Some hosts are threatening to strike, while others are plotting ways around Airbnb’s new restrictions. Guests, meanwhile, are celebrating.
AIRBNB HOSTS ARE melting down over a new policy banning them from making guests complete tasks that “would typically be performed by a cleaner,” like “stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.”
The change, which applies to all bookings made on or after November 20, quickly sparked outrage after it was announced in an email to Airbnb hosts on Wednesday. Many began fuming online about losing the right to make their guests clean up after themselves.
“As hosts, we have a responsibility to protect our investments, our homes, and, in many cases, our personal living spaces,” one person wrote in Airbnb’s official forum for hosts. “The problem is that Airbnb increasingly expects hosts to accept the risks while limiting our ability to protect ourselves.”
I don’t understand the appeal of these stupid things. Chores while on vacation/travelling? lol
If I wanted to experience being in a home covered in bodily fluid and filled with hidden cameras then I would just… stay home for vacation.
If I wanted to be forced to be a maid while doing it then I would visit a BDSM dungeon.
Strike? Against whom, yourself? You’re the boss.
This must be murica, hereabouts no guest will do any cleaning.They’re technically independent contractors with some of their own capital. What makes them different than an Uber driver or a truck owner-operator is the amount of capital required to do their job is a lot higher and they generally don’t need to do as much labor.
cry baby cry
As hosts, we have a responsibility to protect our investments
Yes, you get it! It’s not my job to take care of your house dumbasses!!
What the fuck do hotels do?!?! Fuck landlords of all types. Entitled twats. Fuck right off. Glad I never use these. Just do a fucking hotel. An actual business. Not these craigslist-ass half-assed supplementing someone else’s overpriced mortgage and bad financial decisions.
Hotels, motels, boarding houses, albergues, inns, resorts, serviced apartments, and actual freaking B&B…
All of those are good for the economy to varying degrees; the smaller the business and the less corporate they are. Airbnb is just corporate leeching without any benefits.
Exactly. If you’re going to pretend to be a hotel, then you have to act like a hotel.
What’s the problem? Hosts can still charge cleaning fees but they can’t force guests to do chores.
Yeah, but they were doing both.
Now they can’t have a cake and eat it too.
Exactly. If the hosts were able to both make guests clean up after themselves and charge a cleaning fee then the cleaning fee was just a money grab.
I rented an airbnb, my one and only time, where the host had an insane list of chores. For context: This was during the pandemic and it was me and my two best friends who just wanted to get out of NYC for the night to get some fresh air. I cooked at home and packed dinner, so we didn’t use the kitchen. We didn’t drink. We had a quiet movie night, enjoyed the trees and each others company and then went to sleep.
The next morning, I personally wiped the counters, wiped the fridge, took out the trash, stripped the beds, refluffed the couch, swept the fireplace… the works. I literally woke up 2 hours early to get all this cleaning done. They had a cleaning fee on top of all these chores, which I felt was odd, but it was a new experience for me so I went with it. I am big on rules and respect so i sincerely cleaned to the best of my ability.
After I posted a positive review of their home, they put up a review of me within seconds claiming I trashed the place. They were vying for an additional charge for me leaving the place messy. They said their cleaning lady called to complain about how I trashed the house. I messaged asking what they were talking about, absolutely confused, and they gave me a list of how I trashed their house.
- There were crumbs on the counter. I know I wiped it, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe i missed something.
- They said one of the blankets was a little damp. After asking the other girls, I think my friend briefly sat on the bed after she took a shower. I had stripped the bed so this was a blanket in the hamper they were complaining about that should have been going to be washed. I didn’t notice anything damp when I stripped her bed, but we were trying to rationalize the complaint while we were all talking about it after.
