Is Your Hudson Valley Airbnb Cleaning Fee Competitive?

A cleaning fee is a single line in a booking, but it can change whether a guest books your home or a similar one down the road. Average fees by bedroom count go stale quickly, so rather than quote a table, here is how to check your own fee against current listings.

How guests see the fee

Since April 2025, Airbnb has shown the total price, including fees and taxes, by default, according to CNN's report at the time. The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, which took effect May 12, 2025, separately requires the total price of short-term lodging to be disclosed clearly and prominently. The rule does not cap what a seller may charge.

The practical result is that your cleaning fee is no longer a surprise at checkout. A guest comparing two homes sees one number for each. Airbnb's host guidance says search ranking weighs total price and notes that a high cleaning fee can discourage bookings. Airbnb does not publish how it ranks listings, so we will not claim more than that.

Benchmark it yourself

1. Pick five to eight homes a guest would plausibly consider instead of yours: same town or area, similar bedrooms, sleeping capacity and amenities.
2. Search the same dates for each, once for a two-night weekend and once for a five-night stay, with the same number of guests.
3. Record the total price, the nightly portion and the cleaning fee for each.
4. Compare the cleaning fee as a share of the total on the short stay. This is where an out-of-line fee shows up first.

Repeat before your busy season and again if bookings slow. Prices move, and so does what guests will pay for a cleaning line.

Start from the real cost

Airbnb's own advice is to work out what cleaning actually costs and to set a fee that helps cover real expenses rather than generating profit. A turnover usually includes:

• cleaner labor, including travel time to a rural property
• laundry and linen wear
• restocking paper goods, soap and kitchen basics
• inspection, and photos for the record
• periodic deep cleans, which come on top of ordinary turnovers

A larger home or a long drive for the cleaner is a legitimate reason for a higher fee. Compare against homes of your size, not a market average.

A cleaning fee is also not a damage deposit. Airbnb directs unexpected damage, such as stains or smoke odor, to host damage protection under AirCover for Hosts rather than to the cleaning fee. Airbnb describes that protection as covering up to $3 million, but it is not an insurance policy, so read the terms.

Choose a structure

Airbnb describes several approaches: one flat fee for every stay, a lower fee for one- and two-night stays with the standard fee on longer ones, or building cleaning into the nightly rate instead. A flat fee weighs heavily on a two-night stay and lightly on a week. If most of your bookings are weekends, a lower short-stay fee or a minimum stay can compare better in the total. Test one change at a time so you can tell what moved the bookings.

Ask who keeps it

With a manager, the question that matters is who keeps the guest-paid cleaning fee and what it covers. We think any manager should answer it plainly. At Haus Vacation Rentals, guests pay a cleaning fee on each stay, which covers turnover cleaning, and Haus retains it. After your own stays we clean the home at the standard cleaning fee. Supplies and consumables are separate costs, and the fee schedule sets out each one. Our 33 questions to ask a manager includes the cleaning questions to put to anyone you interview.

If you are comparing options, the comparison of self-managing, national managers and a local manager shows where cleaning fits among the other costs, and how it works shows what happens after you contact us.

Review the fit before committing

Tell us about the home, what you charge today and how it has booked. Justin reviews every home personally and replies within 3 business days. Tell us about your home.