Airbnb cleanliness complaint: what to do in the first hour

The message arrives an hour after check-in: "The place isn't clean." Maybe there are photos of hair in the shower. Maybe it just says the kitchen is sticky and they are very disappointed.

An Airbnb cleanliness complaint feels personal, especially if you trust your cleaner. But what you do in the next hour decides three things: whether the guest stays happy enough to finish the trip, whether Airbnb ends up refunding them out of your payout, and what shows up in the cleanliness rating two weeks from now.

This is the order I would work through it, and why each step matters.

What should you do when a guest says your Airbnb is dirty?

Reply quickly, ask for photos, and offer to fix it before you talk about money. In that order.

Reply fast and do not argue. The first message should acknowledge the problem and say you are on it. Do not defend your cleaner, do not say it was spotless this morning, and do not ask whether they are sure. Even if the complaint turns out to be exaggerated, an argumentative first reply is the one Airbnb support will read later.

Something like this works:

Hi [name], I'm sorry, that's not the welcome you should have had. Could you send me a couple of photos of what you're seeing so I can sort it out properly? I'd like to get my cleaner back to you today.

Ask for photos. Photos tell you how big the problem is, what exactly was missed, and whether it is a cleaning failure at all. A few crumbs under the toaster and an unmade bed are very different problems. Photos also protect you if this escalates, because they show what the guest reported at the time.

Offer the fix first. Sending your cleaner back solves the actual problem. Offering money first tells the guest the complaint has a price, and it leaves them sitting in a space that is still not clean.

Keep everything in the Airbnb message thread. If you call the guest, follow up in writing with what you agreed. Airbnb can only see what is on the platform.

Why does the first hour matter so much?

Because Airbnb's refund rules give the guest a short window and a strong position, and you want the problem solved before they use it.

Under Airbnb's Rebooking and Refund Policy, a listing that is "not reasonably clean and sanitary" counts as a reservation issue. The guest has 72 hours after discovering the problem to report it. Airbnb says it will usually try to confirm the concern with the host, and hosts can dispute a guest's claim by contacting Airbnb.

The part that matters for your bank account: if Airbnb decides the guest is owed a refund, your payout is reduced by that amount. You do not get to decide the figure. Airbnb does.

So the math of the first hour is simple. A guest who has a clean property by the afternoon has no reason to file. A guest who has been ignored or argued with for three hours has every reason to, and a record showing you did not help.

If the guest does contact Airbnb, your message thread is your evidence. A quick apology, a request for photos, and an offer to send the cleaner back reads well to anyone reviewing the case.

Is it a real cleaning problem or a refund play?

Most complaints are genuine. A few are not, and the way the guest responds to your offer usually tells you which.

Signs it is genuine:

• The complaint is specific: the shower, the oven, a stain on a pillowcase
• Photos arrive quickly and match what they described
• They are happy to have the cleaner come back

Signs it may be a refund play:

• The complaint is vague and moves around when you ask for detail
• No photos, or photos that could be from anywhere
• They refuse a re-clean and go straight to asking for money
• The complaint arrives on the last day, not the first

Treat the second list as a reason to be careful, not proof of anything. A tired family arriving late at night may not want a cleaner knocking on the door at 9pm, and that is reasonable. If you are unsure, stay polite, keep offering the fix in writing, and let the record speak. Our guide to Airbnb guest scams covers the patterns in more detail.

How do you get your cleaner back in without making things worse?

Call your cleaner rather than texting, send them the guest's photos, and treat it as information rather than an accusation.

A good cleaner will be as bothered by the complaint as you are. Starting with "the guest says it's filthy" puts them on the defensive. Starting with "the guest sent these photos, can you tell me what might have happened, and can you get back there today?" gets you both a fix and an honest answer.

Things to agree with your cleaner before they go:

• A time that suits the guest. Ask the guest when they will be out, or whether they are happy for the cleaner to come while they are there.
• What to focus on. The photos tell you. A return visit is not a full turnover, it is fixing what was missed.
• Whether you are paying for the return visit. That is a judgment call and depends on your arrangement. Some hosts treat it as part of the original job, others pay a call-out rate. Decide before the cleaner goes, not afterwards.

If your cleaner cannot get there, ask whether the guest would be happy to have fresh linen or supplies dropped off, or whether a partial credit makes more sense for a small problem. Have that conversation in the message thread.

Should you offer a refund or partial refund?

Only after the fix, and only in proportion to what the guest actually lost.

If the cleaner came back within a few hours and the guest was happy, a small gesture is often enough, and sometimes nothing at all. If the problem was serious enough that the guest could not use part of the property for a night, a partial refund for that night is reasonable.

Keep the numbers tied to something real. If the rate is $200 a night and the bathroom was unusable for one evening of a four-night stay, the loss is part of one night, not the whole trip. Offering a portion of one night's rate is easy to explain and easy for Airbnb to understand if the case goes further.