- The back of one of the couches had a smudge on it. It was allegedly charcoal from the fireplace. I didn’t see a smudge, it was just me and two girls and none of us touched the back of the couch. I don’t know where this came from. You can’t see the back of the couch in any of the photos I took, and I can’t 100% guarantee nothing happened but none of us had any reason to touch the back of the couch and I was the only one to sweep the fireplace (which was full of ash from the previous people but it was on their ‘house rules’ to leave it clean and I was worried we’d be charged so I swept it)
They hosts wanted to charge me a $500 additional cleaning fee for the “trashed” house. I had after pictures of the condition i left it in and nothing came of it, so I think Airbnb said they didn’t have a case, but I never used airbnb again.
It cost more than a hotel would have in the area. Such a scam.
That’s a terrible experience. I’ve never stayed at one and never had a desire though I can see the appeal for some. When I travel I want to be taken care of. Not go through this.
“striking” would imply they were performing any work in the first place lmao
Who’s taking the trash out now dumbasses? Not me. You deal with the insane rules of your strata. Not my problem boo. (I also think AirBnB is an evil model and wouldn’t use the app but…I could not resist)
they might as well spend the money to have a houskeeping service.
I’m not going to do anything at an Airbnb that I wouldn’t do at an actual bend and breakfast or normal hotel room.
These owners are making money off of me. I’m not doing their damn chores for them. “Protecting your investments“ does not include taking out the fucking trash and stripping the bed.
Bend and breakfast? With blackjack and hookers? Take my money!
oops…. 😅
They tried to run hotels without running hotels and are surprised maintenance and cleanup is on them, not guests? Wow, I am shocked
Exactly. Finally some sane choices by Airbnb.
But I wonder what’s the real reason, because no company is so nice towards final customers. Maybe Airbnb saw a decrease on booking on their platform because people are rightly fed up with that bullshit and they just prefer hotels.
It’s because bookings are down. Even Marriott offers full house rentals, that operate the exact same as their hotels, minus the free breakfast (And sometimes light dinner that some hotels offer).
I wish to hope for that, but my mind says there must be some shit they are trying to cover up
A different self-described host declared that going forward, the kitchens in their rentals will be “stripped down to only bare essentials.”
You think your Airbnb kitchen is currently well equipped?! 😂
I actually travel with a mini sharpener to make Airbnb knives usable.
I remember renting vacation houses and cabins a few times before AirBnB got big from smaller companies. That was way better because it worked more like a hotel where they actually had cleaning staff and other staff. It was much nicer stopping by an office, checking in with an actual human who is professional and courteous and getting a key, as opposed to dealing with shitty tech bros and slum lords both trying to get maximum profit while doing the bare minimum.
Fuck these parasites, I’ll continue to not use Airbnb.
“Strike” would imply you work lmao
“As hosts, we have a responsibility to protect our investments, our homes, and, in many cases, our personal living spaces,”
As hosts, you can go fuck yourselves after what you did with the house market.
“The problem is that Airbnb increasingly expects hosts to accept the risks while limiting our ability to protect ourselves.”
No, the problem is that you expect all the good from the hotel market without all the bad from the hotel market. Because let’s be honest, you’re not renting your house or your room for one night eventually, you’re trying to live off this, and that makes you a hotel.
No sympathy for these assholes that only deserve the worst after fucking so many cities and towns.
Some hosts are threatening to strike
Oh please… don’t threaten us with a good time. Please do, strike indefinitely. My only hope is that you start losing money and go broke because that’s what you deserve for making a business off the house market.
I don’t even understand why people use Airbnb.
Every time I’ve looked at Airbnb, a hotel was cheaper and easier. Hotels certainly have some hidden fees, but nothing like airbnb has.
Oh look, this house is 60 dollars a night. That could work for my two night stay… oh wait, now that I’ve clicked the listing, it has a 400 dollar cleaning fee. I’ve worked in cleaning. cleaning a house does not cost 400 dollars, and thats assuming you have professional cleaners coming in to clean it, which we both know you don’t. You expect the guest to do all the cleaning, and you come in, spend 30 minutes doing the bare minimum touchup, and want 400 dollars for it.
