A guest says the place wasn't clean when they arrived. What now?

The guest has been inside for twenty minutes and your phone buzzes: "The bathroom hasn't been cleaned properly and there's hair in the shower." It's one of the most stressful messages a host can get, because cleanliness is the thing guests forgive least. But the outcome depends almost entirely on the next hour.

Reply fast, and don't defend

Whatever you think about the complaint, the first reply should be quick and calm. Thank them for telling you, say you're sorry and ask for photos.

Thanks for letting me know straight away, and I'm sorry. Could you send me a couple of photos of what you've found? I'll get it sorted today.

Don't open with "my cleaner is very thorough" or "it was fine for the last guest". Even if both are true, the guest is standing in front of the problem and you aren't. Photos let you see what they see and give you a record if it escalates later.

Look at what's actually wrong

Most cleanliness complaints fall into a short list:

• Hair in the shower, sink or on pillows.
• Crumbs or marks in the kitchen, especially inside the microwave or on the hob.
• A bin that wasn't emptied.
• Dust on surfaces at eye level, like shelves or the top of the TV.
• Bedding that looks or smells used.

The last one is the most serious. If the guest believes the sheets weren't changed, treat it as urgent. Everything else on the list is a miss rather than a dirty home, and can be fixed quickly. Our post on the spots cleaners miss that guests always notice goes through the usual suspects.

Offer a same-day fix

Give the guest a concrete fix and a time, rather than an apology alone:

• Send the cleaner back for the specific areas, at a time the guest agrees.
• Drop off fresh linen and towels if bedding is the issue, even if you're confident it was changed.
• Leave supplies like a cloth and spray if the guest would rather deal with a small thing themselves. Only offer this, never suggest it as the main fix.

If you can't fix it today, say so honestly and offer what you can. A guest who sees a host take the complaint seriously rarely pushes for more. A guest who feels brushed off is far more likely to contact Airbnb or leave a low cleanliness score.

Should you offer money?

Not by default. A quick fix usually resolves the issue. If the guest lost a meaningful part of their stay, like an evening waiting for a cleaner, a small partial refund through the Resolution Centre can be a fair gesture. Our post on handling refund requests covers when a refund is fair and when it isn't.

Then fix the cause

Once the guest is happy, go back to the photos. A complaint is the most useful feedback your turnover process will get, because it tells you exactly what was missed.

• If it's a spot that keeps being missed, add it to the checklist as a specific line, not "clean bathroom".
• If your cleaner was rushed, look at how much time the turnover really gets. Our post on how long a turnover takes has realistic figures.
• If it's a new cleaner, walk through the checklist together.

A checklist with specific lines, like "check shower drain and pillowcases for hair", does more than a long list of rooms. Our cleaning checklist template is set up that way, room by room, so the commonly missed spots are written down rather than remembered.

How to talk to your cleaner about it

Share the photos with your cleaner as information, not blame. Most good cleaners want to know when something was missed. Ask what got in the way: time, missing supplies or an unclear checklist. Then change one thing. Our post on writing a checklist a new cleaner can follow covers how to phrase lines so they get done.