Holiday Rental Cleaning Fee: Costs, Rules and What Guests Still Need to Do

By Daniel Schulz, residir GmbH · Last updated: 14 October 2026

The holiday rental cleaning fee pays for the final clean after you leave – organised by the host and usually charged as a one-off fee. Even so, almost all landlords expect you to wash up, take out the rubbish and empty the fridge. If final cleaning is mandatory, it must be included in the total price of the booking.

We are currently fitting out a building with 54 apartments in Lehel, and questions about cleaning, deposits and extra costs are among the most common in enquiries. Here you will find what is usual, what the law says and what to look out for when you check out. Information correct as of October 2026.

In this article:

• What does final cleaning mean?
• What guests still need to do
• How much does final cleaning cost?
• Mandatory fees, price display and doing it yourself
• Extra costs at a glance
• Tourist tax and city tax in Munich
• Check-out checklist
• Deposit: deductions and refunds
• Mid-stay cleaning for longer stays
• How it works in our building in Lehel
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions

Topic	What is usual	What to check
Final cleaning	One-off fee per stay, amount depends on size	Is the amount included in the total price?
Guest’s tasks	Dishes, rubbish, fridge, swept clean	Read the house rules or check-out notes
Bed linen and towels	Usually provided in cities, sometimes extra in holiday regions	Check the description, otherwise bring your own
Deposit	Some hosts charge one, others do not	Amount, payment method and refund period
Tourist tax in Munich	Not charged, nor is there an overnight stay tax	Holiday resorts often charge a spa tax per person per night
Mid-stay cleaning	For longer stays sometimes included, sometimes for a fee	Agree frequency and price in advance

What does final cleaning mean for holiday apartments?

What exactly does final cleaning mean? It is the clean carried out after guests leave, so that the flat is ready for the next arrivals. In holiday apartments, final cleaning is almost always handled by the host or a cleaning company they hire, and you pay a flat fee for it. The same applies to holiday homes, where the final clean usually costs more because of the larger floor space.

What does the final clean of a holiday apartment include? Typically:

• Vacuuming and mopping the floors
• Thoroughly cleaning the bathroom, shower and toilet
• Cleaning the kitchen, hob, sink and worktops
• Stripping and remaking the beds, changing the towels
• Dusting, cleaning mirrors and glass surfaces
• Restocking consumables such as toilet paper and washing-up liquid

What it does not usually include is tidying up after you: used dishes, full bins and leftover food. These tasks remain the guest’s responsibility even if you have paid for final cleaning. Cleaning a holiday apartment is therefore a shared job – and this is exactly where most misunderstandings arise.

What guests should still do themselves despite final cleaning

Most hosts answer the question of what you need to do yourself in their house rules. The following points appear almost everywhere:

• Dishes: wash up and put away, or load the dishwasher and switch it on.
• Rubbish: sort it and take it to the bins in the courtyard or on the street.
• Fridge: empty it and take opened food with you or throw it away.
• Major mess: spilt drinks, sand, pet hair on the sofa.
• Tidiness: furniture back in place, windows closed, heating turned down.

If you skip these, you risk an additional charge or a deduction from your deposit. Some hosts also ask you to strip the beds and leave the linen in a pile. That saves the cleaning team time, but it is a request rather than an obligation unless it is stated in the terms.

Holiday rental cleaning fee: prices and costs

How much does final cleaning for a holiday apartment cost? There is no single figure, because size, region, scope of cleaning and local wages vary widely. The fee is often a few dozen euros per stay, and well above that for large holiday homes with several bathrooms. The values below are deliberately rounded examples – not market prices and not our own rates.

Accommodation (example)	Final cleaning (example)	Per night for 2 nights	Per night for 7 nights
Studio, 25 m²	40 €	20 €	approx. 6 €
Apartment, 50 m²	60 €	30 €	approx. 9 €
Holiday home, 120 m²	120 €	60 €	approx. 17 €

The table shows the key point: final cleaning costs the same per stay, however long you stay. On short trips the cleaning fee therefore has a big impact on the nightly price; over a week it barely matters. So always look at the cost of final cleaning together with the length of your stay.

For a short city break for two, a hotel room can therefore work out cheaper than a flat with a cleaning fee. You will find a full example calculation including breakfast and dinner in our comparison hotel or holiday apartment.

What is a fair cleaning fee for a holiday apartment? As a guest you can compare: flats of a similar size in the same area should fall within a similar range. A noticeably higher amount may be justified, for example for pets or a fireplace, but the reason should be given. Cleaning costs and laundry charges are sometimes listed separately.

Is final cleaning mandatory? Price display and doing it yourself

Whether final cleaning is mandatory for a holiday apartment is up to the landlord. Many hosts make it compulsory because otherwise they cannot be sure the flat will be clean for the next guests. Guests have no legal right to clean it themselves instead. How hosts plan changeover days and fees is described in our guide to renting out a holiday apartment.