Tenish years ago I would use air bnb because it was a good bit cheaper than a mid level hotel and you’d get a whole house with a kitchen. Means I’d save money and could cook. But that’s changed and it’s usually more expensive for air bnb now
I haven’t even considered an Airbnb in close to 8 years. Pay a cleaning fee and have to strip the bed linens, take out all trash, and tidy everything…on top of a moldy af bathroom, having to check all potential locations for the hidden cameras, and getting texts every 30 minutes telling (not asking, TELLING) me to leave a 5 start review. Fuck you
exactly.
This type of thing isn’t normal.
You can choose not to rent a place that has a chore list.
Like a moldy bathroom is a health issue. If you report it the listing will be shut down.
Hidden cameras are the same, not really a thing.
Sounds a bit like you chose the cheapest listing and like to complain that it feels cheap.
Weird to blame the renter for being cheap on a litany of health, privacy, and labor related crimes at the behest of a wannabe landlord
Sure.
The thing is the same principle applies in any market. If you want to buy a car, and buy the cheapest you can find, its not going to be a good experience.
I don’t believe Toyota is selling Corollas with mold sewn between the seat cushions. But sure, keep blaming the poors.
Ooh, sick burn. Amazing.
If you buy the cheapest corolla you can find, it will have all sorts of things in the cushion seams.
You have to try pretty hard to find mould in an airbnb listing. People will mention that kind of thing in reviews.
If you choose the cheapest airbnb, or the cheapest hotel, it’s going to be gross.
I dunno… I’ve never had an issue with my Hyundai, and was never told I had to keep it clean, while being charged a cleaning fee each month…
Sure, but you understand the absurdity of buying the cheapest car and then complaining about it.
renting would be different, it would be a semi-permanent, where you pay renting fees. but then you have the headache of going through rental laws/fees for your city.
Hotels don’t rent out houses in the middle of nowhere for my friends and me to get trashed at for the weekend. They’re really nice if you want to get out of the city and relax in someone else’s house for a couple days.
Now, most Air Bnbs don’t allow you to have a bunch of friends to get trashed over a weekend… It’s in the listing rules.
Yeah, I exclusively use it for less populated areas where the hotels are sketchy at best. Its worked out well for me, but maybe I’ve gotten lucky.
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It was so much cheaper back in the day. Me and my wife would rent out either a guest suite or a room for a couple nights in new cities. I’m talking like $40/night with fees or a little more but with advantages of a kitchen and a couch vs a hotel suite.
Also we rented one twice to host big parties because neither us nor any of our friends in the city have a house big enough to host and comfortably sleep 15 people. Luckily that’s changing soon as my wife and I finally purchased a place in the city, and look forward to hosting our friends for years to come.
I don’t even understand why people use Airbnb.
So, in the long long ago, in the before time, Airbnb was a way to rent out your apartment or home for a week, while you were on vacation, or to rent out a spare room with minimal headaches. In fact, after Craigslist more or less died, it was THE way to do it.
Over time, this changed.
I paid $80 for a room in the middle of LA
That’s kind of high for the middle of Louisiana. Just sayin.
Giving the year is extremely important context.
Literally a month ago
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grats?
We’ve used airbnb twice because it was for a whole house and I have a severely disabled daughter who can get loud and physically disruptive. Those were the only family vacations that we’ve ever been able to take because hotels generally can’t accommodate us. This isn’t a common requirement, and if not for that special use case, I’d pick a hotel every time.
sometimes it might be useful for a large group visiting that needed a whole house rather than trying to get hotel/motel for each person a room, im guessing its convenience and simplicity for groups. not useful if you are 1-3 people.
When it first started it was good for traveling on a budget. But yeah then greedy assholes ruined it by trying to gouge every dollar they could out of it.
I guess it depends on the region. Used Airbnb a lot in spring when I did an Interrail tour through central/eastern Europe. Often it was just the cheapest option. Sometimes hostels with 10+ beds in a room are cheaper (also used these quit often in my first Interrail tour trough other parts of the continent a couple of years back) but not always.
Then also the thing with having a kitchen which can safe you some more money. Especially for breakfast, it’s crazy how hotels are pricing them.
