciate your acknowledgment and willingness to improve. I would certainly not be put off if otherwise liked your listing.
What areas of the home need to be cleaned to a higher degree than others? I’d say focus should be on the kitchen, eating area, bathroom to be used by sitter, and of course, the sitter’s bedroom. Not sure other areas of the house need to be cleaned to “spotless”.
Cleaning for days and you still missed crumbs on the table and left a dirty microwave and oven?
The other lesson I’m learning is to read every review for potential sitters. Apparently, I am not the only person who experienced this with this particular sitter.
A past review I only just saw is a host saying that this sitter actually left abruptly citing cleanliness concerns. I suppose I can be grateful they didn’t just up and leave.
Thank you for this. This was helpful. I did reply. I replied with a question asking her to help us understand her rating. This was because I misunderstood what the reply was for, thinking it would be something she could respond to. This is when she reached out to me via text to explain.
Yes definitely read every review and also look at reviews they have left for prior HO. Some buzzwords that make me decline a sitter: anything praising luxury amenities (fancy bedding or hotel-style toiletries) or anything complaining about pet hair. These types of sitters are simply too difficult to please.
We do deep clean before a sitters arrival. It takes a few days as we wipe baseboards and cupboards down, steam clean rugs and the living room furniture, and clean the oven. We focus on the whole downstairs as that is where the sitters room/bathroom, kitchen, and living area is. We don’t do any deep cleaning for our master bedroom, for example, as they wouldn’t be using that room anyway.
That said, the microwave, stove, and kitchen is always clean as that is just normal cleaning for us. So if the sitter complained that there was a cobweb in a corner, that is maybe excessive. If they are complaining about microwaves being dirty, that’s valid and something you’ll need to address going forward, either with a better clean, hiring a cleaner, or just stating in your listing that the house is “lived in”.
As others have said, there are TONS of chats about cleanliness on the forum. It’s a hot topic bc it is so subjective but also clearly very important to many sitters.
The sitter didn’t mention it to you during the sit bc it’s awkward to do so and what difference would it have made at that point?
We have arrived to sits that were less than my standard of clean but I’m not going to disturb or ruin their time away by saying “by the way, the fridge clearly had not been cleaned out and the shelves are full of gunk, expired food and sticky stuff on the shelves” - I mean, that is just awkward. This is why there’s a “cleanliness” rating.
If you get a lower rating than you’d like, then following up for some specifics (privately) is a good idea if you are willing to get feedback and not just defend yourself or make excuses.
I am definitely one of those who wants to walk into something that looks very close to an Airbnb. I avoid any sits where photos show clutter bc that’s a huge source of anxiety for me. Can’t relax in clutter (and it’s nearly impossible to keep a cluttered home clean).
Chalk it up to the learning curve!
Those were the sitter’s claims, yes.