If you do offer money, send it through Airbnb, either by refunding part of the reservation or by sending money through the Resolution Center. Never pay outside the platform, and never offer money in exchange for a good review. Airbnb's review rules do not allow it.

Some complaints are not really about cleaning. A guest who wanted a newer kitchen or a bigger bathroom may frame disappointment as dirt. Photos help here too. If the property matches the listing and was clean, you can say so politely and offer to have anything specific looked at.

What will a cleanliness complaint do to your review?

It can pull down your cleanliness rating, and you will not know for up to two weeks.

Guests rate cleanliness as a separate category, alongside accuracy, check-in, communication, location and value. Both host and guest get 14 days after checkout to write a review, and neither review appears until both are submitted or the window closes. So a guest who complained on day one might still leave a fair review if you fixed it well, or a harsh one if you did not.

What helps:

• Close the loop before checkout. A short message after the re-clean ("Is everything better now?") gives the guest a chance to say yes, and gives you a record.
• Do not bring up the review. Asking a guest not to mention the problem, or linking any offer to the review, can get you in trouble with Airbnb and usually backfires anyway.
• Respond publicly if it comes up. If the review mentions cleanliness, reply calmly and say what you changed. Future guests read host responses. Our review response templates include one for exactly this.

If the review includes something false or breaks Airbnb's review rules, you may have grounds to ask for removal. The rules are narrow. See how Airbnb review removal works before you try.

Why did the clean go wrong in the first place?

Once the guest is looked after, find the cause, because the same gap will cause the next complaint.

A careless cleaner is rarely the whole story. The failure is often upstream of the clean, in the information and time they were given. The common causes:

The window was too short. A same-day turnover with a late checkout and an early arrival leaves no room for anything to go wrong. If the complaint came after a tight turnover, the problem is the schedule. See why back-to-back turnovers go wrong.

The cleaner did not know about a change. A booking moved, an early check-in was approved, or a new reservation landed the night before. You saw it on Airbnb. Your cleaner did not, and either came late or rushed.

The previous guest left an unusual mess. Some turnovers take twice as long as normal. If your cleaner has a fixed amount of time, a messy departure means something gets skipped.

Something is not on the checklist. Guests tend to notice the same things: hair in the bathroom, the inside of the fridge, crumbs in the cutlery drawer, the oven. If the complaint was about something specific, check whether it is actually on your cleaning checklist.

Nobody was expecting the clean. The worst version: the cleaner never knew there was a turnover at all, and the guest walked into the previous guest's mess.

The second and last causes are the ones hosts can fix most easily, because they are information problems. This is what GleamSync was built for. GleamSync, a vacation rental cleaning coordination tool, reads the iCal calendar feeds from your Airbnb and VRBO listings, detects every turnover, and notifies your existing cleaner by email, SMS, or WhatsApp, including when a booking changes. Your cleaner does not need an account or an app. The point is that a new or moved booking reaches your cleaner without you having to remember to pass it on.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an Airbnb guest have to report a dirty property?

Under Airbnb's Rebooking and Refund Policy, the guest must report the issue within 72 hours of discovering it. Airbnb says it will usually try to confirm the concern with the host, and hosts can dispute a claim by contacting Airbnb.

Who pays when Airbnb refunds a guest for cleanliness?

The host does. Airbnb's policy says that when a guest is refunded under the policy, the host receives no payout or a reduced payout equal to the refunded amount. That is the main reason to fix the problem yourself quickly.

Should I send my cleaner back or just refund the guest?

Offer the re-clean first. It solves the problem the guest actually has, it costs less than most refunds, and it shows Airbnb you tried to resolve the complaint. A partial refund can follow if the guest genuinely lost the use of part of the property.

Can I ask a guest not to mention the complaint in their review?

No. Airbnb does not allow hosts to offer anything in exchange for a review or to pressure guests about what they write. Fix the problem, check in afterwards, and respond publicly if the review mentions it.

What if I think the guest is lying about the property being dirty?

Stay polite, ask for photos, and keep offering a re-clean in writing. If the guest refuses the fix and only wants money, that record matters if the case goes to Airbnb. Contact Airbnb support with your message thread and any photos your cleaner took at the end of the turnover, if they took some.

Related reading

• How to handle difficult Airbnb guests
• Why back-to-back Airbnb turnovers go wrong
• Turnover clean windows: how much time your cleaner needs
• Airbnb cleaning checklist
• Airbnb review response templates

Stop the next complaint before it starts

Many cleanliness complaints begin with a cleaner who never heard about a booking change. GleamSync watches your Airbnb and VRBO calendars and tells your existing cleaner about every turnover and every change, by email, SMS, or WhatsApp, with no account needed on their end. It costs $8 a month per property.

See how it works