Not trying to say that Airbnb is cheap(or isn’t destroying the housing market), it’s just that hotels are expensive. At least in the areas I travel.
I think the hidden fees have been abandoned now. They were never a thing in Australia - the price is the price.
For groups of more than two people apartments and houses are usually significantly cheaper on AirBnB, and being fully self contained with a kitchen and laundry changes the calculation too.
how people get away with thinking a HOME is an investment is insane to me. Homes are for living in.
Homes are for living in.
This is the same thing Xi Jinping said when he intentionally crashed the housing market.
Is that what you COMMUNISTS want, to destroy the wealth of hard working housing speculators?
Yes, in fact.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) stop. i can only get so hard.
I’ve often thought of, instead of buying my first home, to wait, save, and buy one of those homes that’s been split up into two nice apartments? Then live in one, while renting out the other. I don’t think I’d want to do Air BnB though… Rather just find a nice tenant that won’t eff the place up, be the landlord I always wanted (free rent for December plus they get all the extra sweets I bake).
I was actually surprised, all the places I’ve rented, none gave discount during December. I figured it would be a thing people did, like Christmas bonuses at work.
No, landlords don’t give discounts in december. That doesn’t make any sense.
If they were better people, they would. Just another example of how slumlords are terrible people. Rich enough to own multiple houses yet can’t share a sliver of wealth during the one time of year it’s needed most? bah! humbug!
No they wouldn’t.
You’ve just invented a bizarre test of how a good person ought to behave.
Why not donate that money to a refuge or something.
There’s a reason why landlord’s don’t discount rent in December - because its daft.
found the landlord!
LOL.
Only on the fediverse would someone think that’s some kind of insult.
I’m renting from someone like that right now. Works great, I get to keep a little garden, I do some home maintenance without having to go through all the home ownership stuff. And rent is cheap. No in-unit laundry, but I can’t complain about that given the other advantages.
I’ve never heard of rent being discounted in December. Christmas bonuses aren’t as common as they used to be, either.
Yeah I’ve never heard of it either, I guess I just kinda assumed a landlord with a great tenant would show their appreciation in some way, and the best way I could think of, is like a “half-off rent for Christmas” sort of thing.
Anyway, if I ever become a landlord, that’s what I’m doing.
That’s some real saturnalia spirit. Though I think more people’s idea of a great landlord is one that gives you a discount on rent when times are tough rather than for any specific holiday. But you go off and make the world better how you want.
Yeah, I thought I had a good relationship with my landlord, because I’m a great tenant that fixes all my own shit and never bothers them for anything. During the height of COVID, I lost my business, and I asked him if he had any spare work I could do to try to earn some money (didn’t even ask for leniency on rent!) and he never even replied to me.
I was like, “OK, I’m gonna have you fix all the shit now, I’m no longer doin’ squat.”
the problem is that you expect all the good from the hotel market without all the bad from the hotel market.
Every single one of these stupid middle man, gig work bull shit “disruptive” companies in a nutshell.
Air BnB, Door Dash, Uber, etc etc.
They want to sit in the middle scraping money from “gig workers” doing a “side hustle”, while skirting all the regulation from the industry they are apeing.
The thing is that this hurts the few hosts who still use airbnb in the original somewhat harmless way, by inviting people to stay in their homes while they’re on holiday or to use an extra room. It does not negatively affect the types of hosts who are actively ruining cities, as these hosts already hire cleaners and property managers.
Of course, the people this hurts should ideally move to somewhere less shit than airbnb. Personally I use homeexchange, but that only makes sense for people who don’t need extra money. Fairbnb.coop seemed promising except that it has been offline for months.
The thing is that this hurts the few hosts who still use airbnb in the original somewhat harmless way, by inviting people to stay in their homes while they’re on holiday or to use an extra room.
That’s what cleaning fees are for. These assholes pretend to charge a cleaning fee and then make guests clean after them. Cleaning fees exist for this sole reason, so the guest pays for the mess they do. And if the mess is too big, airbnb will protect the host anyway.