Total price under the Price Indication Ordinance

Anyone offering accommodation commercially must, under § 3 (1) of the German Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV), state the total price – i.e. the price including all components the guest has to pay in any case. A flat-rate, mandatory final cleaning fee is one of these. In 2013 the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig ruled (ref. 6 U 27/12) that such a cleaning fee must not just appear far down in the advertising, but belongs in the final price.

For you as a guest, this means: always compare the total price before paying, not the nightly price in the search results. Optional services, such as an extra linen package or a fee for a dog, may be listed separately because not every guest books them. This section is general information, not legal advice.

Doing the final clean yourself?

Some holiday apartments, especially private ones, let you do the final clean yourself and save the fee. That sounds tempting, but it costs you the last morning of your holiday. And if the host is not satisfied, they will often clean again anyway and deduct it from your deposit.

If you have the choice, agree in writing beforehand what condition is expected, and take photos of every room when you leave. For short stays, doing it yourself is rarely worthwhile.

Holiday apartment extra costs at a glance

The extra costs of a holiday apartment include all amounts that may be charged on top of the rent. Whether they are mandatory or optional determines whether they must be included in the total price. Typical extra charges for holiday apartments are:

Item	How it is often handled	Mandatory or optional?
Final cleaning	Flat fee per stay	Usually mandatory
Bed linen and towels	Included or as a linen package per person	Depends on the provider
Deposit	In advance, by bank transfer, credit card or platform	Depends on the provider, refunded
Tourist tax / spa tax	Per person per night in spa and holiday resorts	Mandatory where charged; not in Munich
Pets	Flat fee or amount per night	Optional, only with a pet
Platform service fee	Percentage of the booking amount	Depends on platform and fee model
Electricity, water, heating	Almost always included, rarely by consumption	Usually included

Bed linen and towels

Is bed linen included in a holiday apartment? In cities and with commercial providers it usually is; in some holiday regions bed linen costs extra or you bring your own. Bed linen and towels usually means duvet cover, sheet, bath towel and hand towel – beach or sauna towels are rarely included.

Pets

Many hosts charge a flat fee for a dog, because cleaning upholstery and floors takes more effort. If you are looking for dog friendly apartments in Munich, ask about the fee, the permitted size and the rules for the sofa and bed before booking.

Platform fees

Booking portals often add a platform service fee. The Airbnb cleaning fee is set by the host and is charged once per stay. How the Airbnb cleaning fee, service fee and taxes fit together is explained in our guide to Airbnb Munich and its fees.

Tourist tax and city tax in Munich: what applies?

Many guests ask about tourist tax in Munich because they know city taxes from other cities. As of October 2026: Munich charges neither a Kurtaxe (spa or tourist tax) nor an overnight stay tax. In Bavaria, only officially recognised spa and holiday resorts may charge a Kurtaxe or Kurbeitrag, and Munich is not one of them.

Munich city council did decide to introduce a bed tax in 2023. However, in the same year the Free State of Bavaria banned overnight stay taxes by amending the Municipal Charges Act. On 14 November 2025, the Bavarian Constitutional Court dismissed the challenge brought by Munich, Bamberg and Günzburg against this ban (Vf. 3-VII-23). In February 2026 the city announced that it would take the case to the Federal Constitutional Court.

So at present you do not pay an overnight stay tax or a city tax in Munich. Should this change, it would have to be shown in the total price. Day trips are a different matter: if you stay overnight in the Alpine foothills or by a Bavarian lake, you will often pay a tourist tax for the holiday apartment per person per night, frequently with a guest card for buses or mountain railways.

Holiday apartment cleaning checklist: before you leave

This cleaning checklist for holiday apartments covers what hosts most often expect. Allow 20 to 30 minutes before check-out. What the host specifically expects at check-out is usually set out in the welcome book of the holiday rental.

• ☐ Dishes washed and put away, or dishwasher switched on
• ☐ Fridge, freezer compartment and food cupboard emptied
• ☐ Rubbish sorted and taken to the bins, deposit bottles taken with you
• ☐ Hob and worktops wiped down
• ☐ Beds stripped, if the host asks
• ☐ Used towels gathered in one place
• ☐ Windows closed, heating or air conditioning turned down
• ☐ Lights off, appliances off, chargers unplugged
• ☐ Damage or broken glasses reported to the host
• ☐ Keys returned as agreed, photos of the rooms taken

Many people underestimate the last point: a few phone photos of the kitchen, bathroom and living area as you leave help if questions about the condition come up later. The photos take two minutes.

Holiday apartment deposit: deductions and refunds

A deposit for a holiday apartment is meant to protect the host against damage. Not every host asks for one; commercial properties often just keep a credit card on file. The landlord sets the amount of the deposit, which should be in reasonable proportion to the flat.

