Airbnb moves to reduce rules/requests

[MEL_Traveller]

Like - you actually checked? I have never even considered doing that but guess I might if I've dropped the rice etc.

That stuff is for the cleaners not me.

Isn’t rubbish and dishes also the role of cleaners? Genuine question as I’ve never stayed at a Airbnb. But what are you paying $200-$300 for? That should ‘buy’ 4-6 hours of cleaning. Enough time to do all the chores I would have thought?

In a hotel I put all my rubbish in the bin, with recycling next to the bin. Any smelly wrappers or food containers are in a tied bag. Cups and glasses go next to the kettle.

But I don’t take the rubbish out to the street, or wash and dry the used cups!

 

[Seat0B]

Maybe part of the problem for some hosts is that they somehow believe the people staying in their home are ‘guests’… as per the nomenclature on the airbnb website?

Back in the very early days of Airbnb, when it truly was a renting out of spare space, Seat Son and I stayed at a beautiful apartment in Amsterdam for a few days. The owners, a young couple, moved out for us to stay there. They left us a beautiful note - thanking us for staying and thus helping them to pay their mortgage. They left us a selection of Dutch treats - stroopwaffel in a blue and white tin, some salted licorice and other gummi sweets. They told us to please use anything from their pantry, and if we used the last to please write it on the shopping list in the fridge door. And to please throw out rubbish and run dishwasher as we left. They had emptied their fridge for our use. They had cleared one side of the wardrobe and one set of drawers. The place was spotlessly clean. They gave us the lock details for using their bikes. The beds were made with fresh linen, and there were fresh towels in the bathroom, fresh tea towels in the kitchen. It was a lovey experience and I often wonder how they are progressing in life 15 years or so down the track.

In this situation, we were very aware of being guests in someone’s home, and acted accordingly.

Nowadays, Airbnb is never like that and really is a shadow hotel with some downsides like nowhere to store luggage before/after check in, no on site reception for problems, feeling unwelcome in some buildings etc. So I don’t react well to a long list of chores. I will stack and run the dishwasher and put out rubbish. I think that is just simple hygiene and not much effort. But everything else is for the owner/cleaner. I’m not a pig, and leave hotel rooms clean and tidy and follow the requests for towels on floor etc, and I do the same in Airbnb.

I’m not staying much in Airbnbs now after 2 experiences where it became obvious that Airbnbs were not allowed in the building and on one occasion (in Tokyo) I felt very stressed by that. I’ve had 2 hosts cancel our bookings (made well in advance) at the last minute and had to scramble for an alternative. And Seat Daughter had a very poor experience in Cape Town for the wedding with no running water at her Airbnb for 48 hrs. They could not even flush the toilet. Yes I know #notallhosts. But it has been enough to put me right off it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We have a BnB and I'ld like to add some comments. As @RB noted, there are lots of BnBs on Booking.com (and other websites) and there are also motels, hotels and caravan parks on AirBnb. We are on both sites and get around 80% of our bookings through booking.com.

When we first started (just on AirBnB) we had a cleaning fee as that seemed to be the way things worked. We soon dropped the cleaning fee (as you don't pay a cleaning fee at a hotel, we decided you shouldn't pay one at an AirBnB). And we don't ask guests to strip the bed, sweep the floor or do any other cleaning; but we do request guests put their dishes in the dishwasher and to put their rubbish in the appropriate bins inside the apartment (we dispose of it from there). If guests are staying more than a few days we offer to dispose of the garbage and insert new bin liners.

I was shocked to read the comment by @luxury-lizard that their friends had to hire linen and towels; what are the hosts thinking? We use good quality linen and towels and provide a spare set of both, even when guests are only staying one night.

I think there are too many owners in the short-term rental business who are only interested in how much money they can make and don't understand what hospitality is.

I also look kindly on places that provide salt and pepper, foil, cling wrap and oil

We provide all that plus a lot more including a breakfast hamper for the first morning and a bottle of wine, freshly cooked muffins on arrival and +1 even offers to bake our guests a small loaf of sourdough. Some guests eat everything, some not so much, so on average it costs us less than $15 to make our guests feel welcome; hardly a dent in our income.

Last time I stayed in an Airbnb (not by choice), I found the bed linen bundled up still wet in the clothes dryer and every. single. surface. was sticky.

I hope you reported them to AirBnB. People like that should not be in the industry.

Aren’t cleaning fees standard?

No; it's up to the host/owner whether they choose to charge a cleaning fee or not. As noted above, we stopped charging a cleaning fee shortly after joining AirBnB.

