Sonder Eliminates Cleaning Fees in Short-Term Rentals and Hotel Rooms

25.08.2023 - 14:22 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal

Property manager Sonder did something that Airbnb can’t and most management companies have been loathe to do — the company eliminated cleaning fees for guests.

Until Sonder axed cleaning fees, around three-fourths of the properties Sonder manages, including apartments, condos and hotel rooms everywhere from New York City to Dubai, were tacking on cleaning fees as a separate charge within the total price of the stay. The fee amounts varied by property types and markets, the company said.

Sonder property manager rivals such as Vacasa, Evolve, and Vtrips all typically charge separate cleaning fees.

But Sonder quietly rolled out what it calls “zero cleaning fees” in November, although there was no formal announcement.

“We rolled out zero cleaning fees across our portfolio, to further simplify pricing for our guests,” said Nathan Bacher, Sonder’s vice president, revenue management. “Pricing transparency was already a part of the Sonder experience, and this takes it a step further.”

Bacher added that pricing transparency would help Sonder in its still-small but growing corporate travel business.

Here is a Sonder listing for a studio apartment in New York City. It prominently shows the total price after taxes and including all fees. There is no charge for cleaning.

Previously, Sonder stood out among property managers and online travel agencies in displaying the total price, including taxes, when travelers selected dates and first viewed listings. As it does now with the elimination of cleaning fees, Sonder detailed the nightly rates times the number of nights; discounts or other promotions; any other fees; taxes, and the total rate. The difference now is there are no separate cleaning fees.

Here’s a Vacasa listing for a four-night stay in Intervale, New Hampshire. It shows the total price of the stay, which comes with $371 in fees, including a $220 cleaning fee, after taxes. (Airbnb, for one, details “total price” before taxes.)

Property managers such as Sonder have the power to eliminate cleaning fees because they operate these apartments or hotel rooms on behalf of owners. On the other hand, third-party online travel agencies such as Airbnb have less wherewithal to eliminate or reduce cleaning fees because their terms and conditions allow hosts to establish the price of stays and cleaning fees.

Airbnb recently started showing the price of a listing, including cleaning fees, up-front in many major markets but excluding taxes. Sonder, a vastly smaller company than Airbnb, displays the total price including taxes. Airbnb has stated that its initial pricing displays exclude taxes because that is the way retail outlets in the U.S., for example, typically show prices.

Cleaning fees have been a sore point