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Splitting guide

How to split Airbnb cleaning fees fairly

The EvenRound team · EditorialPublished Updated 1 min read

A 7-night stay with a €120 cleaning fee. Per night that's €17. Whose 'night' does that count toward?

Airbnb cleaning fees are charged once per booking regardless of stay length. They're not really per-night costs - they're per-stay costs. The fairest split treats them like the rental fee itself: equal among everyone who stayed, regardless of how many nights each person was there. The exception is when one person had the place to themselves for an extra night - they should absorb that night's prorated share but not the cleaning.

Steps

  1. 01
    Treat the cleaning fee as a flat per-stay cost

    It doesn't scale with stay length. So don't try to amortise it per-night.

  2. 02
    Split equally among all stayers

    Whoever was in the rental contributes equally to cleaning. Even the person who arrived late and left early.

  3. 03
    If someone stayed extra nights solo, exclude them only from rental, not cleaning

    If Anna arrived a day before the group and used the place solo, she pays the rental for that solo night herself, but the cleaning fee still splits across everyone.

  4. 04
    Don't inflate the cleaning fee for 'damage'

    Hosts sometimes charge extra cleaning for stained sheets etc. That's a damage charge, not cleaning - handle it under the deposit-deduction process instead.

  5. 05
    Log it as a single expense, not bundled with rental

    Two expenses: 'Algarve villa rental' and 'Algarve cleaning fee'. Different splits - the rental might split per-night, the cleaning equal.

Worked example

Six-person, 5-night stay with €150 cleaning fee

Cleaning €150 ÷ 6 = €25 per person. Rental €1200 ÷ 6 = €200 per person. Total: €225 per person. Booker paid €1350; each of the other five Wises €225. Booker keeps €225.

Cleaning fees are flat costs split equally. Don't overthink it - log it separately and move on.

Log a cleaning fee

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