I did stay at one which said not to wash the bed linens as they needed special detergent or some such nonsense so clearly some guests have in the past.

We request that our guests do not wash the linen or towels; that's our job. Besides, the towels end up hard to the touch unless fabric softener is used.

 

[jb747]

I will always load and turn on the dishwasher when I leave, but I'm not hanging around to empty it. I usually tie up bin bags, and will remove if possible. But anything else is ridiculous, especially given the cleaning fees charged.

Dishes in dishwasher on, , rubbish taken out where possible and used towels on the floor or tub if there's one, job done.

I use AirBnb a lot, and the above is what most hosts ask for, and it's easily accommodated. But, I have been to some that want the dishwasher emptied, and who leave little notes all over the place telling to to do this, not that, etc.

I will leave the AirBnb as I found it. In fact, sometimes better, as the last place I stayed in, I fixed a door lock, and rehung a cupboard door.

And some of the cleaners do not deserve the name.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I’ve had 2 hosts cancel our bookings (made well in advance) at the last minute and had to scramble for an alternative. And Seat Daughter had a very poor experience in Cape Town for the wedding with no running water at her Airbnb for 48 hrs. They could not even flush the toilet. Yes I know #notallhosts. But it has been enough to put me right off it.

Reading this saddens me. Perhaps the best way to avoid your experience with last minute cancellations is to look for properties rated as "Superhosts". There are a number of criteria for receiving the superhost tag, one of which is:
Cancellation Rate: A host-initiated cancellation rate of under 1% (excluding approved extenuating circumstances).

With regard to your daughter's experience in Cape Town, did she complain to AirBnB on arrival? IME, AirBnB would take a very dim view of this and help to find alternative accommodation or provide a refund. OTOH, my experience with Booking.com is that they generally don't give a toss and may take days to even answer the complaint. YMMV

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Back in the very early days of Airbnb, when it truly was a renting out of spare space, Seat Son and I stayed at a beautiful apartment in Amsterdam for a few days. The owners, a young couple, moved out for us to stay there. They left us a beautiful note - thanking us for staying and thus helping them to pay their mortgage. They left us a selection of Dutch treats - stroopwaffel in a blue and white tin, some salted licorice and other gummi sweets. They told us to please use anything from their pantry, and if we used the last to please write it on the shopping list in the fridge door. And to please throw out rubbish and run dishwasher as we left. They had emptied their fridge for our use. They had cleared one side of the wardrobe and one set of drawers. The place was spotlessly clean. They gave us the lock details for using their bikes. The beds were made with fresh linen, and there were fresh towels in the bathroom, fresh tea towels in the kitchen. It was a lovey experience and I often wonder how they are progressing in life 15 years or so down the track.

In this situation, we were very aware of being guests in someone’s home, and acted accordingly.

Nowadays, Airbnb is never like that and really is a shadow hotel with some downsides like nowhere to store luggage before/after check in, no on site reception for problems, feeling unwelcome in some buildings etc. So I don’t react well to a long list of chores. I will stack and run the dishwasher and put out rubbish. I think that is just simple hygiene and not much effort. But everything else is for the owner/cleaner. I’m not a pig, and leave hotel rooms clean and tidy and follow the requests for towels on floor etc, and I do the same in Airbnb.

I’m not staying much in Airbnbs now after 2 experiences where it became obvious that Airbnbs were not allowed in the building and on one occasion (in Tokyo) I felt very stressed by that. I’ve had 2 hosts cancel our bookings (made well in advance) at the last minute and had to scramble for an alternative. And Seat Daughter had a very poor experience in Cape Town for the wedding with no running water at her Airbnb for 48 hrs. They could not even flush the toilet. Yes I know #notallhosts. But it has been enough to put me right off it.

That’s a lovely story! And i guess it sets the vibe for the stay!

I don’t even leave towels in the floor because I think of the poor room attendant that has to bend down 20 times a day to pick them up! I leave them on the bath rim, toilet seat, or bench beside the hand basin.

@ Jaques Vert… I guess i haven’t come across those yet! I was looking once for a place in london for an extended stay and the c,earning fee was over $1000! Somehow I didn’t think that meant weekly cleaning either..l it was just a fixed percentage of the total cost of the stay!

 

[Jacques Vert]

@ Jaques Vert… I guess i haven’t come across those yet! I was looking once for a place in london for an extended stay and the c,earning fee was over $1000! Somehow I didn’t think that meant weekly cleaning either..l it was just a fixed percentage of the total cost of the stay!

