Airbnb moves to reduce rules/requests

[kookaburra75]

There's a good article in The Times by one of their writers who has let several properties through AirBnB over the years, and disagrees with hosts setting rules etc. My trials as an Airbnb host (and why I worry when guests strip the bed) You might be able to get a guest link to read it.

There are several classic quotes in it:

• "If anything, my place never looks so immaculate as when guests have just departed. My cleaner and I do our best to whip my ancient cottage into shape (catching spiders, bleaching loos, trying to find dog turds in the garden, using masking tape to get labrador hair off the sheets) but we can’t compete with a mother of three on holiday unable to resist running a vacuum cleaner over the place."
• "Some hosts are so finicky they complain about Airbnb guests leaving a TV remote out of place. I’m pretty laid-back, although I do get tested. Once an American woman complained the hedges leading up to the cottage made her feel “claustrophobic”. I’ve also had guests relocate my furniture. One group found my creative taste so “offensive” they removed my Charlie Hebdo print and a naked portrait from my bedroom wall."
• "Personally, I am far more wary of guests cleaning too much. Once I came home to find every glass in the house twinkling and all the beds remade, suggesting the couple who’d booked had invited over a few friends. The 15 empty bottles of wine in the recycling gave them away."
• "Sometimes, though, people leave good stuff behind. I’ve had guests leave Boden jumpers, bottles of cider and packets of biscuits (you’re grateful for anything when you’re this remote). My friend Guy, though, had an embarrassing misstep, and found wine and chocolates had been left for him. As he was carrying the loot to the car his guests returned and he realised they hadn’t actually checked out."

MrsK is a repeat offender for moving chairs and lamps in hotel rooms and AirBnBs, so I can identify with dot point 2.

 

[moa999]

Think it really depends on the property.

For a single AirBNB things like putting sheets in the wash and on, can really assist in being able to flip the property. It's not like a hotel where you've got a production line and another room that can be cleaned.

One particular property i know on the South Coast of NSW, about 1.5hrs from Sydney where the Sydney owners who mostly self-use or have return guests and just use AirBNB for the down times. Having been unable to find consistent local help they generally flip the property themselves.
If in a decent state a clean takes 2-3 hrs, so they would be waiting around if they had to wash and dry all the linens, which likely means upping their cleaning charge, which probably drives away guests.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Think it really depends on the property.

For a single AirBNB things like putting sheets in the wash and on, can really assist in being able to flip the property. It's not like a hotel where you've got a production line and another room that can be cleaned.

One particular property i know on the South Coast of NSW, about 1.5hrs from Sydney where the Sydney owners who mostly self-use or have return guests and just use AirBNB for the down times. Having been unable to find consistent local help they generally flip the property themselves.
If in a decent state a clean takes 2-3 hrs, so they would be waiting around if they had to wash and dry all the linens, which likely means upping their cleaning charge, which probably drives away guests.

Actually starting the laundry can be unhelpful.
The wash cycle could take longer than the cleaning.
And the sheets are unlikely to dry between checkout and check in.
So the wet, half washed sheets can actually become a problem the host has to manage.
I don't know anyone who only owns one set of sheets.
I can't imagine an AIrBNB host trying to get by with only one.
They would have fresh sheets: often there is a locked cupboard specifically for this purpose.
And many, if not most, hosts do their laundry off site.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Actually starting the laundry can be unhelpful.
The wash cycle could take longer than the cleaning.
And the sheets are unlikely to dry between checkout and check in.
So the wet, half washed sheets can actually become a problem the host has to manage.
I don't know anyone who only owns one set of sheets.
I can't imagine an AIrBNB host trying to get by with only one.
They would have fresh sheets: often there is a locked cupboard specifically for this purpose.
And many, if not most, hosts do their laundry off site.

For our BnB we have 5 sets of linen. Why five? We have lots of one-night stays due to our location half way between Sydney and Brisbane. During periods of wet weather washing, drying and ironing sheets in time for the next guests can become quite the challenge.