Short-Term Rental Cleaning Fees: A Complete Breakdown for 2026

Cleaning fees are one of the most scrutinized costs in any short-term rental booking — guests compare them, and sometimes abandon bookings because of them. For owners, they're also one of the most misunderstood parts of STR economics. This guide explains how cleaning fees work, how they're set, and how to price them to maximize both bookings and revenue. See also Awning's Airbnb cleaning service for how professional management handles turnovers.

What Cleaning Fees Cover

A cleaning fee is a one-time charge added to each reservation covering the cost of resetting the property between guests. It typically includes: labor, linen service, supply restocking, a quality inspection, and any off-site laundry. See Awning's supplies restocking service for how consumable replenishment is managed at scale.

Average STR Cleaning Fees by Property Type (2026)

These averages vary by market. Use Awning's Airbnb market data tool to see average cleaning fees and total booking costs for comparable properties in your specific area.

Who Sets the Cleaning Fee?

If you self-manage: you set it. If you use a management company: it depends on their model. Some managers pass through the actual cleaner cost at no markup. Others add 10–20% as a coordination fee. Always confirm in your management agreement whether cleaning fees are passed through at cost or marked up.

Awning's cleaning service passes fees through at cost — transparently reported in your owner statements with no markup.

How Cleaning Fees Affect Booking Rates

High cleaning fees relative to nightly rate are a leading cause of booking abandonment for short stays. A $250 cleaning fee on a $150/night booking effectively doubles the nightly cost for a 2-night stay. Travelers are sensitive to this.

Strategies to balance cleaning fee impact:

•       2-night minimums to spread the fee across multiple nights

•       Higher nightly rates so the cleaning fee is a smaller percentage of total cost

•       Seasonal adjustments — shorter minimums in slow season to fill gaps

Airbnb's algorithm now factors total price (nightly rate + fees) into search ranking.  A lower cleaning fee with a higher nightly rate often outperforms the  reverse.

Guest-Ready Standards: What Goes Into a Professional Turnover

Beyond cleaning, a guest-ready property requires attention to linens, supplies, and presentation. Research on the best sheets for Airbnb shows that linen quality is one of the most commonly cited factors in 5-star reviews. Awning's supplies restocking service ensures properties are consistently stocked to guest-ready standards between stays.

Home Automation: The Cleaning Coordinator's Best Tool

Smart locks and automated check-in/out notifications make cleaning coordination dramatically more reliable — cleaners get notified the moment a guest checks out, and owners can verify turnover completion remotely. See how Awning's home automation service integrates with cleaning workflows, and Awning's check-in/out management for how the full handoff is managed.

📎  Related: Awning Cleaning & Turnover  Services

→ Airbnb Cleaning Service — How It Works

→ Supplies Restocking Between Stays

→ Home Automation for Keyless Check-In

→ Guest Check-In / Check-Out Management

→ Best Sheets for Airbnb (Linen Guide)

See how Awning manages cleaning for your property →