WOW! When I look at staying in an AirBnB I rule out any that have a cleaning fee: Tell 'em they're dreaming.

 

[ellen10]

We have stayed in a mix of AirB&Bs, B&B and apartments booked through sites such as booking.com

I try to book a long way ahead, so don't try to book ones that what full payment up ahead and non refundable, much the same for hotel bookings. I'm happy to pay a deposit. and pay in full closer to the time.

Generally we have had very good experiences through all these avenues. But I do read as many reviews as I can, and not just the relevant ones that some sites offer up first.

Always wash our dishes and wipe down benches and put rubbish out. I wouldn't want to stay in a place that asked for the beds to be stripped, but happy to put towels in hamper etc.

I do agree also that I tend to avoid AirB&B the most, because of high fees and restrictions.

 

[AuSammy]

Haven’t used an AirBnB since before covid and mainly in Europe and Japan. All were pleasant (and interesting) experiences and reasonably priced with very convenient locations (the main reason for using them). I treated them as a bit of an insight into those countries (Lisbon, Prague, Sophia, Zagreb, Tokyo, et al)

Dishes done
Put things back where I found them
Towels in the bath
Rubbish to where they directed
Beds stripped
Floor swept unless we dropped food etc

Since covid generally hotels or resorts as AirBnB offerings not cheaper or in inconvenient places for the cities being visited. Many of them seemed to be 2* hotel rooms without services last time I looked after covid.

Never use B…….com any more, don’t trust them

 

[kookaburra75]

AirBNB is a business.
Every decision they make is a commercial one.
That still begs the question: what are they responding to when they make a commercial decision?

AirBnB has been repositioning its 'product' over the past 2 years, to add to the experiences you can get beyond a bed for the night. You can read their take on it here 2026 May Release: Now there's even more to Airbnb Vetting what can be provided to guests seems a good way to go. I strongly suspect the clamp down on 'rules' may be a ploy to improve the experience for guests, rather than worry about the hosts.

We have stayed in a mix of AirB&Bs, B&B and apartments booked through sites such as booking.com

I try to book a long way ahead, so don't try to book ones that what full payment up ahead and non refundable, much the same for hotel bookings. I'm happy to pay a deposit. and pay in full closer to the time.

Generally we have had very good experiences through all these avenues. But I do read as many reviews as I can, and not just the relevant ones that some sites offer up first.

Always wash our dishes and wipe down benches and put rubbish out. I wouldn't want to stay in a place that asked for the beds to be stripped, but happy to put towels in hamper etc.

I do agree also that I tend to avoid AirB&B the most, because of high fees and restrictions.

That's much the same for us. We use a mix of places to stay, based on their location, what they offer, pricing, and cancellation t&c's. Although across the marketplace we're seeing commercial property managers use AirBnB or Booking.com as platforms for hiring out flats or apartments - those I avoid. We have built up a list of places in Sydney and Melbourne we use when we go and see the kids.

 

[Happy Dude]

Basically I will occasionally browse AirBNB if staying in a remote area to get an idea of standard and pricing If a place looks good I will try to see if the owner rents it out privately. Usually they do and usually cheaper In fact we. have stayed at 4 A BNBs and haven’t had to go through them yet.

The most recent one I stayed in, at Potato Point NSW, it was dearer to go through the local real estate listing than AirBnB, and was sans QF points and vouchers. Hadn't seen that before. Sign of the times maybe.

edit to add: I reckon a thread on AirBnB experiences, with links to good properties and a heads up on bad ones, would be a good thing.

 

[Seat0B]

With regard to your daughter's experience in Cape Town, did she complain to AirBnB on arrival? IME, AirBnB would take a very dim view of this and help to find alternative accommodation or provide a refund. OTOH, my experience with Booking.com is that they generally don't give a toss and may take days to even answer the complaint. YMMV