They are complaining because they can’t keep being a hotel but treating guests as tennants.
Of course you can’t have it both ways - either charge a cleaning fee or demand your guests to clean up after themselves. In an ideal world people would clean up after themselves.
Yeah, seam normal to leave stuff the way it was.
But don’t expect me to clean up mess that isn’t mine.
How? They can charge a cleaning fee still, they just actually have to do the cleaning.
Plus I’m sure airbnb will keep things reasonable if not in favor of the host. If you stay for a full week and use every dish and pot in a place without cleaning any I’m sure airbnb would allow an extra fee. If you make breakfast before you leave and put dishes in the sink now the host has to deal with it.
Pretty reasonable
Based on my own experience with homeexchange: I don’t want to hire professional cleaners to come clean up my home after hosting guests. I don’t want to clean up after my guests either. I allow them to stay in my home without a cleaning fee, and part of the social contract is that they clean up after themselves.
It’s the exact same as when I allow my friends to stay in my home while I’m away. They clean up after themselves.
Cleaning up after staying in someone else’s home is just obvious common decency. What has happened here is that airbnb no longer is a platform for letting people stay in your home, it’s a platform for running hotels in buildings where people used to live. Some people are still however left on the platform inviting people into their homes without hiring dedicated cleaners, charging cleaning fees, or running a big operation. These people are fucked over by this.
My partner’s grandmother used to lease out a few free rooms in her house using airbnb. She stopped partly because the mess some privileged assholes would leave behind would take her days to clean up.
If friends come over I don’t expect them to vacuum, do the laundry and redo the bed.
They also don’t expect the place to be spotless like a hotel when they arrive.
If they stay for a couple of nights or while I’m around, no. Sometimes I’m gone for weeks and I allow friends to use my home, at which point I absolutely expect them to at the very least vacuum.
Do you charge your friends for their stay? Do you charge your friends a cleaning fee, while still expecting all of that?
Obviously not?
However, I did at some point consider renting out my free room for a few months at a time. In the end I didn’t have to do this as my partner moved in with me instead and we share the rent. If someone paid money to live with me in my home I would still, very much, expect them to clean after themselves. I also expect my partner to contribute to cleaning even though we split the rent.
Last time I checked Ainbnbs also didn’t always charge a cleaning fee; it was up to the host to do so or not. I haven’t used airbnb in years though, so it might have changed since then.
I must say I’m a bit horrified by the seeming reluctance of people in this thread to clean up after themselves. To me this is a minimum fucking standard of human decency, whether it’s a public space, a friends’ place, somebody else’s home, a hotel room, a café, whatever. I can see how being charged a hefty cleaning fee fucks with willingness to tidy up, but these cleaning fees are so high precisely because of people who don’t give a fuck and leave behind an absolute mess wherever they go. These people are the reason we cannot have nice things.
Cleaning up after staying in someone else’s home is just obvious common decency.
The thing is? Most AirBnB listings aren’t someone’s home. They are just an investment property.
With “most” being an important word. You still have normal people trying to get by, but they are being drowned out.
Airbnb started out as a service that made it easier for people to pay rent, and has transformed into the main reason why people cannot afford it. It is so far gone by now that there’s nothing left to save, but in principle rules like this makes it harder for normal people to make ends meet by allowing people to stay in their guest room.
Last time I checked there were still normal people on airbnb. As there’s no real alternative out there and people need the money I assume they are still around.
There’s still alternatives, if you don’t like Air BnB. Self managing your rentals is still there. Of course, instead of paying Air BnB you need to pay a marketer, probably the local tourism board, etc etc.
I get it, the service went down hill, though, for the people trying to just let out a room while they are away for a week. But the vast majority of Air BnB listings are not that, anymore.
Yeah. I would love to see a service pop up for short-term rentals where people can only rent out places where they actively live at least part time, but I agree that this is not what airbnb is any more. At this point airbnb is little more than a cancer in the housing market.
yea, my bro one time airbnb a whole month, that would be a reasonable fee, because you are staying there long term.