Deductions are common for damage, missing inventory or cleaning that goes beyond the normal level, for example after smoking in the flat. Normal wear and tear and the final cleaning you have already paid for do not justify a deduction. Larger damage is often covered by the guest’s personal liability insurance – more on this in our guide to holiday rental insurance. Always ask for deductions to be stated in writing with reasons.

When do you get your holiday apartment deposit back? There is no fixed legal deadline specifically for holiday apartments, but the landlord must inspect the flat and settle the account promptly. Many providers state a period of a few days to a few weeks in their terms. If there is a dispute about the deposit, a factual message with your departure photos usually helps more than a long discussion. This information is not legal advice.

Different rules apply to a regularly rented flat: there, the tenancy agreement governs the deposit, handover and decorative repairs, including with a fixed term lease in Germany. A holiday apartment, by contrast, is only rented for temporary use, so the condition required on handover is usually simply „besenrein“ (swept clean).

Mid-stay cleaning for longer stays

If you are staying for two weeks or longer, you may want to ask about mid-stay cleaning. In classic holiday apartments it is rarely included, but it can often be booked for a fee. This usually involves cleaning and changing the bed linen and towels.

For stays of several weeks or months, furnished temporary apartments are often a better fit, as cleaning and linen changes are scheduled at fixed intervals. Ask about the frequency, for example weekly or every two weeks, and whether it is included in the price.

If you want fresh towels every week without lifting a finger, an aparthotel in Munich with a cleaning service will suit you better than a private holiday apartment. There, cleaning is part of the concept, and final cleaning is often not charged as a separate item.

Mid-stay cleaning also matters for teams of tradespeople working on site: with several people sharing a flat, weekly cleaning makes sense. Workers accommodation in Munich with a kitchen and a clearly agreed cleaning schedule saves discussions at the end of the project.

How it works in our building in Lehel

The building at Ländstraße 6 is operated by residir GmbH and opens in autumn 2027 with 54 apartments. Bed linen and towels are provided in every apartment, so you do not need to bring your own. Washing machines and tumble dryers are available in the building, which reduces the need for linen changes on longer stays.

We will set the exact terms for final cleaning, mid-stay cleaning and the deposit before opening and give them to you when you enquire, together with the total price and our terms for holiday rental cancellation. There is no tourist tax in Munich.

Our author Daniel Schulz has looked after more than 80,000 guest stays in eight years of running serviced apartments. His observation: disputes about cleaning and deposits rarely arise because of dirt, but almost always because of expectations that nobody wrote down beforehand.

Conclusion

The final clean of a holiday apartment is done by the host for a flat fee that, as a mandatory component, must be included in the total price, while dishes, rubbish and the fridge remain your job; in Munich, as of October 2026, there is no tourist tax on top, and if you are coming for weeks or months, temporary housing in Munich usually comes with regular mid-stay cleaning.

Frequently asked questions about holiday apartment cleaning fees

What does the final clean of a holiday apartment include?

Final cleaning usually includes vacuuming and mopping the floors, cleaning the bathroom and toilet, wiping down the kitchen and surfaces, making the beds with fresh linen and changing the towels. Exactly what is included is set out in the booking terms of each property.

How much does final cleaning for a holiday apartment cost?

The cost depends on the size, region and provider. It is often a few dozen euros per stay, and considerably more for large holiday homes. The amount stated in your booking is what counts.

Is final cleaning mandatory for a holiday apartment?

That is up to the landlord. If final cleaning is mandatory and charged on every booking, under the German Price Indication Ordinance it must be included in the displayed total price. Whether you may clean yourself is stated in the booking terms.

What do I have to do myself when final cleaning is included?

Even with paid final cleaning, most hosts expect you to wash up or load the dishwasher, sort and dispose of the rubbish, empty the fridge and deal with any major mess. The flat should be swept clean and tidy.

Is bed linen included in a holiday apartment?

Often, but not always. In cities and with commercial providers, bed linen and towels are usually included in the price; in some holiday regions a linen package costs extra or you bring your own. This is stated in the property description.

Is there a tourist tax or city tax in Munich?

No, as of October 2026 Munich charges neither a tourist tax nor an overnight stay tax. Bavaria banned overnight stay taxes by law in 2023, and the Bavarian Constitutional Court dismissed the city’s challenge to this in November 2025.

When will I get my holiday apartment deposit back?

Usually after departure, once the landlord has inspected the flat. Many providers state a period of a few days to a few weeks in their terms. Ask before booking when and how the deposit will be refunded.

Can I do the final cleaning myself?

Only if the landlord expressly allows it. In many holiday apartments, final cleaning is a fixed part of the price and is charged even if you clean yourself. Clarify this in writing before booking.