Yes, she did complain to Airbnb. Unfortunately it was not "on arrival" that the problem arose. They were booked for 7 nights. First night was OK - normal running water. Second day, the flow slowed down, so they reported to the host. Host said they would send someone. So they went out for the day, expecting it to be fixed on return. It was not - was actually worse. Contacted host again, who was surprised and said that it had been fixed. Basically said they were making it up. They were not. They insisted that the host come over to see it. Host refused, so they did a video and sent it to the host. Host then promised someone would be there "early" on Day 3. This is not a relaxing holiday. No shower, no cooking, no hand washing, no toilet flushing, had to go and buy bulk bottled water, and get up early to deal with trades. They reported all this to Airbnb morning of Day 3. Airbnb offered to find a new place - which they did, but on the far opposite side of town more than 1.5 hrs drive from where they were. We had wedding activities planned all day so no real time for them to pack and move. Not really a good solution. In the end, the problem was not fully sorted on Day 3, but was fixed on the morning of Day 4. It was adjusted with a refund for the 3 days with no water. Pretty shoddy all round.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Yes, she did complain to Airbnb. Unfortunately it was not "on arrival" that the problem arose. They were booked for 7 nights. First night was OK - normal running water. Second day, the flow slowed down, so they reported to the host. Host said they would send someone. So they went out for the day, expecting it to be fixed on return. It was not - was actually worse. Contacted host again, who was surprised and said that it had been fixed. Basically said they were making it up. They were not. They insisted that the host come over to see it. Host refused, so they did a video and sent it to the host. Host then promised someone would be there "early" on Day 3. This is not a relaxing holiday. No shower, no cooking, no hand washing, no toilet flushing, had to go and buy bulk bottled water, and get up early to deal with trades. They reported all this to Airbnb morning of Day 3. Airbnb offered to find a new place - which they did, but on the far opposite side of town more than 1.5 hrs drive from where they were. We had wedding activities planned all day so no real time for them to pack and move. Not really a good solution. In the end, the problem was not fully sorted on Day 3, but was fixed on the morning of Day 4. It was adjusted with a refund for the 3 days with no water. Pretty shoddy all round.

I'm sorry to hear your daughter's story. Very annoying and frustrating. I'm not here to defend AirBnB however they did, at least, attempt to find alternative accommodation and provided a partial refund. Based on past experience, Booking.com would have just said "oh I'm sorry about that" and I'll pass it up the line., never to be heard from again.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I'm sorry to hear your daughter's story. Very annoying and frustrating. I'm not here to defend AirBnB however they did, at least, attempt to find alternative accommodation and provided a partial refund. Based on past experience, Booking.com would have just said "oh I'm sorry about that" and I'll pass it up the line., never to be heard from again.

That may be the general experience with Booking.com however I had a different experience.
I stayed in a resort on the coral coast in Fiji which was still being restored after being shut down and reopened.
At the time it was unfit for human habitation. I left after one night and booked at a more upmarket resort.
At first my complaint was passed up the line, with responses such as "we don't guarantee the place matches the photos".
However I persisted, and eventually received an email from the founder of Booking.com.
He apologised for my experience, both at the resort and during the complaint process.
He acknowledged that this was not a case of a resort. not living up to the photos, but rather of one which was incapable of accommodating guests.
However, he said they would not refund my stay there.
Instead, they refunded my stay at the upmarket resort. Obviously this cost them a lot more.
So if anyone has an issue with Booking.com - or indeed with AirBNB - I would recommend persistence.

 

[Jacques Vert]

That may be the general experience with Booking.com however I had a different experience.
I stayed in a resort on the coral coast in Fiji which was still being restored after being shut down and reopened.
At the time it was unfit for human habitation. I left after one night and booked at a more upmarket resort.
At first my complaint was passed up the line, with responses such as "we don't guarantee the place matches the photos".
However I persisted, and eventually received an email from the founder of Booking.com.
He apologised for my experience, both at the resort and during the complaint process.
He acknowledged that this was not a case of a resort. not living up to the photos, but rather of one which was incapable of accommodating guests.
However, he said they would not refund my stay there.
Instead, they refunded my stay at the upmarket resort. Obviously this cost them a lot more.
So if anyone has an issue with Booking.com - or indeed with AirBNB - I would recommend persistence.

Well done you. I'ld love to have the founder's email address if you still have it.

 

[HMcM]

Personally after seeing some stories / evidence of some owners absolutely taking the piss when it comes to rules and cleaning expectations I am happy to see this.

Personally there are only 2 times I will stay in an AirBNB over a hotel, when travelling to smaller towns where the location of an AirBNB can be much better than hotels, or when travelling somewhere with a large group of people. If you need 4 bedrooms an AirBNB is always more economical from my experience.

The nickel and diming by some hosts is even worse than the nickel and diming of hotels nowadays.

 

[VPS]

I have stayed in a number of Airbnb and some have been average and some have been absolutely fantastic.

I have also stayed in some hotels that I wouldn't darken their door again

 

[Pushka]

We have a great Airbnb sorted for Civitavecchia. All they expect is to draw the blinds and leave the windows open slightly. No parties no smoking. That's it.